PS Audio DirectStream DAC

I will try both direct, and a preamp. I have a VAC preamp, and a Classe SSP-800 processor for comparison to direct. And of course, I am sure Mike has some options as well. But supposedly, early beta-testers/owners are saying direct is best ?? I will also let one of VAC's engineers demo this unit in his system, to get his take as well. So that should give everyone a well rounded review.

Jerry-
 
Mike said:
Thanks jap.

Yes, but I wouldn't want to.

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From LUMIN's website FAQs:

"Can LUMIN control my amplifier volume?
Currently, this feature is not available. The app volume control digitally adjusts the output from LUMIN. This is not necessarily the highest quality method and therefore we recommend that you use your amplifier's remote control for this purpose.
It is possible that certain network-connected amplifiers can be supported in the future."

Early reports from people who have heard the DS, say it sounds better direct.
 
Jap - the Lumin app has a volume control, I just wouldn't use it. It could work, but why? Bypassing the preamp is just a bad idea in this case.


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Mike said:
Jap - the Lumin app has a volume control, I just wouldn't use it. It could work, but why? Bypassing the preamp is just a bad idea in this case.


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IMO, in today's digital marketplace, Lumin is missing the boat if its volume control "is not necessarily the highest quality method."

The PS Audio DS was designed to drive amps directly.

That's one of the reasons I use to own a PWD and now another DAC with that feature.

BTW, my username is jap with a small j.;)
 
Cool. Glad you like the PS Audio. It sounds from the marketing hype that its worth a listen. I hope to hear it soon. But I'm not giving up the Lumin for anything and IMO, they aren't missing any boat. The Lumin is a streamer, not a DAC and quasi preamp.

Have you heard the Lumin? It's really quite good.


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Mike said:
Have you heard the Lumin? It's really quite good.


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No.

Glad to hear that you're happy with it, but if it doesn't have a high quality volume control, I'm not interested.
 
I wish PS Audio would have included a flash driver reader on the DS. It wouldn't have taken much effort to add this capability, and could possibility have made an unbeatable combination. Especially if their volume control proves to provide quality playback. I really like my Bryston BDP-2 player's sound quality. And it is a very effective method of music storage. Maybe this could be a future upgrade, via a add-on board. Just thinking out loud........


Jerry-
 
JDLaudio said:
I wish PS Audio would have included a flash driver reader on the DS. It wouldn't have taken much effort to add this capability, and could possibility have made an unbeatable combination. Especially if their volume control proves to provide quality playback. I really like my Bryston BDP-2 player's sound quality. And it is a very effective method of music storage. Maybe this could be a future upgrade, via a add-on board. Just thinking out loud......


Jerry-
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That's a great idea. There's already a USB A input on the current Bridge module:
DS-full-4.png
 
JDLaudio said:
I wish PS Audio would have included a flash driver reader on the DS. It wouldn't have taken much effort to add this capability, and could possibility have made an unbeatable combination. Especially if their volume control proves to provide quality playback. I really like my Bryston BDP-2 player's sound quality. And it is a very effective method of music storage. Maybe this could be a future upgrade, via a add-on board. Just thinking out loud........


Jerry-
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+1 Flash drive reader.
 
Direct Stream arrived on schedule. Did not get "quick start guide" as stated. So I am going to website looking for USB drivers and user manual. Unit double-boxed, nice cloth cover, and white gloves included !! Will update after essentials are located.

Jerry-
 
Drivers loaded......player playing (easy) !! First song "out of the box" impressions........(drum roll).......Diana Krall "Live In Paris" now sounds like she IS SITTING at her piano. This made an immediate impression. The distance/placement to one another was real, and it made me take notice. Piano strikes are very, very real in tone. Nice first song. OK, I will kick back and listen for a bit. I will send some more updates tonight, as things gel.

