PS Audio Direct Stream

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.

Well I have to admit that some of my initial negative comments on the Direct stream were self inflected.

You see in my concern to get the best out of the Direct Stream, along with installing Synergistic Research fuses I also installed an Audio Magic "Pulse Gen ZX".
This product always seemed to bring the best out of digital equipment. But once I removed it from the PS Direct Stream the soundstage did open up quite a bit. I really don't know why, but it was evident.

Thanks guys for the comments.
With each passing day the DS seems to be getting better.
By the end of this week it will have over 200 hours.
So, at that time I will reconnect my Pass XP-10 Preamp to compare.

Six Moons just posted a review on the PS Audio Direct Stream. I don't like the writing style,(way too many words as useless chatter) but I think they liked it.

Hi Ozzy,

This would not surprise me -- the famous Six Moons verbosity. Do you have a link? It does not turn up when I Googled it.