203 replies to this topic

[Iain]

Definitely worth listening to Lampizator, I love mine and the ability to tube roll

[Chanh]

Thanks for your feedback.

BTW - I couldn't help but notice that you have Accuphase DC1000 DAC in your system. Would you mind giving a short review of the DAC and to which DACs did you compare it?

Best regards,
Marcin

I must apologise to the OP, and those who follow this thread closely for being OT. I hope all is ok with me providing a response to Marcin as a courtesy. After all, it’s his home, and I feel irresponsible/rude if I am not responding.

To give you a perspective, I enjoy valves tonality and, for years, searching for that unreadable holy grail without success.
I had in my setup the following;
1. MSB Select two dual mono power and Femto clock,
2. dCS Vivaldi stack,
3. Esoteric ref
4. Gryphon Kalliope,
5. Mola Mola Tambaqui
6. My diy DDDAC with Tent Shunt regulators for 22 dac chips in parallel
7. Accuphase DC-1000.

MSB was my preference, but at $135,000.00 Australian, I can’t justify investing. It is the most resolute, transparent and yet very natural DAC I have ever heard. dCs is a bit dry and clean for my tastes but very high res and excellent timing. Esoteric is a bit lower in scale than dCS but less as pure. However, still a bit grainy to my cloth ears. Kalliope was too sweet and lacked resolution and finesse. A typical Gryphon in-house sonic signature. Mola is very resolute sharp, and clean. It took time to get used to. May the thing have improved in naturalness since 2017?

I pick flagship Accuphase because it has the most compromised sonic to my ears. I enjoy listening to it without fatiguing after an extended session. Most of all, it only costs AUD 40K compared to others with a much higher price tag. The interior from Accuphase truly defines attention to detail. A type of detail, if made in Europe or the US will cost significantly more. Overall, I settled with DC-1000 because the tone balance was just right to my ears, and the price is reasonable fair at AU$40,000.00.

As always, audio is subjective and a journey on its own. Please try in your setup where possible for synergy before commuting serious hard earn $$$. It’s a treasure to some, while others consider it trash. Feedback above is purely personal taste and subjective. Your findings possibly are different. This is a beauty about audio….!

[Marcin_gps]

I must apologise to the OP, and those who follow this thread closely for being OT. I hope all is ok with me providing a response to Marcin as a courtesy. After all, it’s his home, and I feel irresponsible/rude if I am not responding.

To give you a perspective, I enjoy valves tonality and, for years, searching for that unreadable holy grail without success.
I had in my setup the following;
1. MSB Select two dual mono power and Femto clock,
2. dCS Vivaldi stack,
3. Esoteric ref
4. Gryphon Kalliope,
5. Mola Mola Tambaqui
6. My diy DDDAC with Tent Shunt regulators for 22 dac chips in parallel
7. Accuphase DC-1000.

MSB was my preference, but at $135,000.00 Australian, I can’t justify investing. It is the most resolute, transparent and yet very natural DAC I have ever heard. dCs is a bit dry and clean for my tastes but very high res and excellent timing. Esoteric is a bit lower in scale than dCS but less as pure. However, still a bit grainy to my cloth ears. Kalliope was too sweet and lacked resolution and finesse. A typical Gryphon in-house sonic signature. Mola is very resolute sharp, and clean. It took time to get used to. May the thing have improved in naturalness since 2017?

I pick flagship Accuphase because it has the most compromised sonic to my ears. I enjoy listening to it without fatiguing after an extended session. Most of all, it only costs AUD 40K compared to others with a much higher price tag. The interior from Accuphase truly defines attention to detail. A type of detail, if made in Europe or the US will cost significantly more. Overall, I settled with DC-1000 because the tone balance was just right to my ears, and the price is reasonable fair at AU$40,000.00.

As always, audio is subjective and a journey on its own. Please try in your setup where possible for synergy before commuting serious hard earn $$$. It’s a treasure to some, while others consider it trash. Feedback above is purely personal taste and subjective. Your findings possibly are different. This is a beauty about audio….!

Hi Chanh, 

 

Thank you. I'll move our posts to DAC topic later, so no worries about that.

 

Very interesting feedback. The Esoteric you tried was with their discrete Mastersound D/A module? 

 

I also had Kalliope and I loved it. Very exciting. And the best bass I heard from any DAC. 

