usability/playback

if only the Powers That Be would allow for a simple “ENTER” button/field; ADD a separate “page/screen” to the display for ENTER FUNCTION…

then, MOST ALL Blu-Rays and DVD’s will be playbackable…i am willing to accept (compromise) playback of ANY format type (Dolby, DTS, PCM, etc.,) - as long as i hear the music through the DS DAC & DS MP duo.

(this is the only transport i’ve come across that doesn’t offer an ENTER button-- only oversight IMHO.)

when i bought my (2) pairs of DirectStream Memory Players and DirectStream DAC’s the PS A advertising (on site) was for Direct Stream Memory Player to include Blu ray & DVD formats. this is the ONLY transport i’ve ever known to NOT Include an ENTER field…

Is Asking For What Was Advertised On Site Before My Purchase for playing mostly DVD & Blu-ray recordings unreasonable? …

(i like live concerts recordings)

We certainly don’t want to be misrepresentative of anything nor do I think it is unreasonable for you to have thought you could play them when we said it did. I should look at that verbiage, because while it does play all of them, technically, the fact it cannot properly navigate to them makes that irrelevant.

Not sure what the enter button accomplishes if you can’t see a menu - something we cannot do without turning on the video engine, which we don’t want to do because of the sonic degradation.

Can you help me understand what it is you want and how it should work? It’s perhaps possible to program another function in if we understand it.

Since the video engine can be enabled (as you have preserved for debugging and programming), can it be used to navigate to get the Bluray or dvd-a started on the right track, and then disabled again?

That would be perfect though I’m not sure that is possible with a firmware upgrade. My one disappointment is that I have a number of Blu-ray Audio Discs I’d love to play but can’t, and especially a half a dozen or so Japanese Blue Note releases that have stellar sound via my Cambridge Audio CXU and my Denon DVD-A1UDI and I know would sound EVEN BETTER still via the DMP/DSD combo but alas they won’t play. . . .

Early versions of the DMP shipped with the video engine enabled by accident, and we were told to press an icon (lower right corner??) to turn it off. So I imagine it can be turned on easily enough. Adding some programming to enable menu navigation, then turning off the video engine sounds like an interesting possibility. Of course I have no idea whether it could really work.confused-28_gif

Disabling “Pure Audio” doesn’t help in navigating these discs. . . alas.

If this could be done, then it really could be the last disc spinner that one would need (as originally billed).

Paul McGowan said

Can you help me understand what it is you want and how it should work? It’s perhaps possible to program another function in if we understand it.

Paul, 1st I want to thank you for this audience with you!

I realize to choose a “Selection” would need visual engine…

But, a universal “Enter” could at least initiate playback…even if Dolby is invariably selected…

Accessing the “ENTER” field could be with a separate “page/screen” to the display for ENTER FUNCTION…

Or maybe program DVD and BLUray discs to automatically select “Enter” for first choices…still better than silence and would be ultimately musical, played with the combo MP & DAC.

Maybe others here could articulate more intelligently.

  • I also wish that a sub woofer output would be available with the DS DAC—I’d buy the first ones available.

ASIDE:

Paul, I am extremely curious about your Corporate Listening Room…more specifically about your hookup of your IRS’s…in your UTube presentations (your personality shows through – someone I admire)…

  • I see the “hose” feeding the individual Emit drivers for the upper range…yet, I didn’t see the same for the Emit Super Tweeter drivers…How did you manage their inclusion/hookup?
  • And separately, why not employ an Active Crossover?...the signal loss with Passive Crossovers is measurable (? maybe a +10% loss, plus the wiring your custom Passive Crossover utilizes, has a greatly limited (chokes) gauge compared to your speaker wiring “hose” -- (X/O the ONLY weak link IMHO)…BUT, wow, WHAT A SYSTEM!!
  • When designing your room acoustically, why didn’t you employ a “wave” design for the ceiling?
  • Why drywall instead of, say, wood paneling?
iRon said

if only the Powers That Be would allow for a simple “ENTER” button/field; ADD a separate “page/screen” to the display for ENTER FUNCTION…

Will PS Audio become the next Kodak over something SO basic?
iRon said

Will PS Audio become the next Kodak over something SO basic?


