PS Audio AirLens

Any word yet on a firm release date and pricing for the AirLens?

1 Like

Sorry for not being clear.

What I was trying to convey is that as gear swaps into my system, like the forthcoming AirLens, I don’t want to be worried about a new unit having a physical remote that will allow me to control our Roon. I definitely don’t want to have to pick up my phone or tablet to stop/start/pause/skip tracks from the Roon interface. With Control4, there’s an integration with Roon that lets me control the Roon no matter the endpoints with a traditionally styled physical remote. The Control4 also uses IP and IR to control the rest of my system like power on/off. For instance I also use it via IR to control inputs and volume on the BHK Pre.

I hope this makes sense.

It’s a great way for me to maintain household harmony. No matter what I do to my system, my wife and daughter can pick up the C4 remote and not have to learn how to do anything differently.

3 Likes

Wow! You are very lucky! The units cohabiting with you are willing to pick up a control units themselves! Mine demand that I select and set in play exactly what they want to hear, without giving me any idea of what they want to hear at the moment! The only chance I would have of their selecting and playing items themselves is if it were on an app. Hence my pleas for the PS Audio app to rule all the PS Audio devices.

2 Likes

You got it. It will indeed have wireless capability.

6 Likes

Sorry I am a little late to the party bitvery excited for this streamer!

Is this product meant to compliment the stellar or bhk line ups?

Are you familiar with the Sonore Rendu family of products? From what I understand it’s similar to that.

Edited to include price.

There will be a phone/ tablet app to control it.
It does not have a handheld remote.
We do not know if it has a screen on the front.
It will be Roon Ready.
You will be able to stream an unknown number of different music apps and streaming services through it.
It has Airplay, I assume 2, but I am not an Apple user. Maybe @aangen
knows, he’s a fanboy :smiley:
It has coax and I2S out.
It does not have USB out.
It’s wireless and wired Ethernet.
It is not a knife sharpener.
It’s not yet bunny approved.
We don’t know the release date, maybe Q3?
We don’t know the price. Edit: Possibly around $1800, TBD.
It is most likely not a traditionally sized peice of gear like the DS, a smaller form factor.
Congratulations! I thought I read that Paul was giving one to the person who posted the 759 post in this topic.
We don’t know the color(s).
Somewhere in the circuit is an air gap which will de-jitter the signal.
Did I mention the bunnies?

I am sure I missed some things.

10 Likes

Don’t hold me to it, but i thought there was a post suggesting the msrp to be in the $1,800 range, subject to change of course.

1 Like

That is still our best estimate of its eventual pricing, yes.

11 Likes

Paul, do you think this will be released before the DS MKII?

2 Likes

I do! Should be one of the next releases.

11 Likes

Great news, i like the idea of hearing what sound improvement each product will do instead of Both at the same time and will be able to break in new dragon cable for when the MKII is released.

2 Likes

Why omitting USB out? Seems very odd. USB is the best sounding interface on my May KTE, so that would be a non-starter, for me. Odd design decision, even with I2S being so prevalent with PS Audio.

I would agree on one aspect of that. May not be best sounding when it comes to PS Audio stack, but they will be limiting their sales by doing this for only end users who have I2S interface in their DAC. would not be smart if they omit that.

1 Like

Scroll up 4 days, Paul explains the choices of galvanic isolation and SQ in the AirLens over USB convenience.

5 Likes

I assume market limitations resulting from the decision to not provide USB were discussed at an executive level at PSA. Clearly it’s their decision. I am just along for the ride.

Buying one, the consumer will have to realize the same constraint on resale. Because of this constraint I suspect that resale value may decrease faster then typical for endpoints.

1 Like

Very good point

For me it does not matter. I want to try it and see if its better than my Signature Rendu. I have no doubt it will probably be better. For the $1800 they are saying its going to cost, that would be a keeper.

1 Like

If someone has a source that is truly limited to USB, I am sure there will be multiple options, at various price points, for converting USB to I2S and/or coax.

Just a thought…

3 Likes

The way im looking at it is, i am going to purchase the Airlens and will keep it until PS Audio comes out with something better and will trade up so i dont have to worry about reselling.

1 Like

It appears that PS Audio has decided that the AirLens is not to be another all-purpose streamer with all of the usual outputs that competes with all of the other streamers out there. Instead, it will be one whose main purpose is to work primarily with PS Audio dacs as a replacement for the Bridge II. If that means they can focus on making it the best sounding streamer for their dacs and keep down its cost by excluding the parts for unnecessary outputs, that works for me.

8 Likes