For Chord DAC owners wondering what optical isolation of their MScaler from their DAC would sound like, there is a product coming out in June that does what TSS does: electrically separate the noisy digital side from the necessarily quieter analog side. OPTO•DX is coming! PM me if interested to be an early user/tester.
Thanks
Dan
It’s working reliably on my bench and I listen every chance I get while I’m working (Charlie Musselwhite at the moment.)
It takes a while to write the control software and test every piece of hardware: I still haven’t started any new TSS FPGA code/features: I wouldn’t feel bad releasing essentially Snowmass, but there are some good things I want to do there.
The schematics and layout of next rev of the boards are done, I just want to make sure there’s nothing else that needs addressed before we send them off.
I’m pleased that I, my wife and my daughter all hear what I expected: Deeper, more controlled bass, a sense of ease, lower background noise, … Everything seems more lifelike and I’m really enjoying the added nuances of the expression of the artists, for example small expressive vibrato that I never heard before.
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That’s awesome news.
I too am blessed with wife and kids that join in hearing and evaluating sessions.
My wife is one of the best analytic listener I have ever met. Beats me by miles.
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Ted how is the TSS development affecting the next Direct stream version? Do you expect to have a new mountain in the next six months
magicknow
I’m not looking at them as vying for resources, the new TSS code will inform the next DS software release. After the TSS is released (or at least after the new software is ready) then I’ll be backporting the new code to the DS and DS Jr. Almost all source files are shared between the three at this time: there are a few new files for the TSS, but I expect that most of the source will remain shared for quite a while.
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Ted would there be any benefit to separating the DAC out into even more boxes beyond just two? I know some of the super high end brands like DCS do this.
With a third box I could make the analog box power supply much more efficient (I’d use multiple switching power supplies with a lot of filtering both on the inputs and outputs and then more filtering in the analog box.)
There’s no technical advantage in having an external clock for consumer playback, that guarantee’s more jitter. When integrating into a music editing system or shop an external clock would be a good option. The analog box environment is clean enough to get excellent performance with a good local clock.
I don’t see any obvious splits for the digital box.
Looking at things a little differently I’d like to have the possibility of one digital box and, say, three analog boxes for a multichannel system. Some others would like the idea of using a digital box with a digital crossover and multiple analog boxes for a biamped or triamped system. I spent some time working on allowing this possibility with the initial TSS release, but I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t compromise a simple two channel system so I reluctantly set those ideas aside.
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Thanks for the explanation - it’s something I"ve been curious about since I saw the DCS Vivaldi system - which I think is four or five boxes excluding their bridge which is in its own box.
Note the position of the Femto33 clock relative to and in close proximity to the eight (gold colored) DAC modules, and the modularity of the various input modules in this photo of a cutaway version of the MSB Select DAC II. The power supplies are also in either one or two outboard/separate chassis. Obsolescence is most likely in the inputs, and the swappable modules address this requirement to stay current.
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If that isn’t Audio Porn I don’t know what is. Hopefully a glass cover is an option.
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If I could afford the MSB Select I would without a doubt want a glass cover!
They probably have, very pure sapphire at $19.999,99 (sale).
Why? Wouldn’t it be the truth for many not fortunate enough to have the cash waiting to be spent?
For those who do have the cash: PS Audio seems to be the best bang for the bucks company.
And it’s even better considering their friendly and easy to reach staff, this forum, Paul’s videos and the Copper Magazine, which I enjoy very much.
“Contract manufacturer” - does this mean it won’t be built by PS?
The CM stocks components, places them on the circuit boards and solder’s them. In general they can do a lot more, but PS Audio integrates everything “bigger”, e.g. putting the case together, putting the boards, wires, transformers, display.
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He is referring to the circuit boards. PS Audio’s circuit boards are way too complex and advanced to build in house (though we used to). The machinery necessary runs upwards of a million bucks for process that place ICs using x-ray and so forth. No, our boards
are all handled by contract manufacturers, the biggest is in Kansas and we have several local guys as well.