When the new firm ware is available will it be via a download to a SD card?
Please let us know when its available
DS firmware will be via download and installed by use of an SD card.
PSA may also offer SD cards with the software loaded on to them, but this just me guessing.
any comments from the beta group regarding the new firmware SQ?
Hi-Fi News August issue has a review of the DirectStream DAC. Only paper copy so no link but here are a few nuggets:
“… the best sound quality I’ve ever heard from these DSD recordings……” (listening to files downloaded from Channel Classics.)
“Hearing the same (DSD) recording after it had been converted to 176.4kHz/24-bit PCM I thought it sounded slightly ‘bleached’ and less wholesome, lacking the weight and ‘energy’ of the DFF.”
“Does its unique 1-bit processing methodology deliver unprecedented sound quality (with CDs) to reveal, as PS Audio claims, ‘musical information that may have previously been hidden or covered up by other DACs’……? Well, methinks PS Audio is a little guilty of over-egging the marketing-speak pudding here.”
Comparing the sound of CDs with that from the the T+A DAC 8:
“… showed the PerfectWave to be a little less forward-sounding and more ‘rounded’……”
“…. with its sparser and more brightly-lit presentation, the PerfectWave sounded (on Melanie De Basio’s ‘Play It Again Album’) satisfyingly wholesome and ‘rounded’ - rather analogue-like and ‘tubey’, if you will. Only the last ounce of of extension in the very low bass was disappointing, the infrasonic notes which pump as ‘No Deal’ segues into ‘With Love’ weren’t as robust or obvious as I’ve heard with some other DACs.”
In summary:
“…. make no mistake: this is a loverly sounding DAC, its tonality sumptuously rich and easy on the ear.”
davidl said Hi-Fi News August issue has a review of the DirectStream DAC. Only paper copy so no link but here are a few nuggets:“… the best sound quality I’ve ever heard from these DSD recordings……” (listening to files downloaded from Channel Classics.)
“Hearing the same (DSD) recording after it had been converted to 176.4kHz/24-bit PCM I thought it sounded slightly ‘bleached’ and less wholesome, lacking the weight and ‘energy’ of the DFF.”
“Does its unique 1-bit processing methodology deliver unprecedented sound quality (with CDs) to reveal, as PS Audio claims, ‘musical information that may have previously been hidden or covered up by other DACs’……? Well, methinks PS Audio is a little guilty of over-egging the marketing-speak pudding here.”
Comparing the sound of CDs with that from the the T+A DAC 8:
“… showed the PerfectWave to be a little less forward-sounding and more ‘rounded’……”
“…. with its sparser and more brightly-lit presentation, the PerfectWave sounded (on Melanie De Basio’s ‘Play It Again Album’) satisfyingly wholesome and ‘rounded’ - rather analogue-like and ‘tubey’, if you will. Only the last ounce of of extension in the very low bass was disappointing, the infrasonic notes which pump as ‘No Deal’ segues into ‘With Love’ weren’t as robust or obvious as I’ve heard with some other DACs.”
In summary:
“…. make no mistake: this is a loverly sounding DAC, its tonality sumptuously rich and easy on the ear.”
Thx.
Got it…
"…. with its sparser and more brightly-lit presentation, the PerfectWave sounded "
I guess the reviewer meant ‘DirectStream’ instead of PerfectWave? Also, as has been raised on this and many other forums several times, there appears to be a consensus that a long break-in period is required for the DS to perform at its best…does this reviewer mention how much break-in he allowed for before starting his review?
Thanks for the post.
One thing troubling in the measurements is that they state s/n give roughly 16b of resolution. They also mention pre/post ringing common the dsd dacs.
crabby said One thing troubling in the measurements is that they state s/n give roughly 16b of resolution. They also mention pre/post ringing common the dsd dacs.I'm hoping Ted will chime in here. He has discussed this at length. Mostly it went over my head but my takeaway was (1) it's complicated and (2) not as significant as it seems (I think you somehow end up with around 120 dB of signal to noise).
What ever happened to it sounds great . I read measurements but for the most part even if I do understand them what’s the point. We still have to like the sound and I love the DS. Do the measurements change with firmware ?
Al
I'm hoping Ted will chime in here. He has discussed this at length. Mostly it went over my head but my takeaway was (1) it's complicated and (2) not as significant as it seems (I think you somehow end up with around 120 dB of signal to noise).I'm equally interested in what appears to be a BW insufficient to really handle data at >96KHz. One assumes this is also not what it seems.
And the distortion at the low end.
tony22 saidI'm hoping Ted will chime in here. He has discussed this at length. Mostly it went over my head but my takeaway was (1) it's complicated and (2) not as significant as it seems (I think you somehow end up with around 120 dB of signal to noise).I’m equally interested in what appears to be a BW insufficient to really handle data at >96KHz. One assumes this is also not what it seems.
