Thank you to PS Audio, Ted, Darren, James, Paul and all. I love Sunlight. Beautiful, Brilliant!
I want to report my impressions in the first 5 seconds of playing the PST through I2S, wow. A definite improvement in all the details with an added plush feeling.
Switched to streaming via my UltraRendu and played my recent favorite album Malicool; it was plush-er, especially the trombone.
10 seconds of listening is not enough to report, so on to the 40 to 50 hour point.
Wow! Excellent track! The intro with the vibes is sensational.
Nice improvement in sound quality, agree with most of the other posters. It wasn’t as large an improvement as I hoped (or hyped up to be), but all of the firmware updates have been small improvements to my (less than optimal) ears. Still, I’m a happy camper, an improvement that cost me nothing and about ten minutes to accomplish, who can argue with that? 
Edit: Now that I think of it, there is this one guy …
Sunlight is nothing short of staggering. Everything is better - bass has more punch, mids are smoother, the highs have more shimmer and the soundstage is broader. Emotion just oozes from the songs. I am sorry to see this is the last upgrade but understand that PS Audio needs to redirect resources into the next gen of DAC’s. I look forward to seeing what awaits us later this year.
Made the check…
again purified, more transparent, little sharper transients and top end extension adding some gloss also to voices and most obvious aside of the transparency is much more ambiance all around, especially like a huge bubble towards the ceiling, as if the room opens up. And the bass is much improved again, better controlled, better decay and shape.
For me none of the otherwise described negative tendencies in tonality or top end characteristics are obvious, it’s simply much better again, thanks much to Ted and all involved for another ride!
Not that those main characteristics are difficult to hear (we see you all hear it), but take the first track for noticing nearly everything, especially ambiance and bass and verify bass with the second and transparency with the third + take a nice voice you have available.
Seems to be near universal approval of the update
I set the Lumin app at 99, and the DSJ at 88. I am in love with Sunlight -OMG Ted!
Me at work reading the reviews and counting the hours to go home and experience some Sunlight.
Just installed it in my PerfectWave DAC. Using the PS Audio SACD PerfectWave transport. I suppose that it is a contender? Showing DSD 64 1 bit while playing my first go to reference disk, Carpenters Gold, cut 1. A little more forward, but hear more things happening in the sound field. Will report back after breakin. I leave the transport and DAC on 24/7, plugged into the P15.
What is the transformer mod?
After SACD AJA, CD CRIME OF THE CENTURY, I hear what some are calling brightness as more prominence. There seems to be better dynamics (lack of interfering noise?) and everything is clearer, cleaner. Especially on AJA it was really impressive!
It can be better than this? DACII, TSS…? Wow.
Wonder how many who recently sold their DSD Dac’s are regretting doing so before listening to the improvements Sunshine has brought to this Dac? If for no other reason than just curiosity.
There does seem to be a little more prominence in the top end, which depending on the recording can draw more attention to itself. But as with other firmware updates, they seem to need a certain amount of time to settle in before reaching their peak performance. There’s also the possibility that some speaker adjustments may need to be made after making any type of a change to your system. I’m going to let things run in before tinkering with toe in or any speaker adjustments.
You can replace the two output transformers with better quality EDCOR-XS4400.
Actually this upgrade is even bigger than any firmware upgrade since it is hardware.
Check out this thread.
Modding the DirectStream DAC
I may end up doing that, but I’m going to wait and see what the DSD II brings to the table, and what the final price will be after trade in.
I am curious. I guess that is why I am reading this thread. If the original release date had been met I would have got a taste for a couple days. Oh Well you all enjoy!
Awesome system! So glad to hear from another Carpenters fan! For me, it’s Goodbye to Love. Her voice on that song is perfect. The cymbal hits are so clean, and that overdriven guitar solo at the is idiosyncratically delicious.
It took me two tries to upload the FW. The first impression was smoother and cleaner sound. After I have it on for over an hour, and I think the DS is sounding better than earlier.
I did not have any popping sound issue between my PST and DS. Everything works fine. What I found is not only I can play louder, but also at low volume the sound is much better too.
