Specifications
46 Bit, 384 kHz ladder DAC with 130 dB Signal-to-Noise and Upsampling!
MSB’s Platinum DAC is the expression of an entirely fresh approach to Digital-to-Analog conversion. The perspective the
industry has adopted concerning DACs has been revisited… and blown away! Here is an explanation of what you have to
look forward to:
Unique Technology - the past and the future
Over 10 years ago early DACs were all 16 bit ladder DACs, with a precision laser-trimmed resistor creating the appropriate
analog level for each of the bits. The DACs worked well and sounded good. They were quite expensive as very accurate
resistors were required. Then along came the “single bit” DACs. Rather than using a resistor to create an analog level,
pulse width modulation was used. Basically each bit was created by turning a switch on and off for the appropriate length
of time. The resulting square wave pattern is filtered to create a smooth output. The expensive resistors were gone, and so
was the good performance. Next came the Delta Sigma DAC. It used the same pulse width modulation but rather than
creating a single large pulse for each data point, the data point was created with many small pulses. This allows the pulses
to be smoothed with a less radical filter, and improves the sound. As you can see, upsampling the input signal to a higher
frequency reduces the filtering requirements and thus improves the sound. This is the current state-of-the-art as exemplified
in the LINK DAC III with the upsampling option.
The Platinum draws from the older, superior ladder technology, but
with incredible improvements. The Platinum contains four 46 bit
MSB DAC modules (seen below). The Platinum is fully balanced
so there is a matched pair of 46 bit DAC modules for the inverted
and non-inverted signals on each of the right and left channels. Finally,
each DAC module contains one R2R ladder DAC with a 23 bit
negative sign and one R2R ladder DAC with a 23 bit positive sign.
This design allows the quieter moments in your music to be true to
the music, without the linearity errors near zero that plague normal
ladder and delta-sigma DAC designs. With 46 bits of combined
resolution, a 24 bit source gives a true 24 bit resolution without the
losses and errors that make your normal 16 or 24 bit DAC perform
far less than their actual resolution (normal 16 bit DACs only muster a meager 12 bits of resolution). The Platinum is
carefully designed so as to require no DC correction in the output stage. This allows direct DC coupling on the output stage
for pure, uncolored sound -- with no output filtering to muck up your high end or smear your bass attack. And for those
who require a balanced analog output, the separate positive and negative DACs directly drive the balanced outputs, with
no analog output stage at all!
Another major difference in the Platinum is the type of output.
Essentially all ladder DACs produce a current output. This is
converted to a voltage output with a current to voltage converter.
This problematic circuit colors the sound and introduces non-
linearity. The Platinum is a true voltage DAC with a voltage output
right from the source. All amplifiers have slew rates greater than
1000 Volts/microsecond. The output impedance of the Platinum
is 75 ohms. A special directional cable with 75 ohm termination
is available. This allows a matched impedance load independent
of the impedance of the volume control.
Front Panel Features
The MSB Platinum has 6 control buttons on the front panel and a frequency display. The buttons toggle on and off. When
on, the LED next to the button is lit.
Right Channel
23 bit positive sign DAC
23 bit negative sign DAC
23 bit positive sign DAC
23 bit negative sign DAC
MSB DAC Module (Non-inverted signal)
Coaxial Out
Balanced Out
MSB DAC Module (Inverted signal)
BLOCK DIAGRAM
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