Intersting. I went back tonight to Snowmass V1 as I was finding my system sounding a tad bright. I was curious if going to V1 would change form V2. I did not think there would be any change, yet there is. V1 is more relaxed, a tad warmer and well, more pleasant IMO. Im using Valhalla IC’s with Sonus Faber Guarneri Tradition Speakers. Snowmass V2 is without question brighter and more in your face in my system over V1. Not sure why, but it is. V1 also seems to have a tad more bass energy as well in the mids. I mean. I have been listening here for 2 hours while working (but in my sweet spot facing the speakers on my laptop) with V2 and yes, there is indeed a difference. I prefer V1.
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I had the same experience and made the same choice. It was as Snowy V1 for my ears.
I was under the impression the PIC code change came about before the release of v1 the changes in v2 were all bridge related. he PIC code change i speak of has to do with the refresh rate for the display being lowered to 80 hz.
Iirc, v1 does not have the fixed display brightness setting, so having the display set at anything other than 0 or 100% will degrade sound quality. V2 fixes this by changing the screen refresh to a much lower frequency.
As I said the PIC refresh rate code change occurred before the Beta which became version one of Snowmass. I double checked that with PS Audio. They needed to make that change before they settled on which compile to release as the noise from the display caused sound quality loss with their favored pick. The changes in version 2 were all related to the bridge card .
I and others who don’t have a bridge heard sound differences with V2.
Below are the release notes for V2.
It appears it is more than just bridge related.
"We’ve fixed a couple of bugs and added a small set of features to Snowmass. Basically, the Bridge II update process will now work through the DAC’s front panel.
Sound quality is identical to the original release of Snowmass. We recommend all DS owners upgrade."
You can download it here: https://www.psaudio.com/support/downloads/ 17
If you paid for a factory SD card load we will be sending you, free of charge, this new release shortly.
Here are the release notes:
## Description
Snowmass V2 fixes several issues related to the communication between the Bridge and our system. This release restores functionality to update bridge firmware. This release also fixes bug that changes volume to 50 when bridge initializes. There are several other changes documented below as well as some other minor bug fixes and improvements.
In this V2 release, only the PIC code is modified and the FPGA code is left unchanged.
Paul has verified the two versions sound identical.
## Fixed Issues
- Users couldn’t update bridge firmware on 3.0.0
- Bridge update now displays upgrade percentage until completion
- The Bridge II would set the volume to 50 on initialization
- Volume level will restore to 25 on reboot
- Locked/Unlocked button didn’t hold settings on reboot
- Locked/Unlock button now controls Attenuator setting from remote IR and setup menu
- Bridge II Album Artwork reloading on every song.
## Updated Features
- Added Button on Setup Menu that Toggles Volume controls between “Fixed” and “Variable”
- When button is set to “Variable” Max Volume is displayed to the Left.
- The “+” and “-“ buttons will affect the Max Volume of the DSD as it has always done
- When Button is set to “Fixed” Max Volume is switched to Fixed Volume.
- This is the ONLY place where users can change the volume (Up or Down) while in “Fixed” mode
- The DSD will save the volume at the time of toggling the button to “Fixed”
- If the unit is in Fixed Mode upon power cycling it will rest to the same volume.
- If the unit is in Variable Mode upon power cycling it will rest to volume level 25
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Yep, agreed. sorry, bad memory
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Yes there were some changes not directly related to the bridge card. My post was to clarify that the PIC change for the refresh rate existed in all public releases including the Beta. Addition PIC changes in v2 relate to the setup button and the volume default setting.
I just did a v1 (3.0.0) vs v2 (3.0.4) vs v2+ (3.0.5) and I got to say I prefer v1 to the rest. v2 sounded a tad congested, lost some of the spatialness and openness of v1. Vocal in v1 sounded sweeter, this is a deal breaker for me, so I’m sticking to v1 until the next release. I can see v2 maybe more synergistic with different tubes, maybe the brighter sounded tubes may have better synergy with v2 than v1, but with stock tubes, v1 all the way.
