MPS-5

About the MPS-5

The Playback Designs MPS-5 is a world-class SACD/CD player and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that integrates a modified Esoteric transport mechanism known for its excellent stability and reliability. It functions as both a high-end CD/SACD transport and a versatile DAC capable of accepting various external digital sources, including PC and Mac music servers via USB. The MPS-5 supports playback of super high-resolution music files up to 24-bit/384kHz PCM and 6.1MHz DSD through USB, offering 32 times the resolution of typical 192kHz players. It features balanced XLR, unbalanced RCA, and BNC analog outputs, and digital inputs including AES/EBU, S/PDIF, TosLink, proprietary PlayLink, and USB. The unit includes RS-232 remote control and supports multi-channel SACD playback configurations. Its build quality is excellent, with a low-profile metal chassis and ergonomically placed controls. The MPS-5 is highly regarded for its sound quality, requiring a significant break-in period and careful mechanical isolation to achieve optimal performance. It uses proprietary FPGA-based digital signal processing to reduce jitter and enhance audio fidelity, converting digital audio to a format with twice the data rate of SACD before analog conversion.