For all MSB digital gear
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@Michael will be very curious on what you think of the discrete when it comes in lol
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Going to be curious myself. Vincent specifically said that other customers were comparing the unity to the MSB Select while I was talking to him. Kind of taking that with some salt, lol. I could see that being the case with the Sublime though.
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I mean, they can compare it sure, but that doesnāt mean it compares well lol. While Iāve only had brief (but multiple demos in multiple systems) of a select, the unity isnāt even close lol (from my demo of one again though lol), but I havenāt had side by side in the same system so I donno lol. I already thought the twelve with drivers and a proper digital frontend was somewhat kind of in line with the select in some aspects, still thought the select was ahead, but it wasnāt so far ahead to justify the cost in my setup, but again that would be from memory and not side by side so would really need both in to see. I was honestly just going to bite the bullet with a select ii at the end, but got a good deal on the twelve and already really liked the direct, so it made more sense to go that route lol. Iām sure with my current speaker setup (when I get it back) the differences between the select and twelve system would be night and day, but honestly Iād just rather upgrade to a sublime and call it a day, donāt really want to go through the hassle of getting a select in house (and better for my wallet that way lol)
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Solid reasoning that should never be underestimated, lol.
On the Discrete though, part of me wants to ask what I should expect to hear from it, but part of me also wants to go in blind, lol. I would like to know what kind of warm up time Iām going to looking at, if you have any idea.
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You already have it coming in so just listen and see what you think lol. Warm up iirc Iāve seen people say is around a day or two for full warm up, although apparently 6-8 or so hours itās basically mostly ready to go, although thatās for the select, donāt know if that changes for the lower end models
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I will probably get it hooked up, turned on, and leave it playing overnight the first night then.
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Got it in. Should have done a touch more research, lol. Thereās no USB. So at the moment Iām stuck with TOSLink optical until I can get a USB to AES in.
Also have to update the Firmware, charge the remote(?, it isnāt working and has a micro-B port so I assume it needs to be charged), and just figure out this things quirks in general.
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Leaving things on and playing overnight did wonders for the Discrete. I have it a short listen before I went to bed last night, and it sounded awful. Far worse than the d1-unity did when I first got it with zero burnāin. Still havenāt had a chance to sit down and have a good listen yet, but the ~30 minutes I spent with it this morning tell me that Iām going to like it.
There is still something in the back of my mind that says the Discrete is lacking in comparison to the unity. Not sure what it is yet, just wanted to get it down in writing.
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If you are looking to add USB I can recommend the ProUsb/Iesl interface
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If I were going to keep it long term, then I would probably go that route. But when Iāve gotten the use out of it that I needed it for, Iām going to be moving it along.
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Not to sound negative, would you say the MSB experience has been a bust? Trying to get a sense if these DACs are so unique that they require they be perfectly matched to the rest of the MSB line up to be their best.
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Experience wise, for me, Iād say it evens out overall. Sound is really good, once you get the menu figured out changing volume/brightness/etc is easy, looks nice on my desk.
However, it only has XLR outs which would kill it being a keeper on its own for me, but MSB still hasnāt responded to my email where I asked them a couple of questions and inquired about a USB module, there is something about my particular setup that prevents me from running TOSLink from the Douk U2 Pro to the Discrete and using Roon. Donāt have that issue with the unity. Iāve got an SU-6 and an AES cable on the way, so hopefully that wonāt be an issue much longer though.
I do like it. Not more than the d1-unity, mind you. Even if it had both XLR and RCA outs Iād still be moving it along once Iāve gotten my use out of it, simply because I like the unity more. But if you are worried about them being overly picky? I havenāt gotten that sense from it. It strikes me as a really good āreferenceā DAC. Probably not worth the MSRP, given itās competition, but if you can get one used and donāt mind the single set of outputs? I think I can give them a rec.
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Do you plan on doing a writeup comparison between the discrete and unity at all?
I will before I let go of it. As it stands right now itās extremely unfair in the unityās favor, what with it being able to connect to the UltraRendu and the Discrete being limited to Toslink from the PC. Like I said above, Iāve got an SU-6 coming, along with a Tara Labs RSC Prime M AES so I can get a proper apples to apples of them.
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Got the SU-6 in. Donāt have the Tara Labs AES, so I got a Worldās Best AES in just to have something so I could start doing some comparing.
My initial impression, which I reserve the right to change, is that the d1-unity is a pretty clear step or two above the Discrete in almost every way. The only thing that has stood out being in the Discreteās favor is that it separates things more clearly.
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Just posted a review of the Premier DAC in case someone is interested:
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Does it include a pre or is that knob solely for menu selection? I didnāt see you mention anything but maybe I missed it.
Also, looks like good article material to me, just sayin!
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Thanks! The knob is for menu selection only it doesnāt include a pre. But Iāve tried with and without and i really donāt miss a pre 
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Ok same review uploaded on the title page of SA!
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