PS Audio DirectStream DAC

[4N6]

Originally Posted by 4N6

I'll download it as soon as I get home this evening. Looking forward to a great weekend!

The update to Huron is easy and very worthwhile. I noticed better bass...a bit more tight, tuneful and impactful. Better low level detail is apparent as well. Well done to Ted at PSA...he really hit a home run with this release.

[Weirdcuba]

my only *asterisk is that the SD card goes into the slot upside down. I, of course, tried it three or four times before reading the directions (which are really almost unnecessary because it's so simple). So, put the card in the slot with the metal contacts up, and it works perfectly. Takes maybe 10 minutes start to finish.

[multiham]

Originally Posted by multiham

Not only did it look brand new, it was fully updated with the latest firmware! Thank you again for such a great transaction and yes, I'm still loving it!!

Going to go buy an SD card tomorrow and do the install!

I was already a fan of PS Audio but this just takes it to another level. It took me less than 6 minutes to copy the files from PS Audio onto my SD card and install on my DirectStream. So far, it sounds great!

[timm]

Originally Posted by 4N6

The update to Huron is easy and very worthwhile. I noticed better bass...a bit more tight, tuneful and impactful. Better low level detail is apparent as well. Well done to Ted at PSA...he really hit a home run with this release.

Agreed Kevin. I flip flopped back to Torrey's to check it out. I find that Torrey's seemed a little more laid back. Soundstage was wider on Huron ... seemed as if you could almost determine more about the instrument details. Vocals seem a bit more up front and there seems to be a bit more quietness and separation to me. Impactful is a good word. I wasn't really sure what PRAT was. But this release pretty much defines it. Initially I wasn't sure if I was getting a bit more high frequency energy. Maybe I am - but it seemed to smooth out. Can't wait to listen more.

This is a big change to the algorithms in the fpga I think. Ted went from 10x DSD to 20x DSD and was able to do that because of simplifying other code and releasing resources and then using those resources to upsample to 20x. This guy is really special.

[Weirdcuba]

Agreed with Timm's comments above. It's a wider sound stage, better separation between instruments and more forward overall. Much much better placement of instruments within the sound picture though.

I find it to be much more musical than Torrey's, and I enjoyed Torrey's. I have no idea what Ted did, but it sounds great, and it was free. Think of that in today's audio world - free ... Just awesome.

[doggiehowser]

Interesting.

Here's what I wrote earlier....

I was holding back upgrading my personal unit because I was having a cold.

I did find the differences much more apparent with some Queen tracks I was testing at work.

Back home, I resisted - listening to Torreys as much as I could to get a baseline. But couldn't resist upgrading to Huron in the end.

Even with the cold, there was some noticeable differences though perhaps not as much as when I was using Queen. It feels like there is more I am hearing again. Could it be because of the lower noise floor? There also seemed to be an improvement in the soundstage width - just wider and more expansive. It wasn't as noticeable with slower paced music.

So after some much needed bed rest, I fired up the system up again.

Left the BHK monos and preamp on standby - the tubes are left unpowered but the solid state is kept warm.

And when I came back today they were ready to fire up.

When I was testing Huron initially, I was using lower listening levels because of the late hour.

It's one of the things that I've loved about the full PS Audio stack - just so much transparency even at low listening levels.

But this evening I was able to pump up the volume.

And wow. The difference Huron made was just much more noticeable. I've always maintained that the full PS Audio stack made my bad recordings somehow more listenable. Had a customer come in yesterday to test the theory. He brought some Marilyn Manson and came to the same conclusion [emoji51]

With Huron, it seems that cranking up the volume was no longer as grating on those bad masterings. I just love being able to listen to my favourite tracks and not worry about getting my ears zinged.

Also more noticeable was how in some recordings there's a deliberate panning of say drums from left to right and back in consecutive drum beats or the same with vocals - the Huron made these sound far more apparent.

[timm]

So - I am reading on the psaudio site that some of the guys (not a lot) - seem to be getting inconsistent results .... not really sure why.... But, hearing some of the 'too detailed' crowd..... too digital .... etc..... My setup is pretty simple - straight into my amp from the DS.... and I get the more detail.... I get more high end.... but I wouldn't say it goes to 'digititus'....To me it seems to give you more layers.... more 'room sound'..... If someone starts telling me about changing their DSP.... or how they have to adjust their active cross-overs - well I don't know - I think that adds more variables to the mix.... They may have been compensating for something Torrey's didn't do for them - but now Huron seems to over-excite a frequency.... Just my 2 cents.... I'll keep listening - but I am still getting an aliveness - and hearing things - background vocals as an example that I didn't hear before.... Maybe I am listening harder? But, listening to Dave Mathews/Tim Reynolds Live at Luther College - I hear Dave saying things in the background that used to be buried or un-intelligible.... Something has cleared up in the mids....

[Weirdcuba]

Agree with Timm, at least for me. About two hours in tonight, lots more detailed and refined, much more energy and a more forward sound. No digititus here - lots more open and spacing. YMMV, of course, but in my system, in my room, and to my ear, it sounds great. Definite step up.

I think that anything at this level is going to have fans and detractors. Listen to it in your system if you can - that's really the only way to tell for sure.

[jzzmusician]

I've just finished reading all the comments about the new upgrade. I've wanted one of these since they were released but, the cost was just too much.

Now I'm beginning to believe that PS Audio really does, in fact, care about their customer base and am thinking that even though this piece would be a pretty large purchase for me, their willingness to keep it current may actually mean that the cost over several years would be lower than buying again and again.

How's that for justifying a purchase?

-- Bob

[scirica]

Originally Posted by jzzmusician

I've just finished reading all the comments about the new upgrade. I've wanted one of these since they were released but, the cost was just too much.

Now I'm beginning to believe that PS Audio really does, in fact, care about their customer base and am thinking that even though this piece would be a pretty large purchase for me, their willingness to keep it current may actually mean that the cost over several years would be lower than buying again and again.

How's that for justifying a purchase?

-- Bob

Just call Ivan