Anything wrong with PS Audio DirectStream DACs?

A do-it-all FPGA or chip in a DAC is far from "ideal" in my opinion for several reasons:

First, they are resource constrained compared to the processing even a modest and cheap PC (that is leveraging economies of scale) can do.  You can get far more advanced and powerful filters, and YOUR CHOICE of filter with the push of a button when you're doing the processing server side.  With Directstream you either like the sound of the current firmware filter or you're forced to "downgrade" to an older firmware that has been "destroyed in sound quality" by the latest one according to forum posters.  Silly in my opinion.

Secondly, when doing this processing server side you are moving the signal processing/filtering and its electrical noise AWAY from the noise-sensitive analog signal and even into another room if you'd like; always a good thing.

Unfortunately many Boomer audiophiles still use AOL to "download their emails" so these solutions like PS Audio's magic firmware "upgrades" will continue to thrive.

The future of DACs will be NOS mode with filtering done server side, giving you a wide array of filtering options to suit your taste. 

T+A is already all over this in their flagship design that will now accept a 1024 DSD signal and simply do nothing to harm the pristine bits that were processed on the server.

Thank you Emcdade a voice of reason.

We are not against the PS audio Direct Stream, but we have seen this behavior before, where a product didn’t perform correctly or didn’t sound as good as it should, and then was magically fixed via a firmware update.

This begs the question why a firmware fix was required in the first place?

Our point made was that market leaders in digital raraly ever need to create a firmware update because their product was right in the first place this is called a mature design.

Our other point was that many of the PS audio lovers here fail to take into consideration that in all technology and performance based products there will always come a time when the hardware will need to be supplianted in order to evolve a product into its next and far greater self.

Take flat panel TV, first 480i, then 480p, then 720p, then 1080p, then 3D then 4k and of course the Plasma vs LCD wars, and the real breakthroughs which was LG rethinking display technlogy which created OLED and this also forced Samsung into developing Quantum dot and QLED which wil be Samsungs first true counter to OLED’s superior technlogy over both Plasama and conventional LCD technologies.

Technlogical innovation requires ever pushing hardware into new areas there will always be a software component but one needs to understand that sooner or later the next generation of performance will only be possible by newer and more advanced hardware.

Our company sells many types of dacs and streamers for some people it is ultmate sound quality, for others it is convenience of having a great streamer/dac for others it is having completely modular fully upgradable infrastructure.

People shouldn’t be so stuck on thinking that one component will last them a lifetime as who doesn’t love playing with a new toy?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Ted smith has been pretty transparent there are limitations in the poser supply and output transformers, however he has Ben able to continuously refine the current hardware platform. I just helped a friend set-up a new out of the box DirectStream DAC with the latest Firmware Windom. The unit was stiff as board and fairly suddenly came to life after 50 hours of operation. At first the sound was VERY relaxed and lack key detail. Then all of a sudden the sound character changed for the better, and WOW!

Listening to a DSF file of Creedence’s Susie Q, the portion where John Fogerty is singing through a cone had a level clarity that knocked us off the couch. The detail is shocking what is pulled out of the noise floor.

The user interface is atrocious and the unit is difficult to set-up for streaming. I can expand on that if anyone’s interested.

Overall the unit is well worth the money and the current firmware version doesn’t resemble the unit shipped 5 years ago.

PS Audio is about to release a whole new product they are nicknaming TSS for Ted Smith Signature edition. It’s likely to be half again more expensive but include Jensen output transformers and entirely new power supply.

It plays 24/192 and DSF files brilliantly.  It really shines making Red Book 14/44K files sound better than they should. 

I can’t seem to get much info on price other than it’ll likely be a $12-$15k DAC at least. The thing with Directstream that gives me pause is how high the THD has been measured in the past. I don’t know if these firmware updates are able to address the noise floor, but that’s one of the things that make it concerning.

Also, aside from the TSS DAC, there may be a DS 2 that’s a little more in line price wise with the original. 
I’ll say that looking at the amount of deals for DS as it comes to the end of its life cycle is intriguing. Network card installed with Windom for $3-4k.

Had the PS Audio. Kept it for one week, then resold it. The sound quality was poor relative to its price it my system. Maybe it would shine in another system. A Mytek Brooklyn and a Modwright Oppo 105D were superior to the PS Audio for me.