ЦАПы — Msb Technology The Premier DAC

The Premier DAC is a DAC made by MSB Technology, a California company that designs its converters around its own discrete ladder modules. It was announced in January 2018 together with the Discrete DAC and sits above that model, using twice as many conversion modules and offering more input slots. It shares the standard MSB chassis footprint of 51 by 305 by 445 mm.

Key specs that matter

Four Prime DAC modules do the conversion in a true balanced discrete ladder architecture. PCM is accepted from 44.1 kHz up to 3,072 kHz at up to 32 bits, and DSD at single, double, quadruple and eight times rate, with DSD over DoP accepted on every input. The analogue output is on XLR with a maximum level of 3.57 V rms and an output impedance of 150 ohm, galvanically isolated and without an output buffer. Volume is adjusted in 1 dB steps over a range of 0 to 106 dB.

Engineering and use context

The input side is modular - three isolated slots accept optional input modules, and a fourth slot takes the clock. A module with Toslink, coaxial and word sync connections comes as standard. Other options named by MSB include a Pro USB input with complete electrical isolation, handling up to 24 bit and 768 kHz as well as 8x DSD, a network Renderer handling up to 32 bit and 768 kHz and 4x DSD, a Pro ISL input and universal I2S support. Each unit ships with the Femto 93 clock, a thermally stabilised discrete crystal oscillator of custom design. The volume control is a hybrid of analogue and digital techniques developed by MSB. A 14 character discrete LED display with 560 pixels is slaved to the audio clock, and the supplied remote has stainless steel buttons in a billet aluminium body. An RCA analogue output module is available as an alternative to the balanced output.

Pairing

Power comes in through two dual-link inputs from an outboard supply, and MSB offers the Premier Powerbase with four isolated supplies and two low-noise shielded transformers as an upgrade. With its internal volume control and balanced output, a power amplifier can be fed straight from the Premier with no preamplifier in between, and its maximum output level suits amplifiers that expect a normal balanced line level. A Renderer module lets it play network streams without a separate streamer.

Alternatives

MSB's Discrete DAC is the smaller sibling with two Prime DAC modules, two input slots and a 300 ohm output impedance.