Review and Measurements of PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream DAC

[Purité Audio]

Ted’s legs are shapely.
Keith

 

[digititus]

So what they are saying is , you can polish a turd.. good to know but why sell folks the turd in the first place?

Turd polishing is in itself an art form and is greatly admired by all turd worshipers.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Ted’s legs are shapely.
Keith

Ha ha.

All I can say is "there must be a road nearby, or a large helipad".

 

[Blumlein 88]

A tiny drop of milk takes away the bitterness.
A lot of milk ruins it, and I would prefer none to lots but I also don't like weak tea or any of the herbal infusions which some call tea but actually have no tea in them! I quite like camomile and red-bush but infrequently.
I like the smell of coffee but not the taste, but again can tolerate it if there is no milk anywhere near it!

Over on my side of the pond I'll put a teaspoon of baking soda in a pot after it is brewed. That does the same for any residual bitterness as milk.

I too like the coffee smell but don't drink it.

 

[Eirikur]

So what they are saying is , you can polish a turd.. good to know but why sell folks the turd in the first place?

The polishing can be rewarding in itself

 

[GrimSurfer]

This is the 12th firmware update or so in the product life cycle, by the way.

A stitch in time saves.... twelve? Or is that thirteen?

 

[VintageFlanker]

https://darko.audio/2019/10/ps-audio-cooks-up-windom-update-for-directstream-dac/

Darko...
Better check his DAC Index, where he considers the DS as State of The Art... Or do I need to mention every product he gives an award, finish on banner ad on his site?

 

[Matias]

A stitch in time saves.... twelve? Or is that thirteen?

Well there are the major updates called mountain peaks, and the smaller bufixes in between as far as I know. Here are some of the names, in no particular order.

Yale
Pikes
Torreys
Huron
Snowmass
Windom

Just look for Directstream Senior on their archived firmwares:
https://www.psaudio.com/support/downloads/

 

[GrimSurfer]

Well there are the major updates called mountain peaks, and the smaller bufixes in between as far as I know. Here are some of the names, in no particular order.

Yale
Pikes
Torreys
Huron
Snowmass
Windom

Just look for Directstream Senior on their archived firmwares:
https://www.psaudio.com/support/downloads/

What's the next one going to be called? Mount Difficulty?

(Kiwis will love that name, which is the same as a particularly good vineyard on the South Island. Great pinots!)

 

[Soniclife]

Uf, he'll hate me if I tell him he drinks tea for chicks so I'll just start buying breakfast tea for him.

Offer him some https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Grey_(tea) and see how he reacts.

 

[GrimSurfer]

Offer him some https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Grey_(tea) and see how he reacts.

Or this...

https://feastinthyme.com/earl-grey-tea-infused-bourbon-diy-gift/

 

[Soniclife]

Or this...

https://feastinthyme.com/earl-grey-tea-infused-bourbon-diy-gift/

That looks like a good idea to boost productivity in any office.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Just look for Directstream Senior on their archived firmwares:
https://www.psaudio.com/support/downloads/

Some companies should rather learn from RME about how to provide relevant firmware updates...

 

[GrimSurfer]

That looks like a good idea to boost productivity in any office.

politician approved

 

[Blumlein 88]

What's the next one going to be called? Mount Difficulty?

(Kiwis will love that name, which is the same as a particularly good vineyard on the South Island. Great pinots!)

Maybe it will be Mount Wycheproof. Smallest mountain in the world.

 

[MediumRare]

[Response from PS Audio - posted with their permission:]

Thanks for writing with a good question.
Measurements are extremely important and help a lot while developing and testing electronics.
Just like different genres of music, many of us have different tastes in music.
As it turns out, gear that measures next to perfect, doesn’t always sound great.
That’s also to say that poor measuring gear doesn’t always sound good… Obviously.
A great example of this would be tube amps. Many of us love the sound of tube amps. As a semiconductor, they’re quite noisy, but to our ear, we actually like the distortion. (or at least most of us)

Just like any engineering project, designing electronics is a series of compromises.
If our goal was to create the best measuring DAC in the world, Ted could certainly do it, and it would be A LOT more expensive.
Based off Ted’s design, the noise floor of the DS DACs is one of the more annoying aspects to it.
The high noise floor is a product of Ted’s clever design, and upsampling everything to DSD.
This is one of the trade-offs to having the great sound from the DS DACs.
Hope this helps a little Adam.

Best,

James Herod | HiFi Advocate
1-800-PSAUDIO direct 720-402-3926
psaudio.com Boulder, Colorado

 

[BDWoody]

So what they are saying is , you can polish a turd.. good to know but why sell folks the turd in the first place?

When that's all you've got in the warehouse...

 

[graz_lag]

So what they are saying is , you can polish a turd.. good to know but why sell folks the turd in the first place?

 

[graz_lag]

[Response from PS Audio - posted with their permission:]

If our goal was to create the best measuring DAC in the world, Ted could certainly do it, and it would be A LOT more expensive ...

So Adam, 'cause you invested only $6,000 into your piece of gear what you've got is a piece of crap ...
What did you expect to buy for that little amount of money - the best measuring DAC in the world instead?

 

[GrimSurfer]

[Response from PS Audio - posted with their permission:]

<snip>

James Herod | HiFi Advocate
1-800-PSAUDIO direct 720-402-3926
psaudio.com Boulder, Colorado

Ok, I gotta ask... WTF is a "HiFi Advocate"? What role does this person play in the company... they don't appear (to me) to be an engineer and they're writing things like a marketing or PR guy (which is to say, well written normative shite that doesn't appear to be based on anything concrete).