I AGREE with Gary_M in capital letters. I posted a positive review earlier in this thread but need to say more,
Windom brings life to the music in such a genuine way that to me, it sounds like the absolute best sounding upgrade improvement since I bought DSJ with Yale. I know I know, we often have a tendency to exagerate to show that we unnnnderstand and know what we talk about. But for me, this time, I don´t feel a need to do so. In Windom it seems like Ted has come upon some groundbreaking principle in the Digital to Analogue conversion. Perhaps by coincidence and not knowing on beforehand, but still, now it has become MUSIC and real instruments and voices to a level where I skip analyzing and instead need to sit and be touched by the notes.
Ted, you sound like you are aware of this so I wonder, what principles have you discovered that made this fundamental improvement in the tone richnes and genuine body of instruments and voices and rooom? I am eager to hear what you think and have concluded.
Today just a few minutes ago, I installed Windom in 5 minutes-action without the slightest problem. DS Sr was also quick with the update routine. Then I listened to a bunch of pieces which I have heard shortly before with the same settings. I thought Snowmass 306 can hardly be outbid - and now surprise! Yes, the audio-picture has more colors, more shades, everything sounds more natural, detail is more intense, rich. In some vocal pieces with snowmass I have experienced tiny sibilants- not with the windom! Impressive stage, 3D expressiv, plastic and emotional transfer. I know DCS Vivaldi, I own the Accuphase Player DP-720 and yet I am enthusiastic with Windom. Whether PCM 44.1 / 16 - 192/24 or DSD, pop rock, jazz, classical pieces - everything sounds very convincing and impressively natural. Ted, PSA team - chapeau!
I hear with headphones: Orpheus, Stax 009, old but finest lambda signature (others) on Linear-S-Transformer feeded by power amps, optional Accuphase A-50V or Krell Duo XD 175. DS Sr gets digital signal from music-server and conducts analog to preamp Accuphase C-290. Current is flowing from PS Audio P-15. Greetings from Berlin.
I assume you have a Junior. My Junior did this and a few more random issues. I worked with PS Audio and could not resolve it… I threw in the towel and used their generous upgrade program and purchased a Senior. I don’t believe your issue is related to this software version (assuming you have a Junior). BTW… I loved the sound of the Junior.
I installed Windom on Wednesday morning on my DS Sr. without any problems. (I was upgrading from Snowmass 3.06, and Snowmass is the only version I have previously had on the DAC.) after reading all of the comments from other users about whether they had a “good” install or a “bad” install, I thought just to be safe I would install Redcloud and then upgrade to Windom from there. Really not sure if that made any difference, but I thought that I would try it. That being said, I have to agree with a few others here that the upgrade process really needs to be fine-tuned a little bit more. I’m certainly not an expert, but it seems like very strange logic to need to revert back to previous versions in order to get the current version to load correctly.
As for as my impressions on Windom, as much as I tried to keep my expectations low, I was definitely surprised at the improvement in sound quality. Much better mid-bass and low end, hearing lower levels of bass out of my REL’s that I had ever heard! Better mids and highs as well – can hear cymbals, tambourine, piano all much better. Better soundstage and 3D imaging. Really remarkable, kudos to Ted and PS Audio for being able to bring a little bit more sound quality with every version upgrade! (However, I am a little worried that Ted may eventually run out of tricks up his sleeve before he gets to “Mount Elbert”)
Thanks for your reply. I checked in with Ted and he stated that the reference to “saturation of the core” is really somewhat misunderstood. It is essentially a “non-issue.” He went in to state that for those of us using preamps most listeners seem to settle between 85-100, though in the case of Windom most seem to prefer the DSD
Cheers,
Ted, how much improvement in the DS sound with Windom would you attribute to code improvements as opposed to a fortuitous code compile selected by PS Audio?
Most all of it. I can’t speak for the folks at PS Audio that graded the compiles thus time but often all of the new compiles sound better than all of the old compiles or at least most of them.
I doesn’t sound like 176.4 is better than 352.8. At least not in my limited listening. I not really surprised as I have been quite impressed with how PCM sounds with Windom and I have been using 352.8 all along until last night.
In fact, I just listened to the 2011 James Guthrie mastering of “The Dark Side of The Moon” at 352.8 and it has never sounded better. This is an excellent mastering and it sounds just plain incredible. Windom is a winner!
Thanks for that input. I don’t know if it’s just my now well rested ears, but I left everything running overnight and the bass now sounds much better, more aligned with everything else! I’m thrilled!
Is it a general consensus to leave the DS/DSJ at >80 volume? I have a Schiit Freya Preamp and leave that set and adjust volume with the DSJ controller. @tedsmith Does the output somehow change at higher volume levels?
Do what sounds best to your ears. With my preamp I, at times use the DS remote (or Jr knob) and the preamp’s volume at other times.
With Redcloud and Snowmass some preferred the sound of the DS or DS Jr at around 84 and the preamp a little louder.
Now, on the Sr, but not the Jr, they may find that higher settings on the Sr now sound better than they did. The Sr hardware supports a few features the Jr doesn’t and this is one place the differences may show up.
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