Bridge II New Features vs CAPS Server

Audio Components DACs
61

Let Ted smith way in on this.

Ms while back I read form some people that wave was better. For starters many devices cannot decide the meta data

and some it makes noise for

flac it is not imbedded so less of an issues

regarding the sound no dac uses it flac or wav. There is no natuve anything all dacs convert to something else or streets it’s what I am told.

But if you feel better format away.

62

I normally wouldn’t say anything here, but Al asked.

Someone will report hearing a difference on just about any subject, you’ll have to trust your ears as the final arbiter.

Anyway if you hear a difference between wav and flac on the Bridge I, you may on Bridge II. I suspect it will be smaller but I have no real information to base that on except physical board layout - the boards are quite different.

Al is correct that wav has more problems with metadata and some will even have noise glitches caused by some meta data issues.

Flac does use more CPU power, but that any sound quality difference caused by changes in CPU usage are usually quite system specific (i.e. I’m sure we could find systems that got better and other that get worse when you switch from wav to flac, etc.)

63

Thanks for taking the time to reply

I always learn something from you.

Al

64
radioclash said Where is that confounded bridge?
You got it. I sure do want to buy Bridge II pretty damn bad!!!!!!!
65

Hello,

Has there been any mention of a bridge upgrade programme from the original version 1 to bridge ver2?

Thanks

John

66
jvilly said I am wondering, now finally reading about this new Bridge II. For those that are testing it, is there any difference in sound quality between FLAC and WAV? Does the Bridge cope well with transcoding? It would be interesting to see if the Bridge II can handle pure FLAC with same SQ as WAV (by having enough power), and not using transcoded FLAC to WAV by server.

Currently I am in the process of converting all FLAC to WAV as it remains a difference with Bridge I.


Why don’t you convert on the server on the fly?

67
Johno said Hello,

Has there been any mention of a bridge upgrade programme from the original version 1 to bridge ver2?

Thanks

John


Can’t. It requires new hardware.

68

My guess he is hoping for a trade-in program where one receives some dollar credit for sending in a Bridge I.

69
Alekz said

Why don’t you convert on the server on the fly?


I can, but I would rather have a player/renderer that is capable of doing it instead of my server. This would indicate for me there is progress in the hardware performance.

70

Bump - two weeks and no word. Hoping Bridge II Beta testing is going great. Update??? Last newsletter states late spring…

71

Going well actually. Most major problems fixed, but we have a few boogers remaining. Just released new code today, the boys will play over the weekend. Should be on target for release in a few months.

72

Thanks - been waiting a long time for gapless with my PWD/DS!! Can’t wait!!

73

More good news is that the Sound Quality is continuing to improve, they had to do a revision on the hardware and there was another significant bump up in dynamics. My system has never sounded so good. :)

74

Woo hoo!! Did you really mean a change to the hardware? Did they ship all new bridges? Whatever it is, I want it. I love using Bridge I. If Bridge II is even a small improvement with gapless, I’ll be thrilled!

75

yes they had to make a change to the hardware to fix an issue that was discovered during testing. The first board was a huge improvement over Bridge 1 and the second board is another big improvement , it was welcome surprise as it was not sound quality that was in question.

76

I preferred the bridge with the PWD to other inputs (not being a PWT owner, I don’y include I2S in this).

But with the DS it’s definitely USB for me, the bridge is a more closed in and thin sounding. If the bridge2 is so much better than bridge1, will it overtake the other inputs, or just equal them?

77

Bump. Anyone with any new info? I know the time table is summer now and all the attention is on the new amp but it’s the new bridge for me. Amp is out of my league. Oh and to loosely quote Steve Hoffman, “You people on the PP thread be crazy.” I honestly can’t wait for bridge II!

Thanks, Dale

78

Update to my previous comment: with PP I cant tell any real difference between usb and the bridge, though if I’m pushed I’ll go with the bridge. Plus it is more convenient in my system to control volume via the bridge. So good job on aligning the sound of the inputs guys.

Sounds like the bridge2 will become the new reference standard.

79

There probably isn’t anyone more anxiously awaiting the Bridge 2 than me. I have owned Bridge 1 since October 2010, right after it came out. I quickly discovered the gapless play issue. The other issue still plaguing Bridge 1 is the hiccups on 192/24 files. Anyone else notice this problem? I tested the Bridge 1 by connecting a cross wire Ethernet cable from my laptop computer directly to the Bridge 1 and played the 192/24 files directly to it eliminating all other network routers and cabling. The problem still persists. I even visited PS Audio and ran the same direct wire test through their equipment and got the same results.

One other thing I think would be good to do on the Bridge 2 is use a gigabite Ethernet port. I understand new computers use these and can be directly connected using a standard Ethernet cable between them. A friend of mine made the cross wire cables and gave them to me as they are no longer needed due to the updating of Ethernet ports on new computers. He told me it’s been that way for about 5 years. When I asked one of the blue shirts in Best Buy about the cross wire cable, he had no idea what I was asking for.

My latest experiment over this last weekend was trying the JRiver id. That’s a small Intel NUC computer with their version of Media Center 20 and Debian Linux pre loaded. Some tracks would not play, but most did and the 192/24 files played smooth and sounded great. It also plays gapless very smooth. That’s the first I have heard the Moody Blues on In Search of a Lost Cord the way it is supposed to play through my server. The only other alternative was to fetch the disc and put it in my CD player. This one tells me my home network is capable of adequately playing the 192/24 resolution. I simply removed the cat 6 cable from the Bridge 1 and plugged it into the NUC.

80

Welcome, 85Duppie!

I do not have anything specific to report on Bridge II other than that the Beta team is working hard, and a couple of our Beta team members deserve particular thanks for the incredible time they have put in. PS Audio has similarly been very responsive in squashing bugs, addressing criticisms and incorporating suggestions, and working to produce the best possible product.