What a hobby we have, such minor change lead to fairly obvious audible differences. Looking forward to Ted next masterpiece release. Please remember compare the new release to v1 when the time comes.
Multi-wave vs. sine-wave next for me with v1 as baseline.
I tested using just Bridge II as input, latest bridge firmware.
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Despite the overwhelming consensus that V1 sounds better than V2, we’ve been told they sound identical. Apparently there are forces going on within the DSD that affect the sound, that are not fully understood as of yet.
Strange. I felt 3.05 was better by leaps and bounds. Just goes to show we all hear differently. This is not like lower grade equipment was swapped in it is the same machine.
Nonetheless my findings do not concur with most folks. Just difference in hearing. You cannot say I am wrong. There is no wrong in audiodom. It is not like you just down graded to a $500 DAC. Regardless I accept al others findings. Mine just did not jive with that. I think 3.05 is spectacular. MR. Smith is working hard to make it better. I am sure he listened to it. He obviously thought it was an improvement. Or at least a bug fix to say the least. I do not doubt others findings. Just that my own feeling was much different. In fact perhaps my findings are in line with MR. Smith’s? Regardless everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Use whichever you prefer. Done job.
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As far as I understand there is no difference in the FPGA regarding the Snowmass releases, the difference between V1 and V2 is in particualr in the PIC code and V3 got adjustments to recognize/upgrade BridgeII firmware. Tried them all and used V3 to upgrade the Bridge.
Did some back and forth again, in the end -in my system & to my ears- resulting in V1 for best SQ…
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Boggles the mind 
I installed SMv1 (v3.0.0) upon release and it sounded great. When the SMv2 bug-fix (v3.0.4) was issued, I installed it and wondered what happened to the sound quality. I figured it must be a power-cycling issue so I waited several days for the DS to warm up and settle in. But SMv2 never attained the amazing sound quality of SMv1. As such, I reverted to SMv1. BOOM, the magic was back. When SMv3 (v3.0.5) was released, I decided to pass on it. Not having tried SMv3, I cannot comment on how it sounds compared to SMv1.
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I got curious yesterday and went from 3.0.0 to 3.0.5 . That didn’t last long! -Just couldn’t get comfortable with the way 3.0.5 sounded. I can’t explain it any way but that 3.0.5 didn’t draw me into the music like 3.0.0 So, I’m back where I started, but glad I tried it.
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How can I get back to 3.0.0 to try this/
It’s in the downloads page under “archives.”
Thank you
Add me to the SMv1 list… I’ve been running SMv2 since the upgrade, and tried v1 tonight after stumbling across this thread. My YG Acoustics Carmel speakers present a wider/deeper soundstage and a more natural sound with the v1 firmware. While I struggle as why there technically would ever be a difference in sound between the two versions, the ears don’t lie…
It begs the question that the sound tests done for a release probably need to be done wholistically for all the code changes in the firmware as a complete package, because clearly after-the-fact changes to parts that shouldn’t impact the FPGA do in fact affect the sound.
I don’t have a Bridge installed and instead use the USB input fed by an Auralic Aries G2.
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Finally did some 300 vs 305 snowmass comparison. You can put me on the 3.05 list, definitely! Used two well recorded songs for the a to b:
- black cow, steely dan dsd
- back to tupelo, mark knopfler dsd.
System: dsd streaming through jriver, nuc, usb input, screen out, vol. 100.
Most striking for me was the more punch 3.05 had. It seems the energy is more focussed in space, leading to more attack, a more subtle decay and a sharper positioning of leadvoice in space, indeed somewhere in the middle. In 300, leadvoice was more smeared in space, echolike, losing some articulation. And did 3.05 have a smaller soundstage? No, not really, or more precise: not at all. Only the right pieces are placed wide in soundstage, where they really belong instead of smeared out.
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