Dennis, I power cycled my DSD and the bridge now reads 3.3.3. Is the update complete?Am I done? If so, exactly what improvements does this update provide?
warren
Dennis Kerrisk said Since I am no longer employed by PS Audio I guess it does not matter. I wish I could, nobody told me until this morning , I was blindsided and out the door.
Dennis, enough now, please tell us it's Fake News !?!?
Usually things happen this way when there’s danger that company know how leaks or leaked, but we all know we will never hear about similar details here in case they exist at all, so let’s go back to daily forum business until someone really wants to tell anything about very basic facts (probably in connection with a new support contact) 
we’ll see who answers upcoming technical and support questions.
Thanks for all the kind words about Dennis. He’s a great guy and he’s always been a real asset to the company.
Sometimes things change: expectations, technical demands, skill sets, and so on.
Of course I am not going to discuss this on a public forum as we’re talking about a person here and it’s unfair to do so.
You’ll just have to trust us on this one.
My dog’s a leaker on a continual basis nowadays. He’s about 78 in human years. May have to take him to the vet, as I often get a soaker when I come downstairs in the morning.
Thanks Dennis for your support over the past years.
You will be sorely missed!
badbeef saidMy dog’s a leaker on a continual basis nowadays. He’s about 78 in human years. May have to take him to the vet, as I often get a soaker when I come downstairs in the morning.
“Mooch” and Trump Admin. jokes aside, my “91” year-old Chow-Husky mix is on phenylpropanolamine, twice a day.
It saved our sanity (and her life). You might want to ask your vet. about it.
Cheers.
Ok, I can’t help myself… My nutty cat has been on Tuna flavored liquid Prozac for about 5-6 years now… The Prozac and the fact that he is really cute are the only reasons he is still with us… Nothing worse than cat pee… 
Needless to say my man cave is off limits to the crazy fur ball…
Bootzilla saidbadbeef saidThen you need to be sure you are operating Tidal from the Tidal standalone app on your computer, controlled with the MConnect app…
Hi, thanks, but I thought the point of the Bridge II update is that that no computer is necessary to play TIDAL/MQA.
I noticed you’re using a Melco into your Directstream via Ethernet. I was told by PS support that wouldn’t because the Bridge II must see a IP address. How did you provide a IP to the Directstream?
Regardless of the precautions and optimisations within a digital music source/ network player, it all comes to nothing when sensitive music data is put onto a LAN network.
Compromises such as commodity grade data cables and data switches designed purely for rapid data transfer all have a detrimental effect on music files. To combat this, the Melco has a dedicated Ethernet port for direct link to the network player (i.e the Directstream/Bridge II). By removing the necessity for external network switches, this architecture not only ensures the best possible data delivery from the Melco to the player, but also exposes the benefits of carefully engineered precision Ethernet cables (like the AudioQuest Diamond RJ/E Cat 7 I’m using).
The dedicated Player port establishes the relationship between the Melco and the player, including management of the player IP address, and software filtering ensures that only appropriate data is presented to the Player for maximum fidelity.
A separate isolated Ethernet port provides a high-quality connection to the LAN, so that the network player will still be connected via the Melco and, therefore, can be controlled by iOS or Android devices, whilst also connect to music streaming sites or Internet radio.
Melco Direct Streaming Music + Melco Ethernet Purifier:
- Dual Ethernet ports – dedicated PLAYER port and LAN port
- Direct Mode requires no LAN connection and the Melco manages the Ethernet Player and gives IP address without router (for the simplest purest playback Melco has its own control as it can act as DHCP server)
- RJ-45 connector with light pipe type LED indicator built in
- Micro-miniature automatic winding pulse transformer
- Audio grade ultra-low jitter internal data clock
- High data integrity and precision low jitter clock buffer
- FPGA voltage control system
Very happy with my Melco > Directstream/Bridge II
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Vangelis saidI noticed you’re using a Melco into your Directstream via Ethernet. I was told by PS support that wouldn’t [work] because the Bridge II must see a IP address. How did you provide a IP to the Directstream?
Hi, the Melco has Ethernet input and output jacks. Run an Ethernet cable from your modem/router to the Melco’s input jack, and run a second Ethernet cable from the Melco’s output jack to the Bridge II. You should be good to go.
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Since some time has passed since the Bridge II update, I’m curious to hear comments on how the “full monty” MQA unfold sounds. Haven’t seen many comments on SQ.
Thanks, all
I’m saving my real listening for when Bridge II can take MQA from Roon. But I did listen to a handful of songs, and here’s a quote of my first impressions that I reported to one of my audiophile buddies by email.
