Substantial increase in resolution of individual instruments right through the midrange, improvements in coherency. On orchestral the location and specificity of individual instruments vastly better. On opera you can hear much more of the chest cavity on vocals. Yes slightly softer in low bass region but the other improvements are substantial, takes the DAC to another level. To my ears this is now a much more resolving DAC. Same results on both computer source and redbook CD.
I love my PS Audio Direct Stream with Red Cloud :)
Yesterday, PS Audio released the Red Cloud FPGA software written by MIT genius
Ted Smith.
With immense delight, I auditioned all through the night.
The beauty exceeds what were my wildest expectations when I purchased the DAC
several years ago, and reconfirmed that I had made another good choice (my
previous good choices include Tannoy 15" DC speakers, Cary SLP05 preamp,
Art Audio Jota HC monoblocks, Wavelength Cardinal monoblocks, Cardas Clear
cables, Acoustic Zen reference cables, Wyred4Sound server, PS Audio Premier
Power Plant, inexpensive HDMI cable, and ceramic corn dishes.
While I haven't heard a great many DACs, I have heard static-state Sabre DACs,
which sound ear-bleeding mediocre IME, and R2R chips which were the thing 20+
years ago. I think that FPGA Red Cloud is superior, and the best thing
aesthetically to have come from a scientist educated at MIT. Make music, not
war.
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with PS Audio, except as a happy customer. It's
just a great company!