Jerry-
 
More first hour notes. FINALLY.....a real hi-hat sound. As a drummer for 20 years, I finally heard an absolutely "real sounding" hi-hat, my first ever....via a stereo system. There is such a beautifully gentle sound quality to a hi-hat, as you compress and release the two cymbals via the foot pedal. It was there in spades on one of the tracks of the Best Audiophile Voices l CD. I cannot stop noticing minute details that flesh out as real sounding.....that I do not remember hearing before. I heard what sounded like very low volume oscillating (sp ?)sound, from a B-3 organ.....that was never there before.
A trumpet player squeezed off a note, and you could hear the note decay and fall apart.....bit by bit. I guess I should qualify all the above by stating that I am also using a "new, never before used" USB cable that Paul (PS Audio) suggested. It is the J-CAT cable, from the company making J-PLAY boards. So that could be contributing somewhat to the combination, who knows ?? But I have a few other USB cables of which, I am familiar with none.
I am having trouble just listening to the music, because exciting little details keep revealing themselves. The soundstage opened up immediately after a couple of songs. Presentation seems a tad closer, which I normally don't prefer. But this DAC is sounding very "small club intimate" in nature on vocal tracks. Very enticing for sure. The depth has gotten a few feet deeper as well. Kinda strange, as soundstage depth usually gets a tad less deep.....when the presentation moves forward.
Sound ??? First hour is showing a more full, robust sound. I do notice the "building blocks" of notes, voices, etc. as they are formed and decay.......if that makes sense ?? Sort of like using a magnifying glass on the music. You can hear more of the individual minute parts that make up each word, note and sound. I do notice a few more warts as well in the mix. Definitely not a step backwards in SQ so far. Will do some more listening, and give a few more impressions this evening. Stay tuned.....


Jerry-
 
More notes: great snap/attack on percussion, more defined "pluck" on bass notes, very natural overall sound. Sound stage can go very wide if mixed that way. There seems to be a greater number of layers in the sound stage depth. Some recordings sound like the lead singer and bass player are singing/playing from the middle of the bass drum (in other words....a very mono, one dimensional perspective). This DAC breaks up this perspective into many smaller depths, giving each performer more space. The reverb trails seem longer, deeper, and wider.
One aspect that is a bit un-nerving is when there are several instruments/vocals going on all at once. This DAC brings forth better separation and detail of these multiple things happening, and my brain is not used to processing so much detail/info. Sort of like walking into a room with 50 people all talking at once. Usually you perceive this as noise. Now imagine hearing every conversation individually, and understanding every word......all at the same time. Takes a bit more work for your brain to computate what you just heard. I hope everybody can understand my descriptions. I am not so good with the audiophile techno-speak descriptos. Back to listening....more later.


Jerry-
 
Jerry, Its the opposite. Its because you are not so good at audiophile techno-speak why I DO understand most of what you are communicating. LoL
 
Glad to hear that someone understands my techno-babble. I was around live music daily for almost 20 years, so I relate to music from that perspective. I am starting to understand why others have struggled to describe this DAC. It does not necessarily flaunt a character per say, but rather denotes a bit more honesty across the board. It flushes out detail for sure. So far, I would describe this DAC as more honest and detailed than most that I have heard. But it does not shout this character at you. Definitely an intriguing DAC.


wisnon said:
Jerry, Its the opposite. Its because you are not so good at audiophile techno-speak why I DO understand most of what you are communicating. LoL
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Ted Smith is a longtime friend of PNWAS and was the lead designer of the new PS Audio DirectStream DAC.

Over three years ago, Ted presented an early prototype of this DAC. I remembered liking it a LOT, and members asked if it would ever get into production. It is a discrete DSD-based DAC. All of the input processing, upsampling, DSP and DSD conversion is done in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA; a type of software configurable hardware). The analog output is a purely passive filter based on transformers. In the PS Audio unit, the digital and analog boards Ted designed are direct replacements for the boards in a current PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC or Perfect Wave DAC Mark II, enabling a field upgrade for owners of these units, to a DirectStream DAC.

One feature of the FPGA input processing is that there are no PLLs (phase loop locks): the bits are pattern matched to figure out what’s coming in and then they are placed into a buffer. In a sense, all inputs are locked at all times. You can go from input to input seamlessly and you can change sample rates of incoming material seamlessly. Most importantly, you can go from PCM to DSD seamlessly. This architecture also leads to a very low susceptibility to incoming jitter. I2S, AES/EBU, S/PDIF and TOSLink within their bandwidths all sound the same. For 96k and below, optical TOSLink can sound better since it can eliminate ground loops.

All digital inputs are upsampled to wide words at 28.224 MHz (10 x the DSD rate!). Then that signal is sigma delta modulated to double rate DSD and then lowpass filtered.

The upsampling filters are chosen to keep as much detail as possible not for computing convenience: they use a lot of CPU power, but the FPGA has the resources to do a great job. The result is that the FPGA digital processing looses less audio information than most other designs.

Ted will be present to talk and answer questions about the DAC.

A couple of Executive Committee members have already heard this DAC and they have reported that it sounds really great. Everything in the DAC was designed to get your toes tapping, to allow you to enjoy all the music you already have. The DirectStream DAC uncovers more music than we knew was present in any of our sources, from Redbook to hi-rez PCM, to DSD.

As usual - visitors and guests welcome.

Thursday, May 8th. 7:30pm
Mercer Island Congregational Church (basement)
4545 Island Crest Way
Mercer Island, WA 98040
 
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