“I told my wife about it, so her reaction was expectation biased. But it gave her goose bumps when I put on one of her favorite vocals. For myself, likewise expectation biased, and having only listened to a few songs, I can say the following… for some albums (and more specifically, for some songs), I can hear no difference. But for well recorded stuff, particularly vocals and other acoustic instruments (vocals are acoustic instrument), there is a palpable improvement in the sense of the instrument (particularly voices) being in the room with you. That said, IMO in some ways, voices sound thinner, than before. Kind of like hearing a system that has amped up the midrange, and vocals sound lush and warm, and then you hear the same thing reproduced with more fidelity, you hear the loss of that lushness. To me MQA sounds like it does that same thing to an extent… you lose some of the sound that had been there, but it is replaced by a voice that sounds much more there with you. I’m sure that loss is time-smeared ringing, or some such digital audio technical artifact. But I can see where some people do not find this to be an improvement. At the same time, I can also see where some people hear nothing (being very much source music dependent), and others gush over it (particularly if they listen to a lot of live music.)
If what I heard last night was accurate, I can see where on some recordings, played on some systems, this could be a game changer. Particularly orchestral. But if you spend all your time listening to The Eagles on a sub $5K hifi system, it’s going to be a real snoozer IMO. But that’s just my take after hearing less than 10 songs.“
FWIW this is a near duplicate of a post from the MQA Controversy thread.
I’ve done some listening with MQA from Tidal to my DSJr via Bridge II. The results have been mixed, but I haven’t encountered recordings that sound worse than Redbook CD. I have no un-MQAd high res files to compare, so it’s mostly MQA vs. 16/44. The one exception has been Days of Future Passed, by the Moody Blues. I have the DVD-A (or is it SA-CD?) which to me sounds more vibrant than the MQA version. It’s multi-channel, which may have something to do with it, but it’s also pretty intense, as in very dynamic. I can’t really decide without A-B comparison whether it’s better to my ears, or “punched up”.
I constructed a Tidal playlist from recordings that I’m familiar with, using the frequently updated spreadsheet online of all Tidal MQA recordings. For many, I’m not sure there’s enough of a difference to hail MQA as the new king. There are some, however, that are so much better than I’ve ever heard that there is no confusion in my mind.
Listening to some of the early America tunes, the guitars and vocals are much better articulated and full, yet more focused. Sometimes what appears to be a bloom around voices (human and instrumental) is more of a haze like one sees from a streetlamp in the fog. In the case of these tunes, the bloom is focused around the voices/instruments, with black space in between.
I also found big improvements (again, to my ears) in some jazz recordings that I’ve heard dozens of times. In particular, the acoustic bass and cymbals stand out as better articulated, with the bass more punchy and rhythmic, and the cymbals shimmering, but not excessively sizzling.
A few that really stood out are of the Miles Davis Quintet on Prestige Records. These are generally regarded as great recordings, albeit in mono, and I have all of them on SA-CD, so my comparison here is with better than Redbook. The SA-CDs sound great, compared with my older RBCDs, but the MQA streamed from Tidal really opens them up. The music sounds closer, yet with greater depth. Hard to do with just 1-channel!
One of my benchmarks for judging differences in what’s coming out of my sound system has been Miles trumpet when played with a Harmon mute, which he does frequently. I played trumpet and have a Harmon mute so I have some basis for what the real things sounds like. With inferior recordings, it sounds buzzy, screechy and harsh. Each improvement I’ve made to my audio system, and quality of media, has reduced the harshness and enhanced the unique sound of muted Miles. MQA took it past the SA-CD level.
$0.02,
Chris V
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My 2 cents. I just finished a back to back listening session of Chris Staplton A Room Volume II from Tidal Masters MQA vs the redbook cd from DSMP and DS dac. I am sorry, I still hear some compression. Call me crazy, but I still think cd with DSMP is better. I feel it’s more open, better treble for sure. More air. Bass is also way tighter and more extended with the DSMP.
I am not sold on the MQA cool-aid.
… After listening to MQA vs. SACD; not a fan of MQA… running MQA through PS Audio DAC w/ Bridge II and BHK 250, out to Guareni Evolution speakers; vs. DMP SACD… Love this DMP; Ted rules. I thought when I got my NAS and started downloading TIDAL to MConnect over to the bridge II, I would slowly get rid of my DMP listening. Now I listen more and can’t wait for PS Audio to start selling SACDs.
Forgot - I too am not drinking the MQA cool-aid and I get ear fatigue listening to it… As a matter of fact, I’d rather listen to a well engineered regular CD than MQA. To be clear, there are about 5-10% well engineered CDs
Just so I fully understand your statement, you are comparing a digital stream (MQA) vs. a DSD file (via SACD) on an optical disk?
yes…