Review and Measurements of PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream DAC

[OldSchool1948]

I have stereo equipment in my rec room that in some cases is over 35 years old. Pioneer SPEC-4 power amp, SoundCraftsman SP4001 EQ/PRE, Technics SL1600MK II turntable, Tech X-10R R2R, dbx 3bx, dbx 224, Rodec mixer, McIntosh MC 2600 power amp, McIntosh MCD 7008, McIntosh 31V pre amp/controller, and McIntosh tuner. DCM TimeWindow 3 and JBL L100 speakers.

I am nearing retirement and decided to build a dedicated listening room. In that room, I had the NAD M12 and a M22v2 power amp. They are OK, but not something I want to listen to the rest of my life. I'm currently using a Technics SL1200G TT with Ortofon Quintet Black cart, Parasound JC3jr phone pre, Herron VTSP 3A(r02) Preamp, Zenith MKII media streamer, Small Green Computer i7 for Roon DSP box, LTA ZOTL40 Reference power amplifier, Audio Mirror DAC, and Tannoy DC8Ti speakers. I'm replacing the DAC.

 

[amirm]

amirm, I've tried to be polite. I find some comments including yours, "your ears are not working for you" to be condescending. I thought this might be a good objective information resource. Guess I was wrong. I haven't disputed one thing that anyone had said in response to my post, and I haven't attacked anyone for their opinions, experiences, "facts", or beliefs. As an adult, I expect to receive that same level of respect.

You told him to get a life. That goes beyond critiquing what was said to you in context of audio.

We don't respect voodoo in audio. Go and ask your doctor what he thinks of some home remedy online. He will throw you out of his office. We have not done that to you yet. But we are going to be forceful that we know your story, we have lived it and we know people who live it. We are here because we believe in decades of audio research showing your approach to sound evaluation to be incorrect.

 

[OldSchool1948]

I hear you. But since its my money, I'll keep doing it my way.

 

[amirm]

Do so just don't tell us about it and try to be convincing.....

I do like your R2R avatar by the way. What brand/model is it? Picture is too small for me to tell.

 

[Certainkindoffool]

amirm, I've tried to be polite. I find some comments including yours, "your ears are not working for you" to be condescending. I thought this might be a good objective information resource. Guess I was wrong. I haven't disputed one thing that anyone had said in response to my post, and I haven't attacked anyone for their opinions, experiences, "facts", or beliefs. As an adult, I expect to receive that same level of respect.

I would counter that objectivism within the context of this forum is specifically looking for factors that are measurable and predictive of accurate audio reproduction.

Approaching the hobby as a trial by error, audio nirvana via hardware tone control is a little outside of what most people are interested in here.

That being said, if there was a box that I could buy that would make everything I played sound fantastic - dsp and predictive/programmable, on the fly, equalization maybe - I would certainly buy it. It can be frustratingly difficult to find music that is mixed well for all hardware.

Also, I am very grateful of individuals that have the budget and inclination to constantly swap hardware. And I enjoy reading thier stories, especially when I am researching used/vintage components.

 

[Dimitri]

What brand/model is it? Picture is too small for me to tell.

I was wondering the same thing. Looks really close to a GX-620 but It's a Teac X 10r

 

[Xulonn]

I thought this might be a good objective information resource.

It is a good source of objective information - and I think you are referring to ASR's published measurements and test results. It is obvious that you did not come to ASR and do extensive reading to find out what this forum is all about before signing up and making your first post. I think you may now realize that there is more here than just tests and measurements.

The contentiousness in this thread came about because you arrived and posted subjective opinions that have objectively - via science - been demonstrated to be invalid. That was pointed out, but you persisted in claiming to be able to hear differences where science says that is not possible.

The objective philosophy here applies not only to testing and measuring, but also to the process of listening for differences, something that has been studied and refined over the years by scientists in the field of psychoacoustics. Among their findings is the fact that only rigorous double-blind testing yields valid results when determining the audibility of differences between components in certain classes of well-engineered audio electronics.

That is something you seem to be completely unaware of, and still fail to accept.

No one here objects to anyone relying on subjective purchasing decisions - even if it involves purchasing $5k components that don't perform as well as $100 ones. But when you make claims - like being able to hear differences where we know they are inaudible - you will need to back that up with objective evidence.

