Specifications

Upsampling, Interpolation and filtering
The MSB Platinum grants the user the ability to upsample from ANY lower
audio standard to 24bit/130.2kHz (just under 3 times the CD rate). This is a
selectable feature and may be turned off. To play a 24/192 disc the Platinum
only needs an input option installed to be fully compatible. This upsampling
feature also dynamically buffers and re-clocks all the data and clock signals to
provide a virtually jitter-free source directly to the DACs. Interpolation is also
selectable, with 16X or 8X being possible.
The selectable digital filter response permits the user to choose the filter design
they prefer. It allows for the selection of a standard brick-wall filter or a slow
roll-off filter, both at half the sampling frequency. Each provides the listener with
a distinct, glorious listening experience. You may favor one or the other, or enjoy
changing the filter response to suit the music you listen to. Music with less high
frequencies may benefit from the slow roll-off filter.
Front Panel Controls
Frequency Display – The actual sampling frequency of the incoming signal is
displayed. This is not the normal display of the frequency reported by the
decoder, which, for example, would always read 44.1 kHz even if the trans-
port was playing at 44.3 kHz. The MSB frequency counter displays actual
frequency so don’t be surprised if some lower cost DVD transports fail to
produce an accurate playback speed.
Upsample On – The incoming data is resampled at 130.2 kHz. This is three
times the CD rate. This is a true upsampling, not a parallel scheme as some
DACs do. The feature can be turned on or off, but the jitter reduction inherent
in this process remains on in either case.
Option – This button toggles between the
4 sets of input channels of the MSB Net-
work in the future but is not currently acti-
vated.
Input Select – Each of the five inputs can
be selected manually, or the auto mode can
be selected. The auto mode is an auto-
matic priority switching with auto signal
detection. In either case, active sources
light up the input LED at half brightness,
and the selected source at full brightness. The CAT5 MSB Network input always takes priority regardless of input
settings.
16X Interpolation - Interpolation is like oversampling. You may select either 8X or 16X. This option works with
upsampling on or off. Interpolation is a function of the digital filter. It is the number of data points created between each
actual data sample. There are no simple explanations, but in general terms, the higher the sampling frequency, the more
artifacts, such as the image frequency, are pushed up beyond the audio range. With this effect comes some detrimental
artifacts as well. The trade-off in performance depends on your system, hearing and taste in music. As a rule-of-thumb,
16X is more appropriate for low sampling rate sources and 8X would be better for 96K or 192K sources.
Filter On - This feature adjusts the slope of the digital filter. This feature is very much related to the interpolation feature
above. The Platinum defaults to the gentle filter slope. In this case some of the image frequencies can be reflected into the
audible range, but the negative energy spread effect of filters is minimized. This setting is best for higher sampling rate
sources such as 96K or 192K. For low sampling rate sources the brick-wall filter may be desirable as image frequencies
are more likely to affect the sound. Again, these rules-of-thumb can be dramatically affected by your personal taste.
Phase Invert - This feature allows improperly recorded material to be corrected. The phase of the outputs is inverted
digitally.
SIGN WAV E (0DB, 19.95 KHZ TEST TONE
SCOPE SETTINGS 2 V/DIV, 10USEC/DIV)
INTERPOLATION
ON
UPSAMPLING
ON
INTERPOLATION
AND
UPSAMPLING
ON
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