I am an Apple person through and through. I only use Microsoft garbage when I have to. I worked at Apple for almost 10 years…
I just happen to speak Unix and Windows too…
I have nothing against Apple products but I could never personally own a computer with macOS on it. There's too much that it can't do (gaming for instance is very limited) and there are a plethora of applications that I use on a daily basis that are not available (and have no equivalent) on macOS. I also build my on desktop PCs, so macOS is a no-go unless I want to run it as a hackintosh PC, but due to my software requirements it wouldn't make sense to do so. Build quality and hardware choices in most Apple products is excellent, I just don't like the software side of Apple products. I don't particularly like the UI in macOS. Apple's OS's tend to favor simplicity over granular control and simplicity without granular control is not something I'm after. While I can see simplicity for many people is preferable, I view myself as a tinkerer who loves to customize my computing experience and I just can't do that with macOS in the way I want. To each their own.
The nice thing about Windows is that you can build your own computer with non-garbage parts. Apple products use essentially the same hardware now-a-days as Windows PC’s do so I don’t know where the term “garbage” is coming from. If you mean software, a lot has changed with Windows over the past 10 years. While I agree if you’re buying a cheap Windows laptop it’s going to have cheap parts, but the cost obviously is going to tell you that. But if we look at similarly priced offerings from other manufacturers, you’ll find quality components used that are as good or better than Apple’s current lineup of laptops and desktops. Dell’s XPS lineup for example offer one hell of a computing experience for the dollar. You often see better CPUs, GPUs, RAM, screens and harddrives for less money. It used to be that Apple were the only ones making high quality laptops, but over the past 5 years Dell, Razor and a few others have really upset the high end laptop market where Apple used to sit alone. These Windows laptop makers are actually offering more in terms of hardware than what you get from Apple for the price. To get a similarly equipped laptop (or desktop) from Apple, you’ll often have to spend $1000+ more. Apple has no issue selling them at this cost however as many people buy it for the brand name or specifically for software found only on macOS (final cut as an example) or specifically because they prefer macOS over Windows or Linux. Again, to each their own.
brodricj said
. . . the only reason for me to persist with trying to get Redcloud on to my DSJ is so I can sell it . . .
Is this hyperbole or truly your plan?
I'm done with it. And I'm done with DMP as well. Neither worked properly out of the box on day 1. Dennis K eventually got them both going for me. It took considerable effort, trial and error with different software versions up and back. Software gremlins were to blame. But that was OK, as an early adopter some teething issues might be expected. A hardware issue on day 1 was fixed with a screw driver after consulting PS Audio. I have no issue with the sound of DSJ, it has some very minor functional issues that I could live with, but every software update has been problematic. Even when using the PS Audio supplied memory sticks.
There is no point keeping the DMP if the DSJ goes. I’ve spun one disc with it in the past month, maybe 20 hours use in a whole year (apart from the first month when I played it continuously to break in). The software update for it was promised for last March, now it will be January. Perhaps. Again, no big deal. DMP lacks the finesse expected of a flagship component but it sounds OK. New software will eventually bring it to a new level of finesse. The DSJ + DMP combination, at their price point, is top dog amongst considerable competition. They are worthy of the awards they get, for sure.
I retired recently after surviving 25 years of flying helicopters in far flung places of the world. Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, China, I had a great run. There is a grave yard full of former colleagues lost along the way who never made it to retirement. Some of them I was the last person they ever spoke to. Letters written to next of kin. The Police called me last week, there has been another. Retirement has arrived without a scratch so I rewarded myself with an Esoteric. It sits next to the DMP, DSJ and P3. Having just done a software update on the Esoteric to give it Spotify Connect and MQA status, which very pleasingly worked flawlessly and only required me to say “yes” to a prompt on the iPad. I sat in front of it for 10 hours yesterday and just couldn’t escape. Oh the joy of it, a whole world of beautiful music to discover and enjoy. Sure, it costs 6 times more than a DSJ. Add the cable that connects it to its external master clock takes it to 7 times more. For that money you’d expect it to be flawless, and to me it is.