Some ASR member have submitted their components to Amirm for testing, and then decided to keep them even when they did not perform as the owner expected and hoped they would. Measurements aren't everything, but to quote statistician George Box, "some are useful".

p.s., Like a few other older audiophiles, you have a marvelous collection of vintage audio hardware. Enjoy.

 

[Sir Sanders Zingmore]

and I haven't attacked anyone for their opinions, experiences, "facts", or beliefs.

Your inverted commas around the word "facts" is a teeny bit condescending

 

[617]

I have stereo equipment in my rec room that in some cases is over 35 years old. Pioneer SPEC-4 power amp, SoundCraftsman SP4001 EQ/PRE, Technics SL1600MK II turntable, Tech X-10R R2R, dbx 3bx, dbx 224, Rodec mixer, McIntosh MC 2600 power amp, McIntosh MCD 7008, McIntosh 31V pre amp/controller, and McIntosh tuner. DCM TimeWindow 3 and JBL L100 speakers.

I am nearing retirement and decided to build a dedicated listening room. In that room, I had the NAD M12 and a M22v2 power amp. They are OK, but not something I want to listen to the rest of my life. I'm currently using a Technics SL1200G TT with Ortofon Quintet Black cart, Parasound JC3jr phone pre, Herron VTSP 3A(r02) Preamp, Zenith MKII media streamer, Small Green Computer i7 for Roon DSP box, LTA ZOTL40 Reference power amplifier, Audio Mirror DAC, and Tannoy DC8Ti speakers. I'm replacing the DAC.

How do you like the timewindows? Interesting speakers.

 

[Dvass13]

Thanks for the Matrix Audio DAC recommendation. I'll will look into it.

Maybe I could be of some help here. I used to own the DirectStream DAC. I bought it about two years ago as I started my journey into the 2-channel world. I came from the head-fi world and was overwhelmed with the options and prices of high-end audio equipment. I bought an 'open box' DSD for roughly half of MSRP and was happy to see that it was drop-shipped to my house directly from PS Audio. I paired it initially straight into my power amp as it was touted as being a very good digital pre-amp. I was pretty disappointed at the level of audible hum I could hear from my speakers. I messaged PS Audio and they suggested I add the BHK pre-amp to the chain to remove the hum. It turns out this is a somewhat common issue and there's even a thread dedicated to it on their forum. I was pretty upset that they suggested I spend another several thousand dollars to fix a problem that shouldn't have been there to begin with. After that, I routed the outputs through my headphone amp and used it as a pre-amp. I lessened the hum a bit, but it was still audible through headphones and speakers.

Fast forward a ways, I sold the DSD for pretty much what I paid for it and picked up a Matrix Audio Element X. I have had no regrets. It has a very competent headphone amp and functions perfectly as a pre-amp. It even has built-in streaming capability. The only downside is that the long-term support might not be what PS Audio offers where you can call someone up and speak to a live person immediately. You're also not getting a giant, unwieldy chassis. I had a black DSD and, while I wasn't in love with the aesthetics, I didn't think it looked horrible. I thought it felt pretty hefty, which always gives you the reassurance that it is built well. The Element X is a much smaller chassis and weighs significantly less, yet offers more features than the DSD. I sometimes start to look at other DACs or headphone amps, thinking that more separates are better, that more expensive is better. I then realize that I'm perfectly content with the Element X. I can't really fault it for anything aside from maybe lacking the power to drive really inefficient headphones (which I don't even own). I think the Element or X Sabre Pro are worth consideration if you're thinking about the DSD.

 

[foodchain]

Before I publish reviews I go and search for others. Here, I found the stereophile review and JA's measurements. I was relieved that he was seeing some of the same issues I found. But shockingly, his summary paragraph starts such: https://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-da-processor-measurements

View attachment 34149

What? Superbly well? This is is superbly well?

That is a 50 Hz tone and has harmonic distortion as high as -45 dB (SINAD of 45 dB). Why run that test if this indicates "superb" results???

No wonder people walk right past these types of measurements when they exist....

I'm a recent lurker on your forum and I decided to join. Super cool place. I recently tried to put together a bit better stereo system and I wanted a little guidance steering clear of the snake oil and conspicuous consumption of all these audiophiles. A stealthy no-name system that performs well was all that was needed. Two months ago I didn't know what a DAC was but I bought off eBay one of those Topping D50S units because of your positive review. It even came with the matching power supply. Works awesome. Got a used setup with a tube preamp, a power amp, some small a/d/s speakers, and a cool sealed subwoofer.

