Yes, many recordings simply have treble issues, period. Yggy will let it show if its there. On properly mastered tracks the effect is non existent. Any DAC hiding treble flaws consistently is colored imo. If that's what people want from their source, more power to them.

I'm no purist. I certainly don't like hating great performances just because the delivered recording is flawed. Am I supposed to prioritize my hate for the engineer over my love for the music and my fascination with the sonic events captured? Maximal truth vs maximal experience: it is certainly one of the axes that a "one best system" mindset generates. But I think a modern audiophile can have both; a truth chain and an issue mitigating chain. For a DAC to be in both chains it needs to have more than one reconstruction filter for 44.1k material.

Since we're talking about the guts of DACs, here they are:

Bricasti M1


TotalDac d1-dual (notice the giant copper plate to shield against EMI and minimize vibration)


Yggy (only photo I could find, not sure if this is production board)


MSB Analog
 

If the attractiveness of the internals decides which DAC is best, then MSB wins out but French savoir-faire isn't far behind.



       

Here are the creators of these DACs.

1)  Which one would make the most enjoyable dinner guest?
2)  Which one is most likely to flip you his middle finger if you say derogatory things about his DAC?
3)  Which one would be most capable of seducing your wife/girlfriend from under your nose as you're busy drooling over his DAC?

If any one individual wins 2 out of 3, there is a 66% probability that guy's DAC will be your end game DAC.  If one individual wins all 3 of your votes, you're home free.  Just write the big check and thank me later.

That is really nice engineering.

Indeed you're absolutely right. If you read my comments on HF on the Analog DAC, I am not at all a supporter of some of their business policies in particular towards what is included in the base versions of DACs, DAC upgrades and warranties. Many other companies playing around the same game include a more complete service. MSB will probably argue their inputs and stuff are more complex etc... That said, I am not a fan of any companies and trying not to be. The next better thing I hear (and can afford), goodbye old one.

The Audiostream quote is probably quite right, being from Jan 2014. The Quad USB and latest firmware are from around Q2 2015, and while I can't comment on how the Analog sounded back then, quite a few other people did. Since the CS team commented many times the Analog resolution was below Yggys, and more than myself heard that's not the case today (actually the other way around), those "upgrades" must have done something. The firmware was free, the USB module 1.5 kilobuck I think, unless you buy it with the DAC.

Btw: http://www.audiostream.com/content/msb-technology-premium-usb-module-analog-dac#gCTVPOiqt7WQQtkG.97

"Transient detail was better rendered with a greater sense of extension at the high end. The midrange of the Premium Quad was far more transparent and revealing compared to the older module with slightly more presence. Also enhanced was the background silence that allowed micro dynamic detail to emerge with greater clarity. I found the sound staging capabilities of the Premium Quad to truly excel. Thanks to the greater silence, orchestral details stood out in a superior front-to-back depth stage that simply seemed more natural than what I was hearing with the USB2 Basic 384. I felt that the older module had a more distant sound with a slight veil overlaying the music. While the bass attack of the former module was quite good, the new module seemed to be better defined and controlled. Quite frankly, after extended listening with the Premium Quad, I felt that I had evaluated a different higher quality DAC."

What the Audiostream article failed to capture or highlight is that in addition to the Quad USB they are also listening to a newer DAC firmware, perhaps the latest. This is because it's a pre-requisite for the Quad USB to work at all. d

Since my Eddie Current Studio isn't going to be ready anytime too soon, I might shift some funds temporarily into hearing some other DACs. If Marv tells me the Studio is ready way sooner than expected (yeah, right), I don't mind that either.

Yes, the IV series is legacy as they released the V series. Words goes the Signature V sounds as good as the old Diamond IV, hence the value for the old one. I never heard the Diamond IV, but oh boy the Signature 5 stack really is mind fucking. It is that cut-over point where you think:
a. I can't believe I am hearing all these dead singers alive AND in my room
b. Do I really need to go to concerts anymore

Indeed I am talking speaker rig here.

I am sometimes thinking how it must feel for a 50k DAC buyer to have it obsoleted like that... However people who hit at these budgets are perhaps the same who can fathom buying a luxury car that is worth 50k less as soon as keys are exchanged.

I too have heard the MSB Select, but once the DAC gets burried under a pile of stuff, expensive or not, it's hard if not impossible to make what's what. I heard it on SET monoblocks with Tannoy Kingdom Royals.  It was pretty impressive, but I think I can get more out of some of those components if I could configure the rig, than the dealer did. I am very rarely impressed with showroom systems, even at mega-bucks, because somehow they always manage to miss the point... or are deaf. Or perhaps neither as they have a specific range of products to promote.

Btw I am an Yggdrasil supporter, nothing to disagree with. It's easily one if not the best value propositions I've heard for the performance offered. That said it's not the best DAC I have heard, and that's just that.