May be a few things are connected. First, increasing volume is -for me- connected to hearing, enjoying and understanding the voices most clearly. Now with sunlight, I can understand the English text better than ever. The voices have also so few distortion that I really want to increase volume. In my system and because voices tend to be at the center of the soundstage this was stimulated by using maximum toe in. From there I listened to my regular playlist to judge if for me the soundstage was right, or in balance or just enjoyable to me. That was the case. For the low frequencies I had a sub to make some minor further adjustments. Now, because everything is so enjoyable, I indeed turn up the volume. May be the psychologists or the brain experts can explain that.
After quite some time, Sunshine has definitely âsettled inâ. No harshness (not that I really thought I had any to start withâŚ), and itâs really detailed, but not in an artificial way.
I was thinking about eventually selling my DSS for the MkII, but with the Edcor mod and Sunshine⌠Iâm not in a rush to do so. Could happily live with this setup for years to come (and in reality beyond just yearsâŚ)
Sunlight, as mentioned above, keeps sounding better and better.
Iâm curious if any who went back to Snowmass has tried Sunlight and stayed with it.
Yes, you can turn the music down to remove the jangliness, but some system refinements/tweaks allow you to listen at a louder volume without getting fatigued. This was one of the benefits Iâve gotten from using better speaker wires and interconnects. The same source material is less fatiguing, allowing me to listen at the higher volume and appreciate the fullness of the music.
Initially, I thought Sunlight was a bit edgier, harsher. But it has settled in nicely (or my brain has adapted to it), and I no longer find it to be so. One of the characteristics of the DirectStream DAC that I love is that it is smoother compared to my other DACs. It allows for more enjoyment of the music and at higher volume levels than I could with my Ayre QB-9.
My recordings from ELO are the best examples of that. I have good, high res versions; and they sound WAY better on my DSD than on my QB-9.
The cash register sound in âLimehouse Bluesâ from Jazz at the Pawnshop is less perceptible.
More on background in the sound stage.
It feels like Q sound 
Sunlight is ruthlessly revealing in my system and very enjoyable over Snowmass.
What is unreal to me is that everything that follows my preamp are able to generate these wonderful results, like never heard before.
Yes, I experienced the slight âbrightnessâ like many other and worse yet my ribbon tweeters are 7 feet tall, after several experiments to calm or tame without losing too much music, I ended up replacing my power cords on my DSD stock psu and external 12 vdc psu from all copper to DH Labs Red Dawn, silver coated stranded copper.
Bit is of brightness comes thru on a few tracks, nothing serious, however, on Audiophile recordings it is pure sex.
Iâm curious about the comments on Sunlight and loudness. What I am sensing is that the improved clarity across the frequency spectrum is allowing me to have a slightly higher listening volume. Itâs not until I go into another room or have somebody speak that I realise my volume is louder than usual. I feel that this is due to clarity and richness of the sound Sunlight is producing. What ever the reason, the sound is so much more detailed and clear. A phenomenal effortâŚ.
Yep, with less distortion and noise there simply less power being put out. So a cleaner signal can have a higher volume but be producing the same overall power.
Itâs funny how what was so mellifluous and irreplaceable yesterday is so quickly forgotten; replaced by what is on the menu as todayâs chefâs choice. It has happened with every thing in my system.
A while ago, this afternoon, I reloaded Window (I think thatâs what it was called). I remember that i came to love Window. It made me bring in smelly audionerd friends to listen to it, not the least bit worried about any of these neanderthals not liking it.
Now thereâs Sunlight. Release the pigeons!!! Damn, itâs better.
Thank you, Mr Wizard
The jury is finally in. My beloved Windom has given me much pleasure for a long time. She is truly lovely. But now I have new mistress and her name is Sunlight. After a week of breaking her in she lives up to her name Sunlight by clearly and cleanly hitting all the right notes for me. She has elevated my bliss to a new level I didnât think possible. I wonât be looking back. Thank you Ted and team PS Audio for bringing Sunlight to me.
I was worried about Sunlight because I loved Windom so much, but I really like what Iâm hearing from Sunlight. At first, I thought the bass was over emphasized. Break in solved that.
Just an aside: my audition technique changed. I installed Sunlight, then shutdown the entire system for a couple days, then fired everything up and settle for a day â then l listened.
My best description I can come up with is BALANCED. Top to bottom, everything sounds as it should and can be clearly heard. Most notable is the balance of violins against other instruments in an orchestra.
Something Iâve struggled with over the years is that massed violins always overwhelmed the rest of an orchestra in my audio system, but when I went to live performance, they didnât.
I solved this problem in my analog setup, but until Sunlight, I couldnât solve it in my digital. With Sunlight, I can hear the wood-body resonance of violins (bonus: also piano!), while still hearing the high frequency sparkle that l love.
Another bonus: a very palpable and precise soundstage.
Sunlightâs a masterpiece! Thanks Ted, and thanks PS Audio!
Upgraded my DS senior to Sunlight yesterday. Sunlight is just amazing!! Much better micro dynamics and the punch is more focused. The sound stage is much deeper with greater instrument separation. Overall a very jaw dropping upgrade. Great work @tedsmith and the entire PS Audio team. Thank you so much for keep bringing the beauty and purity of music to us.
Welcome, @kansasray !
Welcome @kansasray! It might sound crazy no pun intended but after about a week of listening to Sunlight the sound will get even better! In my experience and many others that I have read Sunlight has break-in period! Enjoy I know I am!
Welcome @kansasray ! Thanks for sharing.
I saw the message that Sunlight was going to be made available soon, but didnât realize it was actually available. I checked this morning and saw it was available, downloaded it, went through the upgrade process and everything went well. My Directstream DAC is like a new fresh DAC and sounds great. Great work PS Audio Team!
Welcome @kansasray. Great to have another fan of this awesome DAC on board!
Loaded Sunlight today. Oh Boy, this is fun! I hope it doesnât burn in any. This is too perfect already. (From Snowmass, skipped Windom)
Itâs been a great year so far. Added a freshly repaired BHK pre, moved from S300 up to M700âs and now Sunlight!
I went back to Snowmass after trying Windom. Switched to Sunlight (not Sunshine 
as some are reporting) and havenât looked back.