frode, remember that Ted’s a software guy. That means that the upgrades should come by way of software and not hardware. Besides, in a few months a lot of PWD owners(MKI and II) will have substantial experience tossing out wholesale all the PWD hardware to replace it with the DS hardware. People would really hate to have to do that again so soon. If Ted starts getting serious with his list of software upgrades, Paul will have to buy Dennis a lot more beer!
Esau
Paul, it’s very cool on paper but we won’t have the real scoop until they present next month in Munich. On the other hand, in a fairly short period of time Auralic has amassed quite the impressive track record.
Esau
Paul, it's very cool on paper but we won't have the real scoop until they present next month in Munich. On the other hand, in a fairly short period of time Auralic has amassed quite the impressive track record.
Esau
I thought about this too.
What are the PS Audio's plans for Munich and DirectStream?
@frode We’ll be there! We have our own room, we’re displaying DirectStream and playing them on a pair of the big Raidhos. Also should have a prototype of our new power amp driving the system, plus (hopefully) Sprout integrateds.
Should be exciting.
Just the last few days I have been wondering whatever happened to Sprout. It has been quite some time since it was last mentioned. Curious as to just what it (they?) is (/are) and have to offer. I was under the impression that it was supposed to be out by now.
J.P.
@wingsounds13 Sprout is finished from the development standpoint, now we have to figure out if we’re really going forward or not. All we need to do is “pull the trigger” as it were. Sprout was designed from an ergonomic standpoint and sound standpoint completely by my son Scott. Its intent is to bring high-end music to 25 to 40 year olds - bring them into the fold as it were - and this brings up the big question. Do they, indeed, want to come along? Are they interested in better sound? The recent success of the Pono portable music player, whose whole pitch is bringing better sound to people who don’t know that even exists, would suggest they are.
But can we reach that crowd? Can we, PS Audio, a company appealing to a more mature audience, reach out to a targeted audience that don’t anything about us and don’t necessarily relate to what we’re doing? That’s the big question facing us right now. Sure we can and will sell Sprout to our crowd and it’ll be a success, but its whole purpose in life was to bring Scott’s generation into better sounding music and that is what we’re trying to figure out how we might answer that question before making the huge financial risk it takes to build 1,000 of these beauties.
Ain’t business fun?
@wingsounds13 Sprout is finished from the development standpoint, now we have to figure out if we're really going forward or not. All we need to do is "pull the trigger" as it were. Sprout was designed from an ergonomic standpoint and sound standpoint completely by my son Scott. Its intent is to bring high-end music to 25 to 40 year olds - bring them into the fold as it were - and this brings up the big question. Do they, indeed, want to come along? Are they interested in better sound? The recent success of the Pono portable music player, whose whole pitch is bringing better sound to people who don't know that even exists, would suggest they are.
But can we reach that crowd? Can we, PS Audio, a company appealing to a more mature audience, reach out to a targeted audience that don't anything about us and don't necessarily relate to what we're doing? That's the big question facing us right now. Sure we can and will sell Sprout to our crowd and it'll be a success, but its whole purpose in life was to bring Scott's generation into better sounding music and that is what we're trying to figure out how we might answer that question before making the huge financial risk it takes to build 1,000 of these beauties.
Ain't business fun?
Pono had a "successful" Kickstarter because they had Neil young associated with it. Unfortunately the Pono creators had no clue how to run a Kickstarter and offered no "stretch" goals once the initial goal was reached. Of course, they're nearing 700% of their initial goal, so they're laughing all the way to the bank. But still not offering stretch goals or catering to the audiophile set. (I just asked for music from their store, and they didn't want to do that)
Backers are pledging $400 for "limited Edition" Ponos (signed by an artist with only two of the artists' albums included)
How much will Sprout cost?
If you can get a famous backer (like Young or Springsteen or someone like that) then you can put it on Kickstarter with name recognition and see if the target demographic accepts the concept. If not, you're not out any money for production. If it looks like your target is met, you can go into production immediately and deliver, even sooner than Pono (who's first deliveries aren't scheduled until October) Make sure there's an analog input (so those who bought Pono can play through Sprout)
And if you surpass your goal, please, please, please offer STRECH GOALS!!!
Just a thought.
Paul, email me at jpl if you want more details/thoughts.
--SSW
SSW, forgive me but I think if Scott wanted to get a name to attract 25-40 year olds Neil or Bruce isn’t going to do it. Two-thirds of that range would be wondering who those guys are, or just won’t care.
My thoughts exactly. Bruce is a pretty spry 64 year-old, but hardly a hard-throb of the twenty something set.
It will take until the end of next year before we know whether Pono is a success.
What about Beber?
Sad but maybe true.
What about Beber?
Sad but maybe true.
Ummmm, NO!
Try John Mayer.
