Today I made adjustment to the PowerPlant multiwave and increased from level 2 to level 6 and was extremely happy with the result - I heard improvements in the musical performance.
If you have the power plant and using sine wave or lower level multiwave setting try adjusting the level and see if you like the results.
I’m positive the increased multiwave setting is worth hearing. Please report back here what you think
I hate to admit it, but I have been happily enjoying the sound of the DS and have not even thought of playing with MW.
(I moved this thread to here, but it also seemed appropriate under the DS forum. Johno, great topic - let me know if you would like a different title for your thread and you cannot change it.)
Ok, I’m going to have to test this out tonight as well. I think I’m at 4.
Due to my amp not really caring much about power cords or power filtering/regeneration (it’s got 5500mfd caps on each channel!), I’ve not really played with it much since initial setup. I’ll have to see how the DS likes the settings.
I really wanted this to be posted in the DirectStream section for those with the DS to see. I must admit I don’t often look in the Powerplant section and its possible others may do the same.
This is really about system tuning similar to changing interconnects. maximum multiwave setting has bought out further brilliance of the DS in my system.
some with powerplant do not necessarily have the DS
Hey Johno, when I read your initial post I didn’t see mention of the effect of MW setting on the DS (as opposed to other components). I didn’t realise you wanted the discussion to focus on that exclusively.
As I have all my components powered from my P10, I’m not sure I can answer how much the MW setting applies just to the DS, as opposed to my whole system… Do you separate your components to test it out?
@ Stereophilus and anyone interested in commenting on the multiwave setting and using the DS DAC
My system is very simple and only the amp and DS are powered by the P-5.
previously the optimal sound when the Mk2 PWD was connected I had determined multiwave (MW) set to 2 was best, I did not change the MW setting when swapping to the DS. I have been listening to the DS now for a few weeks - the DS is well burned in.
Recently I change the MW setting to 6 and wow the musical performance was more involving and the toes were tapping more. with MW6 there is more audible resonance a greater lingering decay on notes when compared to sine, it just sounds better to me. So I wonder if others would try as I have done and report what the feel and heard.
The facts for me after listening with MW level 2 with the DS and changing to 6 the sound is more musical - I feel the music more its more alive. The difference from sine or MW2 to MW6 is significantly more audible and alive to me. The difference with the PWD and changing the Multiwave was no where near as significant and I felt the sweet spot was with the PWD was MW2.
Its interesting I read a post by Frode and he prefers his preamplifier in as the DS direct to amp is to polite. In some respects I feel increasing the MW to 6 makes the DS less polite and a little louder to the ear.
Anyone else have an opinion after changing the multiwave setting, what do you prefer? is your DS direct to amp or via a preamplifier?
I switched my P10 from a 4 to a 6 last night - it was low level listening because it was late and my fiance was trying to sleep. But I noticed a little more sparkle in the high end, and I heard the decay thing you’re talking about, especially on cymbals.
Again, that was low level listening, like 50 on the DS Volume - so I’m sure I wasn’t getting the full effect, but I did notice something.
Lonely Raven said Again, that was low level listening, like 50 on the DS Volume - so I'm sure I wasn't getting the full effect, but I did notice something.
Thanks for the feed back, it does show the difference between systems, 50 setting on the DS for me is a good comfortable listening level and this is with my NC400 amps configured with to be less sensitive on the input. even at level 1 on the DS there is low level audible sound, I have to hit the filter button on the remote to reduce sound to a barely audible sound.
I’m loving the piano, violins and other string instruments with MW6
I moved from standard (MW4) to six as well and I am very happy with the result, but could someone please explain to me the potential downsides by using the MW6 setting?
Could it result in more distortion or trafo-hum (does it increase the DC level)?
The nominal power consumption in my system is about 800W (subs are not connected to the P10 because the inrush trips the MCB).
Apart from an increased power consumption by the P10 (to sustain the increased power in the 3rd harmonic of the regenerated AC sinewave), there isn’t really any downside.
I’ve been noting my MW DS experiences in another topic area – discovered this. In my system, the DS on MW6 sounded brilliant, layered and live – the closest to a live performance I’ve heard from any system!
Unfortunately, I also was hearing an annoying (almost painful) peakiness on some piano notes and female vocals, which completely disappeared when I set the P10 to Sine. However, after hearing the DS at MW6, Sine sounds lifeless; so I’ve been working up the MW scale to see how much MW my system can take.
Looks like MW2 is as high as I can go before the edginess comes back. But a little MW is better than none
Jah said
I've been noting my MW DS experiences in another topic area -- discovered this. In my system, the DS on MW6 sounded brilliant, layered and live -- the closest to a live performance I've heard from any system!
Unfortunately, I also was hearing an annoying (almost painful) peakiness on some piano notes and female vocals, which completely disappeared when I set the P10 to Sine. However, after hearing the DS at MW6, Sine sounds lifeless; so I’ve been working up the MW scale to see how much MW my system can take.
Looks like MW2 is as high as I can go before the edginess comes back. But a little MW is better than none
Followup:
After listening at MW2 for a couple of weeks, I’ve decided that – in my system – Sine works best with the DS (no MW at all). I’m giving up liveliness for sound that will not wear out my ears over the long haul.