I recently made a video introduction to our digital input modules. I wanted to start a thread for other to ask questions and discuss which modules they have preffered for specific sources to help others settle on their chosen configuration.
If you have found any particular insights, please feel free to share them below!
First let me start by saying @Daniel_Francis a good video, and second by saying I am over analytical and maybe a bit difficult but you have 2 familes of digital inputs and you mixed them together in the video.
Family number one are interconnects, in the sense they take a defined music stream and pass it unaltered to the DAC .
Family number 2 currently has a single member, the rendered and it is a music source (ok not really true but easier to describe it that way) it takes a data stream which includes the music but also control data such as volume, etc and controls the director in addition to feeding the embeded music stream to the DAC.
Ok, I am massively simplifying but the interconnects require an upstream transport, while the renderer is an integrated transport. While the renderer as a transport may currently lack some bells and whistles it delivers a sound quality equal or better than solutions costing orders of magnitude more.
But that isn’t even the best part of the second family of digital inputs, the best part is that while family 1 can deliver music streams, family 2 can evolve and deliver all kinds of interesting features in the future, as an example I could integrate the renderer into my Lutron Home automation system and have it wake up and play my Jazz when I arrive home on a rainy afternoon as it can monitor the humidity and ambient light, and on a day when the sun iz blazing the music might be something different. The reality is family 2 isn’t just a music source the renderer it’s a entry point into the MSB’ teams digital imagination and I am certain there are some really cool ideas you guys are contemplating.
The product description for the Network Renderer V2 says: “The entire renderer solution is galvanically isolated from the DAC including isolated power.” This seems somewhat inconsistent with comments in the video that suggest this module can cause noise in a DAC without a Digital Director. Can you elaborate on how noise can get past the galvanic isolation?
The video suggests the DAC firmware can be updated over the air with a Renderer V2. I thought only the Renderer firmware was updated this way. I have always updated the DAC firmware by downloading the music file and playing it through the DAC. Is over the air really possible for the DAC firmware?
Thanks for doing these videos. 
The noise introduced is simply proximity based transmission/radiation. By just existing in the nearby space, it comes with some noise introduced into the system. We add as much isolation as possible, but nothing is as good as moving the entire system to the Digital Director and away from the analog circuitry.
This feature will be coming soon! It is in development now, very excited to see this. It will still have to be manually requested in the msbtech.local interface, but will be a great way to stay up to date compared to previous methods.
Agreed! We will keep adding some more bells and a few whistles.
I missed this easter egg! @Mairet great catch and @Daniel_Francis OTA updates of the DAC would be a really nice feature but!!! don’t release it until you have a roll back capability for both the renderer and the DAC. I can’t speak for everyone but if you told me my stereo is out of commission for a long time period I would not be a happy camper!
Thanks for all the info Daniel. You guys excel at communicating. Here is my take on input interfaces. I don’t think I would buy a DAC at this point in time that did’t have integrated Ethernet. I just see no point in Ethernet to an external streamer that then needs another connection to the DAC. The Renderer V2 checks this box for me. Functionally it works really well. Sound quality wise I find no fault at all with it, even plugged directly into my Discrete. I also use a TOSLINK input for my TV and an RCA digital coax input for my BluRay player. Those also sound great to me. Honestly I think any way you get bit perfect data into an MSB DAC will sound great.
Same! I am hoping to see every DAC we build shipping with the Renderer V2.
Great! Daniel chose a very trending topic,this is indeed what most audiophiles are concerned about.I also strongly agree with Daniel’s explanation, we cannot discuss the input module in isolation from the Audio source,This is a key point.The key is to understand the design philosophy and main features of each input module, so as to make the best choice based on our actual needs.