Located in Watsonville CA, USA | 2024 – The Cascade DAC represents a firm commitment to perfecting craftsmanship, enabled by our passion for in-house design and vertically integrated production. This marks the dawn of a new epoch—one founded on dual pillars of innovation and expertise. The journey began with a complete reimagining of the foundational principles of established DAC architectures. A critical element in the success of the Cascade DAC has been the division of the conversion process into three distinct chassis and functions. Primarily, all processing, sources, and interfaces that are essential but prone to electrical noise have been consolidated in the Cascade Digital Director. Subsequently, all vital low-noise analog electronics have been accommodated in the Cascade Analog Converter. Lastly, all analog power supplies have been relocated to the dedicated Cascade Powerbase. This optimal component demarcation facilitates sublime analog playback in almost any system and listening milieu. Let’s delve deeper into these foundational elements to uncover the cutting-edge technologies at play.

The Digital Director

The Digital Director serves as the central hub of the Cascade system, overseeing all digital processes. It functions as an intermediary between digital players, transports, renderers, servers, computers, and the analog domain. With advanced new algorithms for accurate reproduction, it can identify, configure, and process nearly any digital format. Equipped with a low-noise linear power supply, elegant user controls, and a high-visibility discrete LED display, the Digital Director also supports user-installable digital input modules. It transmits a conversion-ready signal over the fully isolated optical Cascade-Link to the Cascade Analog Converter, ensuring that analog processes remain untainted by digital interference.

The Cascade-Link

In a digital environment laden with modern technologies like servers, WiFi networks, and LED fixtures, creating accurate and low-noise analog signals poses a significant challenge. MSB has internally developed several unique technologies to facilitate precise analog performances in any music playback setup. Among these crucial and exclusive technologies lies the Cascade-Link. Utilizing contemporary diode laser fiber optics, the Cascade-Link acts as a noise-free, high-bandwidth data transfer channel tailored to meet the voracious data appetite of the Hybrid DAC MKII in the Analog Converter. This data channel ensures the delivery of raw, uncompressed data directly to the converter modules, enabling the Cascade DAC to deliver unparalleled levels of analog purity, regardless of its operational environment. This breakthrough technology represents a pioneering effort that is poised to redefine the design of digital and analog systems in the future.

Enhanced analog performance

The Analog Converter, being the heart of the Cascade System, is equipped with 8 state-of-the-art Hybrid DAC MKII modules, a Femto 33 MKIII Clock, passive analog stages, and 75 ohm volume controls, imbuing your music with authentic vitality. Relieved of the burden of strenuous digital processing, the Analog Converter is finely tuned for meticulous analog conversion. Digital audio is seamlessly channeled over the noise-free Cascade-Link directly to the hybrid DACs, while the integrated analog inputs welcome sublime analog outputs. All audio formats undergo careful conversion to MSB’s unique fully balanced, constant impedance analog format, enabling an optimal connection directly to your power amplifier.

The Hybrid DAC MKII

A new breed of Hybrid DACs leverages the Digital Director’s processing power to extract maximum resolution from all music files and data formats. This fully balanced, ultra-high precision, discrete ladder DAC architecture reproduces the intricacies of the original performance, encompassing musicality, soundstage, and texture. With 4X the data bandwidth of preceding generations, the Cascade DAC minimizes noise while enhancing resolution and linearity, ensuring accurate reproduction of exquisite analog musical details—a transformative musical encounter.

The MSB Remote

Designed from the ground up, the MSB Remote boasts an array of stainless steel buttons surrounding an elegant volume wheel, ensuring optimal performance and responsiveness. Crafted in California from an aluminum billet, the enclosure merges solid construction with refined aesthetics, tailored for seamless everyday use with both the transport and the DAC. The MSB Remote brings you closer to your beloved music with its ergonomic design and precision functionality.

Unrivaled analog performance

Once an analog signal is generated, its integrity becomes significantly vulnerable to deterioration. To counteract this, our analog stages are meticulously designed to exert minimal influence on the delicate analog signals they produce. Balanced signals from the Hybrid DAC modules are directly routed to a solely passive, 75-ohm constant impedance analog stage. Expertly attenuated and swiftly dispatched through the XLR outputs without encountering any amplifier interface, signal purity is preserved to the utmost extent, while ensuring optimal drive for any cable, amplifier, or preamp. Volume adjustments occur via precious metal contact, latching relays, safeguarding against signal corruption. Volume control is distributed among components to maintain signal linearity, avoiding power dissipation concentration and preserving maximal signal fidelity. A fully balanced and differential signal path prevents ground currents from contaminating the sensitive signals.

Championing analog versatility

The Analog Converter features two balanced XLR and two single-ended RCA inputs, essential for maximum adaptability. These analog inputs are completely isolated from the circuitry when inactive, even lifting the cable ground when not selected to mitigate potential crosstalk. Each analog input benefits from a low-noise, low-distortion buffer with optional 0dB or +6dB gain, integrating seamlessly into the 75 ohm constant impedance output stage used by the hybrid DACs. Free from digital processing interference, a dedicated preamp-like configuration ensures pure analog signal quality from any source, be it digital or analog.

Part 3: The Powerbase

Analog performance is only as robust as the power supplies fueling it, which is why we have revolutionized our powerbase technologies for the Cascade system. The Cascade integrates intelligent power management controls, including our 12V trigger system, for a streamlined power experience.

Superior streaming

The MSB Renderer, with an in-house hardware design driven by an ultra-low noise A5 processor, ensures optimal audio playback performance. With over-the-air updates, your renderer remains equipped with the latest capabilities and enhanced convenience.

A better USB solution

The Pro USB was engineered to deliver a multi-part USB solution with complete electrical isolation and the performance of MSB’s proprietary Pro ISL input. Available as a stand-alone module for users with an MSB DAC featuring a Pro ISL input, the Pro USB offers enhanced performance and ease of use.

The MSB Remote

Exclusively designed and crafted from premium materials, the MSB Remote boasts a user-friendly layout, ensuring optimal performance and a refined aesthetic. In-house manufacturing in California further underscores the quality and precision of this remote control.

People are talking

Since our inception in 1989, we have been committed to creating an unparalleled auditory experience for music enthusiasts worldwide. Over the years, our products have driven the industry forward, redefining the boundaries of possibility with each innovation. Discover what reviewers have to say about our groundbreaking products.