Me, neither. I think perhaps he should go play with his Sprout.
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Thatās a good point, it would probably cost more in the end to develop a case that is cheaper to manufacture if they were already using it with other products.
Again with the thinly, and I mean really thinly, veiled insult. Pick an audio company. Every one makes products that are the result of compromises.
There are always better parts than be used. You canāt use only the best parts in every part of a DAC and expect it to sell for $500. Even a $6000 DAC is the result of hundreds of compromises. This is true even for parts that directly affect the sound quality.
Your āethosā is what is suspect here.
Iām very happy with the DS., Itās as good a DAC as Iām likely to afford for some time.
I think itās good value for money, measurements or economically chosen transformers or not. For more money the TSS will have better transformers. And still wonāt measure enough to satisfy those who want to worship numbers. Just wait til they start measuring THAT one.
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No need to defend the DS Dac I feel, it speaks for itself.
Christā¦just, LISTEN to the thing, all that matters is the wiggly air that his your ears and the huge grin on your face.
Canāt help but feel the āMeasurebatorsā out there have lost something about the enjoyment of music, and thatās a shame.
But hey, each to their own, until they try to poison others with an agenda, and thatās what is happening here.
To quote the frequent Twitter user aluded to earlierā¦
SAD!!
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I agree, engineering is really just making a series of compromises, even at these price points. I did not disparage PS Audio or this product because they had to make a compromise. I said that it is interesting to see specifically which compromises a company chooses to make. Ted shared some really interesting information on how the DS was developed and I thought I would emphasize that.
Is that what you did?
No do-overs Iām afraid, itās on record.
In the spirit of betterment, suggest you reread your posts again, check how they come across to others.
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The key here is Ted and Paul is honest and share these key design considerations, and that is a big part of the decison for me to be their customer.
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That is something PS Audio does that a lot of other companies do not, and itās very commendable. As a hobbyist I find a lot of the information really interesting, and as a consumer it makes me more interested in the company as well. However, when you give a lot more information about your products, it invites a lot more questions as well.
The problem of being open is that some game itā¦think about if you contribute to what you think is commendable or if you do everything to damage itā¦what makes you happy?
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I have no doubt that anyone who reads either this thread or the one on ASR (or both) will come away knowing more about the DS than they did before. I think thatās a positive. I believe those who contribute to the name calling, shaming, and āyou donāt belong hereā messaging do more damage than anything else.
I donāt want to appear argumentative but Iām not really so sure about this comment that āknowing more about the DS than they did before is a positiveā. Let me explain. As an EE by degree, I have always been interested in measurements to a point. However, the things I have read on ASR do not fit my experience at all. If I read ASR and never listened to the DS DAC I would think I would know all I needed to know about it. However, having owned this piece for the last year and a half, it is by far the best sounding DAC I have ever heard or likely that I could affort.
In other words, there seems to be a significant disconnect between what I see (or you might say ālearnedā) on ASR and what I experience in real life.
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Thatās part of āknowing more about the DS than they did before.ā Is it not useful to consumers to know that actual owners of the product praise it despite what some guy the internet said? You canāt get one without the other. Youāll rarely find a product with universal praise, every perspective is a piece of the puzzle when determining what you spend your hard earned money on.
I donāt need to know how the DirectStream measures to know how great it sounds. As I said previously in this thread, I donāt care how it measuresā¦
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Thatās perfectly fine, you also donāt need to read this threadā¦ Just because this information is not necessary for you doesnāt mean it doesnāt deserve to exist.
My point is, if I read the ASR review and completely trusted and bought into it, I wouldnāt even bother to listen the the DS DAC. This would have been unfortunate for me at least.
In my case, I had gathered information for years before buying the product, both others listening experiences and measurements. It was with this information in hand that I actually went and listened to the product. It allowed me to understand what to listen for to determine if compromises or trade-offs were worth it for me. What I see in the ASR review is a unabated, unapologetic bashing of the product. I donāt see how that helps me to be honest. You might say I have become very skeptical of one-sided internet arguments.
As I said, I donāt intent to argue, just to point out that without the listening, or you might say without the music, there is no point in any measurements really and I think ASR is intellectually dishonest on this point, therefore they can mislead some. Iāll leave the subject alone now. 
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Please ban this person he is ruining this forum for our community. It has gone far too long. Please end it. This person doesnāt have the good sense to leave it alone.
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Agree completely. One pain in the buttā¦
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Indeed thereās nothing bad about thisā¦
ā¦but itās just one part of your game. All this factual could be discussed without trying to provoke the ones you want information from and the answers you aim for with intentional misinterpretation and affronts.
If you didnāt get by now what kind of person e.g. Ted is (who really isnāt in need by various reasons to bother with that kind of behavior) and how to discuss with him to have an ethical right to get answers you donāt belong to any place with nice people,
The question is if you canāt be different or if you donāt want to. Both is not good as long as it doesnāt change. Iām not shy with criticism and opinion myself, so I maybe shouldnāt be too loud now, but I hope I keep track usually with how I do it.
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Sure Amir, I believe youāre genuine!