Subjective grading of DAC that I had heard during last one year period.
My first serious audio system was Garrard turntable, Fisher Int(SS), ADS bookspeaker bought on 1978.
I bought Technics CD player on 1984.
It sound harsh and bright compared with vinyl.
I gave up vinyl when I moved from Berkeley to Chicago on 1988 since I had no room to carry in my small car.
I upgraded to California Audio Mark2 on 1989.
It was way better than Technics CD player with refined treble and better dynamics.
I had used passive pre, Krell KSA 150 to drive Apogee Duetta Sig.
On 1999, I upgraded to DCS Elgar and upsampler using TEC Tl0x transport.
Wow, I got the feeling that it could match good vinyl system.
But after using DCS Elgar for 6 years, it got out of order and I gave it up with uncertain repair cost and shipping to UK.
TEC Tl0x transport also had kept failing to read some CDs.
Thus I had chnaged to Accustic Arts CD transport and Dac which was a downgrade from DCS Elgar and upsampler using TEC Tl0x transport..
On 2010, I had got EMMLab Dac2 to replace Accustic Arts Dac.
It had excellent dynamics, details and soundstage which made me enjoy the music again with Lansche 4.1 speaker and Silbatone 300B SET amp.
On 2019 I had got Jay Audio CDT2 and Lyngdorf 2170 to use it as Room correction, Dac.
But after using it for 4 months, I found that Lyngdorf 2170 falls slightly short of EMMLab Dac2 on bass slam and details.
Thus I had auditioned several Dacs to upgrade from EMMLab Dac2.
Point 100
There is nothing to criticize over MSB Select II except its high price around 100K$.
It has magical relaxed texture similar to top grade vinyl.
Dynamics, details, soundstage are all excellent.
Point 95
Kalista Dreamplay transport and Dac
It is excellent matching MSB Select II on almost every aspects.
The only down side is that it does not have relaxed texture similar to top grade vinyl although it still sounds silky.
Point 91.
Trinity Dac
This one is also all round player with hard to criticize.
But it falls slightly short of MSB Select II on details and relaxed texture.
Point 90
Lampiziator Pacific Dac
I had auditioned this Dac with same setup with MSB Select II.
This one is also all round player with hard to criticize.
It falls slightly short of MSB Select II on dynamics and relaxed texture.
But this one has a nice bloom and full bodied sound,
which make some people prefer this one to MSB Select II
Point 85
Chord Dave and Mscaler(or Blue II transport)
This one give transparent and 3D soundstage with excellent details.
But it need good system matching.
It could sound analytical or hot coupled with bright combination of speaker and amplifier.
Without upscaling using Mscaler, its sound is mediocre around 75 points.
Point 84
MSB Premier with one more basic power supply
I had auditioned this one side by side with Lampiziator Pacific Dac.
It matches Pacific Dac with Dynamics, details, soundstage but fall short of Pacific Dac in magical bloom and full body.
With improved power supply or clock, its performance have room to improve further.
Point 80
Formula XHD Dac
I auditioned this one side by side with Trinity Dac
This one is a very musical player with full bloom.
But it falls short of Trinity Dac by one notch in dynamics and bass slam.
Point 79
TotalDac 6 tube version
This one is also a very musical player.
But from the point of audiophile, its dynamics, details, soundstage are all one notch below the standard set by MSB Select II.
Point 78
MSB Discrete Dac with one additional basic power supply.
This one has similar sound signature to MSB Premier
But it is half notch below MSB Premier on dynamics, details, soundstage.
Point 75
EmmLab Dac2
I paid 9K$ for this on 2010.
It matches Chord Dave and Mscaler on dynamics with slightly more bass slam.
But Chord Dave and Mscaler give more transparent and deeper soundstage than EmmLab Dac2 while soundstage width are comparable to each other.
This one has slight fuller sound than Chord Dave and Mscaler.
It is still working fine after 10 years of use.
Point 73.
Lyngdorf 2170
This one has Dac, pre and power amp, active crossover and room correction functions.
It’s Dac sounds very similar to EmmLab Dac2 but with slightly less details and bass slam.
There are many Dacs to audition but I could not audition all of them.
I had bought Chord Dave and Mscaler late May.
Recently I play musicals and operas very often enjoying excellent 3D soundstage.
But I do not believe that I can live with Chord Dave and Mscaler for my life.
If some innovative Dac better than MSB Select II come out under 50K$ in the future, then I will upgrade to it.
Otherwise, I expect to use Chord Dave and Mscaler for 3 years or longer.
I open the possibility of upgrading to excellent music server like SGM Extreme in the near future.