Bieber is too far the other way. His fans are tweens and early to mid teens.
We’ve certainly considered the Kickstarter route to reach out and it’s up for discussion right now. If we did something like that we wouldn’t rely on a star, first off we don’t have a star (and they’re expensive), but perhaps more importantly it wouldn’t be from the heart.
Neil Young works because it’s what he believes in and have worked it for years. You don’t need a famous person to have a successful campaign, you need someone who speaks from the depths of their soul; from their heart.
That is Scott. When we do something, whatever we do, Scott will be the spokesperson. If you ever have a chance to engage him on the subject of Sprout, do so. You’ll want one almost instantly. He’s very passionate and persuasive on the subject.
Paul McGowan said: You don't need a famous person to have a successful campaign, you need someone who speaks from the depths of their soul; from their heart.
:-bd
Actually, all the old bands are the only ones making money on tour.
We’ve certainly considered the Kickstarter route to reach out and it’s up for discussion right now. If we did something like that we wouldn’t rely on a star, first off we don’t have a star (and they’re expensive), but perhaps more importantly it wouldn’t be from the heart.
Neil Young works because it’s what he believes in and have worked it for years. You don’t need a famous person to have a successful campaign, you need someone who speaks from the depths of their soul; from their heart.
That is Scott. When we do something, whatever we do, Scott will be the spokesperson. If you ever have a chance to engage him on the subject of Sprout, do so. You’ll want one almost instantly. He’s very passionate and persuasive on the subject.
Passion counts, most definitely.
But so does a pre-existing market base, such as my wife’s webcomic. She had her main demographic pre-primed and ready by the time the Kickstarter began, and even then the first Kickstarter didn’t meet it’s original goal (we discovered that folks thought that “If it’s on the web, it’s free, so why should I pay?”) We tailored the second to work (once we knew how many people would actually pledge and used that as a database to start the second), and got to 235% of the original goal of the second Kickstarter. We used stretch goals to get more folks to pledge after the initial goal was met in 48 hours (unlike Pono who have no clue . . . )
Indiegogo can do the same, only they take the money as soon as the pledge is made and you get the money even if the original goal isn’t met (albeit at a higher percentage of fees to indiegogo)
Be sure and include the cost of shipping the goodies, especially on the stretch goals, as postage adds up and can put you in the red. And don’t forget Kickstarter and Amazon wind up taking about 10% off the top in fees.
So, with Scott’s passion and a pre-primed market you’ll be all set. Just make sure you get the latter because a lot of folks start a Kickstarter and expect people to just show up and pledge. They don’t. You have to drive them to the site.
–SSW
Don’t forget the potential from a viral Youtube video.
With a bit of imagination one could ride the Pono wave while touting the benefits of Sprout.
If the SQ is superior then perhaps A Sennheiser tie in would do well. They might tempt and upgrade the Beats crowd.
Whether a celebrity helps a sales campaign largely depends on the nature of the product’s perceived value added. If you’re selling a “lifestyle” product where the value of the product is more based on appearance, style, convenience, etc., then you need to focus a marketing campaign on building a consensus. A familiar face may help there. On the other hand, associating a product with a celebrity also has risks. If a celebrity has high profile political or social positions, you risk alienating potential customers based on a spokesperson’s personal decisions outside of your control.
If the product’s quality is one of technical superiority, the challenge is to help potential customers to understand how the product will impact their personal experience. In the case of the DirectStream DAC, I would focus (as has been done so far in posts) on how it takes the listening experience to a new level of realism. I’ve experienced these “qualitative not quantitative” improvements with some (few) audio products. These are the components that redefine the scale of realism, that turn the quality dial up to 11 (or higher).
I am wondering what is a bigger jump in sound quality. Going from red book on the PWD vs. red book the DS, or redbook vs. SACD on the DS? (also throw in 24/96 vs. SACD on the DS) If Paul and company wish to silence my inane questions, perhaps rushing an upgrade kit out the door would keep me quiet.
I am wondering what is a bigger jump in sound quality. Going from red book on the PWD vs. red book the DS, or redbook vs. SACD on the DS? (also throw in 24/96 vs. SACD on the DS)
I think the differences are on different scales or different dimensions: Redbook on the PWD vs redbook on the DS is (IMO) mostly a change in involvement or perhaps reality. Redbook to SACD is (IMO) more a question of solidity, wholeness, less ghostliness :) Hi-rez PCM to SACD is (IMO) a question of ease, SACD just flows a little better. It's most noticeable to me when you go back from SACD to the others, there's just a little something missing. If you walked into a room with either hi-rez PCM playing or SACD playing I don't think you would instantly know the difference, but if you hear them back to back you probably will. As always differences in mastering etc. may be larger than the differences we are otherwise talking about.
Get someone who matters to the demographic to say how great dr dre’s beats sound with the sprout?