Higher End DACs

Playback Design Merlot Dac & Streamer is top.

Even if money is no object, i will still stick to the Playback Design.

When i sold off my MSB DAC, I then went off to Total DAC and then Lampi. Both of these dacs are very fine too and not much to complain about. I did have Noise issues with the Lampi which drove me nuts. The Total DAC was another good contender.

MSB to my Ears is a very fine DAC. It gets silly expensive as you go up the line and the difference in quality becomes smaller and smaller.

Overall--Im so settled now with the Dream DAC that i care not about any new Tech or DACs that hit the market. I just can’t seem to part ways with this sonic signature anymore. This is what I was always been looking for in a  DAC, which can allow me to listen to music without always feeling something was lacking or fatigue putting me to a stop. I have an Ultra Revealing setup. I am always lost in the music and always seem to lose track of time. I could never say the same about the other dacs I previously owned. 

To me, this is one of the most Underrated Hardware in Digital at the moment. Playback Design doesn’t seem to pump much money into marketing. IF they did, it would have a higher commanding price, and I am sure it will win more hearts and mind. To some point, I’m glad they have kept the price to more real-world affordability.

 gone are those days where you need 80-120K to justify a Digital Playback System.

Digital Source is getting better and better,

Playback Design is the only DAC on the planet to my knowledge that uses Proprietary PLink Connector from Streamer to DAC (Fiber Optic) 

Here is a Snippet from the following Review: https://darko.audio/2018/07/playback-designs-mpd-8-dream-dac-review/

How does the MPD-8 process files?

“All digital input signals (including DSD64) are converted to DSD128 with our proprietary frequency and time domain algorithms that also includes an apodizing filter. DSD256 is processed separately. Before the DSD128 or processed DSD256 signals are converted to analog, we use another proprietary and new algorithm to convert the signal to a different format with a bit rate of 2048 (16 times DSD128).”

Why do you prefer DSD processing in your DAC designs?

“Because DSD is single bit it inherently avoids all non-linearity distortions that multibit converters have. Most of the challenges in a single bit converter are on the digital side where you can use virtually unlimited, programmable and mostly very predictable resources to tackle the job. The signal in our converters right before the actual conversion to analog is so close to being analog already, that the conversion is no challenge at all with no exotic components. That makes the system performance very consistent and predictable. Exactly the reason why SACD was launched 20 years ago

I sold my 80K MSB DAC to someone in the USA Few Years Back this is when i was in Jakarta Indonesia., I can’t remember who....It was the top of the line dac with upgrades from the factory. Obviously, it was sold for much less and incurred a heavy loss.

I moved on to Playback Design And have their Dream DAC and i can say for sure i love this dac more than the MSB DAC I had at that time fully loaded for 80K USD.

The Playback Design Dream DAC just sounded more Musical and less Fatiguing over a 5-6 hour session. 20 years now buying and selling DACs, I can honestly Say The Dream DAC from Playback Design has been the only DAC that has actually make me lose track of time constantly when playing music. There is no doubt about this no level of fatigue, an emotionally involving session where time is lost.

MSB to my ear is better than DCS for sure.

DCS may give people the statue edge and the wow factor, but i have found them to be over clinical and cold.

Asian buyers love the prestige of owning a DCS DAC. Their feel it provides an extension to their Di*k

When it comes to Real Musical playback from a Digital Playback System I rate it as the following:

Playback Design Dream DAC
MSB Select 2
Lampizator GG-2
Total DAC