Heard the PS Audio Direct Stream

[Mr Peabody]

I will give the bottom line first, this DAC is outstanding. I was one who went against the wave of enthusiasm for the Perfect Wave after hearing it. I heard a certain character in the PW I just didn't care for. The Direct Stream I was truly impressed by.

My friend who has the DS also has a Lampizator 5, so it was a nice comparison of two heavy weights. Also, nice to own both. Besides us two there were two other guys listening as well. We pretty much decided there were definite differences between the DAC's but neither was a clear winner, it would come down to taste. The Lampi is a tube DAC and exhibited a more forward sound stage, stronger fuller bass response. The DS, which would be my choice, provided amazing detail and transparency, it had the ability to sound nicely neutral while presenting instruments in a way they sound live in the room. The Lampi displayed warmer vocals for the most part. The DS had more snap in things like snare strikes.

The DS will set you back about $6k, I'm not exactly sure on the Lampi but it's more expensive. The system was computer files into the DAC, The Dude preamp, Coda CSX power and Legacy Focus SE speakers.

[blackraven]

I wish that I could have heard both, but realistically, they are out of my price range. The Wyered 4 Sound and Bel Canto 2.5 and 3.5 are more affordable in the $2500-$3500 range.

Modwright is coming out with a Tube DAC called the Elyse. I would love to hear it as well.

[Mr Peabody]

Don't forget the Marantz Reference are in that price range you are looking at. The PSA Waves should be showing up for sale at pretty good prices on the used market.

[Feanor]

I will give the bottom line first, this DAC is outstanding. I was one who went against the wave of enthusiasm for the Perfect Wave after hearing it. I heard a certain character in the PW I just didn't care for. The Direct Stream I was truly impressed by.

The DS will set you back about $6k, I'm not exactly sure on the Lampi but it's more expensive. The system was computer files into the DAC, The Dude preamp, Coda CSX power and Legacy Focus SE speakers.
Sounds like there DirectStream is a terrific DAC although it's spectacularly beyond my price range.

While I don't doubt that the DS achieves great results, I was bit skeptical of PS Audio's , website hype of DSD, HERE (http://www.psaudio.com/directstream-dac/), see 'Overview' tab. It strikes me that the DSD is bordering on deceptive: e.g. there is the implication that the DSD is better because of a higher sample rate, but this is simplistic. PCM and DSD are based on different principles of amplitude measurement, i.e. PCM measures absolute amplitude at points in time where as DSD measures changes in amplitude. DSD determines the changes at a typically much higher rate than PCM but each change is recorded as a simple, binary "up" or "down".

In the block diagrams of the chips in question, I suspect that PS Audio has contrived to overstate the complexity of the ESS Sabre's processing while understating that of their own. They do admit that converting to PCM to DSD (which is what they do with PCM inputs) is complex process, key to the success of the DirectStream, yet it is show as a single box, (Upsampling to 10 x DSD), on the diagram. The unspoken implication is that while their chips might be better for DSD input, their output isn't necessarily better if the input is PCM.

[harley .guy07]

I would have loved to be there!! I have been a PS Audio fan for some time and have owned two of their more affordable DAC's for quite some time. I as well know that the DD is way above my price range for a DAC and would have a hard time letting go of that much money for one but it does show what PS audio can do given more room to work with budget wise. I have the NuWave and love it, It has been compared to the PW and people have said that the difference is not worth the money if you are not going to use the other features that the PW has over the NuWave.

I also think one of their products to look at is the NuWave Phono converter. I have heard people that own one say that they can get the sound of their TT setup put into a digital file and save it and play it back without putting extra miles on their records and miss nothing in the sound.

[Mr Peabody]

I have to admit at this point I don't know enough to debate PCM vs DSD but it's interesting. The Direct Stream has no chips though, from what I understand. Either PCM or DSD I think it will come down to what sounds good to the buyer, who cares what's in the box as long as it takes your files and makes it sound great.

[Mr Peabody]

Here's some info from an Audiophilia review:
PS Audio linked up with an eccentric and extraordinary engineer, Ted Smith, who is the lead designer and original prototype builder to create this ‘revolutionary’ DAC.

