Agreed. I think everyone here would love if they were released at the same time. But if the DS MKII were ready and we were a few months out from releasing the streamer, I don’t think the folks interested in the MKII would have the patience to wait for the streamer if they knew the MKII was ready to go.
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My understanding is that it will have the PerfectWave name in it so definitely PW quality!
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I’m not sure what the team has tested with it so far. I know just a few months ago we were getting music out of it via I2S so I’m sure it’s way too early for them to be doing any listening tests with cables.
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Thanks James but I was wondering about sound quality differences in general between the two cables and if you have listened to them before. I would probably order everything together.
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I sadly didn’t get to do the AB testing with the crew when they did it because I was still working at home at the time. Paul, Darren, and Scott got to do the AB testing with the PST and DSD and they were thrilled with the Firebird. They described it as having a more open presentation and was a pretty big step up above the Thunderbird. I think the Thunderbird is a great cable but I don’t get to hear it much because all of our systems here have the Firebird 
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To funny, your spoiled!
. I’m only going to do this once so what’s an extra $1300 for a cable?
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Both Dragon and Firebird HDMI use pure solid core silver as conductors, Thunderbird uses 10% silver plated copper conductor.
I own a Firebird48, and it beats my previous Coffee in every area. Coffee was second down from AQ previous top dog Diamond, and it uses 10% silver plated copper too.
I really think the newer topline AQ using PSS conductors is what set them apart. The resolutions and soundstage produced from Firebird48 as a I2S connection between my PST and DS is phenomenal!
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Thanks for your input, definitely sounds worth the extra cash. Happy listening 
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Ok, now we have confirmation of the inputs for the Mk2 DAC, hopefully the streamer can match and you just connect your preference to take up Ted’s good work!
https://forum.psaudio.com/t/wishes-upcoming-psa-directstream-mkii/21746/1089?u=interested
This is exactly what I was hoping for all along.
Now we can slip any one of the three into our chain whenever we want.
I am going to add in this order:
First: DSII
Second: Streamer
Third: Octave
For me, based on liking my system to be relatively stable for 6 -12 months between significant changes, it will be ~2 years before all three are installed.
It’s going to be a fun '22 and '23. Thanks @Paul !
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Based on my recent experience with Innuos 2.0 streamer software, which optimises Innuos machines to be operated as standalone servers like is planned for Octave, I have chosen not to use Roon for my main system.
I still use a elsewhere as I have Roon Core installed on another server (QNAP). Innuos 2.0 allows you to switch Roon on in one touch, but you have to disable the second copy of the Core. This is another button to press and wait a few seconds.
Sound quality of Octave will be determined by the design philosophy, which in the case of Innuos is low power and low noise. Their devices run off 15w and have multiple linear power supplies. Roon requires a lot of processing power for its amazing functionality.
At the end of the day steamers are just software and how good they are depends on what you actually want it to do and how committed the manufacturer is to continuing software development. I am interested to see how the Octave hardware is optimised for audio and what the software provides. Having Roon player as an option, if not Roon Core, may be for the longer term. Of course for those people who don’t want a separate device for their Roon Core, Octave will not be an option.
So you plan to buy streamer and server although you just need one of them to play music?
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Hey, I hear reference to a forthcoming PS Streamer … will I be able to load files from ripped CDs onto it? And DSD files? I have no intention of using online streaming services, just downloads/rips that I already own. Will it need to feed into a dac or straight into an amp?
Any recommendations for a CD ripper? I use my PC at the moment …
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Dbpoweramp is one of the standard software packages a lot of people (myself included) use.
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Sorry i should have been more clear - is there any benefit to using CD Ripper hardware, rather than just a PC’s CD/DVD drive?
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Not in my experience. But I carefully choose the drive and software I use to rip. I too rely on dbPoweramp.
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What are good cd/dvd drives to use with pcs for ripping? I’d prefer external as I’m not sure I have room for an internal one.
I have DbPoweramp akready luckily.
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Probably pot luck 
but one that supports C2 or CC2 error checking (if I recall correctly) from dbpoweramp documentation
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My favorite drives for accurate ripping are ASUS drives. I have had good luck with Pioneer drives as well but I am not certain if they still are in the business. An external drive is not a problem.
Should you select a new drive, or even with your current drive use the dbPoweramp drive setup options to make certain you are getting all you can from the drive you have. Only rip discs in “secure mode” which is selectable in the ripper setup icon in the ripper. If you use secure mode you get the most accurate rip. If you find yourself with a damaged disc that requires rereading the disc over and over then you might choose to use burst mode which is it not accurate but life is short, accept you have a damaged disc. 
Using dbPoweramo and a good quality drive allows you to get the beat rips possible, backed up with the Accuraterip database process that verifies the data you got from your rip to many other users results in the Accuraterip database. It is quite substantial and very useful.
I am saddened sometimes when I buy a recently released disc that isn’t yet in the Accuraterip database. In this situation dbPoweramp does 2 normal reads and three slow reads of each track checking to see if it gets the same result each time. It adds a lot of time to the process but then your data gets uploaded to the Accuraterip database and the next person to rip a copy of that disc benefits from what you have done and gets to enjoy a normal fast rip.
I am certain some streamer manufacturers believe they have the best ripping capabilities available. They can think that but I haven’t personally found this to be true.
In the early days people used EAC, Exact Audio Copy that in its day was the best you could get. There are some old fossils who still believe AEC is the best. It is quite capable, and it is free. But it has nothing on dbpoweramp. No sir.
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Thanks… Is that list updated regularly?
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