PS Audio Direct Stream

Paul McGowan himself brought this new DSD DAC to the Arizona Audio Clubs last meeting and we kept Paul for around 3 hours asking questions about the design of this unit and its uniqueness. This could be a game changer; the sound was very, very good. From what I remember of Paul's presentation this unit does not deal with jitter on the signal's entry from the computer or transport into the DAC and Paul says the unit isn't sensitive to the transfer of the signal. Once the digital information is in the DAC it is up-sampled 10x's then leaves the DAC in 2x DSD to the preamp. There is no analog out section in this DAC. This is taking a totally new and fresh look at digital/analog conversion and may force other manufacturers to rethink how they design. As mentioned, it sounded amazing. Standard 16 bit CD's were up-sampled to double DSD and the information and musicality was like I have never heard. A member of our club is in the first 100 to be built and I look forward to hearing this in his computer based system.

I am not endorsing the PS Audio DAC, but the music we listen to has gone through many conversions no matter which format you listen to. Sound quality is not a matter of how few conversions are done but more a matter of how well they are done.

Grandiose claims made by manufacturers are nothing new. It is called "marketing".

Terms, jargon, made up names and theories abound. They do not need to be proven and 99% cannot be measured anyway, it is mostly a subjective hobby. The main thing is to capture your attention and get you to accept their premise as to why their idea/product/implementation is superior to the competition, and then spend your money on it. Right now up converted digital playback and Hi-Resolution are a fast moving target in constant flux. The standards are not even agreed upon by the major players or the record labels who provide the music. Kind of the "Wild West" in some respects. Many theories on the proper implementation. For me, I will let it settle out for a while, no need to be a Ginny pig.

Before a single review is out, I submit that some will fall in love with it and others will find it to be no better than what they have now and even prefer their vinyl rig to anything digital. Been down this road many times in the past and this is no different. Opinions are free and all reviews are just that. Many today are a huge conflict of interest in my opinion. Look at the ads vs positive review correlation. It's a Business folks.

Everyone is entitled to their own truth!

As per the PS Audio web site, the PS Audio Direct Stream "converts all digital inputs, including PCM, to pure 1-bit DSD". All of the Direct Stream processing is being done using the 1-bit DSD format.

Does this mean the source PCM music is going through a "double" conversion? The PCM source is being converted to DSD and the DSD is being converted, again, to analog for input to an amplifier (or a pre-amplifier).

Since the source music is being converted twice, does this mean some music is being lost with the two translations? I always thought that less conversions being done to the source music produces the best sound. Will the double conversion produce the desired results? Maybe a better question is how successful is the DSD processing in the Direct Stream.

If the conversion from PCM to DSD produces the best musical sound, does this mean that others will offer DAC's that do the same PCM to DSD conversion?

I am waiting for someone to review the Direct Stream and let us know how it sounds. I have the same comment as Ozzy did above. "The PS Audio claim seem too good to be true".

Thanks, The PS Audio claims seem too good to be true.

They are supposed to ship this month, PS Audio is saying in the "third week", so none have shipped to regular customers. I think some dealers have one for demo, but they are probably under restrictions on selling them right now. Strangely one is for sale here on Audiogon, I won't speculate on what it is but buyer beware.

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This unit will set you back $6k.
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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.

Pmotz, Thanks for your reply.
I thought they were shipping out in April.

You're a bit premature, no units have been shipped to us ordinary folks. Go to the PS Audio site and check out their forum, there is one Beta tester with a unit, Gordon is his username, and several people who have heard the unit in controlled circumstances. The reaction is unanimous in praise, but it's not a true sampling. I'm waiting for regular folks to get their units and post comments before I upgrade.