MSB's Sentinel DAC is a musical masterpiece – and it costs more than a house

MSB's magnum opus is a three-stage system with 32 proprietary DAC modules and incredible engineering

The MSB Technology Sentinel DAC in a bright room between two large floorstanding speakers
(Image credit: MSB Technology)
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Quick Summary

The MSB Sentinel DAC is an extremely high performance, high specification DAC that requires careful placement.

It also comes with a six-figure price tag.

If you're looking for a musical masterpiece that promises an unforgettable audiophile experience, you might want to start saving – the new MBS Sentinel DAC is firmly in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" price bracket. With a price tag higher than the cost of many people's houses it's only going to be affordable to a lucky few.

Close-up of the MSB Sentinel System

(Image credit: MSB Technology)

The MSB Sentinel DAC is a three-stage system comprising the MSB Sentinel Digital Director, the MSB Sentinel Analogue Converter, and the MSB Sentinel Power Supply. MSB says it's the firm's "magnum opus", and if you can't quite stretch to the $375,000 (about £285,000 / €328,350 / AU$583,000) asking price, MSB says that the technology it's developed "will continue trickling down to benefit all of our designs in the coming years."

MSB Sentinel DAC: three steps to hi-fi heaven

MSB Sentinel DAC close-up

(Image credit: MSB Technology)

The first part of the Sentinel is the Digital Director, which handles all the digital processes and has the only display in the system. Its job is to act as an intermediary between your audio sources and the rest of the Sentinel system, and it delivers a conversion-ready signal over fully isolated fibre-optic links to the Analog Converter.

The Analog Converter has 32 in-house designed hybrid DAC MKII modules, MSB's Sentinel Clock and an analogue pre-amplifier, and according to MSB its dual-mono DAC design "makes the music come alive". And both left and right mono DACs are powered independently by two of the three independent power supplies in the Sentinel Power Supply.

The third, ultra-low noise supply goes to the Sentinel Clock – about which MSB says, "no other company in our industry has the ambition or know-how to create a device of this complexity or sophistication."

It's incredible stuff, but you also need to be incredibly careful with your investment. MSB notes that the Sentinel system "is extremely high-powered compared to other DACs" and as a result needs to be placed in a well-ventilated space away from direct sunlight; in warmer climates air conditioning is highly recommended.

You can find out more about the Sentinel DAC on HiFiPig.com.

Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).

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