Topic: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

[Doggie Howser]

I know we've been discussing this in the DSD DAC thread but I feel it's worth getting a dedicated discussion on it.

It's a long weekend here and I usually leave my amps and subs on 24/7 over weekends. So the amps have been on for 4 days now. The DS DAC has been on for probably a month fed by an old MBP 2010 running Windows Server 2012. Now with USB Regen.

And what a sound the system is producing. Every time I come back to this, it's just a revelation. Whether it's old or new songs, there's just so much in the music. The soundstage, the life-ness of the singer.

Right now it's Portishead with Glorybox

Durianlover, if you're ok with it, I'd like to reproduce your guide to optimizing playback on the device.

[durianlover88]

Go for it broler DH...I know you could not contain your excitement 

I have made a couple more adjustments...latest being the JS-2 and will be soon testing the 2nd Regen. If you are using non-USB cables pls share your tips as well.

Now  on Stimela......vroom vroom....woooooooooaaaaaahhhhh!!

[Doggie Howser]

I feel Yale and USB Regen complement each other. Yale brought new life to a lot of badly mastered songs even MP3. These days so many artists don't even have a CD quality release so having the odd MP3 which is unplayable makes it really hard to stomach.

Yale seems to unravel a lot of the veil that plagues most MP3s. Granted I still can't listen for long but at least it isn't as grating when they come on as part of a playlist. USB Regen takes away the digital harshness which makes my lossless sound more like vinyl. So the improvement comes across for MP3s as well.

[durianlover88]

Broler DH, seems your DS should be past 800 hours run-in, which would be the ideal condition to listen to the DS prowess

I haben tried the new Bridge v2...which would make the DS a streamer. Not sure it supports DSD files..

[Doggie Howser]

Broler DH, seems your DS should be past 800 hours run-in, which would be the ideal condition to listen to the DS prowess

I haben tried the new Bridge v2...which would make the DS a streamer. Not sure it supports DSD files..

I believe it does if your DLNA supports DOPE

If you use JRiver, it should work. Bridge 1 worked too

[durianlover88]

Thank Broler....Knew Roon got a DS module too...but unsure ready...you know of this too?

[Doggie Howser]

Thank Broler....Knew Roon got a DS module too...but unsure ready...you know of this too?

Paul wanted to bundle Roon Lifetime with Bridge II at first because they worked very well. But they couldn't get it at a reasonable price so it was scrapped. I think Roon costs almost as much as the Bridge

[Doggie Howser]

Durian's tweaks

1) Uptone Audio USB Regen is a must. Sound went up 150% compared to without Regen....

2) I did change two pieces of fuses inside to Synergistic Research RED. This is a must.

IMO, Regen and Red fuses will do the trick. If you want to go max....I did some more below:

3) Ansuz Diamond USB...it is at ridiculously low price....1k+ SGD. Win Light Harmonics Lab Lightspeed 10G by a few horses...and much more emotional.

4) Ansuz Diamond Footers/Diamond power cord/Diamond Interconnect.

5) RGC24 below the Directstream...I have 5 units....but I find may not be really necessary now..the noise level is so so low now...

For me.. going to a linear PSU fanless PC made a big difference. Even better when I used Mike's 3Hz support platform under the linear PSU.

The USB Regen worked well too.

I am still using the Locus Audio Cynosure for USB

[durianlover88]

I had posted most of the benefits of DS in the DSD DAC thread. Optimizing DS not posted before...so the tips I have shared with DH are my learnings. Hoping to know who are the other DS users in this region (I know of folks following XP from Thailand as well)...pls share your tips as well. Some background as below:

Though i was a previous PS Audio Perfectwave combo user, my new romance with DS starts one day after its Feb Pikes Peak firmware release (after the significant 1.2.1 release Q4 last year). Ironically when broler Audio brought his 115V DS in Aug last year to AB with DAC2X, it was prior 1.2.1 release.  DS lost that AB. There may not have been enough hours on that unit and another suspect was the use of stepdown transformer. Prior to Audio's visit...there was another home audition of Vivaldi combo versus the EMM combo. The latter combo was retained though.

I asked A&L Andy to bring the demo DS unit loaded with new firmware to my place for audition. Played the EMM DAC2X for a while...then swapped in the DS....the rest is history.

I struggled for the next few months trying to sell the DAC2X, and pondered real hard whether to retain the TSDX transport...as connecting it to DS via Crystal Cable Absolute Dream AES/EBU yield mesmerizing music. I told my brolers only then did I realise how superb was the TSDX, eben though was only playing the CD layer of SACD. I need a music server that can play DSD64/128.

While working on my biggest project (office work) in first half of this year, I then struggled to identify a suitable music server. Thought to reuse my Core Audio optimized mac mini,  pondered Melco N1Z, listened to Lumin in showroom, tested broler Maverick built Windows Server2012 with AO,  but finally bite the bullet with Aurender W20 with HER Malaysia by trading in the EMM combo I purchased from them. The Ansuz Diamond USB was also released around July, and I also received the Uptone Audio Regen.  The combination is a bliss!

One other change I made is I had inserted the Audio Magic Beeswax Super Fuse at the digital circuit. Analog portion still using SR Red. This change is a good improvement too.

[Audio]

As much as I want to go Directstream full time, my Lumin S1 is still shining brightly and refused to be retired.  Second hand market for Lumin is very strong.  Directstream remains to be my secondary machine....hint hint.

(Audio)

PS:  My 115VAC Directstream is now a 220VAC machine.  I believe the power supply used for 115VAC and the 220VAC are one and the same.  The transformer is a 120V-0-120V unit and run parallel for 115V and series for 220V.  Another hint hint......

[durianlover88]

Yale Final firmware released end July is what we are listening now...but I was more grateful of the Yale beta opportunity when everyone in the world has a chance to voice their thoughts...who would have known Yale Final release was another significant up from beta!

With 50% of FPGA code rewritten and up to Yale releases really considered light weight...I am having high hopes of the next 2 firmware release..which are the heavyweight critical pieces. One release should come before year end.

Like this DAC because it is never finished
It is like buying a new DAC upgrade every few months but without spending $

[durianlover88]

Broler Audio...Sep home visit not materialized yet....any chance in Oct/Nov?

[durianlover88]

Picked this from Roon forum:

"@Ratbert is correct on all points. We are working on the RoonSpeakers stuff actively, now that 1.1 and iOS are out the door.

I can't speak to the timelines of specific third party companies, but PS Audio has been very enthusiastic. It wouldn't surprise me if they were one of the first integrations.

We'll update with more firm timelines as we get there, but RoonSpeakers is the big project for us right now, just like iOS + new Metadata functionality was over the summer."

[wyaw]

"looking" across fence lolz  --> |    PS audio DS DAC

[mitkey]

so if we

PS:  My 115VAC Directstream is now a 220VAC machine.  I believe the power supply used for 115VAC and the 220VAC are one and the same.  The transformer is a 120V-0-120V unit and run parallel for 115V and series for 220V.  Another hint hint......

can you pm some photo.