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MSB Technology Platinum Data CD IV transport & Diamond DAC IV & D/A converter Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Platinum Data CD IV disc transport: Compatible with CD, WAV files (16–32 bits, sample rates up to 384kHz) on DVD-R. Outputs: Coaxial, TosLink, AES/EBU, MSB Network (384kHz). Output jitter: 2ps. Power-supply requirement: 12V DC.
Dimensions: 17.7" (450mm) W by 2.75" (70mm) H by 15.4" (390mm) D, DAC IV and Power Base each. Weights: 9.5 lbs (4.3kg), Data CD IV; 18 lbs (8.2kg), Power Base.
Serial number of unit reviewed: CD198321.
Price: $3995; Signature Transport Power Base adds $3495. Price as reviewed: $7490.

Diamond DAC IV: Solid-state,…

MSB Technology Platinum Data CD IV transport & Diamond DAC IV & D/A converter Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD) running OS 10.6.7, iTunes 10.6, Sonic Studio Amarra 2.3, Songbird 1.9.3, XLD; Western Digital NAS Device (2TB); Oppo BDP-83 universal Blu-ray player; Meridian (formerly Sooloos) Digital Media System (Control 15, 3 TwinStores); Apple iPad 2, 3; Apple iPod Touch 1G; Ayre Acoustics QB9, Benchmark DAC1 USB, dCS Debussy digital processors.
Preamplifier: Marantz AV7005 (Pure Direct mode).
Power Amplifier: Classé CAM 350 monoblocks (2).
Loudspeakers: MartinLogan…

MSB Technology Platinum Data CD IV transport & Diamond DAC IV & D/A converter Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I used Stereophile's loan sample of the top-of-the-line Audio Precision SYS2722 system (see www.ap.com and the January 2008 "As We See It") to measure the MSB Diamond DAC IV; for some tests, I also used my vintage Audio Precision System One Dual Domain.

The MSB combination offers a bewildering number of playback options, with three different flavors of digital data input (USB, AES/EBU and S/PDIF, and MSB Network), four reconstruction filters, two choices of upsampling, and both balanced and unbalanced outputs. I started my testing, therefore, with the more…

RMAF: Everyone's Favorite Show Opens on Friday

There is no need for Denver's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest to toot its own horn. The three-day affair, which opens at noon on Friday, October 12 in the Denver Marriott Tech Center, promises no less than 431 exhibitors; 174 exhibitor rooms, including 24 large ones (same since 2009): 41 miscellaneous vendors; 35 CANJAM vendors; and an impressive number of show debuts (see below).

The largest US high-end audio show open to the public is also, despite its size and occasionally snow-encrusted environs, the warmest and friendliest audiophile show in the country. For this we owe thanks to Marjorie…

Fine Sounds to Acquire McIntosh

Breaking news this morning is the announcement that the Italian Investment Group Fine Sounds SpA is to acquire 100% of famed US tube-amplifier manufacturer McIntosh Laboratory from D&M Holdings. Fine Sounds already owns the Sonus Faber, Audio Research, and Wadia Digital brands and the Sumiko distribution company.

From the press release: Fine Sounds and McIntosh believe the acquisition will deliver important benefits to McIntosh’s customers, sales partners and employees by providing opportunities for building on Fine Sounds Group’s product development capabilities, distribution…

Dave Douglas, <I>Be Still</I>

Dave Douglas' Be Still (on the trumpeter's own Greenleaf Music label) is his most sheer-gorgeous album since the 1998 Charms of the Night Sky and one of the best-sounding new recordings that I've heard by anybody in quite a while. And it's available on LP as well as CD (more about which, later).

It marks a new (perhaps one-time) direction for Douglas, sporting a new (I hope longer-lasting) quintet, with the added novelty (I'm pretty sure it's a first in his 20 years as a leader) of a vocalist, the folklorist Aoife O'Donovan, who sings with a strong, breezy freshness.

It's an album…

Video: Hauschka’s “Radar”

Stephen Price, Editor at Stash Media (“the world’s largest library of animation, VFX, and motion design”), directed me to this video for Hauschka’s “Radar,” the lead track from the excellent Salon des Amateurs.

Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) plays prepared piano and composes staggered, looping dance rhythms; TwoFace (Patrick Williams) dances. The video, shot at Spiegelsaal in Clärchens Ballhaus, Berlin, was directed by Jeff Desom, with cinematography by Jean-Louis Schuller and choreography by Nadia Espiritu and Paddy Williams.

Salon des Amateurs is available from Fat Cat…

Swans and Odds and Ends (updated)

It’s been an unusually stressful couple of months here at Stereophile, thanks in large part to a succession of unusually demanding endeavors. Preparing our October issue was difficult for the usual reason (“Recommended Components”) and our November issue was particularly exciting for me, as it includes my first full-length review (VPI Traveler turntable), but nothing could prepare us for the intensity that came with producing, in a single month, both our December issue and our annual special issue.

Really, one issue per month is enough fun; two is cruel and unusual. In previous years, we…

Tannoy Mercury V1 loudspeaker

The last few decades have seen dramatic improvements in the art (and science) of loudspeaker design. Tannoy's budget-priced Mercury series is now in its fifth iteration. The two-way, front-ported Mercury V1 ($320/pair) measures 11.8" high by 6.7" wide by 10" deep and weighs 9.9 lbs. My samples came in a very handsome Dark Walnut finish (Sugar Maple is available) with simple black cloth grilles. I left the grilles off to reveal the speakers' attractive front baffles and accentuate their equally attractive high frequencies (more on the latter later).

The Mercury V1's fit and finish were…

Tannoy Mercury V1 loudspeaker Mejias Returns

Stephen Mejias returned to the Mercury V1 in October 2012 (Vol.35 No.10):

The Tannoy Mercury V1 loudspeakers ($320/pair) were already carefully packed in their box, pushed into a corner of my messy kitchen, ready to go to John Atkinson for a Follow-Up—but I couldn't stop thinking about them. Their delicate, graceful highs and tight, properly balanced bass had entranced me, and, now, as I listened over and over to a recent reissue of Bill Dixon's amazing Intents and Purposes (CD, International Phonograph LSP-3844), I felt a strange urge to unpack the Tannoys and return them to my…