Bottom line is the DSJ and DMP have been replaced with something else. Actually, I won’t sell them. I’ll give them to my sister or brother. They get my used projectors also. So it’s not with any dissatisfaction or buyers remorse that I’m parting with the DMP and DSJ. As I mentioned earlier, for the money they can’t be beaten. I’ve just found something that is better.
brodricj. Sorry to read of your kit troubles. Considering PS offers a full 3 year warranty for their product,why not send both machines back for a full going over to squash these gremlins. Or better yet,seeing you have documented your problems here,ask for two new replacements to make things right. I don’t see why they would not work with you in remedying this situation…
Brodricj, not sure what to say for all the grief you have been through, “thanks” would be a start. Seems kind of trite in light of your backstory, but I think you could potentially help the lesser folk by giving PS Audio the chance to diagnose those problem children. Perhaps Paul and company could work something out for mutual benefit. I can’t speak for him or the company, but there is an opportunity here that maybe shouldn’t be missed?
I lost the faith a bit when Ted said he knew lots of ways to make the DS better. I want to own a product that is everything of all his brightest ideas built without compromise. Not something with loose screws and buggy software that doesn’t work when you first plug it in. None of my gear was beta, everything was first production grade. I’m fully aware of the excellent PS Audio support, I’ve had plenty of occasions in the past to call on their assistance with in-warranty repair. The Power Plants gave me 10 times more grief than DSJ. I’ve lost count how many of those were repaired, it is at least 5. My black Power Plant P3 is worthy of sitting next to an Esoteric, too bad it has been dropped from the line-up because a silver one would be a nice match with my Halcro and Esoteric gear. I might replace it with a silver P20, or I might hold-off in anticipation of a very exciting recent offer to get my hands on something HiFi likely to be very special.
I lost the faith a bit when Ted said he knew lots of ways to make the DS better. I want to own a product that is everything of all his brightest ideas built without compromise. Not something with loose screws and buggy software that doesn’t work when you first plug it in.
I don’t know the specific context in which Ted made that statement, but I can only assume he meant that as a path to move forward. I think you’re forgetting that this DAC’s code is hand written and it takes a lot of time to code (and test) to make sure the ways in which he thinks he can get more performance out of the DAC turn out to be true. Expecting that a product is performing literally to the best of its ability is kind of a strange thought to me when you factor in the development time of most CE products. While you may assume that a product from Esoteric is doing this, I’m willing to bet a large wager that they could extract more performance from the hardware with further revisions to the software. Or do you assume that Esoteric has extracted every ounce of performance from the hardware and that the software is perfect in every way? If not, Is Esoteric releasing new firmware files every 6 to 12 months (for free) to make their product sound better or are they releasing new firmware to simply add features and functionality (as PS Audio also does)? The very fact that PS Audio and Ted Smith are continually making software changes to extract more performance out of the hardware is astonishing especially when you consider how long it’s been on the market. The Directstream sounded excellent for the price when released so it’s not like they were selling some half-baked product at launch. While I understand your frustration with software updates not taking properly (and rightfully so), I think it’s unfair to make it seem like PS Audio was holding out somehow by not adding in software enhancements to make the product sound better. They have over the past 3 years, for free. It’s literally one man hand writing all the code. It takes time. I can’t think of any other CE product I own that’s had continuous meaningful software updates for this long. Ted and PS Audio could have stopped long ago and people would still be extremely happy with the performance given the price, but they haven’t and I think that is a testament to the lengths they’re willing to go to support the products they make.
I lost the faith a bit when Ted said he knew lots of ways to make the DS better. I want to own a product that is everything of all his brightest ideas built without compromise. Not something with loose screws and buggy software that doesn’t work when you first plug it in.
…I don’t know the specific context in which Ted made that statement, but I can only assume he meant that as a path to move forward.
No. The context was hardware and circuit design changes. The horse has bolted from the stable on that.
