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Hi amiglic,

I am hoping that you can email me the Torreys upgrade so I can hear it in my system. I am not receiving a reply yet from Paul McGowan regarding my request (maybe I was too late in asking and missed the boat). I would appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks in advance,

Chris Stevenson

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Hi amiglic (again!)

Sorry I left out my email address. Here it is: ccstevenson1@comcast.net

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Ted Smith said I don't really expect that they can be separated easily by ear in some cases - if something sounds wrong over the HDMI I2S inputs try another input.

Both “Sledgehammer” and the cuts from “Come on in this House” sound pretty good hear from a SACD ISO rip thru USB.


Same here with the SACD ISO rip of the “So” album via I2S (Raspi 2 and Audio-GD I2S-to-HDMI modul). No dropouts at all. Sounds great. First time for ages that I was listening to Peter Gabriel again. Thanks to this thread!

And the very first time this upgrade experience to me. Thanks to PS Audio team for making this possible! I know I should go back to Yale for comparison but at the moment I still don’t want.

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amiglic said

Pianos - the biggest (instrument sound) change , the closest to real I have ever heard in my system.
. . .

Female vocals - a little bit thinner with less presence. Personally I prefer thicker voices.

I agree on the piano, but I also agree on the vocals. I think the latter was meatier with Yale.
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ok… as audiophiles… we always try to pick the nits… so I have listened some more… and I don’t want to pick nits… What this does to cd/ 44/16 is simply amazing… I am a depth and soundstage freak… Instead of trying to listen to my ‘best’ recordings (I have an absolute ton of DSD and hi-res PCM)… I am listening to my 44/16 flac cd rips … They are remarkable… If anyone has the album Gordon by Barenaked Ladies - listen to Flag… Good Boy… Box Set etc… The depth of vocal and imaging is amazing… Tonality fantastic… This album has a bunch of percussive types of sounds… Earlier listened to Nickel Creek - a sacd rip of their first album… another perfect example of what is well with the world… mandolin/violin/acoustic guitar ,female/male vocal - with expressive harmonies… Go listen to these albums- tell me you don’t fall off your chair… Songs: Reason Why, Lighthouse Tale…

I agree … so far… I think the tone tipped up just a smidge… I have Logans, and I have seen Frode with ribbons (I believe?? ), and our friend from Italy - I believe with the Sashas agree with this… The Logans will bring this out… but the stats also bring out the detail in spades…and that is just amazing with Torreys. Improvements in depth will also show off with the dipole… and I will tell you I love it… Is it as the recording was intended or is it ‘special sauce’? I don’t care… I love it… I know the Sashas would do the same - as I am imagining Frode’s uber dipoles … but probably to a much greater extent than my system!! :slight_smile: My thought on the movement of the image - is possible dipole energy… although I’m not really experiencing this.

Personally, I think the sound is a bit more diffuse - but in a good way… a more natural - this is what an instrument sounds like way… a fills up the room way… not a pinpoint image way…

So Ted… :slight_smile: … is there any possible explanation of why you might think we are experiencing this improvement in depth on 44/16… And I am not saying I am not hearing diffs with DSD - just I think the delta seems greater with the 44/16.

I promised … I will put it back to Yale soon… I just needed to gush a bit here…

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Not only DSF and 24/192, but also 24/176 crash the DS. Strange thing is that I at least have one 24/192 album that plays anyway.

One time after a crash I had to reinstall Torreys as a restart didn’t make the DS play.

I think I’ll go back to Yale tomorrow for a last comparison and then stay with it until the next Torreys beta, as this one is too buggy with the bridge.

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I don’t think it is Torreys that crash it. I have no problems playing those formats, but I guess we know when you revert to Yale.

(Uups - just discovered that you have the Bridge, which I haven’t).

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Tim said ok... as audiophiles... we always try to pick the nits.... so I have listened some more.... [large quote snipped]
@TIM agree 100% I've been listening all afternoon to all kinds of music. RUSH, Doobie Brothers, some stock fish direct to Dsd Jazz, Strumbellas, Tracey Chapman, across a wide range of formats. I also feel the largest improvement is on Redbook, but... and this a big one I have some 2XDSD From LP rips I've done using my Tascam recorder and holy shit! City and Colour (Dallas Green's) latest LP "if I should go before you" is a 2 LP 45 RPM set, and very well recorded. I did a needle drop at 2xDSD and the space and low level detail is stunning. I also agree that there seems to be a little more top end energy with Torreys but it's right, in the same sense as a live trumpet. I'm not going back to Yale. I'll deal with the few outstanding bugs. The worst for me is the channel reversal on DSD (usb issue). The stock fish direct to Dsd is the absolute best acoustic playback I have ever heard from my system! It's 9:44 pm here on the east coast, I've got my bourbon and a ton of music begging to be played... gonna be a late night :-)
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Lou. You gotta have Gordon in that pile right being from Ontario ?? :). Listen to Steven Page thru the DS. Haha

bourbon and late nights and your music. That is what this hobby is about.

