The MSB Link 24/96 'too bright and mechanical'? The one I owned for a while was the Gold Link version, with upgraded parts and dual-differential DAC's, but still, my objection to this converter had a lot to do with its rolled-off, euphonized sound, especially in upsampling mode, and its pursuit of 'liquidity' that sacrificed full dynamic expresssion and midrange neutrality. It didn't sound accurate, but it certainly didn't sound bright or mechanical (its tonal deviations could be quite attractive with the right disks, although it shrank the soundstage), my reference Theta DSPro Basic IIIa in comparision passing much more detail and frequency extension as well as dynamic life. Unless the non-Gold version sounds very different, I wonder whether your results indicate a high-jitter transport or simply poorly-mastered disks.