Thanks Ted, Paul and the PS Audio team. I called a friend a bit ago, and said “Checkmate, I’m done with digital.”
My backstory:
I was a first year adopter of the Perfectwave DAC, and the Marla and Henk review on 6Moons convinced me to order it sight unseen or heard. I was looking for new digital, and the promise of streaming music off of a NAS stored in our AV closet (no computer) as laid out by the PS Audio videos, was very simplistic and appealing for my new at the time music room.
However with the promise of gapless streaming never realized, and then getting a chance to compare my Perfectwave to other DAC’s at dealer’s and friend’s places, I grew very dissatisfied with it. For example the ARC DAC8 cost around the same amount when it was new, and while it didn’t have the streaming I would of picked it easily in a head to head. The DAC8 was just more musical with better tonality. On the other hand, the Perfectwave did detail better, but it was detail at the expense of musicality it seemed.
I would of long ago walked away from PS Audio, but the used market was atrocious, so I just kept slugging along and upgrading other parts of my system.
Then along came the Directstream and that summer my dissatisfaction with the Perfectwave had hit its peak, I had to make a change. That dissatisfaction left me questioning whether the Directstream could be the right choice. I was looking hard at stuff like the Berkley Alpha2, DCS Debussy, Lampizator, Meitner amongst others. I also had a friend pick up the Bryston BDP, and while I was very familiar with it, I had not had the opportunity to hear it in my system, he gave me that opportunity. Hearing the BDP versus my bridge was a no-brainer though an expensive alternative (3k BDP streamer, 1.5k new digital cord and 2k PC). But now I had my streaming needs covered, and still think the Bryston is better than any physical disc spinner, and only the Totaldac and Aurender streamers are on par or better. The biggest reason I say this is hearing the Bryston BDP in comparison to the DCS Scarlatti transport, BDP wins in a first round knockout.
So with the gapless issue solved, and better sound to boot, I still longed for a new DAC. I was able to visit a forum member in north Dallas who already had the Directstream, and I brought my Perfectwave along to compare head to head. I left there hearing improvements over the Perfectwave, but not enough to convince me it was the way to go. Then 1.2.1 dropped, and based upon all the glowing comments I figured I had to give it a try and at worse with it being such a new product hopefully I could sell it for a better ROI than getting out of the Perfectwave entirely.
The Directstream arrives after shipping off my Perfectwave for the trade-in, and I am quite impressed. It’s musicality was very far ahead of the Perfectwave, and it was certainly now better than the ARC DAC8. But living with it and keeping my ear to the ground, it still didn’t satisfy my long-term digital desires. I was still reading about Debussy’s, Lampizator’s, Bricasti’s, Berkeley Reference DAC’s and thinking about what it would take to get there, that next level of digital performance. Through friends I was able to hear consistently hear their MSB Diamond DAC, DCS Scarlatti, DCS Vivaldi, and Totaldac D1-twelve’s, these DAC’s poked holes into the Directstream’s sound. Holes that once open are hard to close.
Then came Pike’s Peak, and it went a long way to solving one of my hang-ups, the Directstream could now rock, but it went in the wrong direction in so many other areas. Still I kept it loaded as its strengths barely outweighed the negatives in my mind. During this time period I had the opportunity to directly compare the Directstream against the DCS Debussy. The Debussy is a really nice DAC. It left me longing for that increase in musicality, tension, and swing. But still after the comparison, my thoughts even then, was that no way was that DAC worth the extra 7-8k if comparing MSRP’s. But yeah, I wanted that last 5-10% of musical goodness.
Next Yale beta dropped, and at first I was elated by the sound, well still am/was in comparison to Pikes and 1.2.1, but upon further listening and actual A-B comparisons of 1.2.1 and Yale beta, issues were discovered. I think Tarnished Ear’s (I think that is the correct username) described my issues very well in that beta thread. Unlike him and others though, Yale beta was still miles better than any of the previous firmware’s, and yes while for a few tracks I might prefer 1.2.1, but it was only for a few.
But each of these firmware’s also had me thinking back to my bad experience with the Perfectwave. I hated each firmware introduced for the Perfectwave, and always stuck with the original for both the Mk1 version and the Mk2 version. And so here was Yale beta following Pike’s and both were going in a similar direction of more and more detail, yet losing the soul of the music. However my glimmer of hope was at least Yale beta added some much needed musicality in comparison to Pikes.
But now my digital journey is done, Yale final is remarkable. And probably the most remarkable thing about it, is that for the first time on this firmware rollercoaster, Ted and Co. listened all of the noise on this board, picked out the consistent issues mentioned, and in a few weeks time they addressed them incredibly well.
As mentioned I have a good amount of time with some of the uber-DAC’s, in fact just this past Monday I heard the Totaldac again and the week before I heard the DCS Scarlatti stack, and I think the Directstream is now doing so many of the great things they do. Scarlatti could be in trouble, I think the Directstream is certainly the on par with the DCS Debussy now, possibly better, would love to do a comparison again. The Totaldac has nothing to fear as it is a very special DAC, but still the price gap is extreme.
So either way I’m done unless I win the lottery, and then maybe the Totaldac would be cool to throw a little of my millions of dollars at. 
Sorry for the long rambling, but wanted to express my new found love with this DAC after at times a very frustrating journey.
In conclusion, again thanks and “Checkmate!”
