Owner`s manual

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DACs in a variety of price ranges. A stock MSB Link DAC ($399) and Bel Canto DAC-1
($1,295) were compared to the P-3A in my own system, while the Theta DS ProGenV
($5,600) was the competition in the listening context of a friend’s excellent system. These
weren’t always apples-to-apples comparisons, but they were the best I could do. The Bel
Canto, for example, upsamples to 24 bits/96 kHz, while the P-3A performs only 96 kHz
upsampling by itself (you need the P-1A to get the 24 bit interpolation). The MSB Link
neither interpolates nor upsamples. That said, the comparisons are still valid in the sense
that the DACs all sounded subjectively different, which I will report, and with any component,
what matters most is how it sounds in your own system.
Here’s the signal path of the reference system used for this review, from start to finish:
G&D Transforms Reference One CD transport (Nordost El Dorado power cord)
DH Labs D-75 BNC-to-RCA coaxial digital cable
Monarchy DIP outboard jitter attenuator (Harmonic Technology Pro-AC11 power cord)
Nordost Silver Shadow RCA-to-RCA coaxial digital cable
DAC (typically the TG Audio HSR power cord)
Analysis Plus Silver Oval-In interconnect
Monolithic Sound PA-1 Linestage (HC-2 power supply with TG Audio HSR power
cord)
Analysis Plus Silver Oval-In interconnect
Wright Sound Labs WPA 3.5 monoblock power amps
Analysis Plus Silver Oval speaker cable
Silverline Audio SR-15 speakers
Head-to-head, the P-3A easily bettered the stock MSB Link DAC in every parameter. The
stock MSB Link is exciting to listen to, a commendable performer and an unquestionably
strong value, but also it’s a bit rough around the edges. Things that jumped out at me in the
comparison were that the P-3A’s highs were more present and natural by some margin,
while vocals were rendered with truer timbre and wholeness. My listening notes were
peppered with the word “coherence” – I was struck by how well the P-3A did it and how the
stock MSB Link rather lacked it. This comparison emphasized to me that the P-3A won’t
find much competition near or below its price point – you must aim higher.
NOTE: I’m referring to the MSB Link in this comparison as “stock” because I’ve
recently had my MSB Link DAC extensively upgraded by Dan Wright, who lives in
Portland, Oregon, for a very reasonable cost. Review deadlines prohibit a
comparison between the P-3A and the modified MSB Link, but I’ll get to that in the
future, I promise.
Moving up the price scale, another worthy competitor to the P-3A is the acclaimed $1,295
Bel Canto DAC-1, which features 24/96 upsampling and a slow roll-off 48 kHz filter. Things
get interesting here as the DAC-1 is a tremendous performer in its own right (a full review of
the DAC-1 will follow in these pages shortly). The Bel Canto DAC-1 is very musical and
easy to listen to. It struck me as being somewhat more “beautiful” than the P-3A alone, with