MSB Gold dac Question???

The MSB Gold contains an operational glitch which could be your problem. I've since sold mine, but when I had a Gold it used to sometimes either turn on, or when you switched the upsampling in, with the frequency reponse quite curtailed, very noticeable. A call to MSB confirmed the problem is intrinsic to one of the chips used within, and is not indicative of a malfunctioning unit. When this happens, try momentarily unplugging the power cord on the Gold and then plugging it back in - this will almost always result in proper signal processing being restored. Just make sure your preamp is turned down before doing this.

There is no switch on the MSB DAC for power. If you are talking about the switch in the back that is for turning upsampling on and off. The blue light is for power. With the upsampling off you should see the blue light and the 44.1 light assuming your using a standard cd. When you turn upsampling on you will see the 44.1 light go off and the 96 light come on. If no lights come on but you hear sound when upsampling is on then the upsampling must be set to 132 and there is no light for that frequency, and that is ok.

The source and sample frequency led's should light up when the MSB recieves a signal. Try powering the Proceed off then back on. Also, you should have only one cable coming off the Proceed (digital out) to the (digital in) on the MSB then two cables from the MSB to your preamp.

Not being an MSB owner I can't tell you what the other led's are for, but if you're hearing music you have it hooked up correctly and have the right input selected. That should mean the dac is sounding essentially as it should. The other led's probably indicate some sort of status, i.e. upsampling, hdcd, de-emphasis, etc. Some of these should make a difference in sound quality, but you should consult you owners manual and other MSB owners out here and at AA. Good luck!

I have a proceed cdd transport going into the msb dac. The blue light is always on for the dac but the other lights on the dac are not until I turn the switch on it the back. and it sounds the same with the switch off or on should you notice a difference?

How are you getting any sound at all if the dac is off? Are you using a CDP as a transport? Please describe how you're system is configured, perhaps it's not even in the chain.