MSB vs dCS Bartok

@rhmmmm

What do you mean here? The Premier takes the same digital input modules as the Reference, Select and even the entry level Discrete. Including the latest Ethernet Renderer V2. I have a Premier and I have the Ethernet Renderer in it and it works great with Roon.

you need a Roon core + Roon end point.

an MSB dac cannot work as a Roon core to my knowledge. the Core is where the music is managed. typically you would have a (1) laptop, (2) dedicated server, or (3) a NAS with it’s CPU used as the core.

i used my MSB Select II with the Renderer v2 as the Roon end point, but still used a dedicated server for the Roon core.

if you somehow used only your MSB Premier as the Roon Core + End point then where were your files, and what did your remote communicate with to change music selections? those functions are related to the Roon Core.

a fundamental difference between the MSB approach and the dCS approach is bit perfect verses up-sampling. my opinion is that bit perfect is the way things are going and that it allows you to get the best possible performance from the recording’s native resolution. of course, it’s not really quite that simple......but to my ears it does make a fundamental difference (less digital signature) and has musical consequences.

the MSB Premier, as far as i know, cannot do streaming by itself. but i do believe it can be spec'd with a high quality volume control. you will need a CPU of some sort as a Roon end point. but honestly i’ve not done any extensive MSB listening beyond the Select II in my own system.

i would recommend trying to demo both units. if you ever get to the Seattle are you are welcome to demo my MSB for whatever that is worth. i love my Select II.

i hope that helps.