Snowmass DirectStream Junior

Not teasing - just the facts as I hear them. It is a special release.

1 Like

I know you weren’t. I was kidding. But I did put my hand up for beta testing and was told that it was only for the Senior (at the time). Would love to be part of beta testing for the DSJ next time.

fdemello - This was addressed ably by Elk above.

However:

If PS knew in advance that the PIC code was going to be as problematic as it was (i.e. they were psychic) they COULD have done it that way, but with prior releases it didn’t take anywhere near as long to write and debug.

re: The Senior/Junior thing, if you were a Senior owner, I’m sure you would appreciate the respect shown them by doing their code first. Add to this that the Senior is considered their reference, and so it makes sense to hear what the FW is doing on that device first. And the PIC code on the Senior can be more involved.

Also, with regard to the process of listening to the compiles and choosing the best qualities, us Junior owners benefit from what is learned in the process of listening to the Senior compiles. The same qualities are then what are sought for the Junior FW.

If you followed the issues that cropped up for Senior owners AFTER the release, you’ll have an idea how different this was. Based on prior experience, Paul was able to predict with a fair degree of confidence that Junior would follow in a week. HOWEVER, PIC code for Junior is entirely different. Different device, different display, different set of issues to debug. You can’t simply take what you learn from doing the Senior and apply it to the other.

Neither in the case of the choice of compile (sonics) nor PIC code (control and other aspects) is the code “the same” despite the sonic portion (the compiles) being the same set of numbers from Ted. Ted has nothing to do with the PIC code, which is not written until that point - AFTER he hands it off to PS - and PS’s job is then picking the best-sounding compile for EACH device, writing the PIC code for EACH device, debugging as needed, and THEN making it work on Everyone Else’s devices without issue. This release is unlike any other both sonically (awesome)* and with regard to difficulty in implementation (freakishly more difficult than usual).

  • (IMO/IMS/IMR/OMDSJ/YMMV/LSMFT)

(In my opinion, in my system, in my room, on my DSJ, your mileage may vary, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco : )

5 Likes

ROTFL

AC_Mac - Sorta an interesting question, albeit an apple-y/orange-y one it would seem to me. They’re different devices with different output stages (some actually prefer the output topology of the Junior). I think there are a few on the Forums who own both. Maybe once we get SM DSJ, you can convince them to hook up their DSJs in their systems with the Senior, revert the Senior to Redcloud and let us know.

My wild guess would be “yes” ; ). And I was one who would’ve been perfectly content if Ted had stopped at Redcloud. This assumes of course that one can listen to the two boxes side by side without bias.

The Thing about this release relative to the other Peaks, is that with the others (though some were very obviously different) I felt…"Hmmm, this one does this or that thing better, seems like I like these aspects…and so on. This one was an across-the-board, Holy Shit! sort of deal.*. And that was just hearing compile #1, which turned out to not even be a Contender in certain respects. ALL the compiles however, have the “sonic signature” of Snowmass in common.

*see above

I think it’s entirely fair that they focus first on getting new upgrades ready for the Sr., based on the relative cost, and the number of units in the field. It appears that Sr. downloads outnumber Jr. downloads about 3:1, so even if the cost of the unit wouldn’t financially support Sr. first, the number of impacted customers does. $0.02

POLL: Should PS Audio hold back future DS Sr. OS updates until the DS Jr. versions are ready for release?

  • Yes, it is only fair
  • No, OS updates should be released as soon as they are ready
  • I am a DS Sr. owner and I do not care either way
  • I am a DS Jr. owner and I do not care either way
  • PS Audio should disregard this poll and do what it thinks is best

0 voters

Hopefully you’ll run this on the Senior thread as well ; )

Interesting results!

1 Like

Whilst I’m keen to download & listen to Snowmass…I understand that if you can’t do the Snr & Jnr at the same time, you must reward your customers who’ve paid the most, I.e. Snr! Just makes sense & differentiates both similar products.

1 Like

Well that sort of makes sense it’s not the reason we do it that way. Instead, it’s because of two factors: first, there are far more DS in service than Jrs and, second, we listen to the DS in our reference system and are therefore most familiar with it.

4 Likes

I’m happy to let the DS Sr’s debug all the problems for us. I follow the forums to see how it goes. Sometimes upgrade problems (not this time), sometimes it requires a re-release (this time). I sit idly by enjoying the pain the DS Sr owners go through on our behalf. Then by the time its ready for us, most of the kinks are out. :blush:

3 Likes

That’s a very wise perspective.

Right??? And I am a sr owner. I definitely think you guys get some trickle down effects. And what’s so bad about that? The fact that there were bridge related issues in the last release that were then scrubbed up - and considering every jr has a bridge - people might want to tap the brakes a bit and be happy things are moving along. Hoping for a happy release for all of you !!:slight_smile:

3 Likes

And of course I haven’t heard Snowmass yet but I am currently listening to my DSJ on Redcloud and enjoying it very much!

3 Likes

Exactly my point. You never heard me complain about all the breaking in you DS Seniors do for us Juniors. By the time it is ready for release to us, you’ve done all the dirty work increasing the likelihood that we’ll have a smooth launch. I’m all in favor of the current Beta Program you Seniors run for us. :rofl:

2 Likes

And I am happy to do the grunt work!!:slight_smile:

2 Likes

Yes, everybody is happy. But where is snowmass for DSJ? :slight_smile:

14 posts were merged into an existing topic: Snowmass DirectStream Junior is now live