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PS Audio PerfectWave DAC Upgrade

Paul McGowan has leaked some information about a major upgrade the perfectwave DAC that will be coming out within the next few weeks. Pricing as of yet unknown, but current units will be field (DIY) upgradable.

Apparently, major changes were made to the digital processing board, involving changes in the powersupplies, and replacement of CMOS switching for the gates and clocking with analog switches.

Second, new jitter reducing circuitry called NativeX was implemented.

There are more as of yet unannounced new features.

Apparently, SQ on all inputs will benefit, including the bridge. Exciting stuff.
edorr
2chnlben
595 posts
 
Lewhite:

Native - or NativeX - does not affect/impact the bit rate or the sample rate. Trans-coding only impacts the CODEC (FLAC to WAV).

So, yes it does matter what "rez" you stream from the SS. The higher rez will (should) sound better than lower rez material (24/192 vs 16/44.1). Native/NativeX does not alter the bit/sample rates - it simply bypasses any filters or SRC...
honest1
586 posts
 
Groben - I'm contemplating the Berkeley and PS. Can you describe the differences in sound between the two? Especially in regard to resolution and bass bloom.
lewhite
156 posts
 
Ben maybe my post was not stated correctly. What I was alluding to was the case of uprez ripping then played replayed sans src; vs. a bit perfect rip and uprezed at the dac? Hope thats not too incoherant.
Whats your favorite digital cable?
grobec
9 posts
 
re Berkley vs PWD.
I almost kept the Berkley before I heard the PWD.
I was comparing it to QB9 and Wavelength which both sounded sweet but slightly veiled compared to the Berkley.
My original DAC for almost 20 years was the Meitner Bidat with a few mods over the years to keep the components fresh.
The PWD was closer to a Bidat with a very good update plus the added benefit of Hi-res.
It is just more musical than the Berkley.
I forget I am serving from a computer. Especially with the MKII upgrade. YMMV
rgs92
974 posts
 
What voltage level comes out of the PWD's analog outputs (both XLR and RCA)? Thank you.
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