And the distortion at the low end.
I forgot about that from the review. Wondering the same though.
crabby said One thing troubling in the measurements is that they state s/n give roughly 16b of resolution. They also mention pre/post ringing common the dsd dacs.I'm not going to comment on the review till it's published - I don't have a paper copy myself. But I can make a few general comments.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere I’ve chosen to use as constant of a group delay as I can for the DAC in general. For 44.1k and 48k I also want full bandwidth - the result is a long filter. I was as surprised as anybody when that sounded pretty darned good. I had always assumed that preringing was the root of all PCM evil. Apparently it isn’t 
The preringing is much shorter for 88.2 and 96k. And it’s non-existent for higher PCM and DSD.
There’s ultrasonic noise that causes a broadband S/N measurement to look bad (in the limit 1 bit at any sample rate can only get an average of roughly 6dB over the whole bandwidth.) A bandlimited measurement over the audio band gets better than 96dB.
Another common misconception is that DSD has a rising noise floor over the audio band. (E.g. Stereophile SACD player measurements.) This isn’t true, it’s an artifact of swept 1/3 octave filter measurements. If you use an FFT you get a cleaner picture. If the incoming DSD signal has a rising noise floor above 20kHz the DS will reproduce it, but it doesn’t add any rising noise floor at 20kHz it’s self. (The DS’s “DSD hump” starts out at 60kHz and only rises about to -80dBFS instead of SACD’s limit of -40dBFS.)
tony22 saidI'm hoping Ted will chime in here. He has discussed this at length. Mostly it went over my head but my takeaway was (1) it's complicated and (2) not as significant as it seems (I think you somehow end up with around 120 dB of signal to noise).I’m equally interested in what appears to be a BW insufficient to really handle data at >96KHz. One assumes this is also not what it seems.
The beta software that’s recently been tested raises the -3dB point of the upsampling filter for 196kHz and lower rate PCM up to 80kHz to match that of DSD and DXD. Even if the -3dB point is at, say, 80kHz, it’s much more gentle than the normal PCM brickwall filters and there’s significant material there past 200kHz.
davidl said Hi-Fi News August issue has a review of the DirectStream DAC. Only paper copyThanks for the heads up for this review. I looked for the print copy at our local bookstore that usually carries HiFi News, but had no luck finding the August issue yet.
Who is the reviewer?
Thanks,
Bob
nordicbob saidReview: John Bamford,Who is the reviewer?
Lab: Paul Miller
Alekz saidAlekz,nordicbob saidReview: John Bamford,Who is the reviewer?
Lab: Paul Miller
Thanks and appreciated. I’ll be on the lookout for this issue when our local bookstore gets it in.
Bob
Ted Smith saidI know that! You told us when we started the beta testing.Now everybody knows!The beta software that’s recently been tested raises the -3dB point of the upsampling filter for 196kHz and lower rate PCM up to 80kHz to match that of DSD and DXD.
Has anyone who owns the DS and a PWT done any comparisons in sound quality. As in USB and PWT ? This would be useful to me and others. Also has anyone done a dsd to dop on a disk and played it with the DS. this too seems like a good idea and wonder about the sound quality as well. Like some of us have the device and I have not had a chance to try it.
Al
davidl said Hi-Fi News August issue has a review of the DirectStream DAC. Only paper copy so no link but here are a few nuggets:“… the best sound quality I’ve ever heard from these DSD recordings……” (listening to files downloaded from Channel Classics.)
“Hearing the same (DSD) recording after it had been converted to 176.4kHz/24-bit PCM I thought it sounded slightly ‘bleached’ and less wholesome, lacking the weight and ‘energy’ of the DFF.”
“Does its unique 1-bit processing methodology deliver unprecedented sound quality (with CDs) to reveal, as PS Audio claims, ‘musical information that may have previously been hidden or covered up by other DACs’……? Well, methinks PS Audio is a little guilty of over-egging the marketing-speak pudding here.”
Comparing the sound of CDs with that from the the T+A DAC 8:
“… showed the PerfectWave to be a little less forward-sounding and more ‘rounded’……”
“…. with its sparser and more brightly-lit presentation, the PerfectWave sounded (on Melanie De Basio’s ‘Play It Again Album’) satisfyingly wholesome and ‘rounded’ - rather analogue-like and ‘tubey’, if you will. Only the last ounce of of extension in the very low bass was disappointing, the infrasonic notes which pump as ‘No Deal’ segues into ‘With Love’ weren’t as robust or obvious as I’ve heard with some other DACs.”
In summary:
“…. make no mistake: this is a loverly sounding DAC, its tonality sumptuously rich and easy on the ear.”
Yay!!!
But they did not say it was REAL sounding. Gordon please look into this , it’s troubling me and I am already stressed .
Al