Any better DAC then dCS Scarlatti?

I also got suggestion to audition latest MSB PlatinumIII DAC!

Interesting topic. It seems like this question reprises itself in some incremental variant form every few days or weeks. I have the MPS5, dCS Paganini, Esoteric rubidium clock and the Boulder 2020 on hand right now. Owned for 6-18 months: Esoteric P03D03, dCS Elgar plus, Wadia 921/931, Esoteric D05 in the last 2 years. I would say that the Wadia, dCS Paganini and MPS5 are somewhat orthogonal to each other in sound (imagine a multidimensional relation rather than the so-called Type 1, Type 2 flavor in another Agon thread).

My impression is that the Paganini set, clocked by Esoteric, is much clearer and with better air and resolution than the Elgar plus stack but it has been some time. Oh, and I had the Zanden Signature DAC and still the Mark III...

The one DAC I have been tempted to try is the MSB...but one can only have so many digital systems without being overly nuts!

Classic - many thanks for your views, quite useful to get impressions of the DAC's from someone with actual exposure...and no skin in the game.

Piqued my curiousity though...why so many DACs on hand?

The MSB stuffis fantastic, BUT it took me a long time to extract the best out of it. It is very picky about vibration contro and the source. I have the MSB Power Dac which is a Platinum Dac minus the upgrade path ability or user controls.

The sound I am now getting is some of the best I have gotten out of digital and I rate it with some of the best I have heard. I will not go into too much as I have a seperate thread going related to this subject.

Also I wanted to say I see absolutely nothing wrong with a manufacturer (who makes it known that he is in fact a manufacturer) referring someone to a review. This is why we are on these forums, to learn and glean information from those who may know more that we do. Also it is fun to share information.

ClassicJazz - can you be so kind to post a mini review of all those different digital gear and compare them with each other? When you say the MPS5, dCS, and Wadio are "orthogonal" to each other, do you mean they are completely different?

Would love to hear what you think about all those different DACs