Brand new PS Audio owner here (ever, as of today, with a DS and Bridge II), so please be gentle.
Streaming via Roon, there is no artwork shown on DS display on the box to the right. Zero!
Is that normal? Thanks!
For artwork to display requires a SD card in the update slot in the back.
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Just insert it? I was prompted to do the software update over the air as soon as hooked up to Ethernet.
The Bridge II only is updated over the internet. The SD card is used to update the DS firmware and also the artwork for the display.
Might pay you to check what firmware you are running as the latest is relatively new.
The firmware seems to be ok. The artwork seems to be hit or miss, and very slow to come up, when it does that is
Interesting, mine has never shown a unit ID and my rev is 0207. Not sure what that means.
The cover art is a bit slow to load and doesn’t always work with Roon when you skip around songs, haven’t really figured out why.
Yeah… I am not familiar with Ps Audio stuff, this is my first product from them, and the interface is definitely very disappointing to say the least. Very sluggish and terrible graphics. My Cary Audio DMS-500 is way better in that regard. Oh well…
But the sound is pretty fantastic!
Veneet saidInteresting, mine has never shown a unit ID
A few early production units shipped without a unit ID. Contact PS Audio service and they can fix this for you (without having to send the unit back in). You need a unit ID for some things — IIRC this includes establishing the handshake between the DS DAC and the DMP for SACD playback.
Veneet saidI sure hope so. Too early to evaluate for critical listening (not sure if PS Audio recommends any burn in time)But the sound is pretty fantastic!
magister saidVeneet said Interesting, mine has never shown a unit IDA few early production units shipped without a unit ID. Contact PS Audio service and they can fix this for you (without having to send the unit back in). You need a unit ID for some things — IIRC this includes establishing the handshake between the DS DAC and the DMP for SACD playback.
Do you know if the revision number means anything in my case?
thyname said (not sure if PS Audio recommends any burn in time)You need a lot of break in to get the best out of the DS DAC – 250 hours or more. I noticed considerable change during the first hundred hours or so with more subtle refinement after that. When broken in, the sound quality of this DAC really is amazing.
I’m not sure about your revision number – maybe someone else can chime in on this.
As far as the sluggish display goes: it’s true that the DS DAC is not a speed demon when it comes to displaying artwork, but it works well enough for me playing local files. Using Roon adds a whole other layer of complexity, and performance may will depend on how capable the computer is that you have Roon server installed on as well as your network.
I’d be curious to hear from people who have used the Bridge both with and without Roon. Is there any difference in performance? (I’m not a Roon user myself.)
Thanks for chiming in. I appreciate the help.
My Roon Server is ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) on a 7th gen i7 NUC. I have Verizon FIOS 150/150 Mbps which never fluctuates.
The artwork and interface is instantaneous on my current DAC / Streamer on my other system (Cary DMS-500) and my Lumin T1
magister said
the computer is that you have Roon server installed on as well as your network.sq not quite as good onRoon otherwise notice no difference, core is on a SonicTransporter.I’d be curious to hear from people who have used the Bridge both with and without Roon. Is there any difference in performance? (I’m not a Roon user myself.
SQ on Roon not as good compared to what?
as far as I know:
1 - Roon presents bit perfect data to the renderer.
2 - Optimized for every DAC that is Roon approved and recognized
Many people hear sound degradation via Roon. Google is your friend
Compared to what? And why? Does not make sense to me.
Anyways, this thread was not about SQ. I still don’t get why DS fails to show artwork on the lousy OSD via Roon when every single other DAC I have and had does so in an instant.
Maybe DS is to blame? As in the firmware is not “cooked” well?
Many here have also found Roon does not sound as good as other sources. We have had extended discussions on the topic.
Why is a harder question. Bits are not bits. How they are delivered, timing, jitter, all sorts of factors influence sound quality.
And yes, you started a thread on artwork and some are commenting on Roon’s sound quality. The breed of forum cats here treat threads as a conversation. Various related topics will appear and disappear within a thread. Just go with it. You will find people are very happy to help and share the knowledge they have. Just be a little patient. Feel free to address the little side-track comments in the meantime. 
And please use the “Add Reply” at the bottom and top of every page instead of quoting the last post before yours. We are not hard of hearing and do not need everything repeated twice.
A tiny bit more seriously, it just mucks up the thread with a lot unnecessary text. It is particularly annoying when viewing a thread on a mobile. (This forum software is frustrating in that it does not have a reply button next to each post. This would make it more obvious.)
Got it. Yes, I am new to PS Audio and this forum. But I am not new to forums in general. Quite the contrary.
I guess I have to be satisfied with the findings that:
1 - Artwork does not show on OSD, because of Roon and not DS’s fault (yes, I am being sarcastic)
2 - For some unknown reason DS sounds not good via Roon, so I should try other ways to stream music (not going to happen)
I am invested in Roon, and not just money wise. This is not my only system, and not my only DAC / renderer. I never noticed any sound degradation when using other DACs and streamers with Roon. If DS community thinks so, then I probably bought the wrong DAC. Only myself to blame
I am afraid you misunderstood. Roon’s sound limitation is inherent to Roon. If you look around on the Internet (Google has already been mentioned) you will find a lot of material on this. It has nothing to do with the DirectStream.
I suggest instead of immediately resorting to sarcasm, let people here work with you. We have quiet a number of Roon aficionados here and they likely will be happy to assist. Of course, if you keep pulling their tails their willingness to help will diminish . . .
If you look around in this forum, you will also find discussions on Roon sound quality. Some argue that with careful and deliberate setup, Roon sounds as good as any other source. They do an excellent job of explaining why and how they got there. I personally have only heard Roon damage sound quality, but I have every reason to believe that this can be overcome.
Thank you for using Add Reply.