I’ll chime in…
Snowmass V1 is magical. I’ve done two extended (2+ hours) listening sessions during the holidays. The sound was sooo good, it put me in one the best moods i’ve been in all year. it will probably take a miracle to get me to move from Snowmass V1. And no, I’ve had no glitches. I only notice the fade-up once in a while.
For me anyway, the old motto holds: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Did you ever try Snowmass V2?
Nope. I know synergistic perfection when I hear it. Didn’t want to risk losing the magic. I wasn’t having any technical issues (never had a bridge); so, no point updating.
Good on ya for resisting the temptation. I’m more of a glutton for punishment, so had to try it. Both are good, but you made the right decision, V1 sounds better, at least to my ears.
A great day for word errors! (I made one earlier as well).
I should have caught that, being that I’m gluten intolerant.
Ok so I’ve now gone back and forth between Redcloud, and both Snowmass versions over the last 72 hours… My initial impression of Snowmass v2 was a noticeable downgrade from RC in the areas of timbre, dynamics, treble, and depth of soundstage. Width was about the same, but the experience I had with SM v2 was akin to instruments/sounds in the music jumping out at me, distracting me from the trance into which I am usually put with this DAC that pulls me into the performance itself. After listening to SM v1 for the better part of 10 hours, I was still not thrilled. This was the third loading of the software (loading RC, playing music, then powering down and loading SM, which I did three times over the course of the last three days). I had also let the Dac play continuously with the third install of SM v1 for 24 hours straight.
Just now I reverted to RC again and BAM! The magic is back. The music is alive again, but laid back, organic and inviting. I can again hear INTO GOOD RECORDINGS the way I have gotten used to over the last year or so (or ever since I first installed RC). I realize I am in the minority here, but this is absolutely what my ears are telling me. I think I am done playing around with SM.
Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I mad at PS Audio? Absolutely not. They continue to impress me with always trying to improve the customer experience and with their support, which I have found to be without parallel in this industry. Absolutely OUTSTANDING. As with most things in this hobby, YMMV. Mine says Redcloud all day long. And thank you to PS Audio for everything, not the least of which is designing this DAC with the ability to switch between versions of its FPGA musicality. Ted you’re a genius!
exactly the same here, going back to RC some days ago was a great revelation, real happiness with clear and involving sound…
after a few days, my preference is Snowmass V1
Interesting. I heard RC when my DS Sr arrived and was frankly a bit disappointed by the rather crude presentation. It sounded good but not unlike many other great chip based DACs that however cost much less. Dynamic and in your face with a treble that was digital sounding.
Snowmass is so much better that I was extremely relieved, once I upgraded the firmware. Snowmass is just right in so many ways. The balance is absolutely superb. Everything is so natural sounding yet there is no loss of detail - just a loss of that ubiquitous digital sound in the treble.
Sounds like your DR Sr. with Redcloud may not have been fully broken in. The consensus is that the DS Sr. takes at least 500 hours to reach its potential (and some, including myself, would say it is more like 800 hours). In any event, it is good to hear that you are happy with it now.
Not so fast.
DSJ only has V2, I would love to try V1, but it is not available for DSJ only DSS.
Mr. Ted Smith, can the kids get V1 for the Jr?
T
AFAIK Snowmass V1 vs V2 is only a change in the control/display processor code (i.e. not the FPGA code) that’s relevant for the DS Sr. but not the Jr. Also the control/display processor’s effects on sound quality are basically unrelated between the DS Sr and the DS Jr.
Looking at it the other way, Snowmass for the JR is equivalent to V1 of Snowmass for the Sr.
(As I had nothing to do with the V1 vs V2 changes, I could be wrong here.)
As Junior owners, we both benefitted from, and in some ways were free from the PIC code issues the Senior had. They have completely different displays, and so issues with the display on one do not necessarily have anything to do with the other.
I have to agree, the Snowmass original (3.0) does sound better than the 3.05 version. There is more depth and a fuller more relaxed sound.
ozzy
That does it. I want it !
Come on PSA, where’s our stuff? 
Tony, I helped Darren choose the DSJ Snowmass compile. It was the best one. Paul agreed. Enjoy😃
I went back and forth last weekend and found the same thing that ozzymilton did, more depth and more relaxed sound. Enough to go back. The price is several seconds slower starts to the music, at least with files on USB (Oppo).
I’ve been following the thread and I’m curious whether anyone has experimented with putting a Synergistic Research ECT on the PIC chip since it is so noisy with RF.
I have some in my DS Sr. and found it improved the sound as others noted in the Synergistic Research ECTs in the DirectStream thread. I’d be happy to test this out and report back, but I don’t know where the PIC chip is located.
weird.
I noticed after I updated the DSJ with snowmass my tracks have a fade in, so I end up missing 1 second of audio.
I figured this was Tidal doing this and I looked and looked for a solution but found none.
Is this what you are talking about?
1-if it is not snowmas, has anyone else found this?
2-regardless of where it came from, does anyone know a solution?
3- to the PS people, are the people that hear a difference between Snowmas 1 and 2 simply imagining this SQ difference or might there be an issue?
Thanks
T