I have had my DirectStream DAC now for nearly three years, so it's well "broken in". From what I hear and read from others, most people find the DAC is "settled in" when it's got about 500 or so hours on it.
I used to have the PS Audio PerfectWave transport, and I thought that sounded excellent on "regular" CDs, connected to the DAC with the I2S (HDMI) cable.
I upgraded to the DirectStream transport, connected as well with the HDMI cable, for probably the first 200 hours just playing SACDs, to break the unit in. Once done, I must say, my "regular" CDs do sound significantly better than they did when played on the PerfectWave transport, many of them sound just as awesome as SACDs.
I do have one small problem with the new transport. Only very occasionally, and only when playing SACDs, the sound will drop out for a second or so. Paul has indicated that they are working on a firmware update for the transport, when that's available, I'll apply it. This happens so infrequently, not something I'll stress about.
In all, I think the DirectStream DAC+transport combo is the best digital sound quality I've ever heard, better than the best MQA I've auditioned (using my Mytek Brooklyn DAC).
Very happy with the new transport!
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McIntosh C2500 pre amp, MC452 power amp, Autonomic MMS-5A server, PS Audio P15 power plant, DirectStream DAC, DirectStream CD transport, Focal Sopra No2 speakers, JL Audio F113V2 sub woofers (2), Sennheiser HD800 headphones, Dell laptop iTunes/Tidal/Roon, Wireworld cabling
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