Snowmass DirectStream Sr. upgrade - Available in the Downloads Section

Yes, I concur the depth and the dynamics has also improved.

ozzy

I noticed that of the two Snowmass screen shots, above, one shows a Bridge II FW version of “3.6” and the other shows “3.6.2.” Does installing Snowmass affect the Bridge II FW version? I would not have thought so, but I never heard of Bridge II version “3.6” before. (I went from 3.5.1 to 3.6.2, and then back to 3.5.1.)

Thanks to Ted, Paul and PS Audio for the continuing FW and OS updates, and thanks to all the Beta testers … these early Snowmass reports are really encouraging!

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The more I listen, the sound quality it is so pure and involving.
Paul, Ted, you hit a home run on this firmware!
ozzy

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Initial results - Yes, when I first listened the expectation was high and it is subtle nuance. Agree with Brett66 and ELK, wider & deeper. Yes, awesome Ted… however, I hear pops, never heard pops before… weird… thought those complaints were crazy cause I never heard them and not at the beginning of the track, at the end on the (3) I have heard

Just installed Snowmass on my DSD (with a not connected Bridge II). I’m using Roon with Tidal, playing from a Zenith Server via USB (sMS200ultra).

All worked very well: Shut down the DSD, inserted fresh formatted 2GB SD card with the files, powered up, the logo started flashing and it was initializing masses of snow.

First screen looked good. Input was USB (as before), attenuator was active and volume at 106 (also as before update). Input was DOP with DSD128 (which seems like the initial default, as this was not the format played last).

When I started playing a song from Tidal, it switched to PCM. It played the song. I exhaled :wink:

This is the status screen. Looking good. Just: “Bridge: None” is a mixed message. I know there is one installed. I know it’s not connected and with Red Cloud the version was “0.0.0” and only showed the actual firmware when connected (which it shouldn’t). Hope, it still works. Didn’t test it for now. It’s getting late here in Europe…

Last screen: The Setup page with the new slider for the Dimmer. Initial setting was 50. Dimmed it to 0, as this will make the moon shine on the snow even more bright and quiet (as I heard). But I do auto-off as default anyway.

IMG_0500

To sum up: update worked flawless, music is playing.

Aaaand, how does it sound? I listend to “Eleven Four” from The Dave Brubeck Quartet / At Carnegie Hall (just discovered this great album on this forum) on very low volume - and it sounded fantastic. Was it different? Better? I can’t tell, there was not enough time, variance and volume involved (for tonight). The weekend will tell. I’m very much looking forward to listen and enjoy.
Now playing serious Body Count on muted pre for the night to warm up the Ghost in the Machine.

Thank you @tedsmith, @Paul and the whole PS Audio team for stealing my night and making me happy.

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You might want to try IN phase too. :wink:

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One quick thing I noticed is volume level is slightly low when starting and it gets ok especially some of the songs that starts immediately? Anyone felt similar ?

@jtwrace - great catch… out of phase…

@sangwoohahan - yes, volume is lower… I am playing 65 where I usually have 60 on DAC

This is bizarre. Listening to some acoustic guitar. It literally sounds like he just swapped guitars. The tone and body, wow!

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@ted & paul - homerun so far… now time to settle in for the long haul over the weekend…

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Timbre is richer, more precise, cleaner. Wonderful microdynamics and articulations. A baroque violin sounds even more baroque.

It seems quieter/blacker - difficult to imagine as I never heard anything but blackness before - blacker than black.

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Sure am glad I exercised already cuz I’m not going to be moving much tonight I can see. :grin:

Spent some time listening to my fav tracks before doing the upgrade.
If redcloud is the beast, snowmass is the one grow tame.
First impression is very positive.

  1. Background is darker…Yes…it’s just darker with exceptionally low noise. The change is noticeable even by comparing the videos I captured before and after.
  2. The presentation is fuller and the micro-dynamic is easier to distinguish. I concur the separation and sound stage is getting better.

As it’s still early in Hong Kong… will continue try out some dynamic recordings later.

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The level at a given volume setting is the same as Redcloud when I checked them on the scope.

The ramp up on changes in sample rate, PCM → DSD or DSD → PCM, clocks starting, etc. has been there for a few releases, but I changed it to a longer time to hide some noise that some sources had after a transition. The only downside I’ve seen is that if you have an intermittent connection, it will drop level and reramp up on each glitch. This may help some to know that they need to run the bit perfect test.

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Here is what I just posted on Audiogon.

Just installed the latest firmware “Snowmass” that is offered by PS Audio and WOW what a difference in sound quality. Wider, deeper soundstage and increased dynamics. The sound also has such a purity of sound that I just can’t believe.

Right now it is in Beta testing, the firmware should be available to all others Monday at NO cost!

“It’s the gift that keep on giving Rusty”.

ozzy

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I am listening in a bright daylight, morning time ( In Seoul). However I could only sense nothing else but the music itself and concentrate on music as if I am listening in a dark music room late night. Nice work! Thanks Ted and Paul!

@tedsmith - what is the timeframe, I believe I noticed the same thing. What about the pops?

Ted, Thanks for the explanation. I was also using volume normalizing function in Roon that might have caused sampling conversion and the ramp up.

Loaded fine and just started playing now. Will post more later…