Considering the DSJr

Audio Components DACs
1

Hi,

I have been looking over the PSA products for a month and spent the last couple of days looking at the forum etc and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised at how service minded the company is. It is the first place where I have seen company founders, product designers etc get involved in the forums and customer contacts. Kudos to you!

Background:

In 2010, after listening to high res 24/192 music at a shop, I moved away from vinyl and sold off my old Linn LP12. As a data network and software engineer by trade it made a lot of sense. But (there had to be a but in here…) ever since then I have been looking to put together a complete solution for my house and it has always fallen short in one aspect or another. For me it has always been about the musical experience and never the technology behind it. For me the technology gets in the way of the experience if it requires too much fiddling about to get it to work. So far every solution I have looked at (and owned) has come short in one aspect or another. I liked the Meridian Soolos UI but I don’t like the Meridian sound, I liked the Linn DS but hated the UI, I liked the NAIM UI but found it too limiting in the streaming services offered etc. In 2012 I sort of gave up and settled for a headless MacMini going to a Zodiac DAC connected to my MBL amp that drives my MBL speakers (I know MBL is not for everyone but I really like the music experience I get with them). Then the fiddling started since the sound was ok but could definitely be better… so a number of USB cables, re-clockers etc have flowed through my setup but I have never been completely satisfied as I know the sound can be better with a dedicated streamer… Then Tidal and Roon came along and I thought “finally this could be the path forward” if the equipment manufacturers pick this up. My wish then was that someone would build a Roon Ready streamer that was also capable of acting as a proper preamp… I have looked at many solutions from Devialet to Auralic but always falling short somewhere… For some reason PS Audio has not come up on my horizon until lately when I clicked the link from Roons partner page. When I looked at the DSJr I thought that maybe this could be it? So my questions:

  • Can the DSJr act like a preamp going straight to my MBL 9007 amps? I could connect it to my preamp but I really like the idea of less clutter and since I only use three digital sources today (ethernet for Roon, the MacMini and a TV) it just feels overly complicated with a preamp unless required.

  • Now if I can’t get a good match between the DSJr and the MBL amps what about using the BHK300 Mono blocks (I assume those would match with the DSJr?) driving my MBL 116 Speakers? Anyone ever tested PSA with MBL? The MBL’s like power but I also prefer them with amps that produce an open sound with great timing. When I spoke to the PSA shop here they did not sound overly enthusiastic about letting me test at home and they have nothing even close to the MBL speakers to demo on…

/Henrik

2

Certainly the DS Jr can act as a preamp, and even be remotely controlled by Roon for volume level.

I can’t answer the amp issue but the BHK’s are awesome amps and should drive just about anything if listening room one at ps audio is any guide.

3

Why a Junior and not the full DS DAC (plus a Bridge)? Yes, Jr is cheaper but if you are thinking of pairing it was gear like MBL or the BHK monoblocks you would probably appreciate the sound of DS Senior – not that Jr isn’t a very good value for the money with good sound. You would get the built-in volume control as with Jr.

4

I have a DS Jr and a Luxman integrated amp. When I tried to connect DSJ to the luxman amp section directly, I had a much higher noise/hum background. Someone had a similar experience when he tried to have his DS DAC directly drive his amp (don’t remember which amp). Therefore, need to try it out.

5

When I heard the ds Jr the first time in music room one at ps audio I was listening to it on the irs-v’s and BHK monos via the as yet to be released BHK preamp. Iirc We did try it direct to the Amps too, but at the time I think data was via LANRover and USB from macmini server

I was not in the position to get the ds snr so Jr was where I ended up and very happy to say the least. I also got the NPC to get some Vinyl into digital formats too