PS Audio Direct Stream

Agree with Ozzy regarding the inputs. But IME the output (XLR in my case) is very sensitive to correct IC matching.

Ozzy, they are shipping but as Pmotz indicated no one has yet raised the "I got mine" flag. PS Audio did indicate the first units off the line had been sent to a number of reviewers, so maybe that means we'll be seeing something in electronic print soon.

Matt, IME you will need most of that 30 day trial period to get the final sense of the DS. In my system it took somewhere after 3-4-500 hours before the high end came into its own. Just make sure when you're not listening to it to keep running music, burn in tracks, whatever, 24/7. Others report the thing sounded fantastic right out of the box. I don't know what that means, but go figure.

I don't see how anyone could think this unit is great straight out of the box.

I noted the things the DS did "better" when I first turned it on, but I wasn't ready to throw out the parts to my PWD Mk.II. Believe me it took as long as I indicated before I felt like the nasty bits were gone. During burn in of any component I use the "short sessions with long waits in between" approach so I don't fool myself by just getting used to how something sounds. I also use something else (in this case my TT) as a known standard against which to judge any changes.

One other thing. The DS is (IME) very sensitive to the matching ICs. I discovered the ones which worked perfectly with my PWD were not a good match with the DS. You may need to be prepared to experiment.

But, if PS Audio didn't make claims about it needing no burn in time, I wouldn't be concerned.

I don't recall if Paul claimed no burn in for this DAC, but with all due respect to him and some others who've become virtual friends on the forums, I think this DAC does in fact need burn in. I agree you should wait before starting to change anything else, but I still think it's a good idea now to go into your XP-10 instead of right into the Pass amp. I read Ted's comments about that volume level still being okay, but if it were me I'd take it out of the equation by running it's internal volume up higher and using a fabulous preamp like the XP-10 to take care of that.