Not a hundred times better

The MSB Select costs over $100,000. A decent Eversolo DAC with streamer costs about $1,000. Is the MSB a hundred times better? No.

That is the wrong question at this level, because it is not about a multiple anymore. What a DAC like that does is give justice and synergy to your front end. It explores how close to reality convincing sound can get.

But a front end does not play alone. If your speakers cannot reveal it, if your room is not treated, if your amplification is not up to the task, you are simply wasting your money, and you will still talk about snake oil on a quarter of a million dollars of DAC. Nobody in their right mind should put one into a system that cannot show what it does.

My own rule by system value is far less romantic. Under $5,000 total, $1,000 maximum on the DAC; at $5,000 to $10,000, $1,000 to $2,000; from $10,000 to $50,000, about 20% of the front end; above $100,000, discrete DAC material. Do not buy a $5,000 DAC to fit $5,000 speakers; if you have these thoughts, ask someone to come to your home and help you rearrange your priorities.

The MSB is not a hundred times better. In the wrong system, it is not even better.