@Paul - What is the tentative release date for the TSS?
-Alan
Somewhere here on the forum I recently asked Ted. It sounds like later in 2023.
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Maybe @tedsmith can give us an update on this one.
Iām working on the schematics, Iāve got most of the changes caused by parts availability issues in, some ideas I incorporated in the Mk II in, Iām doing a different analog supply that should be much more isolated from the AC.
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Can you say what was the main reason to come out with such a bigger DAC at roughly the same time of the Mk II release and no other PSA equipment of that price level?
I would have expected that this price level starts with a different component and a bigger DAC comes at a time when it possibly incorporates very new knowledge and design ideas again.
As I guess you donāt retire soon, it might be the reason to keep you busy for PSA before you think about other works? 
The 600s and the FR30 come to mind.
Also, this question may be better suited for:
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The TSS was in the works much earlier than the Mk II. We thought we could insert a DS Mk II which was a simple refresh of the DS with some slight upgrades in. The pandemic changed all manner of things.
The TSS will have some newer innovations which the Mk II doesnāt have. Part because they were too expensive to implement in the Mk II, part because they werenāt quite baked yet for the Mk II, part because innovation in my brain keeps coming even when itās too late for a given product.
Just like the Mk II isnāt a simple upgrade from the DS, the TSS wonāt be a simple upgrade from the Mk II.
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Yes, power amps and speakers are certainly always more expensive, but I meant source and preamp equipment not matching the TSS price level (yet).
As we heard the TSS was started even earlier, thereās an even longer time range without a matching product line for the TSS (except if a new preamp is in the works since then, too). As the big streaming server was cancelled, thereās no price matching streamer, too.
But I donāt say Iām a fan of gear just designed to a price level. It has to make sense.
Would it improve sound quality to eliminate the RCA outputs?
Maybe marginally, but software changes will probably make more of a difference. The downsides of the RCA mostly affect the RCA - unbalanced, extra relay in signal path for one leg, etc.
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Ted,
You are a busy guy bouncing between forums! You are amazing!
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@tedsmith I just checked the present marketprice for batteries that can provide lots of currents fast. The amount of batteries in the largest Stormtank model costs USD 500.
This means that you can get a small batteri and run a dac off the grid for 36 hrs for a purchasing price of USD 100.
PS AudioĀ“s 1 bit sine wave DSD tech gives an advantage.
Can we expect to see a battery power solution for DSD mk II or TTS Two Chassis Super DAC?
One would save money on that āwall to battery chargingā-cable.
Batteries arenāt a panacea, these days a good regulator can be a less noisy source than a battery, and batteries have a finite number of charge cycles.
Still, if it works well, Iām planning on having the power supply of the TSS analog box charge multiple banks of caps and swap them to the points of power draw to discharge them, thereby having the isolation features of a battery without the inherent noise, inconvenience and lifetime issues. Things can still go wrong, but Iāve got that part designed and simulated and incorporated into the current schematics.
What I find interesting is that other people have claimed to have things like a ānever connectedā power supply, but they were connected, they just drew power away from the peaks of the AC waveform. Heck the Mk II and the prototype TSS already do that.
Currently in the analog box I plan to have one charger with five banks to power the four analog supplies (left and right positive and negative supplies) while charging the fith one and another charger with three banks to power the digital clean and the digital dirty power supplies. The clean power will be used for the clock and reclockers, the ādirtyā power will be used for communication to the digital box and ancillary functions like ground lift controls and diagnostic measurements. One of my simulated versions can power 3 amp loads continuously with each bank so I should be able to power everything I want in the analog box comfortably.
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Excellent!
I think it was in connection with the Farad psuās that I read, those super caps are somehow similar to batteries in their operation, is this half correct?
Supercaps charge faster than batteries, but slower than caps. They have more storage capacity than caps but less than batteries. They have more lifetime issues than caps, but less than batteries. Everytime I look at using them Iām drawn to batteries or caps. I started thinking of this supply with batteries, then migrated to supercaps and finally landed on plain old caps.
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Interesting!
This is probably why the heat sink of the Farad is outside.
Is the slower charging a problem for a source component if they have more storage capacity?
Itās all tradeoffs. Honestly, I think some use supercaps only for marketing reasons, but there are certainly problem spaces where they are the best solution. For the same reasons in non-supercap land electrolytic caps are used where energy density is the main requirements, but they have lifetime issues and are often polarized, NP0-C0G caps have many great properties, but they have low energy density. The less ideal class 2 ceramic caps donāt have lifetime issues, arenāt polarized like electrolytic caps and have more energy density than NP0-C0G caps.
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Ok Ted. Enough teasing. When is your beast going to be available? I want one.