1. [The PCM notation x/y is short for x bits per sample of the amplitude of the analog signal at a sampling rate of y kHz. DSD uses a delta-sigma modulation method instead, in which samples of the delta (∆) (difference between successive samples) of the amplitude are measured and converted to a 1 bit per sample stream (of 0s or 1s) at a very high rate of 2.8224 MHz (denoted by DSD64), or at twice that rate, 5.6MHz (denoted by DSD128). The DS converts all fed to it into DSD128. 1]↩

The DS operates on an entirely different basis from the PWD or any DAC that I know of, and I point out right away that its main selling point is not to encourage people to go out and buy (waste money on?) expensive DSD high-resolution audio files: It’s to demonstrate that even CD 16/44.1 resolution PCM files can reveal extraordinary new details/harmonics when played properly, that is, in this new way. It is not about what format the audio is recorded in or converted to before it hits the DAC, it is about how you play it back: Whatever digital format you throw at the DS (PCM/DSD) gets converted by the DS to a 1-bit DSD digital stream, converted to analog and played bit perfect as such. This requires upsampling/processing the digital input into DSD format, and even DSD files too get upsampled to 30 bits at 10 times DSD rate then, for noise shaping, filtered/downsampled to twice the native DSD rate (yielding 5.6MHz) as the final 1 bit DSD product. The DS uses no off-the-shelf IC DAC chip such as the PWD’s superb Wolfson WM8741, or the very highly regarded ESS Sabre ES9018 used in many recent DACs that currently can handle/play DSD as input. In fact it uses no traditional such chip at all: Instead, it uses a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA.

This allows PS Audio to run proprietary software that does all the switching, digital conversion and filtering throughout. They are not unique by using FPGA in a DAC unit; but they are unique in the way they are using it, and for what purpose: to process (entirely) the digital signal to yield what is their ultimate goal—1 bit DSD format as output for anything originally handed to it and with no jitter. But, to accomplish this, they also (of course) have to deal with power supply and clock issues which involve other highly proprietary components/methods within the DS. The DS uses only one master clock, for example, PS Audio arguing that this reduces jitter even further. It is a very serious, very important and very expensive component of the DS: it is a voltage-controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) made by Crystek Corporation. And, no, it is not an ‘atomic clock’—which quite frankly would be as silly as using Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity to ensure that one arrives on time to an 11:00AM meeting in room 311, when walking from one’s own office in room 310 next door at 10:59AM. Of particular note is that the path from digital input to analog output on the DS is much simpler and elegant than for the path required when using the very finest of PCM based processors; check out the diagram ‘Liberation from a Chip and Complexity’, under ‘Overview’ on the website.

One advantage of DSD as a format is that it is simple to just low pass filter it for conversion to analog. But, of course, this is easier said than done: PS Audio’s method of conversion at the end is very sophisticated involving the use of a passive (versus active) low pass filter via a passive audio output transformer. This results in another notable change from the PWD: the volume control is no longer a digital volume control built inside an IC DAC chip. This is actually a very important new feature. I have lately been using a passive preamp/attenuator for my PWD (instead of going directly from PWD to amps) since it sounds better (cleaner and more transparent) on my system than ‘direct to amps’: The volume level of the PWD is only bit perfect when at 100%, which is how it can (and should) be set when using an attenuator. DS volume control is bit perfect at any volume level. Thus, plugging directly into your amps and using the DAC’s volume control is now an even better justified option than it was for the PWD.

In any case, PS Audio claims that the increase of details and harmonics revealed/unmasked by the DS is a major improvement over traditional high-end DACs, and that this improvement is very significant even for CD rips, which are of course PCM at 16/44.1, and are the foundation for most people’s digital audio libraries. On the PS Audio website it states: ‘True DSD core engines (compared to the standard multibit Sigma-Delta converters followed by random lower quality multibit converters) offer advantages in simplicity, linearity, and in analog-like overload characteristics that avoid PCM’s hard clipping potential and a PCM processor’s propensity to mask subtle details.’

Sound Quality

From the DS, cymbals, bells, blocks and other percussion had a rich and noble, long, natural lingering decay, and voices revealed a kind of resonating halo surrounding the singer offering extraordinary natural acoustics such as reverb. In general, individual instruments of any kind seemed to have more space and air surrounding them with the natural acoustics of their venue on display. Subtle details including external noises in live performances, such as clapping, breathing and tapping, were apparent more often and in a much stronger way. The imaging and transparency alone were mind-boggling. All of this was very noticeable. A sizzler cymbal, for example, sizzled away with a beautiful lingering decay.

Peabody - I heard a lot of the same things but he says it better :)

[Feanor]

Here's some info from an Audiophilia review:
PS Audio linked up with an eccentric and extraordinary engineer, Ted Smith, who is the lead designer and original prototype builder to create this ‘revolutionary’ DAC.
...

