I have a DirectStream DAC that I bought new when it was first introduced over a year ago. Many of the "glowing" and over-the-top reviews were done with DirectStream's original or early firmware. Since that time, DirectStream's firmware has continued to improve/evolve and now the latest Pike's Peak firmware package has transformed DirectStream into a super quiet and resolving DAC that has an immense holographic soundstage and the best definition at both the low and high frequency extremes that make it easily the best performing DAC I've ever heard. And it is dynamic and musical as all get-out to boot.
There was a time, when I too was thinking of selling my DirectStream because it is quite large for a DAC and takes up a good portion of rack real estate. Plus, with the earlier iterations of the firmware, although it sounded better than any other DAC I tried, it wasn't night & day better and I thought I could get by with a smaller and cheaper model like the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSD SE or the Benchmark DAC2 HGC. But in my opinion, with the Pike's Peak firmware package it sounds so much better than other units I've compared that I can't bear to part with it.
But to realize this kind of performance from DirectStream it is necessary that the amp, speakers, system wiring, power delivery, room acoustics, etc, are at an equal performance level and do not mask the amazing performance of DirectStream by adding their own noise, distortions, phase shifts, and colorations to the final musical presentation that results... and that is not as easy to achieve as one might think. So some users may not be as impressed with DirectStream as I am because the other weaker links in their system prevent them from hearing DirectStream's breathtaking presentation in its full glory...
And of course some other people who got a "great deal" on DirectStream are only interested in flipping it for a profit. Anyway, that's my take on it. Maybe you should grab one at a good price while you can. It's a DAC your system can "grow" with--in that as you make other improvements in your playback chain you will be rewarded with better and better sound quality.
There was a time, when I too was thinking of selling my DirectStream because it is quite large for a DAC and takes up a good portion of rack real estate. Plus, with the earlier iterations of the firmware, although it sounded better than any other DAC I tried, it wasn't night & day better and I thought I could get by with a smaller and cheaper model like the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSD SE or the Benchmark DAC2 HGC. But in my opinion, with the Pike's Peak firmware package it sounds so much better than other units I've compared that I can't bear to part with it.
But to realize this kind of performance from DirectStream it is necessary that the amp, speakers, system wiring, power delivery, room acoustics, etc, are at an equal performance level and do not mask the amazing performance of DirectStream by adding their own noise, distortions, phase shifts, and colorations to the final musical presentation that results... and that is not as easy to achieve as one might think. So some users may not be as impressed with DirectStream as I am because the other weaker links in their system prevent them from hearing DirectStream's breathtaking presentation in its full glory...
And of course some other people who got a "great deal" on DirectStream are only interested in flipping it for a profit. Anyway, that's my take on it. Maybe you should grab one at a good price while you can. It's a DAC your system can "grow" with--in that as you make other improvements in your playback chain you will be rewarded with better and better sound quality.