Directstream Mk 2 observations

First listen on MKII for about 20min. Musically its unbelievable. Something unexpected was big diff in bass. Sounds like a bit more, but what is there is so sweet and clean. Same with Hi pitched guitar strings, they are so pin point. Only had a 15min break to listen to a few songs, but what I did hear and only having about 5 hours breakin, so far very happy.

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In case anyone else is experiencing dropouts when using the usb input on the mk 2 I would like to report that my unit returned from service where they removed a trace between the usb voltage regulators and the fpga which caused some of the beta units to mute and require long power off time to clear. I never had that issue with my mk 2 but they reasoned that it may also be causing the dropout issue. I was very hopeful that would resolve it. I am sad to report that it did not. I messaged Ted who feels it is a usb issue. I forwarded that information to Barry Solway. I am hopeful that at some point they will come up with a UI firmware load that will address the issue. I will say that using both computers with the mk 1 I never had this issue. It is an intermittent problem in that sometimes it will go for long stretches without happening and at other times it will happen frequently. It is annoying when it acts up. I know I am not alone with this problem as I saw someone else mention it in the beta thread.

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Just noticed that the downloads page has a new icon / image for the PerfectWave DirectStream DAC MK2 v2.3.3 firmware.

The link, however, points incorrectly to the Stellar Strata firmware file.

Not positive how to flag that for the PSA folks to remedy.

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I hope they can straighten out that issueMultiple returns on product even if Beta needs some standup action to make you whole. The Beta userbreak is not much more benefit than individuals now receiving production hardware At least they get use of their product. I would seriously discuss an alternative with customer service rather than poke and hope troubleshooting.

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At present time it does not make sense to send it back right away. I have to first see if I get any response indicating the software issue would be worked on in a timely manner. If that is the case the unit would not need to make another trip in for service, instead it would just be a UI firmware update.

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I passed this on, asking for a fix.

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Very cool and a bit jealous….

Still holding out hope mine ships tomorrow. In the meantime I will listen to music and read some great reviews :+1:

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I have USB dropouts and have determined that it happens when my backup software kicks in and starts backing up my computer. As soon as the backup kicks off, the dropouts start, when the backup completes, the dropouts stop.

Is it possible that you have some kind of resource-gobbling background tasks running on your computer at the times that the dropouts happen?

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I have turned off everything and it still happens. I wish it was that for sure.

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Hey John - This is such a bummer. I have hundreds of hours now on USB and have had no issues. Perhaps it’s time you pursue a return and get another unit. How long can you be expected to limp along with this issue?

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No drop out here, but Roon occasionally will go to the next song before the first song is done.

That’s odd. I haven’t heard this symptom prior. What’s your signal path to you MKII.

MAC/Qobuz/Roon/BACCH4Mac Intro*/USB/Regen LPS/MKII DAC…

Search: Roon randomly skipping tracks

It appears it’s not rare

I am surprised at how many people have reported this issue. From what I briefly just looked at you can pretty much rule out the problem being the MKII. There’s all sorts of configurations reporting the issue.

Have you tried a different app like Audirvana to see if it skips as well?

Nope, it’s a well documented Roon thing.

Let’s say one skip or so in fifty plays

Only streaming, not while playing from our hard drive.

We contacted Roon and all we’ve heard is silence from them.

Quelle surprise. Their support model seems to get worst every day. They’ve done it to themselves by trying to support pretty much any configuration people put together. If I were them I’d start limiting what I provided support for and let the rest either migrate to a supported version or fend for themselves. I’d limit the versions of Win, MacOS, linux, Rock, and of course the Nucleuses. I’d also only support Roon tested devices. It sounds brutal, but the DIY is killing them.

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An interesting possible alternative to Roon from the people at JCAT. Chris at AS has been singing it’s praises and has a full review coming. Also has a “Roon type” radio function.

https://jplay.app/

Might give the free trial a try with the Zen Stream and see how it works out.

Got to be better than the Conversdigital alternative.

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Reads like customers were not happy using apps like Mconnect or BubbleUPnP to access the Jplay server core products. So their own app may be the solution. I am not able to run a 14-day trial on the app at present. So if you do give it a try, am curious hear how these two claims fit together: “no core needed” and “plays music from… local network”. Can the app itself access a NAS? Or does it need the NAS to be putting out UPnP. So then I would need a NAS UPnP server that does DSD. Though PCM would be easy.

Note: Lifetime pricing for their server core alternatives of either 100 or 150 clams seems good. But the new app seems to be 50 clams a year.