Hi Lloyd,

Yes, it was a wonderful trip. We got to see and feel what Istanbul has to offer and it is a really wonderful city to visit. It is far more cosmopolitan than I was expecting.

You should definitely move the MSB digital front end up on your list. One of the folks that have moved to it did a direct comparison of the MSB Diamond DAC and CD IV transport with the full DCS Scarlatti stack and strongly preferred the MSB gear and so went ahead and purchased the MSB.

The CD IV transport that they used was not even the Signature CD IV with the Signature power supply, which in my listening tests makes a substantial sonic improvement.

Arnie

babybear August 27, 2012 20:51

Wow...sounds like a great trip and a pretty great experience! I am impressed on the MSB! That has risen up my list, particularly given that Andy Payor apparently also uses it...and the fact that it is regularly upgradeable by MSB.

lloydelee21 August 27, 2012 08:10

Just returned from a wonderful trip visiting Istanbul, Turkey. I was there visiting the home location of Echole cables and Absolare electronics, both of which i use in my system. It was a small conference organized by Echole and Absolare to bring together a few of their customers and dealers. Istanbul is a fascinating place that I had never visited before. Part of the activities included a visit to an audio dealer in Istanbul, named Extreme Audio. I have never been to a brick and mortar dealer of this magnitude. They have 12 very well done listening rooms each fully equipped with great gear. The number of brands that they carry was a very long list as well. The location that we went to is the largest of Extreme Audio's 4 locations all of which are in Istanbul.

Another interesting thing to me was that within the small number of folks also on this trip, 2 others were using MSB digital front ends and another 2 had done in home auditions of the MSB digital gear and were planning to upgrade to MSB in the near future.

I also got a chance to hear The Beat turntable that I use with the new Reed 3P arm with the Lyra Atlas cartridge through the Allnic H3000 phono stage playing through the Rockport Aquila speakers with the Absolare preamp and mono block amps. A wonderful sounding system which made me even more curious to audition the Reed 3P arm in comparison to my Reed 2A arm which I hope to do later this fall.

Arnie

babybear August 27, 2012 07:05

Arnie,

Very, very helpful. And good to know! Thanks!

lloydelee21 August 14, 2012 18:04

Hi Lloyd,

Based on what I hear in my system, mastering is always important. There are many SACD's, especially from the early days of SACD that don't sound very good in comparison to the CD layer. One of the worst SACD's that I have heard is the original Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me". (Not to be confused with the new LP's and SACD's that Analogue Productions have just released. I haven't heard the SACD but the LP is really, really good).

Having said that, if you play a high quality mastered CD/SACD disc, then the SACD layer played back through the UMT will sound better than playing the CD layer through the CD IV transport. To me, well done SACD's sound more relaxed and natural with less digital artifacts especially in the upper frequencies.

The CD IV is the better PCM transport so when playing a redbook CD via the CD IV it will sound better than the same CD played through the UMT.

Arnie

babybear August 14, 2012 12:45

Hi Arnie

Just curious...which do you prefer:
- Playing the SACD layer thru the UMT
- Playing the CD layer of the same disc thru the CD IV Transport?

Or does it depend on the particular hybrid SACD? I imagine some SACDs are not as well remastered as others...so the differences might not be as great btwn the CD layer and SACD layer?

lloydelee21 August 13, 2012 19:16

Great stuff Babybear! Congrats!!!

lloydelee21 August 07, 2012 21:34

System edited: Updated one additional picture. Also added the MSB UMT (universal transport). I use the MSB UMT for SACD playback and the MSB CD IV transport for redbook and hi-rez PCM playback. MSB just released new firmware upgrades for their DAC IV's and the UMT. The firmware upgrade for the DAC's adds native DSD playback support from any of their digital inputs (USB, SPDIF, optical) and the firmware upgrade for the UMT allows it to pass the native DSD data stream from a SACD to the DAC IV. I did the upgrades and it works flawlessly and the SACD playback sounds very, very good.

babybear August 07, 2012 13:03

wow...thanks! sounds good! enjoy!

lloydelee21 July 21, 2012 21:29

Hi Lloyd,

There are a few key differences that I hear in my system between the Purist Audio Anniversary IC's and the Echole Signature IC's.

Overall, the Echole Signature cables have a greater sense of elegance and coherence to the sound along with greater resolution and texture. Both the bass and the upper frequencies are more extended with the Echole and the upper frequencies in particular are harmonically richer and more natural sounding to me. The mid range is very similiar in tonality but the Echole do exhibit the greater resolution and texture.

Arnie

babybear July 21, 2012 20:31

Hi Arnie

Congrats! What are the differences?

lloydelee21 July 21, 2012 12:50

System edited: Just replaced the Purist Audio Anniversary balanced IC between the MSB Diamond DAC and the VTL 7.5 Series 3 preamp with an Echole Signature balanced IC. I now have all Echole cabling in both my analog and digital signal paths from source to speakers.

babybear July 21, 2012 12:49

Thanks Arnie..yes Lloyd, I have not updated my system info here on A-gon as of yet (will do soon)...it keeps changing...lol

rockitman July 15, 2012 21:46

Hi Christian,

Yes, I agree that would be a good approach. One of the nice things about the MSB digital products is that they are for the most part user upgradeable both from a hardware and software point of view. So you can always add the clock at a later date. I also think that MSB even gives you a trial period with the clock such that you can try it and if you feel it's not worth the price they will give you your money back.

