Peter Bomberg

Thank you @MarkusBarkus, I was contemplating the Reference with the DD, but the small price delta convinced me to look at the Cascade instead. I will be auditioning the options on the 23rd of Aug (sadly not in my listening environment). And yes the upgrade program took a serious nosedive and even worse if I read between the lines properly MSB has essentially created 2 product lines which are not 100% interchangeable Cascade will only be compatible with the Sentinel, other than the standardized input modules.

For all of you that have this DAC, have you tried it with the reference director and what are your thoughts?

Has anyone had a chance to compare the MSB M205 to the MSB S202 in person? And for all of you that have either of the above maps, how hod do they run assuming 75db listening volume?

Sounds like you guys use the same approach I do, keep packaging if it's needed for protection otherwise, nah. Now the catch is I sadly think my next purchase will come with the need to rent storage as the flight cases for the speakers are 30” x 23” x 60” each and I don't see fitting them anywhere in my house.

I agree on delicate items like the DAC or AMP but do people care about packaging for interconnects? I likely will have to pay for storage for the vary large flight cases the speakers come in so this might be irrelevant but our garage is full of empty boxes.

If you were buying high end cables (Audioquest Thunderbird or Crystal Cable Reference) would you want the original packaging? Same for MSB amplifier and so on? They take a lot of room so I need to ask your thoughts.

@Allan F Because I never thought of it, thank you. email sent

Has anyone used it and what are your thoughts?

I don't want to stress or kink the speaker wire but I have to make 2 90degree turns with the right speaker wire. So my question for all of you that have the ThunderBird ZERO cable roughly what is the radius to make a 90 degree turn? Also what is the diameter of the cable? I know they are not normally the highest priority, but it's a tradeoff esthetics vs ....

The web page states: Limitations: -Offers no software control of the DAC from the source (Volume, etc…) I take it this means any streamer connected using this interface effectively has a fixed volume and the DAC must be used to control the volume? I am really hoping I am wrong as this means using the remote or physically going to the DAC, which considering how we plan to use the system is an issue. Can I ask somebody that has either the MSB ProUSB Input or the regular MSB USB Inputs connected to a streamer if they can adjust the volume on the streamer (ie Tidal or Spotify App or the streamer itself) or is it fixed volume?

thanks @Shawn Flee, I have reached out, but until I hear back what a couple other MSB owners have said it yes it works flawlessly form the app, but not automatically (it doesn't cause a trigger event meaning the Amp won'r go into standby). So the simple answer is everything stays powered on.

So far the NAD M50.2 seems to have the options I am looking for but does anyone know of another option?

My NAD M33 wakes up when it detects a signal and goes to sleep (ie enters standby mode) automatically after 15 of inactivity (button press or lack of signal) does the Aurender have this capability? If the answer is yes does it trigger the 12v via the TD100 so the rest of the system can wake up and go to sleep?

If there is no way to automatically wake up the MSB DAC and likewise automatically turn it off, then I will likely have to put a Network Streamer in front of it. That triggers the system to wake up (out of standby) and go to sleep (into standby) So please give me recommendations for a source to drive the MSB Premiere DAC (I am hoping to use the MSB Renderer v2 but so far I can't figure out how to auto start/stop the system and leaving it on 7/24 isn't an option and my wife does NOT like the idea of manually turning it on and off as she knows I will forget. The Aurender N20 with the TD100 has a 12v trigger capability but I don't know about the standby aspects, So please give me your thoughts what front end would you recommend?

I am looking at the MSB DAC/Director combination, I know they have a 12v trigger capability, but what I can't find any reference to is do they have an auto start/power capability? My M33 wakes up when it receives a a signal (i.e. I start streaming). Do the MSB products support this?