Gullman brothers' MSB is one of those manufacturers whose name is often heard but not what we would call "famous". Being already 36 years old, after its founding in 1986, the company from Silicon Valley has been very seriously involved in digital audio for a long time. And when we say "very seriously", we mean at the level of basic technologies and not at the level of, well… just good impressions.
Apart from digital, MSB's list of products also includes a respectable number of amplifiers, both power amps, and headphone amps, in practice, a full range of products (except loudspeakers), as the company's digital sources can be used as preamplifiers, with the ability to include analog input stages in the Reference and Select series.
This last comment should not go unnoticed. One of the key factors in the architecture of MSB sources is the possibility of upgrading and expanding each device by the use of plug-in modules. This logic allows the user to adapt the device to their needs, when purchasing, and when these needs change, add the suitable module.
Of course, this is not the basic feature of MSB digital machines. What makes them stand out and place the company in an enviably small club, is the use of custom circuits to manage the digital signal and convert it to analog. These circuits are based on discrete components (they are not included, that is, special integrated circuits for digital signal processing) and are based on one of the classics, basic, D/A topologies, the Ladder DAC.
Having said that, the MSB DAC series is not very large. It includes four models whose essential differences are found in the level and number of the DAC modules they use, as well as in their clocking circuit, with the secondary (but not insignificant) differences being found in both connectivity and the (always) external power supply.
“The Discrete” is the smallest model in this series, an introduction to the company's ideas, a product based on the same architecture as its larger brothers, but more affordable.
Here are the details…

Dimitris Stamatakos

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Original Publilcation: 01/02/2022	Last Follow Up: 01/02/2022	Original Language: Greek (Translated)

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