I’ve asked him this question about hardware before. His response was that:
1.) There was a budget and some things couldn’t be done within that budget to bring the product to market at the MSRP that PS Audio wanted.
and
2.) The changes he would make to the hardware have come about because of all the software changes he’s made.
He’s learned what he would have done differently because he’s been developing the Directstream from a software standpoint for so long. It’s not like he realized what was flawed before hand and decided to go through with his hardware choices anyways. I don’t see how you can fault him for that?
So, you lost faith when you found out that a $6000 DAC was built to a budget and not every circuit was designed and built without consideration of cost?
That is more than a little naive. How could you expect otherwise?
So, you lost faith when you found out that a $6000 DAC was built to a budget and not every circuit was designed and built without consideration of cost?
That is more than a little naive. How could expect otherwise?
No, his $4000 DSJ was not built without consideration of cost apparently.
Brodricj previously had a DS-DAC as well. I believe he knows Ted’s work pretty well and has stuck with the brand throughout some seemingly tough issues. Personally I would have requested replacement units if it was me.
I’m pretty sure PSA is communicating in the background rather than openly in such a case, as it probably represents 0,0001 % of users with such problems. It’s the nature of a forum, that such rare cases get a non representative attention. But this shouldn’t put brodric‘s problems in question, it’s sad for him.
For me it’s part of the game, that equipment is built upon a budget, even equipment of 7 times the price of a PSA DAC. I’m convinced every developer who’s still motivated for his baby after release, quite soon finds options to further improve and also knew optimization’s above the budget before. Usually companies just don’t talk about that and make their customers believe their current product can’t be designed any better (until the following version which probably is in the works directly after release of the previous). I’m happy this usual covering communication philosophy is not the one of PSA.
Regarding SW updates I’m one of the many without problems, fortunately just reading that other cases exist. I am no programmer but in the IT business long enough to know that with working SW we mostly just see the top of the iceberg of potential problems. That’s why I have much respect for the Octave ambitions, which anyway is possibly easier to manage than troubleshoot involved SW developments of others (Apple approach). Regarding the firmware updates with Ted’s work we just experience the actually first of its kind unbelievable free of cost sound performance boosts, other companies may have never achieved, hidden for later sales or process-wise perfected to release 3 years later.
I’m sure PSA takes these Update troubles very seriously as even rare examples can harm their reputation. But I really hope this doesn’t turn their current philosophy. Keep in mind that making the whole processes completely bulletproof may increase the unit price and the time to the next update reasonably. Some like possibly brodrici would probably say, ok go ahead I would accept it, others like myself wouldn’t want it that way. Maybe the way is to do it like with cars, if the control unit of my car needs SW update, I have to go to the garage. I just hope custom updates stay available for those who want them.
So, you lost faith when you found out that a $6000 DAC was built to a budget and not every circuit was designed and built without consideration of cost?
That is more than a little naive. How could you expect otherwise?
No. I was an early adopter of DS and to be honest I didn’t think it was all that good so I sold it. It also blew up my speakers so it was terminated from that point. Simple as that. Before that I had a PWD2 here, it lasted about a week before going back to the dealer. When DSJ came out I was an early adopter of that also. I heard potential in it. I’ve written elsewhere here a few times how I preferred DSJ over DS. Now I learn that Ted built DSJ on what he’d learned with DS to that point. Cool, progress.
About naivity. For me, a designer who could have built a better piece of whatever it is kind of diminishes the holistic aspect of end-user experience. I know my other electronics are the very best product of their respective designers at the time. Stuff that doesn’t work as expected diminishes the ownership aspect as well. Perhaps I should rattle the cage louder and longer in response. The bottles that make the most noise are usually the empty ones. So patience prevails because noise is, well, just noisy. Just as patience prevailed with all those power plant issues. Sure, PS Audio have a direct conduit to me outside the public forum. Sometimes there is an once of frustration going in each directions. No problem, that is all part of being family. But it would have been nice to have been asked to beta one of those new P20. PS Audio knows I can break power plants better than any body else!
I continue to take pride as a PS Audio owner. I think we all do. AMEN to that!