Highly unlikely, PS audio knows their customer base too well. Perhaps your “something as simple as …” is really not that simple. If it is then show them how to do it. The other side is if you do implement this and it plays whatever is first on the list (which you cannot see) and it is Dolby do you think everyone wil be happy with that? Me thinks not and then PS Audio will be in the same situation. I trust PS Audio to do the right thing.

I know little about the layout of DVDs and Blu-Rays, but do know there appears to be nearly endless variables and options. This is fine when there is video output to help you choose, but even then it can be a tad confusing.

Enabling a blind [enter] may at times get a disc to play, but more often than not would probably really frustrate the user - especially as it would look like this is a universal “start” button.

The solution may be to enable video output upon disc initialization with its output either on the DMP’s screen and/or sent to an external monitor. Once the disc starts playing, the video section automatically switches off. But this strikes me as complicated and it may degrade audio performance to even have the video circuit enabled.

Hi iRon, and thanks for posting. I’ll try and answer.

I realize to choose a “Selection” would need visual engine…

But, a universal “Enter” could at least initiate playback…even if Dolby is invariably selected…

Accessing the “ENTER” field could be with a separate “page/screen” to the display for ENTER FUNCTION…

I wish it were that easy, it's just not. Here's the thing. The DMP was and is designed to be the world's best two-channel disc player and I think we got that nailed. To do that we had to sacrifice other functionality. I know what people want is a Swiss Army knife, but the problem with those knives is they're good at everything, great at nothing. We don't want to go down that rabbit hole.
Paul, I am extremely curious about your Corporate Listening Room…more specifically about your hookup of your IRS’s…in your UTube presentations (your personality shows through – someone I admire)…
  • I see the “hose” feeding the individual Emit drivers for the upper range…yet, I didn’t see the same for the Emit Super Tweeter drivers…How did you manage their inclusion/hookup?
  • And separately, why not employ an Active Crossover?…the signal loss with Passive Crossovers is measurable (? maybe a +10% loss, plus the wiring your custom Passive Crossover utilizes, has a greatly limited (chokes) gauge compared to your speaker wiring “hose” — (X/O the ONLY weak link IMHO)…BUT, wow, WHAT A SYSTEM!!
  • When designing your room acoustically, why didn’t you employ a “wave” design for the ceiling?
  • Why drywall instead of, say, wood paneling?
The "hose" feeding the Emits on the IRS is hidden inside a channel behind them and it comes like that from the factory. The bigger "hose" feeding the EMIMs is the original Monster Cable 12 gauge stranded lamp cable. It's on my long list of want to change things.

The passive crossover is what makes the system work. I know others that have wanted to (and have) added an active crossover. I would ask, to what advantage? The system was designed to be musical as is and that it is on any level you want to move on. It’s voiced passively by one of the best speakers designers in the world. What could I possibly add to that? And why would I want to add extra amplifiers and parts in the path? Just not for me.

I considered a wave design and wish I had done it. In the next one we build it’ll have that wave.

I had a budget to work within and I exceeded it by double just using drywall. I see no advantage to wood unless I did a series of slats and acoustics like the Oslo opera house interior, but that’s a monumental amount of work and money. I wish I had the luxury of everything, but I don’t.

Paul, thank you for your time…My simplistic thinking of adding another function, such as the “Enter/Select” field, seemingly would be not much different in having command functionings as the other such fields like “Play, FF, RW, Stop, Skip” etc…

Oh well…

And, Yes, Paul, I agree that the the DSD and DMP pair becomes “the world’s best two-channel disc player and I think we got that nailed”

…Amen to that!!

I really have no regrets purchasing my 1st 2 pairs of the DSD & DMP combo…