I like your ListenUp drop here. I can recall going there as a young child with my old man and still purchase from them regularly.
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Chris
If you like the presentation of the Parasound with your speakers DAC aside then yes the May would be an improvement as would several others like the Aqua La Voce S3 or even the new Spring 3 KTE which has a lot of the trickle down tech of the May but without the separate power supply. Tedâs new version of the DS will feature a bigger better power supply and his TSS dac a separate one so the initial difference between and internal DAC card and a separate DAC is the dedicated power supply. I own both the May KTE and the DS which is at the shop having the transformer upgrade done but I donât have any thoughts that this will make up for the Mayâs 22 lb. separate power supply. Now which one you prefer the sound of is a personal choice and not a technical one. I also own the Aqua which like the DS is now an FPGA based DAC with a similar sound profile but due to itâs bigger power supplies has more extension on both ends of the spectrum. I expect the transformer upgrade to bring the DS closer to the power and extension of the Aqua.
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We all have different tastes and systems, therefore our subjective opinions differ. But one thing thatâs not subject, is that every component needs hundreds of hours to burn in before sounding itâs best. Therefore early assumptions about a product are meaningless.
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We agree!
My unit was gently used, had roughly 500 hours on it out of the box and spent another few weeks soaking in before I did any serious listening and comparison, so I think it meets your definition.
Brett suggests it needs at least a thousand hours to sound itâs best, so I was probably shy a few hundred hours by his definition.
Errr, thatâs subjective too 
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Like everyone said, itâs all subjective.
I am lucky to be a few minutes from a great dealer who lets me borrow and try in my system several brands. If you can do that, itâs the best scenario, because system synergy is key, and thereâs no substitute for hearing the kit in your system.
If thatâs not possible, go on the internet, but for research, I suggest favoring independent platforms like Audiogon etc.
All manufacturer sponsored forums are inevitably very heavily biased. On the dCS forum, you wonât see many people who prefer MSB or Berkeley Audio. If all you read is the dCS forum, and you are rich enough, you will end up buying a dCS dac. What a twist!
On neutral platforms, you will find interesting reviews and comparisons, especially from people who have owned several different brands. Itâs still their system and their ears, however.
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PS magazine reviews are interesting, but keep a critical mind, and check who buys a lot of advertising in the magazine. Surprisingly enough, the big advertisers tend to get a lot of reviews, mostly favorable. You donât say!
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Very well said. These forums are great because we talk about a lot of different stuff and they are useful if youâre running into an issue or have a question about a PS product. What I personally find them less useful for are when I am looking for opinions and past experience on PS products. There is a heavy bias, which makes sense and I just expect that when Iâm reading things here. I probably spend more time reading WBF, Audiogon and AVS Forum where the opinions are usually very different. All of the above forums including here in my opinion fall way too deep into the subjective side of things so I rely on sites like ASR both to understand the products technically and why we perceive the sounds they make.
I think talking to different groups of folks with varying opinions and learning is part of what makes this hobby fun.
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There is no need to quote other memberâs posts.
Philâs post contains a link to your entire post in the upper right of his response so that members can see what you wrote.
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I am sorry. I do not understand what you mean. I meant for my post to be helpful. It obviously was not. 
Again, I am sorry.
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What do Discs have on them? What do HDDs and SSDs have on them? Yep, the same exact thingâŚdigital data. The process is getting that digital data from the media to the DAC and then out to the amp as analog information.
Reading an optical disc is far more likely to result in errors than reading from a magnetic disc or solid state device. Optical disc mechanisms are likely to make as much or more noise than an HDD or SSD. Overall, the CD/SACD transport is likely electronically quieter than a general purpose computer. But that noise can be mitigated by sending the data over a network to a purpose-built low noise device that will be electronically quieter than a CD/SACD transport with or without a built in DAC. So it makes sense that a CD/SACD transport connected to a DAC or directly to an integrated amp or preamp/amp could be better than a general purpose computer connected to a DAC and then to an integrated amp or preamp/amp
But, what would make a CD/SACD transport better than streaming from an HDD or SSD to an endpoint over Ethernet? Itâs not like reading straight from the optical disc provides âbetterâ data. The same data is getting to the DAC. So, we are left with differences in DACs, preference for certain types, or bias.
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@speed-racer from my reading, there are different ways to think about this. Your way is one such way. I can say definitively that in my situation, it is not about differences in DACs as Iâve used the same DAC to compare both the computer and transport avenues. The variable is not the DAC. The variable is the source feeding the DAC.
Also, this is audio. The âwhat sounds bestâ part is entirely subjective. Therefore, figuring out the ins and outs of what sounds best to an individual human rarely follows the lines drawn from linear logic.
This is about art. And what art who likes is not so much about logic. The part that âlikesâ is not a machine. Itâs a complex animal brain.
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In the case of the PST, galvanic isolation is present. Paul talked this up quite a bit. It could be done with your streaming. I had done it with streaming using a iFi galvanic isolation device.
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What got me in this conversation was your statement saying that transports âmight be inherently better soundingâ than ripped tracks. So, is that a statement about âartâ or is that more of an technical statement. You seem to play whatever card suits your fancy at the time and to justify your idea that your positions cannot be challenged.
Look, it is the same data is getting to the DAC. So, it is not the transport itself that is âbetterâ. Either you like the noise characteristics of the transport chain or your streamer chain makes more noise. Itâs not the fact that the bits are read from an optical discâŚ
Ethernet provides galvanic isolationâŚ
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HmmâŚwonder why iFi and PSA didnât just use ethernet then instead of making a point and product to do this?
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To clarify, the âmight be inherently betterâ is a question, a speculation. Itâs far from being a conclusion of any sort.
As for the rest, I have not in any way challenged your own conclusions on this topic. Iâve only stated that there are a variety of opinions. Iâve not declared any one opinion as being the champ as Iâm in no position to do so with any sort of authority.
Youâre largely debating with yourself. My comments have been narrowly focused on my own personal experience pertaining to my personal gear, and to my personal tastes. Thatâs it. My observations do not extend a single foot beyond my living room.
I remember Pokey when he was still alive. Sigh.
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