Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

There were five memorable rooms in their overall sound IMHO at the RMAF: PS Audio and YG, German Physics, Voxativ, and Exemplar Audio, and on the last day, On a Higher Note mezzanine room with the Vivid speakers and the Merging Tech digital.

The PS Audio suite was greatest when playing a cd called French Impressions with Lowell Graham conducting and sitting beside me. Cuts he recommended were exceptional.

The German Physics room initially attracted me as there was a quad DSD recording being demonstrated there. But later I heard even cds sounding exceptional.

Every time I passed the Voxativ suite, the sound attracted me in but usually the crowds there caused me to leave. The same was true of the Exemplar suite once the speakers had settled in. Their speakers were quite dynamic thanks to crossovers with no caps.

Finally, I sought out the Merging Tech MC-8 NADAC dac late on Sunday when there were no crowds there. Without them, it was quite good sounding.

I also spent a long time in the Synergistic Research suite listening to their demonstrations, especially their new power cords. I also got High Fidelity Cables seminar on magnetics in audio.

This was as usual a fun show for me but attendance seemed to be down this year.

Teaser:
Hopefully I will have some time this morning to listen and compare the "on loan" Emm DAC-2X and the "just arrived and on loan" MSB DAC V. MSB is also lending me the purpose made power line conditioner for the DAC but they were using it at RMAF so it's en route now. But a fair comparison would be using my same Shunyata Hydra AV conditioner on both dacs. So I'll start there.

Stay tuned.

Matt, given the caliber of line-level gear that you are working with, it might be worth while climbing up the Shunyata conditioners totem pole up to a Triton II. G.

Agreed Guido. But I need to steady my flow of stereo expenses. So accessory upgrades will happen gradually over the next year or so. But you are 100% correct my friend.

Fascinating - my first impression upon listening to the MSB (in the first 30 min) is a burning desire to adjust the placement of my speakers to squeeze the last bit of performance out of them. At $42k for the Diamond V with Diamond power supply, Quad sub, volume control (for resale purposes only) and the "standard" internal clock it is quite astounding, as one would expect. It has an immediate sense of just not being there; the music just flows through with a natural sense of it just being right.

Going to listen for another hour and then swap to the DAC2X and see.....

I also have a friend coming over to help with the comparison so it's not just my ears.