Just placed the DSD in my uncles systems and cold out of the box it literally destroyed his EAR Dac4 which has about 4 weeks of run-in. I am impressed and I am not easily impressed with dacs. This thing should really open up with 500 to 1000 hours on it but for cold out of the box it is absolutely better than most dacs I have heard. This unit is obvious a benefactor of the latest firmware.
I am not given to hyperbole and I stand by what I said :) It was over before it began. I think the EAR has a turbines which is exaggerated and I always thought it lacked a real 3 dimensional portrayal. It is a very pleasant sounding piece of gear but nothing I would talk about too much but YMMV :)
The PS Audio shocked me because while everyone was fawning over the Perfect Wave Dac I thought it was pretty bad (and that is being polite). The DSD is another beast entirely! :)
Just finished an extended listening session with the PS Audio DSD after installing 2 AMR MK2 fuses. Simply one of the finest dacs I have ever heard. Bravo PS Audio I really believe they deserve a huge congratulations!!!!
I have heard the $90K CH Precision dac (albeit not in the same system) coupled with more expensive gear and it can NOT touch what I listened to today. PS Audio DSD feeding an ifi iTube into a Graaf GM 400 powering a pair of Eggleston Savoys... You had to be there :)
We were using a Pioneer Elite player for the last listening session. The Aria Music server is in place but we needed a Rj45 to WiFi converter in order to connect it to the wireless network. That adapter will be installed today. So if it sounded the way it did with the Pioneer Elite (no slouch) I can just imagine what it will sound like with the Aria installed up and running. I willl report back as soon as I listen to it with the Aria which is brand new and will need a little run-in.
Ok, listened to the DSD with the Aria music server. Flat out sensational. If I didn't know my way around computers the way I do (not boasting, I am a software developer) I would probably buy an Aria. If I were shopping for a dac, I would most likely pick up a PS Audio DSD. As it stands, my AMR DP777 is still doing the duty :)
Well, mine hasn't been stock for a while and I have not had them side by side but I can say the DSD is the only dac (aside from the DCS Vivaldi stack) which put me in mind of the AMR. From what I have been told (by a reliable source) the SE version of the AMR is a good deal better than the current version and that is saying quite a bit as even my analog rig does not embarrass my DP :) hope that helps.
Sabai: I can only speak for me and not objectively for everyone; at this point, I would say the DP is better but the DSD has not been fully run-in. I do have Duelend VSF Black output caps installed in my unit and while they are better than the original OEM Mundorf (I believe they are Mundorf) caps it is not a world of better, just a refinement which I still found worth the cost of entry. I have heard nothing yet which would cause me to move my DP. As I have stated even next to my analog rig, the DP holds on pretty well. SP10MK3/Kuzma 4 point/MC Anna and AMR PH77 Phono Stage being fed by a PS Audio P600.
I will post once I have heard the DSD fully run in and my AMR should be up to SE status later this month.
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