Old Gear Out; New Gear Incoming!

Rich · Dec 6, 2017

Still waiting on my new DirectStream Memory Player. PS Audio has a new firmware update coming out Friday for the DirectStream DAC, and according to Paul McGowan, the improvements are amazing. I guess I’ll need to hold off updating for a little while so I can audition the new Player with the firmware version I’m familiar with before I update it and see the improvements brought by the new firmware.

I have to say, I know of no other audio company that works so hard to continue to improve a product I have already purchased. Kudos to Paul and PS Audio.

Timm, let me know your thoughts on the new firmware once you give it a listen.

Rich · Dec 28, 2017

Lots of changes to my system over the holiday. I received my DirectStream Memory Player and have been burning it in. It sounds divine. So happy to be able to play the DSD layer on my SACDs in my main system again. The DMP is a big step up from the Perfect Wave Transport that preceded it.

I also updated my DAC to the latest firmware version, known as “Redcloud.” The first time I got a bad load and it didn’t sound right. So I reformatted my SD card and did it again. Now it sounds wonderful. The soundstage has expanded, which is a little too much as my speakers are pretty far apart as it is. I moved them in a little and that helped somewhat. Still have a little tweaking to do, methinks.

The other big change is that I finally got around to installing my Sonictransporter and setting up Roon to serve my ripped flac files to my Bridge II network card in the DirectStream DAC. Roon seems awesome and I will spend a good bit of time today learning and playing with it. Now I can finally browse my music library on my iPad and stream my music directly to my high end 2-channel system. Happy Camper! :rocker:

Bernard · Dec 28, 2017

Guess I'm the dinosaur (of sorts) here....still playing with vinyl.

I was never happy that I had to use the gain control on my ARC SP9 MKII at about 3 o'clock (i.e. close to maximum), so decided to build a step-up transformer using two Beyerdynamic microphone transformers ($100 on eBay). I did a build in a cheap case, and it sounded amazing.....used it at around 11-12 o'clock, more dynamic and resolving. But the case was light and was lifted by the connecting cables....tail wagging the dog? So I decided to put it into a more substantial case, enclosing the whole thing. Finally got the case off the slow boat from China. However, in the last few months I've been hit by an old health problem, so had to put it aside for lack of energy to do it. Got some good drugs, which are working, but will take time to get back to it.

Also waiting is an IEC connector to replace the captive power cord on the SP9, so I can use a Foundation Research power conditioner to power it. I already have the power conditioner.

Rich · Dec 28, 2017

Bernard said:
Guess I'm the dinosaur (of sorts) here....still playing with vinyl.

No, Bernard. Haven’t you heard? Vinyl is hip again! I was in a Barnes and Noble bookstore over the holidays, and they had stacks and stacks of newly-pressed vinyl, but hardly any CDs.

There’s no going back for me, though. I’m just not careful and meticulous enough to keep my vinyl in pristine condition, and I hate all the pops and ticks from the scratches.

tonyc · Jan 6, 2018

Rich I am anxious to hear your thoughts on the memory player. I'm planning to replace my Ayre C5xe with one of these to pair with my ps audio direct stream DAC. I also have a boatload of SACDs I am dying to hear. What HDMI cable are you using with yours?

amey01 · Jan 6, 2018

tonyc said:
Rich I am anxious to hear your thoughts on the memory player. I'm planning to replace my Ayre C5xe with one of these to pair with my ps audio direct stream DAC. I also have a boatload of SACDs I am dying to hear. What HDMI cable are you using with yours?

C5xe is an SACD player, isn't it?