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A DAC for the Select few

MSB-SelectDiamond

MSB Technology is making a long held hi-fi lover’s dream into reality with the Diamond DAC IV Select converter. Rather than making the best DAC that they can and putting it on sale as a finished product the Select DAC comes with 10 years of upgrades as part of the package. The upgrades that MSB develops in the first year are free, the remainder will be charged at the difference between the original price and that of the latest version.

Larry Gullman at MSB is a passionate digital audio engineer and he’s always coming up with new ideas to improve products, but these usually have to wait for the next iteration of that product to be released. With Select the upgrades will be available immediately and require little in the way of hardware changes – the chassis remains the same, the electronics and/or software are upgraded. It means that end users can stay up to date with the latest technologies without having to buy and sell hardware.

Select started out as the Diamond DAC IV Plus and Power Base in the new stealth styling that applies to the range but has gone through one update since its post CES launch. MSB have decided not to tell the world what these changes are in order to stop others copying them, a distinct change of approach to the full disclosure of yore.

Such long term future proofing comes at a price, in the US the Select is $75,000 while in the UK it’s £63,000, twice what you pay for the Diamond DAC IV Plus and Power Base, but it does include all the optional extras available for that model. All optional extras are included in the Select price, as are things like alternative finishes, extra inputs etc. A DAC for the well heeled digiphile then but the short exposure enjoyed at ear towers suggests that it’s at the forefront of what can be achieved with digital audio, and that’s an understatement.
UK Distribution is via Hi-Fi Traders.

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