Next DSD firmware update in early 2021?

@tedsmith : will there still be two I2S inputs in the DSD mk2 ?
And will these 2 I2S still be the preferred / recommended inputs for the DMP/PST and Matrix ?
I am busy upgrading digital cables, so I would like to know, please.

if the directstream dac becomes obsolete maybe i could pick one up heavily discounted?

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My DS DAC was purchased October 2019! Rather than upgrading the DAC, I will upgrade the power amp & phono pre :wink:

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This was also in my understanding the statement so far (independent of the fact, that the FPGA‘s of the DS and the TSS will be different).

It seems, as soon as the decision for a DS Mk II was taken, it was a management decision not to provide upgrades anymore for the original DS, although it was planned to support the different FPGA‘s initially. Not sure if the DS Mk II has the same FPGA as the TSS will have or again a different one.

The release cycle of the original DS was quite long in comparison to normal cycles. So we were lucky to get a lot of firmware upgrades and we understood, this continues as long as the capacity of the DS FPGA enables it.

Now if the philosophy to provide firmware upgrades for a unit is defined as „until a follow up HW is available“…and in case HW release cycles should get shorter…the upgradability won’t have the same grade of relevance anymore as for the original DS…but is still nice for the time of a unit‘s timeliness.

Just the folks who just have bought the original DS will be quite disappointed.

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I agree. However, it is good PSA is talking about the new product early so that people planning a purchase can wait for the new product beta testing, release, and reviews.

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Well the current DS has a lot of cheaply untapped resource if you just do the XS4400 Edcor Transformer mod. I still have room there for one more sound improvement boost that involves hooking up an external LPS to drive the analog board.

Cutting the current DS off from new firmware upgrades was logically the only way to get users to readily adopt the mkII for fear of being left too far behind.

It is ashamed the marketing up until recently made firmware upgrades a selling point. Perhaps the trade in will not be paltry for fairly recent purchasers.

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I haven’t been here long but even I recall mentions of a second generation DS at least 4-6 months ago. Couple that with the fact that this is already a 5-6 year old product in the fastest changing area of audio (digital), and I don’t think it should be surprising that the old version will be phased out.

That’s what happens folks. Life moves on and for the good of progress that’s what you want. Getting one last firmware update is a great bonus. The early adapters will make the transition and the scavengers will be there to gobble up the old units at a big discount and everyone will be happy

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Small percentage improvements, big payouts. I call it rust. We have a happy relationship with DS, and thank you for the last update.

I caution you all when planning for 2021. You should hedge your plans to recognize, however small the event, production of the new DAC could be pushed back to 2022.
I am facing that problem, should I go for a PST, Octave or wait for the new DAC, even the BHK 600 that Paul just mentioned (teased) in a recent YouTube video.
As usual, all opinions gratefully accepted. :roll_eyes:

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You saying release date forecasts don’t always come to fruition? haha

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Right, that’s what I say…it was long in production, we had a great advantage out of this service and the DS sounds great as it is + reacts very much on further tuning options like power supplies etc.

Just those who bought late (on basis of the understanding so far that firmware updates continue to be available longer than due to the decision now) may be disappointed.

I’m pretty sure the names of the inputs will be saved no matter what FW version you use. Are you just trying to set the names of the inputs to the stock settings?

This is probably the issue. The DS FPGA probably no longer enables future updates after this next one, due to 5-6 yr old hardware limitations. I think Ted has been signaling that he was running out of real estate or performance with the current FPGA for some time. And until the actual improvements are synthesized and tested, it is pure conjecture as to how much real estate and bandwidth in the FPGA said improvements will consume.

Maybe now it has become clear that after this last update, future improvements won’t have the horsepower/space/memory/gates/etc in the old product to implement. And that actually wouldn’t cut against prior guidance, if indeed prior guidance was that updates would be available as long as they could be supported by old hardware. Just a guess on my part though.

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Of course I’d love to see another five years of updates, but Windom sounds so damned good I am happy if it never progresses beyond this–so much to tune around the great sound, and I wish I had the skill to do the transformer mods as this makes sense to me as a significant game-changing modification.

I’m probably out of the market for the next version of the DSD but feel confident it will get me into the next decade which is more than I could ask for, especially if I can swing the new transport one of these days. I’m surrounded by discs–makes sense to have the best transport possible.

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Find someone to do the transformer replacement for you! It’s worth the trouble and risk.

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Yes TED signaled that there will be a time when the old FPGA runs out of capacity…until then I understood so far it would get upgrades. The time of running out of capacity might now be exactly the time when the Mk II was announced, but I doubt it.

Howsoever I’m not complaining that such decisions are taken at some point. I just don’t fool myself explaining this by unavoidable necessities where there might be none.

I’ll continue to be happy with my DS, which is on another level than the stock one by a tuning already and also do the two transformer/psu upgrades.

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That’s it, kick a man when he is down. There is a 6 month delay for them outside of USA. I can’t see PS audio being able to use them in Dac MkII if it takes this long to make them. :cry:

Who knows? I was an FPGA designer a long time ago (20 yrs! wow time flies) and I know from experience that updates become a real pain in the ass as you approach the limits of an FPGA. That isn’t fun at all. You get 99.9% of the way there and it all fits and works, and then you make a necessary change that you think will take less resources and for some unknown reason it puts you over the top. It can be maddening.

Good new ideas with old, limiting hardware are not fun for a designer. Cut them loose with new hardware to make meaningful advances! Hopefully that is what is happening

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Perhaps in time. There is no one within a hundred miles I trust and would be willing to do the work.

Wow, didn’t know FPGA’s were available 20 years ago already…but I assume not in audio applications :wink: