You are right, first Innuos vs Innuos then I’m planning to introduce in the chain the MK II. Then I2S Matrix vs USB. If the beta unit permits me (fingers crossed). Then… back to work I’m afraid.
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Welcome aboard the Beta club, luca.pelliccioli. Looks like you will have a double whammy upgrade. I don’t know anything about the Statement, but I am very familiar with the MK2. It is a much higher resolution DAC than the MK1, or even the modified MK1. It will more readily show any changes you make in your system. The MK2 even showed more differences in the direction of the Purple fuse I put in it. It will definitely make even your Statement sound better than with the MK1. It certainly made my Esoteric streamer sound like a much higher level gear. Have fun!
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I’m just getting caught up on this thread. I think your quoted statement is true only for beta units that had the “reworks,” as Ted calls them, and I say this based on Ted’s posts #2055 and 2057, especially 2055. This would also make sense as to why Luca says he’ll send his back for reworks later after getting all his concerns addressed.
Now Ted also said that most betas didn’t need the reworks, like his and apparently yours.
But anyway Ted is clear in those two posts I referenced, at least as I read it, that production gets the reworks, which will make them the same as reworked betas (but necessarily different from unreworked betas). Fwiw
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Luca indicated that he’s going to trade his beta unit for a production unit. Not send it in for an update.
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All un reworked Betas that have issues will be reworked to correct all issues. The end result is the ones without issue are no different that the reworked ones and release units.
Right, PSA advised me today that it is far more likely… a certain 99% was mentioned… that my late beta production unit, shipped earlier this month in a still unopened box is fine, and they do not want me to ship it back to them unopened. So, I opened the box and will start it on an unhealthy diet of Christmas music on loop tomorrow. It will be a couple hours mix of 16-44 thru 24-192 PCM on repeat that my depression era mother who sleeps little these days will monitor for halting issues. I do not have Christmas music on DSD. But she agreed to any Jazz recorded before 1963 (on DSD). I have lots of that. So, let’s think positively!
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That’s some awesome longevity!
Does anyone else feel Antero Mountain top has to much upper mid and high energy? I have been having to add either the Arnie Nudell dip or roll off mids and the highs when i do either of those the balance is perfect.
Every other source has no issue until I Feed it through the MKII? I didn’t notice it with 173. After burning in 179 it is very hot on high end. I have never had this issue with my system or my speakers taking down upper mids or highs
I am not one of the beta testers, but I have read (and sometimes suffered through) all 2016 posts to date. I have a vested interest because I have a DSD1 and would love to have what the DSD2 promises. So…
To Ted… thank you for all I have learned through all your posts.
To @vkennedy61, @sixpack1, @badbeef, and others… thank you for your insightful, informative, and on topic (including Scotch) comments. You dealt with and evaluated the DSD2 as presented, and that is how PSA will learn and improve the product.
I wish there had been more comparisons of USB vs I2S, There were a few, and they seemed to indicate a close match up. I am counting on @luca.pelliccioli to to shed more light on that, as we both feed DSDs with an Innuos.
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Ok here it is from Ted, I think that it’s clear. Am I apprehensive, yes.
Ted also said only approximately 50 units had the issue. No need to rework a properly functioning unit! The question goes out to Ted. Am I correct in my statement that a properly functioning mk 2 beta unit is the same as the current release production.
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I too have been feeling that the sound is leaning hot. I went so far as to pull the Gold Lions from the preamp and put in the Sylvania Conns which are a little softer. I am going to swich back to 173 to see what is going on.
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I am glad it is not just me. My wife likes 179 better without the roll off but she has high frequency limitations from too much sony walkman induced loud music listening in her early years.
I replaced the stock fuse with Purple because the mid-high had abundant energy, and that was from 178. However, the main reason was 178 did not have good details and Purple helped a lot.
After I updated to 179, the new FW gives great details, better soundstage, and right balance. The purple could sound a bit thin in high and mid, but now the MK2 sounds just right in my system. I have not experienced an unbalance of energy in high/mid like yours. There are so many variables, so it is hard to speculate the issue you have experienced. Have you adjusted tuning rings and absorbent sheet sizing? I had to reduce it from M-1 fuse addition in the past.
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I took a break blaming in sinus and antibiotic therapy. That is gone now. I have not tried replacing the stock fuse again. Last attempt was pure mud.
I am almost thinking of ordering a M-1 fuse. The more I had let 179 cook the more shrill it has sounded.
I would like to hear from someone comparing their turntable to MKII and MKI. I may go back to 173 Sometimes hot sounds good at first. I have the MKI in the box. Almost ready to slot that in.
I would like to understand from @tedsmith whether 173 had the trouble shooting noise issues of 178. You mentioned removing in 179? I am still willing to give this more time. My wife is still trying to convince me that it is the earlier antibiotic therapy.
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I rolled my MK2 back from Antero to 173 yesterday. I liked the apparent lower noise with Antero but feel I pull more detail with 173, which almost seems counterintuitive. There is a sweetness to the sound with 173, and better tonal representation with various instrument types. Plus I simply find myself getting lost in the music much easier. I have a harder time switching out of analytical mode with Antero installed. And at least on my system there seems to be a better balance between lows, mids, and highs with 173.
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173 has a few issues recognizing a new input at times. In general most people don’t see any problems with it at all. But there’ve been multiple times people have reported it. 178 had the fixes for that: I rewrote the code which calculates the sample rate of inputs to be more robust with marginal inputs (e.g. TOSLink at too high of a rate, a cable not quite plugged in or with only one connection.) 178 was still targeted to beta users and we needed the function of it tested more than the sound quality tested. 179 was functionally identical to 178 but prepared for release: it had the debugging wires from the FPGA disabled (less noise) and Darren listened to multiple compiles and selected the one that seemed more real, had the best tone…
The debugging wires on the FPGA were things like FIFO overflow, underflow, SDM overflow, changes to the VCXO rate, but they also included some high frequency clocks which would radiate when driving a pin sticking up in space. Turning all of those debugging signals off simply stops needless RFI in the box.
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I am going to try rollback to 173. I just feels zi am missing a music connection with 179. I need to see if it is in my head or a reality at this point.
It’s quite normal for people to have varying and sometimes opposite reactions to each different FPGA release. We all have different things we listen for and enjoy and we’ve often set up our systems around one set of component and when one changes we may need to revisit some tweaks, etc. A change in FPGA software often affects systems like a change in components. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying an older release more than the current one. But it’s good to put in, say, 50 or 100 hours on a new release just to see if it settles in on your system. It may or may not.
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Well I thought 173 would be hanging around on my USB stick. No such luck. Is there a site that retained it for download. Whatever happened to be able to access ten firmware versions. Can I run 173 with 2.3.3? Or is 2.3.0 a requirement?