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Played via Bridge I - no problems up to 192/24 and dsd64. I forgot to try higher DSD rates but they work with Yale.
Back to USB - Tried various formats with no issues 44/16, 48/24, 88/24, 96/24, 192/24, DSD64, DSD128. It doesn't play DSD256 over USB (I tried).
I had a few technical issues but don't think they're related to Torrey. It was switching from Bridge (Jriver) back to USB via Minimserver/JplayStreamer. I report it for completeness.
  1. Minimserver and Jplay had to be re-started after using Jriver. I've had this issue sometimes before Torrey.
  2. I had my first problem changing OS ever. I could not load Yale, it kept showing Torrey after loading Yale. After several attempts I managed to load Yale Beta. Then Yale loaded ok. For luck I formatted the card and reloaded Yale onto it. I haven't had a problem switching back or forwards since. I have 3 cards 1 with each OS.
Musically, after some hours I confirm initial findings:
  • Better detail, attack, timbre, natural decay, air, as already reported.
  • Soundstage is bigger - wider but especially deeper front-to-back . Possibly a bit more height on some recordings. It's interesting how the positions of people/instruments changes with Y vs T. More open high frequencies seem to be important to me for soundstage and emotional involvement.
  • Improved handling of high and compressed vocals . Alison Kraus - Goodbye Is All We Have has pretty extreme highs that can distort with lesser OS. Yale didn't do it but it also didn't seem to reach as high as Torreys. Same for Adele - Cold Pavement. That's very good.
  • Torreys has more control but is not in any way recessed or shy. Bass bloom is more controlled. I've sometimes had trouble distinguishing whether it's caused by room nodes or is in the recording eg double bass in Holly Cole - I Can See Clearly Now. It's obvious that the instrument is resonating. More of the same on Afro Celt Sound System - Rise Above and Faithless - Reverence.
  • Vocals are very nice, clearer and plenty of weight.
I consistently find Torreys a big step up in the real goal, musical involvement. This is a major release.
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Torreys sounds great.

More involving presentation of the music and as others have noted there’s a more fleshed out soundstage. Occasionally it can sound a little phasey - the image can seem a little unfocused but otherwise there’s no question this is a step up from Yale.

I’ve had the operational issue where going from dsd (via HDMI) to another sample rate can knock out the sound causing the need to reboot.

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crabby said Occasionally it can sound a little phasey - the image can seem a little unfocused
Are these two different things which happen at different times, or different aspects of the same phenomenon?
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Louawalters. Pehaps you are in the best position to compare the Yale and Torrys since you can A/B it to the original LP. (Actually an open reel tape converted to DSD would be the best if someone had the facility and the original tape and deck.)

could you try it and comment which OS most faithfully reproduces the LP? I think this could help determine of there are any frequency anomalies or of either is creating an MQA situation where there is some sort of enhancement.

Does anyone think this could be the best method of evaluating since the analog “master” is there for comparison instead of guessing which build sounds the best?

I’m not at home this week so I can’t try the new Beta, but I am enjoying reading everyone’s fantastic desciptions.

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Elk said
crabby said Occasionally it can sound a little phasey - the image can seem a little unfocused

Are these two different things which happen at different times, or different aspects of the same phenomenon?


Does it sound like a phase-reversal (not absolute phase, but like one speaker was reversed)?

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emailists said Louawalters. Pehaps you are in the best position to compare the Yale and Torrys since you can A/B it to the original LP. . . .

could you try it and comment which OS most faithfully reproduces the LP? I think this could help determine of there are any frequency anomalies or of either is creating an MQA situation where there is some sort of enhancement.

Does anyone think this could be the best method of evaluating since the analog “master” is there for comparison instead of guessing which build sounds the best?


Given that Louawalters made the digital recording of the LP on his own equipment with which he can now compare, this appears to be a very solid test.

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Tim said Lou. You gotta have Gordon in that pile right being from Ontario ?? :). Listen to Steven Page thru the DS. Haha

bourbon and late nights and your music. That is what this hobby is about.


:slight_smile: it’s too bad Gordon is out in Montreal.

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ccstevenson1@comcast.net said Hi amiglic (again!)

Sorry I left out my email address. Here it is: ccstevenson1@comcast.net


I emailed it to you. If you don’t get it, check your junk mail or SPAM folder.

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Elk said
crabby said Occasionally it can sound a little phasey - the image can seem a little unfocused

Are these two different things which happen at different times, or different aspects of the same phenomenon?


Not two different things. The two seem to be part of the same phenomenon. I’m not sure it’s an issue it could be part of the recordings I’m listening to like back in the ussr.

Frode said

Does it sound like a phase-reversal (not absolute phase, but like one speaker was reversed)?

Definitely not.

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Installed Torreys (does load muted) without any trouble yesterday and had nice listening session using RBCD’s on coax and Toslink. System below. First impression using Dave Grusin direct disc was more and tighter bass and nice shimmer to cymbal and xylophone. I am not getting any big difference on small between Coax and Toslink. I assume this is because using only RBCD.

When I put Yale final back in later, everything seemed about the same as Torreys, but with a little more warm up from switch, there is more information within the music.

I am still concerned that my SP-10 is makes things more rosey and covers up some of the improvements as it requires very careful listening to hear what differences there are. I can’t wait to get the BHK preamp and see what I am missing.

Another session this afternoon.

thanks Paul and Ted for the update.

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Not testing this myself. Does the consensus seem to be that Torreys improves PCM playback but not so much DSD? Is there any improvement in DSD playback at all with Torreys?