To the best of my recollection the bottom is the correct one. The tops are not connected at all 
As you know I was quite surprised that I could get good quality hooked up to a non-connected output.
I just checked their current manual and it states that the white connectors (the top ones in their pictures) are connected to ground.
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I might have misunderstood some of your posts, but yes as far as I can tell from reading your posts the cable box isnāt set to send out stereo PCM. Most cable boxes are by default sending out DD. In video land DD is ubiquitous. And I am saying that Snowmass and Redcloud will act the same with the same inputs - they will both be good with a marginal input or both be bad with that same input.
The reason I posted is that the cable TV audio with Snowmass is clearly different, inferior, to that with Red Cloud. So what conclusion might I draw from that?
If you have that result with the cable box directly connected to the DS and all you change in your experiment is a boot to change OSās Iād be very surprised. Thereās a remote possibility that a power off and back on after the update will make things sound different (it did in some older releases)
In any case you should check to see if your cable box is set to send out stereo PCM.
Thanks Ted! Iām going to edit my original post because this is clearly not your fault. 
I see where thereās been a misunderstanding. The cable box HDMI goes to the 203ās input, then onto the DS via HDMI/I2S or (mostly) spdif. Thatās the setup where the differences between firmware versions has been evident. Everything has been powered off and on many times in the past week. Iāll check on the cable box PCM setting.
Not to belabor the point but without information about what happens when doing the cable box direct to DS experiment I canāt look to see if thereās a problem. There is no code difference in the DS between Snowmass and Redcloud that can matter in the situation as you describe it, but there might be something in your setup that depends greatly on timing or something like that - we canāt methodically narrow it down until we can work forward from the DS.
PM sent to take this testing offline for now.
Follow up: With Tedās prompting, problem seems to be solved. Couldnāt test as Ted suggested, as toslink quit working for some reason, but a call to Charter informed me about some onscreen audio settings I was unaware of. I realize that result begs why Red Cloud on TV sounded better than Snowmass in my system, other factors being ubchanged, which is the enquiry Ted was after, but thatās the best I can do for the moment.
To anyone that has similar problems or just wants to know more about their TV settings, hereās a link someone sent me that would have been helpful: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Using_i-Guide/User_Setup#Audio_Output
Ted, I found YouTube sounds much better through your DAC. The bass really comes outā¦ Any issues with these formats/rates from them?
Of course, I have to flip the sound driver in Windows away from Foobar and then back againā¦ and have to check bit-for-bit test againā¦ one time I hosed it upā¦ but it is worth it.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
Cool tune and groupā¦ lyricsā¦ um canāt really tellā¦ something about āTroubleāā¦ āBabyā ā¦ Troubleā¦ troubleā¦ Babyā¦ or something like that.
Bruce - That video - I likey. Love the guitar just ripping thru the whole tune.
A agreeā¦ nothing like a pure, live, well played tune. No autotune, no overdub, no BS. Just troubleā¦ babyā¦ troubleā¦ troubleā¦baby baby.
Peace
Bruce in Philly
I agree with the others stating Snowmass is more forgiving. Any sibilance or edge is gone. Although they were few and far between in RedCloud. I also noticed myself turning it up louder to be at the same listening volume as RedCloud.The soundstage is definitely more 3d. It sounds like it wraps forward more around you and bigger sounding with music recorded in that nature. I do hear the detail differently presented in Snowmass and itās easier to follow/differentiate. But something is bothering me about Snowmass as compared to Redcloud. The voice is in the same spot, not any more forward but I like the voice better in Redcloud. The voices sound more diffuse or not as transparent if you will in Snowmass. I seem to connect more with the voice presentation and voice texture in Redcloud. The bass for me is definitely better and more articulate and hits harder in RedCloud. I would take the voice and bass from Redcloud and everything else from Snowmass.
Son of a Gun, was I wrong!! As Ted has mentioned, I believe, a āpower off then back onā (as in some previous releases) worked wonders with Snowmass here:
- That missing element of magical musicality was back in an instant along with a quantum leap in all other positive aspects.
*Recording quality aspects are even more noticeable
*Need for a couple of tweaks to subwoofer settings were pronouncedā¦and strkingly beneficial
*Frequency extension, transparency, soundstage multiplied.
*All improvements are specifically identifiable but the whole of the musical message is so much more prominent and memorableā¦just makes us feel so good!
We still find it hard to believeā¦Ted Smith and everyone that built this machine have so positively affected the quality of this part of our lives. Wish we could set a place at our Table on Thursday for you!!
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Jedi1,
I am going to follow that procedure tonight. I wont be able to listen until Thursday. Hope to get the same results. Either way the DS and DMP are awesome and we are blessed by Tedās genius work and PS Audio.
āSince the DS doesnāt take video, Iām not seeing a way to bypass the Oppo.ā
Try an HDMI audio splitter, like these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009KAU0WO/ - or - https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Extractor-Splitter-Support-Toslink/dp/B0755TB82Q/
Thanks for those links. That specific problem turned out to be, or probably be, that the toslink connection on the DS went dead. Wonāt work between cable box and DS or between spdif/Purifier and DS.
The scientific method really goes in the crapper when you get new toys. 
Yes, itās always compounded by the fact that I get new toys right before the weekend, and then I donāt get to play with them over the weekend!
SnowMass sounds better today. I still donāt see it as such a startlingly wonderful change as others, and I think it may be because of 3.10 for the DMP. I may go back to 3.09 in a few days to see.
Absolutely. Very unassuming 2āx1āx1ā boxes that hold their own with 10k speakers - maybe you should compare their SQ with the prototype PS speakers?!