The DS operates on an entirely different basis from the PWD or any DAC that I know of, and I point out right away that its main selling point is not to encourage people to go out and buy (waste money on?) expensive DSD high-resolution audio files: It’s to demonstrate that even CD 16/44.1 resolution PCM files can reveal extraordinary new details/harmonics when played properly, that is, in this new way. It is not about what format the audio is recorded in or converted to before it hits the DAC, it is about how you play it back: Whatever digital format you throw at the DS (PCM/DSD) gets converted by the DS to a 1-bit DSD digital stream, converted to analog and played bit perfect as such. This requires upsampling/processing the digital input into DSD format, and even DSD files too get upsampled to 30 bits at 10 times DSD rate then, for noise shaping, filtered/downsampled to twice the native DSD rate (yielding 5.6MHz) as the final 1 bit DSD product. The DS uses no off-the-shelf IC DAC chip such as the PWD’s superb Wolfson WM8741, or the very highly regarded ESS Sabre ES9018 used in many recent DACs that currently can handle/play DSD as input. In fact it uses no traditional such chip at all: Instead, it uses a field programmable gate array (FPGA); a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA.

This allows PS Audio to run proprietary software that does all the switching, digital conversion and filtering throughout. They are not unique by using FPGA in a DAC unit; but they are unique in the way they are using it, and for what purpose: to process (entirely) the digital signal to yield what is their ultimate goal—1 bit DSD format as output for anything originally handed to it and with no jitter.
...

Sound Quality

From the DS, cymbals, bells, blocks and other percussion had a rich and noble, long, natural lingering decay, and voices revealed a kind of resonating halo surrounding the singer offering extraordinary natural acoustics such as reverb. In general, individual instruments of any kind seemed to have more space and air surrounding them with the natural acoustics of their venue on display. Subtle details including external noises in live performances, such as clapping, breathing and tapping, were apparent more often and in a much stronger way. The imaging and transparency alone were mind-boggling. All of this was very noticeable. A sizzler cymbal, for example, sizzled away with a beautiful lingering decay.

Peabody - I heard a lot of the same things but he says it better :)
So I'll wait for reviews from impartial, trustworthy reviewers, e.g. John Atkinson who has review a good many high-end DACs. I'm a bit skeptical that the DirectStream is necessarily going to play 16/44.1 better than, say, an ESS Sabre -- but it might, whether or not for the reasons suggest above.

There are, I believe, a few other DACs that don't use standard DAC chips, e.g. from Meitner, and they tend to be extremely expensive. In that league, $6000 doesn't look to bad, but I'm definitely not looking there. It would be a big stretch for me to spend $2k on a DAC, and I'd be looking at perhaps a Benchmark DAC2 HGC which has been extremely well reviewed.

[harley .guy07]

Feanor the Benchmark is a DAC that I have looked at for myself from time to time when I was looking at upgrading but I kept hearing that the PS audio DAC's where more musical and the Benchmark is more analytical. I really don't know now that it has been a while and Benchmark has a whole new line of DAC's out if this is true but that is what made me choose the PS Audio piece over it back when I was looking for a DAC. I would think either is a great DAC it just depends on your system and how it would fit in. I am with you in that 6K is more than I would pay for a DAC at least for right now anyway.

[Feanor]

Feanor the Benchmark is a DAC that I have looked at for myself from time to time when I was looking at upgrading but I kept hearing that the PS audio DAC's where more musical and the Benchmark is more analytical. I really don't know now that it has been a while and Benchmark has a whole new line of DAC's out if this is true but that is what made me choose the PS Audio piece over it back when I was looking for a DAC. I would think either is a great DAC it just depends on your system and how it would fit in. I am with you in that 6K is more than I would pay for a DAC at least for right now anyway.
I'm perhaps a little more tolerant of "analytical" than most people, BUT in any case according to at least some reviews the new DAC2's are less analytic and more musical. See the Stereophile review HERE (http://www.stereophile.com/content/benchmark-dac2-hgc-da-processorheadphone-amplifier). I haven't heard either though.

The DAC2 L is a version without headphone amp that would work well for me at US$1800, but even at that I'd have to sell my preamp.

[harley .guy07]

feanor with our systems being very close in overall cost I can see how you would think 6k for a dac in too much. I think either one of us would be better to spend that money on other aspects on our system. To really get the most out of a DAC like the Direct Stream you would have to at least have components that are at the top of the food chain. That is not us be any means. Even though I can say that my system sounds great and can do some amazing things for the amount invested I can easily say that there is better out there.

[Mr Peabody]

feanor with our systems being very close in overall cost I can see how you would think 6k for a dac in too much. I think either one of us would be better to spend that money on other aspects on our system. To really get the most out of a DAC like the Direct Stream you would have to at least have components that are at the top of the food chain. That is not us be any means. Even though I can say that my system sounds great and can do some amazing things for the amount invested I can easily say that there is better out there.