My favorite part of the setup -- and maybe this will make you guys cringe because it's not high-end -- is a Grace Digital IRDT200 internet tuner that cost me $60. You get thousands and thousands of radio stations from around the world, many of which run zero ads. Some broadcast at high bitrates, some not, but it's still the greatest thing since sliced bread. You just bypass its cheesy internal DAC by using the coax output and it sounds fine to my ears. I tried to set the whole system up to allow for the absolute max number and type of inputs, to have access to as much music as possible.

I love things that are sleepers. A good stereo that looks like nothing and doesn't flout brand names is the way to go for sure. I am the guy who swapped a couple of V8 engines into old British sports cars keeping them looking bone stock, the guy who built and plays a homemade guitar and tube amp (believe me they sound killer even though generic!) and who chases [not always successfully, not nearly!!] skinny superhot girls who don't call attention to themselves.

 

[Xulonn]

I am the guy who swapped a couple of V8 engines into old British sports cars keeping them looking bone stock,

LOL! You and Carroll Shelby ...LINK

 

[AudioTodd]

What interest is there in @amirm testing a Jensen transformer? I could possibly send in a PC-2XR.

https://www.jensen-transformers.com/product/pc-2xr/

 

[AudioTodd]

Frank

I think you may have to reconsider the streaming because it is flat-out easy. a PC (any PC ) connected to your system via USB... Open an App. I use Spotify and Tidal. Tidal is fully integrated with Roon .. but it has its own app, Spotify isnot ... Press "play" .. Music... Just see it as a source. Forget about the ripping part for now and the entire library management thing.. that's for later ( Roon can help to a serious extent but that's for much later) . Consider the PC as a source and be done...

Since I embraced streaming my enjoyment of music has increased ten-fold.

Using a Bluesound Node 2i (or Vault 2i if you want to rip CDs) is super easy too. You can get FLAC Radio Paradise like I’m listening to now, other internet “radio” stations, tidal, your own library, etc. and it all works with a Mac/PC/phone/tablet app. So good and easy, in fact, I only rip CDs I can’t stream which is really nice since I don’t want to spend months ripping.
Tidal MQA files can’t be played with full “unfolding” on the on-board DAC or the first unfold done and the resulting ”higher res” data sent to your DAC.

 

[amirm]

What interest is there in @amirm testing a Jensen transformer? I could possibly send in a PC-2XR.

https://www.jensen-transformers.com/product/pc-2xr/

If someone wants to buy and send it to me, I would be interested in measuring it.

 

[AudioTodd]

If someone wants to buy and send it to me, I would be interested in measuring it.

I have a spare but is at my downtown big city lair while I’m sheltering in my secret country compound. I will get it (if I remember) on my next run down to check on things and send it out. Is there anything special I need to do?

BTW I have tried to discern a difference between the RCA outputs on a Benchmark DAC3 HGC and the XLRs through the PC-2XR with levels matched (Benchmark LA4 to mono AHB2s to Magnepan .7s with Benchmark and Blue Jeans cables and Schiit Saga to Pass XA25 to Spendor D7s with Blue Jeans cables). You can guess what I heard. The room does have fairly high is ambient noise though, so I’m not going to claim NOBODY could hear a difference in a better environment.

 

[AudioTodd]

Hearing ultrasonics doesn't enable you to do what I do. I am professionally trained to hear and find very small impairments. Before I trained myself (across 6 months of work), I could not hear such distortions at all despite having been an audiophone for three decades then.

My training is in addition to technical knowledge of how these systems and distortions work (engineering and psychoacoustics). Using this, I am able to focus on what matters -- often down to a few milliseconds of a track -- that an ordinary audiophile simply cannot.

