ksalno said
Ted, what is your opinion of adding two DS Jr to an existing DS for a 5.1 surround system when the new Transport comes out? Is there enough of a difference where that wouldn't work or do you think that using the DS Jr for the surround ambiance channels would be ok?
Hmm, good idea: the relevant software/hardware is identical between the DS and the DS Jr. The software that came with the Jr was essentially Yale and we’ll be releasing the software in parallel for the DS and the DS Jr from here on out, so it’s very likely that they will continue to work identically in this respect. I’ll keep it in mind for future releases.
EfeTe said
"Effortless" is a pretty accurate description, Ted. Hit the nail there.
Mine isn’t fully broken in yet but OMG how harmonious, engaging, inviting it sounds. Was sort of AB-ing a Miles Davis SACD (Bags Groove) playing on the Oppo then same file played through the DSJ and cannot tell which is which!
No-one here wants to push you or pressure PS Audio into releasing something that you’re not 1000% behind and happy with. But you see a weird voice is haunting me in my sleep almost every night and it says something like “Torreys” ;o)
Hello – I just want to confirm how this works. When you say: “…same file played through the DSJ,” does that mean your Oppo feeds the stereo (not SACD) layer of the disc to the DSJ, and that’s what you’re using for comparison? I have a Marantz SACD player and assumed that I can’t feed an SACD signal to the DSJ, only PCM. I’m considering auditioning the DSJ and using the Marantz (for now) as my transport…just trying to make sure I’m clear on the technology. Thanks!
That’s correct. Sony’s licensing rules generally prohibit sending unencrypted DSD signals to external DACs. PS Audio’s upcoming transport will be able to do so but only when connected to a DS or DS Jr. PSA worked out the details with Sony. That wouldn’t apply to your Marantz unit because it won’t know the secret “handshake” that tells the transport it’s OK to send the unencrypted data to the DAC.
valschaffner said
Also, in response to a poster's recent call for photos of the DSJ in its natural habitat:
I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you appear to be a great judge of value...IMO, you have several great "bang for the buck" components in your system. Well done.
wizardofoz To my knowledge there has been no Torreys beta release for the DS Jnr yet. It’s a different-enough machine that it requires its own set of update files. You can’t install the DS code on the DSJ.
Thanks for the replies, as a new owner of Junior I wasn’t quite sure and it didn’t seem to be identified anywhere as a different release but I had suspected it was likely to be.
I assume that the current Yale version on the web site is compatible with the DS Jr. So that if I try Torreys for DS Jr. , when it comes out, and don’t care for it, I can go back to Yale by downloading it from the website?
Well, yes and no. DS and DS Jr software aren’t interchangeable. When the new Jr OS is available I’m sure that Paul will also add the older DS Jr OS to the web site for download.
How does one get the track and artist info to be persistent on the display…I don’t really care to know the bitrate only…is this a feature request needed perhaps? I think it’s starts when usb is fist selected and there is a new track set to play but after that it’s gone forever.
it would be great if there was an option to have it pop up when a track changes, or after a change in input or volume perhaps after the bitrate disappears.
other than that I have rune playing pretty nicely thru USB…I hope that the rune ready will allow it run thru the LAN connection.
wizardofoz said
How does one get the track and artist info to be persistent on the display...I don't really care to know the bitrate only...is this a feature request needed perhaps? I think it's starts when usb is fist selected and there is a new track set to play but after that it's gone forever.
it would be great if there was an option to have it pop up when a track changes, or after a change in input or volume perhaps after the bitrate disappears.
other than that I have rune playing pretty nicely thru USB…I hope that the rune ready will allow it run thru the LAN connection.
The track title, artist, etc. aren’t displayed over USB, they aren’t sent over USB. There will be a Bridge II update that will support Roon - I assume it will apply to the Jr as well since it’s a Bridge II in the Jr.
[Edit: sorry I didn’t see Dennis’s post when I posted.]
Maybe it was over LAN that I saw it from jriver via bridgeii. But I still recall it wasn’t persistent. I’ll go back and try some experimenting again too anyway. Jriver on the Mac is just so temperamental that I have stopped using it for Roon
As a DirectStream owner, I would like to make a complaint to your company. DirectStream Junior built in Bridge II Network streaming. DirectStream is much expansive than DirectStream Junior but it has no network bridge II card. We have to pay extra to buy a network bridge II card to enjoy the NAS streaming function. I think as a DirectStream owner, we deserves a good explanation from your company!
I am sorry, I am not sure what the complaint is. DirectStream is more expensive than Junior for a number of reasons. The internals are entirely different, as is the chassis, power supply and yes, the Bridge.
When we designed Junior we saved money in a number of ways, and one of them was not including the expensive card slot and mechanism required for users to insert the optional Bridge into DirectStream. But to do that required us then to include it with Junior if it was to have it at all.
DirectStream’s more expensive for sure - and the Bridge raises that price even more. Not sure what to say other than to state the facts.
I’d look at it this way: when PSA designed the DS (and its predecessor, the PWD), they wanted to build a state of the art DAC, which by definition is going to be expensive. Many people don’t use ethernet streaming, so they let purchasers save some money by paying for the Bridge only if they needed it.
I understand where Panda is coming from, because in most product lineups the top-of-the-line version has more features than lower models. That’s true for DS and DSJ as well, but the features (aside from the screen) are mostly ‘under the hood,’ that is, not obvious when doing a quick comparison of models. But it is those features that give the DS its edge in sound quality over Junior. Paul has given us a good explanation of the decision to include the Bridge. That seems like a wise decision, since locking out all Junior uses from ethernet connectivity would not have been a good design. But it’s not intuitively obvious why the cheaper model would have the Bridge when the full DS doesn’t.
Junior is an outstanding value for those on a budget, while those who want ultimate SQ get the DS (and without springing for the Bridge if they only use USB).
I guess making Torreys for the Junior must be harder than we thought. Any way, please when you do release it, also post the Junior version of Yale, so we can do comparisons back and forth, between the two. Any thoughts on where we stand on a release date? Thanks.
I’m not directly involved at this point, but getting Roon on the Bridge, debugging the last few things in Torreys on the DS and who knows what else are also going on in PS Audio engineering. I am getting newer versions of Torreys for the Jr to test fairly regularly.
Ted, you are not involved in the Torreys for the Junior? That is a surprise. I guess there is a Ted junior working on the Junior.
I am looking forward to the release of it also. But, I would rather it be done right. At least as much as possible as I work on computer software too and I know that it can be tested as much as possible, but something always slips through.