I agree completely. You think it was life or death. It has only been 8 months since Redcloud. Paul said he only wanted one release per annum to stop confusing the magazine writers. Maybe Ted is working on a new release - the code Ted is writing for the TSS could/might be the next release for the DS & Jr. Who knows…! Redcloud was/is a significant improvement and I am very happy with it. We have all been spoiled with the amount of significant (FREE) releases.
It isn’t easy to construct new firmware and especially difficult every other month. Ted’s ability to keep producing at such a high level is testament to Ted’s creativeness.
And what about code block is there such a thing just like a writers second novel syndrome?
What inspires the inspirer?
My guess is Ted is always mulling things over in his mind and then tries things out after he has them formulated. I envision it a bit like the work of a fine chef.
That’s a crap characterization and you know it. All I am saying is that the current DACs should get some amount of development time apportioned to them regardless of what is going on with the new DAC.
When I worked at Apple we always had some resources (money, people, and time) dedicated to the existing products even if we were developing higher end products that did not replace them. This was true even when we had only one engineer working on certain product lines. We learned that if you did not so this, no time was spent on the existing product which never turned out well.
I think Ted should spend the bulk of his time on the new uber DAC. I am just saying there should be time dedicated to the current DACs as well. Not just when there is a pause in work for the uber DAC.
I am not asking for a faster upgrade release schedule. I don’t care if he comes out with one upgrade a year or two. Read my posts and you will see what I am saying…it’s not what you guys are suggesting I am saying.
Curious when you worked at Apple, since you bridled at Elk’s ‘crap characterization’. PS Audio has nearly never had the resources to do what you mention, and mostly still don’t, IMO/AFAIK.
In latter years (post-Steve) Apple has shifted away from a lot of the practices that endeared me to them. I’m still a loyal customer, but they don’t upgrade/support/continue developing hardware and pro software products like “back in the day”, despite being one of the largest companies on Earth. ‘Splain that one to me ; )
When’s the last time any Airport devices (Extreme or Express) has been updated? It’s been a long time. Since they work really well, I don’t really care - other than security issues. Although mine did need a very rare reboot today. I run one Extreme and two express all on different floors.
Anyway, I hope Ted’s working on another peak. It’s fun and great when they show up. Makes the DSD the best $6K I’ve spent on this hobby…by far! Nothings wrong with Redcloud. Hard to image it gets better…but maybe it does…
I’m not hard done by with Redcloud. When the next iteration of code comes out I’ll be pleased. Until then I’ll be in my audio room smiling. As for the ultimate DAC, I’m optimistic that there will be similarities in the code to the DSD Sr and JR.
I guess the other thing I think about re: this subject (aside from - How Many DACs have you had that…Do This?) is - if one feels some sense of dissatisfaction with Redcloud (or whatever the Latest is)…retry the other “DACs” that preceeded it.
I will freely admit that I have never gone back, though I can imagine that it is possible that, due to system synergy or taste issues, a prior iteration might be more palatable.
As I am trying to look at this as objectively as possible, I have to ask… what is it that makes you believe this in not occurring?
I don’t think anyone on this forum is privy to Ted’s “marching orders” when it comes to how he allocates his work hours on PS Audio related projects. What is it that led you to believe this is not occurring?
Lastly, I believe Redcloud is pretty stellar. I am not sure if you feel this way or not. If not, what is it that you want accomplished that isn’t already being delivered with Redcloud? If something is really bothering you about Redcloud, your sense of urgency may very well be justified, but you haven’t made that clear.
““I am not asking for a faster upgrade release schedule. I don’t care if he comes out with one upgrade a year or two. Read my posts and you will see what I am saying…it’s not what you guys are suggesting I am saying.””
I can only go with the grammatical construction in all your posts - reads like you are now contradicting yourself with this post.
Patience is a virtue. Ted hasn’t relegated the DS to a lower tier. There will still be further releases of O/S at some point so until then we just enjoy what’s current and / or earlier releases of O/S .
Let’s stop playing words around. Do you really have to pick apart something others say? We all chose DS because it sounded good and we know that major upgrades so far have been proved that they sounded better as we get upgrades not like other products.
Ted has stated in the past that initially improvements to the firmware were fairly easy as he got a better understanding of how the FPGA worked. All of his updates have been to improve the efficiency of the processing, but updates also included PS Audio developed improvements to the operation of the DS and DS Jr. Many of the PS Audio changes were in response to suggestions by the folks here on the forum. While there are still a few things people would like to add that list has gotten much smaller and Ted is finding it harder and harder to improve the efficiency of the FPGA processing, as such the frequency of new firmware is going to slow. No one ever said Ted has stopped working on the DS, it’s just going to take a little longer than we would like. Also keep in mind, as has been stated many times, Ted does not work for PS Audio, he is a contractor. He very well may also be working part time for another company and cannot spend all his time with DS or the new DAC. I find it interesting Ted has not responded, perhaps that is telling …
Ok, so here are a few questions. Let’s make an assumption… Ted makes an update every six months…
Question 1: How much better will the DAC sound in 4 years from now?
Question B: When does the weakest link switch from software to hardware?
Question X14: When does PS Audio feel that Ted’s time is better spent elsewhere?