These are not all empty claims. I have taken just about every online challenge thrown at me and produced documented double blind test results that others would be scared to run let alone pass. Here is an example of mp3 at 320 kbps for example and someone dared me to run:

---
foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.3.2
2014/07/19 19:45:33

File A: C:\Users\Amir\Music\Arnys Filter Test\keys jangling 16 44.wav
File B: C:\Users\Amir\Music\Arnys Filter Test\keys jangling 16 44_01.mp3

19:45:33 : Test started.
19:46:21 : 01/01 50.0%
19:46:35 : 02/02 25.0%
19:46:49 : 02/03 50.0%
19:47:03 : 03/04 31.3%
19:47:13 : 04/05 18.8%
19:47:27 : 05/06 10.9%
19:47:38 : 06/07 6.3%
19:47:46 : 07/08 3.5%
19:48:01 : 08/09 2.0%
19:48:19 : 09/10 1.1%
19:48:31 : 10/11 0.6%
19:48:45 : 11/12 0.3%
19:48:58 : 12/13 0.2%
19:49:11 : 13/14 0.1%
19:49:28 : 14/15 0.0%
19:49:52 : 15/16 0.0%
19:49:56 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 15/16 (0.0%)

--

Here is another from AIX records:

foo_abx 1.3.4 report
foobar2000 v1.3.2
2014/07/31 15:18:41

File A: C:\Users\Amir\Music\AIX AVS Test files\On_The_Street_Where_You_Live_A2.mp3
File B: C:\Users\Amir\Music\AIX AVS Test files\On_The_Street_Where_You_Live_A2.wav

15:18:41 : Test started.
15:19:18 : 01/01 50.0%
15:19:30 : 01/02 75.0%
15:19:44 : 01/03 87.5%
15:20:35 : 02/04 68.8%
15:20:46 : 02/05 81.3%
15:21:39 : 03/06 65.6%
15:21:47 : 04/07 50.0%
15:21:54 : 04/08 63.7%
15:22:06 : 05/09 50.0%
15:22:19 : 06/10 37.7%
15:22:31 : 07/11 27.4%
15:22:44 : 08/12 19.4%
15:22:51 : 09/13 13.3%
15:22:58 : 10/14 9.0%
15:23:06 : 11/15 5.9%
15:23:14 : 12/16 3.8%
15:23:23 : 13/17 2.5%
15:23:33 : 14/18 1.5%
15:23:42 : 15/19 1.0%
15:23:54 : 16/20 0.6%
15:24:06 : 17/21 0.4%
15:24:15 : 18/22 0.2%
15:24:23 : 19/23 0.1%
15:24:34 : 20/24 0.1%
15:24:43 : 21/25 0.0%
15:24:52 : 22/26 0.0%
15:24:57 : Test finished.

----------
Total: 22/26 (0.0%)

If you don't know how to read the above, it says that I could tell the difference between these MP3s and original CD to probability of 99.9% These were very difficult tests to pass and hence the reason I occasionally missed a trial or two (got 22 out of 26 right in the last one).

I had my last Audiologist test 3 or so years ago. It showed I have age related high frequency loss. But I have way above average sensitivity in mid-frequencies. So despite not being able to hear high frequencies, I am able to hear artifacts where we all have greatest sensitivities (between 2 and 5 kHz).

If a distortion purely exists in high frequencies, then yes, I won't them. Fortunately, non-linearities cause distortion across the audible band to everyone so I can hunt and try to find those.

Am I reading these right to conclude in the second test, your misses in the second test occurred in first part of the test?

 

[LuckyLuke575]

I found this video hilarious... and I'd guess this is an example of your typical PS Audio customer. Ironic that, despite being decently above "budget" prices... his speakers are considerably more "bang for the buck" IMO than everything else (which is more "bling for the buck" in comparison).

I also love the fact that while he's extolling the virtues of his tube buffered, Stillpoints-decoupled, power-conditioned, cable-elevated sound... the attention spent on speaker placement and room treatment is virtually non-existent. Beautiful to look at (I love the McIntosh design aesthetic) but I have to chuckle when I think of how much was spent on accessories that can't be contributing positively to the sound vs. those that do.

Regardless, I'm all for exchanging money for something that you at least believe is making your life better - so in that sense I can't criticize. I'd just love to see him identify tonal changes caused by moving Stillpoints under power conditioners once blinded (around the 6:00 mark)!

The guy has a nice system and setup and I'm sure he enjoys listening to it, but when he talks about those Stillpoint things and says he can tune the sound by moving them around under the amps and players, then we've gone to a whole different plane of madness.

 

[beefkabob]

The guy has a nice system and setup and I'm sure he enjoys listening to it, but when he talks about those Stillpoint things and says he can tune the sound by moving them around under the amps and players, then we've gone to a whole different plane of madness.

Common plane of madness.

 

[617]

Common plane of madness.

My system sounds better after I eat Thai food