 

My reference is APL DSD-MR SE set to DSD512/Zero filter. I'm using now in combination with Siltech triple crown power cord. I has much better resolution than any DAC I heard and is the most natural of all. Needs a good balanced company as any real high-end component. 

 

I will give the Accuphase a try at some point. Thanks again!

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Ian D]

hi - what are the JPLAY settings with the MSB Discrete with the USB input?

THank you!

[dootago]

I must apologise to the OP, and those who follow this thread closely for being OT. I hope all is ok with me providing a response to Marcin as a courtesy. After all, it’s his home, and I feel irresponsible/rude if I am not responding.

To give you a perspective, I enjoy valves tonality and, for years, searching for that unreadable holy grail without success.
I had in my setup the following;
1. MSB Select two dual mono power and Femto clock,
2. dCS Vivaldi stack,
3. Esoteric ref
4. Gryphon Kalliope,
5. Mola Mola Tambaqui
6. My diy DDDAC with Tent Shunt regulators for 22 dac chips in parallel
7. Accuphase DC-1000.

MSB was my preference, but at $135,000.00 Australian, I can’t justify investing. It is the most resolute, transparent and yet very natural DAC I have ever heard. dCs is a bit dry and clean for my tastes but very high res and excellent timing. Esoteric is a bit lower in scale than dCS but less as pure. However, still a bit grainy to my cloth ears. Kalliope was too sweet and lacked resolution and finesse. A typical Gryphon in-house sonic signature. Mola is very resolute sharp, and clean. It took time to get used to. May the thing have improved in naturalness since 2017?

I pick flagship Accuphase because it has the most compromised sonic to my ears. I enjoy listening to it without fatiguing after an extended session. Most of all, it only costs AUD 40K compared to others with a much higher price tag. The interior from Accuphase truly defines attention to detail. A type of detail, if made in Europe or the US will cost significantly more. Overall, I settled with DC-1000 because the tone balance was just right to my ears, and the price is reasonable fair at AU$40,000.00.

As always, audio is subjective and a journey on its own. Please try in your setup where possible for synergy before commuting serious hard earn $$$. It’s a treasure to some, while others consider it trash. Feedback above is purely personal taste and subjective. Your findings possibly are different. This is a beauty about audio….!

Are you using the same product?
Selection criteria are appearance and accurate expression.

[Marcin_gps]

hi - what are the JPLAY settings with the MSB Discrete with the USB input?

THank you!

These are the best and most extreme settings:

 

DAC Link: 1000Hz

Engine: Ultrastream

 

 

In case it doesn't play, please lower DAC Link until step by step until you get stable playback. Whether it works or not with these parameters depends on how good the USB DAC driver is and how responsive the PC / system is. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Ian D]

Thanks for your responses. I too compared the Tambaqui to the MSB Discrete and found it more forward and sharper. The MSB with ultrastream, KS and 100hz sounds great and doesn’t have playback issues. Very different presentation than other DACs and much smoother top end. I’m going to try classic and xtreme too. The loaner I have also had the Ethernet connection, so I’m trying out the Upnp via JPLAY app. I’ll keep you posted.
-Ian

[Ian D]

The MSB Discrete was for me hands down the better of the DACS, its presentation was deeper, great soundstage width, detail without being sharp or more forward in its presentation.  With my Roland pre and amps and Magico A5s - great tonal balance.  Ultrastream seems to sound the best.  How do I take advantage of MQA from Tidal since this DAC can  handle it?

[Marcin_gps]

The MSB Discrete was for me hands down the better of the DACS, its presentation was deeper, great soundstage width, detail without being sharp or more forward in its presentation.  With my Roland pre and amps and Magico A5s - great tonal balance.  Ultrastream seems to sound the best.  How do I take advantage of MQA from Tidal since this DAC can  handle it?

JPLAY does not decode MQA, it has to be decoded in the DAC. 

[dootago]

JPLAY does not decode MQA, it has to be decoded in the DAC. 

Can't I go back to the previous version?

To be honest, the sound quality is worse than before. I'm being honest.

[BernieK]

Can't I go back to the previous version?

To be honest, the sound quality is worse than before. I'm being honest.

 

Hi dootago,

 

Do you mean the previous version of the DAC (MSB Discrete) which can decode MQA, or the previous version of JPLAY? If you mean the MSB Discrete DAC, and it worked well with MQA and JPLAY, then of course yes. No version of JPLAY has been able to decode MQA on it's own. 

