Strange. The StellarGold DAC has a series of selectable filters. PS gave them cryptic abbreviations and NO detailed info for each filter anywhere. (If I missed it, pls direct me.)
As a beta-tester, I urged PS to include a few sentences or a short paragraph in the manual describing each. From our delightfully loquacious company, only silence.
It is as if PS does not really want to talk much about them, other than to list them with name abbreviations selected by their engineers. Or maybe they are not so sure about the filters either, except for their recommended no. 1. Can anyone help us all out with a little insight into each?
How exactly does each individual filter “filter” the sound differently? What might each one be preferred for? With a few sentences on each as a starting point, then we know more easily what to listen for, to decide which works best in our system.
Are they the seven filters listed on the ESS site. This is what they call them. When I’ve owned DAC’s in the past with ESS chips telling the difference between them was difficult at best.
Hello dawkinsj,
Those are them. They all read like technical jargon to me. I am not a techy. What do they mean, and what are each supposed to do? / sound like? Are the filters “baked in” by ESS, not designed by PSAudio? In any event since PS is giving us access to the filters, isn’t it appropriate for PS to tell us something about them? The fact that they recommend the first one suggests they have listened to each one and formed an opinion about what each does. They are more informed listeners than I, so I would appreciate PS telling us. Then I might make a more informed listening decision.
I would love to know as well. My hifi Rose uses ESS Sabre Pro and has those filters plus more. And they make a difference. I tried one labled Corrected Slow Roll Off and it got really bright.
Going to try the recommended above if im not there already.
Here is an excerpt / observation i found…
My DAC was set to Apodizing, Fast Roll-off, Linear Phase by default (instead of Fast Roll-off, Minimum Phase), and that’s where’d I’d left it for months. I started trying other filters several weeks ago, slowly cycling through them, and have found that I really like Hybrid, Fast Roll-off, Minimum Phase. Imaging seems to be the best with this filter, and I hear more room ambience. No pre-ringing like the Linear Phase filters, and less port-ringing than Fast Roll-off, Minimum Phase.
Apparently, PS has a new entry-level DAC under development. It appears to be priced about 1/2 the StellarGold. The beta manual (I found it on the PS website under Support > Manuals) lists 3 filters: Fast, Slow, Minimum. The beta manual has a highly useful paragraph on each, taking up 2/3 page. Very well done. Maybe somebody at PS can take pity on us poor souls with wonderful Golds, and give us similar helpful info. on our 7 filters.
Maybe PS Audio just wants to leave it up to the end user to pick the filter that works best in their system, and not plant seeds that will taint ones preconceived notion of what to expect.
Hello Audioholic,
Are you suggesting PS Audio is getting reticent about explaining things? Not the PS I know and love!
Take a look at the beta manual for the upcoming entry-level Stellar DAC. PS gives a short paragraph on each of the 3 filters it will have. They start by giving them understandable, non-engineering-ese names. They don’t say which is best, just what the differences are and the upside/downside of each. Very clear; pithy and helpful. (When was the last time someone used “pithy” in PS forums?)
I’d say that the best thing to do is to listen to each one with the same piece of music, over and over, and decide which one works best for you. The names and descriptions don’t matter. The differences are very, very subtle.
You can find the tech specs on the ESS website, in a Data document, Pages 50-54. It lists the filters, but no indication of the differences in sound.
After finding this, I am all the more impressed by PS technology chops. I imagine a team, led by Paul, pouring over this doc for weeks, figuring it out and how they might use its features.
you might just hear a bit of pre and post ringing on say a tight fast snare drum with little reverb on it - the “hit” will have a very slight smearing to its precise timing, like a slight build up and decay.
the difference is grrr tt by slight, and this type of filter can sound very good in other ways.
listening to them really is the best way, there is none more “correct” than others really, all just slightly imperfect ways of achieving the goal of filtering / reconstructing an analogue signal from bits
I came to this topic for the same reason. I just purchased the Stellar Gold DAC and I’m noticing, especially in vocals, a bit of a “brittle” sound compared to the DAC I’m trading in. I’ve done more than add the new DAC - I added a PowerPlant 3, an AirLens and upgraded all my ethernet cables. I’m wondering if it’s my ears - this has happened in a similar way before - not so much for “brightness,” but feeling that the center channel was over-emphasized, but over time my ears got better at positioning the center loudness within the whole soundstage. However, with “brightness” I’m a bit more worried - the types of music I listen to and my choice of other components (total tube pre-amp) all aim at a warmer rounder acoustic sound. Was this your journey? Did you find one of the filters that brought it more into line with your desires?
Do your Vandersteens have a level control for the tweeters as mine do? I had to adj mine down 1db after adding the AQ HDMI cable. Also if you have them toed in a lot maybe toeing them in less will help.
They DO have controls, but I have never played with them - just figured I’d do the same as with other “EQ” stuff - flat flat flat. I’ll see if anything comes of futzing with the filters, then play with those. One thing I’m really bummed about is that I did a LOT of work looking into better tubes for my CAT pre-amp - buying some pretty expensive NOS (New Old Stock) tubes, that paid off in the most glorious vocals I’d ever heard, not to mention other acoustics. I sure hope I can get it back, and then some.
I only have three filters on my DAC and the difference between them is very slight but having seven I imagine there is more room for differences. Even though my Gain Cell DAC was factory refurbished it still took a solid 30 or so hours of play before it sounded good so maybe the same for you. Brite and thin is how I would describe the sound at first.