Also, with either their Platinum or Signature transports, you can download hi-Rez files either in .WAV format or convert them to .WAV format, burn them to a DVD and then just play them directly via the transport (which is what I do). In that case you are using their I2S interface between the transport and DAC for the best sound quality.

Arnie

babybear July 15, 2012 20:51

Rockitman,

FWIW, i think your approach makes a lot of sense. Get the best DAC...add the clock later. Enjoy and pls post your observations here or on WBF when you get a chance. LIke to see you've updated your pictures...but your description still says Wilson 8s! ;)

lloydelee21 July 15, 2012 20:00

Thanks Arnie...perhaps I should just go Diamond DAC for now and add the Galaxy clock later, which seems to be remove the cover and plug the galaxy clock in (easy button). I want to keep it under $30K for the time being. I suppose after I get used to the dac w/o the galaxy and then add it later, I will better be able to ascertain the improvement of that very expensive kryptonite crystal clock :-)

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Best,

Chris

rockitman July 15, 2012 19:52

Hi Christian,

Yes, that is correct that I did get the Galaxy clock module. I did listen to the Diamond DAC with and without the Galaxy clock. With the clock, the improvements in sound are similar to what I heard when I added the G0s clock to my Esoteric stack. The affect of the clock is that the sound is further refined in the upper frequencies and you hear a level of elegance and coherency in the sound that is lost when you remove the clock. My opinion is that the signature DAC with the clock will not equal the sound of the Diamond DAC without the clock. The diamond DAC had better defined bass than the Signature DAC and was harmonically richer in the midrange and upper frequencies with more palpable images. Of course the best way for you to be sure would be to compare them in your system. Hope tha helps.

Arnie

babybear July 15, 2012 19:08

Thanks Arnie...

So you went with the Galaxy Clock option ?

Makes me wonder if the Signature dac with the galaxy clock would sound better than the diamond dac without the galaxy clock. The price would be virtually the same. What are your thought's on that idea ?

rockitman July 15, 2012 16:38

Hi Rockitman,

Thanks very much.

As for my MSB digital front end, I do enjoy it very much. I certainly consider it to be one of the best digital front ends available. Before deciding on it,
I owned the Esoteric P03/D03/G0s stack for 5 years. When I got back into analog however, I found myself having a hard time listening to the Esoteric digital - I just couldn't relax into the music with it. So I started to audition different digital front ends. In my system I was able to audition the MSB Signature DAC IV and Platinum transport, the MSB Diamond DAC IV with the optional clock module and the new Signature transport, the EMM XDS1, and the CH Precision CD/SACD transport with its matching C1 DAC. I was also able to hear the full DCS Scarlatti stack in my friends system and compared that to his analog front end.

Based on what I heard and also my personal listening preferences, the 2 digital front ends that I enjoyed the most were the MSB Diamond DAC with Signature transport and the CH Precision digital stack. The CH Precision, when used with its built in preamp and bypassing my preamp was really good and if I had a digital only system, I might have gone with it. But with the need for a preamp, the MSB sounded better to me going through my preamp than the CH Precision. I now fully enjoy listening to digital again.

Hope that helps.
Arnie

babybear July 15, 2012 12:51

Hi Babybear,

Love your system. Are you still in love with MSB ? Do you still consider them THE SOTA ? I am starting to think about them for my digital playback.

rockitman July 14, 2012 21:51

Hi Art,

Glad to know that I finally made idol status!!!

Thanks so much and if you are ever down here please let me know as it would be great to have you come by for some listening.

BTW, your room and system are looking great!! Your room looks warm and very comfortable and it must be a great environment to enjoy listening to music in.

Thanks again, Arnie

babybear July 09, 2012 16:23

Arnie, the addition of the Arrakis confirms that you are in fact my idol..... :-)

Congrats, what a wonderful addition to one of the best systems I know of! Hope all else is well with you, Art.

arthursmuck July 09, 2012 13:10

Hi John,

Thanks so much for the wonderful complements.

I am glad you were able to come by as I had a great time as well. Its always nice to have people over who really enjoy talking about audio and more importantly enjoy listening to music.

I am looking forward to coming by your place to hear your system once you have your room acoustics project completed.

Thanks again,

Arnie

babybear July 09, 2012 12:40

Hi Arnie, thanks so much for the time this afternoon. I very much enjoyed the company and advice. I have to say this, your set up was the BEST system I have EVER heard. Top to bottom transparency, dynamics, power, control...just simply AMAZING Congratulations.

I've heard some great systems before several around Wilson's, one around Dali's, another around Kharma's...but yours is just stunning...on music of all types...I think you know my system isn't so bad so this is meant to be quite a compliment!

Most importantly, the company and our talks we're special, again thanks for the afternoon!! All the best !

jfrech July 08, 2012 23:31

Hi Sgr,

Thanks so much.

You are right about what the active configuration can do - music just sounds so effortless and relaxed with seemingly unlimited dynamics compared to a passive configuration. I was hesitant at first to do the active configuration but now that I have it, I am glad that I was lucky enough to be able to do it.

Arnie

babybear June 23, 2012 13:08