I don't fully agree, your source is where it begins, no amount of money down stream will allow you to hear what isn't pulled from the source. Although I do agree there has, or at least should be, some balance in performance throughout because it wouldn't do any good to have a great source signal then have it degrade down the line. Harley once you get better speakers I think you could upgrade your DAC and still appreciate the improvement. When are you going to come visit me?

[Feanor]

feanor with our systems being very close in overall cost I can see how you would think 6k for a dac in too much. I think either one of us would be better to spend that money on other aspects on our system. To really get the most out of a DAC like the Direct Stream you would have to at least have components that are at the top of the food chain. That is not us be any means. Even though I can say that my system sounds great and can do some amazing things for the amount invested I can easily say that there is better out there.

I don't fully agree, your source is where it begins, no amount of money down stream will allow you to hear what isn't pulled from the source. Although I do agree there has, or at least should be, some balance in performance throughout because it wouldn't do any good to have a great source signal then have it degrade down the line. Harley once you get better speakers I think you could upgrade your DAC and still appreciate the improvement. When are you going to come visit me?
Mr P, you have long argued the primacy of source. Of course it's true you can make sound good what leaves the source sounding bad.

For my part I tend to a more approach. On a budget of any given amount, say $8000, it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend $6000 on DAC/preamp if you constrained to spend $2000 on amp, speakers, and everything else. Why? simply because spending more on the other stuff will give you better overall sound.

OTOH, I have notice over the last 40 years that I am able to discern improvements anywhere in my system, even through supposedly "weak links".) In other words, the chain, in case of audio at least, can be stronger than its weakest link.

[blackraven]

Just pick up a used Wyered 4 sound DSDse DAC. There are a couple on Audiogon for about $1600. I am itching to pull the trigger on one but we are replacing windows in the house, redoing landscaping and painting the house.

[harley .guy07]

I don't fully agree, your source is where it begins, no amount of money down stream will allow you to hear what isn't pulled from the source. Although I do agree there has, or at least should be, some balance in performance throughout because it wouldn't do any good to have a great source signal then have it degrade down the line. Harley once you get better speakers I think you could upgrade your DAC and still appreciate the improvement. When are you going to come visit me?

Hopefully I will get to be able to some time soon. I have had some other things happening lately that has taken me away from this hobby for a little time so I have not been able to plan much in the way of upgrades or road trips but I plan on hopefully changing that at some point this year. I did get to hear an interesting speaker in my area recently. The Focal Aria 948, They were very interesting to say the least. I don't know if any of you have seen them yet. Our only high end dealer here just picked up Focal and dropped Martin Logan since they are sold down the street at Best Buy. I went in and they had the 948 sitting there being run by some of the new Rotel gear. They sounded really good for me just casually listening and without any of my own music to try with them. I was kind of surprised that the high end was not as sharp as I would thought they would be with the inverted metal tweeters, and the Flax cone mids and woofers sounded very detailed but I also did not have a direct comparison to them at that time and did not come straight home after to compare as I am not in the market yet. here is a picture of them if you have not seen them yet.

[Mr Peabody]

I haven't heard many Focal. I did hear thhe Focal Utopia Scalla that sounded good, but I'd suspect with a tag of $35k. To me Focal is sort of a cross between B&W and Legacy.

Here's a review on the DS if the links come through.
New DirectStream review
Of course I am always pleased to read a new review of any of our products. And mostly they come from the usual suspects. But sometimes they come from unexpected places and this is the case with DirectStream’s latest review.
What’s of particular interest to me about this review is how well it is written. Rarely have I read such a wonderfully written piece. I’d go so far as to label this writing actual literature. I am very surprised, although pleasantly so.
The author is an obvious lover of music, Richard Murison, one of the owners of the software company Bit Perfect. To help with their development in DSD they purchased a DirectStream DAC. Little did I know they were going to publish a review, but I am pleased they did.
The review is in 3-parts. You can read the first part then at the bottom of the page click on Newer Post to read the next. Here’s the links you will need.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three

[Demo8Rider]

Hi,

I have read this entire string of posts and I have also heard the new PS Audio PW DSD, it sounds amazing (but has a hefty pricetag).

If size doesnt matter lol, how about this from Chord? QuteEX DAC (http://www.hifiheadphones.ca/chord-chordette-qute-ex-dac/)

Chord is one of my all time favorite wacky manufacturers of DACS. They don't mess around when it comes to quality (the price shows).

[Mr Peabody]

I don't think we've posted this short review, I found the reviewers comments spot on with my own impression. Plus, if any one reads this thread who is interested the review has links to other tech info and the manual.
PS Audio DirectStream DAC | AudioStream (http://www.audiostream.com/content/ps-audio-directstream-dac)