 

Cheers,

 

Bernie

[dootago]

안녕 두타고,

 

MQA를 테스트할 수 있는 이전 버전의 DAC(MSB Discrete)를 의미합니까, 아니면 JPLAY의 이전 버전을 의미합니까? MSB Discrete DAC는 MQA 및 JPLAY와 잘 작동한다는 의미입니다. JPLAY의 어떤 버전은 자체적으로 MQA를 처리할 수 없습니다. 

 

건배,

 

버니

 

 

 

현재 버전 jplayfemto 

jplay iOS 버전 mqa, max 플레이어 라인 음악팀 ==cd chang 플레이어 라인 음악

mconnectHD mqa, 최대 플레이어 캐릭터 음악 == mqa, 최대 캐릭터 캐릭터 음악

DAC Accuphase DC-1000 사용 NO ROON 인증

이전 버전의 jplayfemto

jplay ios version mqa ,max player sound music ==mqa,max player sound music 작동했습니다 (AMD CPU 지원 버전) 제가 느끼는 감정은

이번 버전에서 가장 좋은 음악을 연주한 것 같아요.

mconnectHD mqa, 최대 플레이어 캐릭터 음악 == mqa, 최대 캐릭터 캐릭터 음악

 

[Ian D]

Folks - what possible causes can there be for a harsh sound when playing male or female vocals (think of Adele) most noticeable at higher decibel levels.

I hadn't heard anything before like this and nothing has changed in my system. 

 

PC->JCAT USB card (LPS powering the card) -> Purist audio design 35th anniversary cable - > Uptone regen -> MSB Discrete DAC - > Jeff Rowland pre amp and amplifiers (class D in Mono)->Magico speakers and Cardas throughout on the analog side.

 

Room acoustics haven't changed. 

 

I've tried the following so far - no difference:

Removal the UPtone regen

Reboot PC that's dedicated to running the JPLAY software and JCAT USB card

change DACLINK from 1000 to 700

Changed to less toe in on the speakers

 

 

Other thoughts?

[Rob]

Hi, this could difficult to track down as there are many possible reasons it, it could be EMI or RFI so let start there, have you bought any new electrical or electronics lately. Is it now sounding like that all the time. If it’s not radiated noise I would start eliminating parts of the audio chain, try an analogue input to the amp, a digital input to the DAC, try a different usb cable, and see what happens.

regards Rob.

[Ian D]

Will look to check and move power cables away or further away from interconnect cables. Speaker cables are already isolated.
Only location where this happens is by the amplifiers which are stacked.
Thanks Rob and I’ll report back.

[Ian D]

One other possibility is I moved my WiFi access point above the equipment which maybe interfering with the electronics an and cables. I’ll turn off and see what happens.

[Rob]

Hi has your wifi access point got a switching power supply, a good linear power supply for it would make a difference.

[Ian D]

Hi Rob,

Its powered by POE - from the switch in the same location as the AP. The switch is powered by a switching power supply and has been in this location for months - with no issue on the sound. I think its AP location/position, which I changed to improve WIFI reception in that location.  

[Rob]

Hi, have a think about using a linear power supply for the switch. I use a very basic single band router in AP mode which is only connected to the internet for maintenance, I used a linear power supply for years on it and there was a noticeable increase in SQ, then I built a new lower noise unit which sounded even better, power supplies are very important to the final sound.

Regards Rob.

[Marcin_gps]

Folks - what possible causes can there be for a harsh sound when playing male or female vocals (think of Adele) most noticeable at higher decibel levels.

I hadn't heard anything before like this and nothing has changed in my system. 

 

PC->JCAT USB card (LPS powering the card) -> Purist audio design 35th anniversary cable - > Uptone regen -> MSB Discrete DAC - > Jeff Rowland pre amp and amplifiers (class D in Mono)->Magico speakers and Cardas throughout on the analog side.

 

Room acoustics haven't changed. 

 

I've tried the following so far - no difference:

Removal the UPtone regen

Reboot PC that's dedicated to running the JPLAY software and JCAT USB card

change DACLINK from 1000 to 700

Changed to less toe in on the speakers

 

 

Other thoughts?

It could be a minor change in the software or different arrangement of cables. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin