MSB select II vs all dacs ?

@david_ten

Hi David

If you are looking for nice Dac close to the performance of MSB Select II at more affordable price, then I recommend you to try Lampiziator Pacific Dac.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9eh61-lampizator-pacific-da-converters

I had heard MSB Select II, Lampiziator Pacific Dac., MSB Premier with the same setting at dealer’s showroom.

Pacific sound full bodied and warm with 90% of the performance of MSB Select II at 1/3 cost.

It sounds much better than Premier on almost every aspects.

MSB Select II is slightly better than Pacific in somewhat relaxed analog texture.

But I was not willing to pay 100K$ for MSB Select II.

I had ended up buying Chord Dave and Mscaler which has more transparent soundstage than Pacific.

But I miss the full bodied and warm sound of Pacific.

https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/lampizator-pacific-dac/

Thomas

@shkong78  Thanks for sharing your listening impressions of the Lampizator Pacific vs the MSB DACs as well as what you miss about the Pacific vs your Chord combo. 

The Lampizator Pacific is on my radar. Your post and feedback is appreciated. Thank you!

@ david_ten

One more thing!

If you want 3D holographic transparent soundstage with excellent details, Dave and Mscaler could be one of the best matching MSB Select II.

But it could sound analytical or hot coupled with bright combination of speaker and amplifier.

I drive Lansche 4.1 with SET amp.

Thus I could avoid bright or hot sound with careful selection of digital cables.

Recently I play musicals and operas very often enjoying excellent 3D soundstage.

@shkong78 how good is the dave + mscaler vs msb? I would have loved if you heard them in the same system for a direct comparison.

The answer is in my review.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/subjective-grading-of-dac-that-i-had-heard-during-last-one-year-period