PS Audio DirectStream DAC

[4N6]

Okay, I installed the Bridge II last night and after a little futzing, I got it to sync with JRiver and JRemote. (Hint...be very patient for the Bridge II to be recognized on the network and within JRemote)

Sound "out of the box" is really, really good. I literally heard subtle nuances that I had never heard before in VERY familiar recordings.

In Diana Krall's "Only Trust Your Heart" from the same album, the opening drum beats were palpable. The mallet strikes had more physical presence than I had ever heard.

On Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" from The Raven, her voice was as pure and smooth as I can remember.

On The Wailin' Jenny's "Long Time Traveller " from Firecracker, the voices were tremendous, with beautiful tone and detail. It was easy to hear each as a separate singer within the harmony.

K.D. Lang's second version of "Hallelujah" was gorgeous. She does that song better than anyone.

The integration with JRemote and JRiver works great. No dropouts, no crashes, no drama whatsoever. As K.D. Lang said, Hallelujah!

So, I give the Bridge II/DSD/JRiver combo a double thumbs up. I will spend some time directly comparing it to the Silenzio later, but my initial impression is extremely favorable.

[Masterlu]

Kevin... glad to hear your initial report.

[kngale1]

Originally Posted by 4N6

Okay, I installed the Bridge II last night and after a little futzing, I got it to sync with JRiver and JRemote. (Hint...be very patient for the Bridge II to be recognized on the network and within JRemote)

Sound "out of the box" is really, really good. I literally heard subtle nuances that I had never heard before in VERY familiar recordings.

In Diana Krall's "Only Trust Your Heart" from the same album, the opening drum beats were palpable. The mallet strikes had more physical presence than I had ever heard.

On Rebecca Pidgeon's "Spanish Harlem" from The Raven, her voice was as pure and smooth as I can remember.

On The Wailin' Jenny's "Long Time Traveller " from Firecracker, the voices were tremendous, with beautiful tone and detail. It was easy to hear each as a separate singer within the harmony.

K.D. Lang's second version of "Hallelujah" was gorgeous. She does that song better than anyone.

The integration with JRemote and JRiver works great. No dropouts, no crashes, no drama whatsoever. As K.D. Lang said, Hallelujah!

So, I give the Bridge II/DSD/JRiver combo a double thumbs up. I will spend some time directly comparing it to the Silenzio later, but my initial impression is extremely favorable.

What version of JRiver are you using?

I can only find instructions to configure DSD with JRiver 19.X. I have my JRiver 21 configured with DSD so just curious.

[4N6]

Originally Posted by kngale1

What version of JRiver are you using? I can only find instructions to configure DSD with JRiver 19.X. I have my JRiver 21 configured with DSD so just curious.

I'm using JR21. As I am using the Bridge, I did not need to download the PS Audio USB drivers. Once DLNA was enabled and the Bridge found via JRemote, streaming to my main system over the network is easy.

[timm]

Hi Kevin.

So excuse my ignorance. Are you coming out of laptop via Ethernet to bridge?

[4N6]

Originally Posted by timm

Hi Kevin.

So excuse my ignorance. Are you coming out of laptop via Ethernet to bridge?

Yes. JRiver is up and running on my laptop in my office, and hooked to my home network via Cat6 Ethernet cables.

I read that Paul McGowen thinks the new Bridge II is the best sounding way to get information to the DS DAC. Better than his PerfectWave Memory Player and better than USB. Not sure if this is true or not, but it does sound terrific.

[kngale1]

Originally Posted by 4N6

I'm using JR21. As I am using the Bridge, I did not need to download the PS Audio USB drivers. Once DLNA was enabled and the Bridge found via JRemote, streaming to my main system over the network is easy.

Setup was simple but just wondering how you configured JRiver for DSD. I only found instructions for JR19 on PS Audio forum but think my settings are correct.

[timm]

Originally Posted by 4N6

Yes. JRiver is up and running on my laptop in my office, and hooked to my home network via Cat6 Ethernet cables.

I read that Paul McGowen thinks the new Bridge II is the best sounding way to get information to the DS DAC. Better than his PerfectWave Memory Player and better than USB. Not sure if this is true or not, but it does sound terrific.

Very cool. I am just pushing cd thru it now. I'm about a week away from setting up my music from hard drive via USB. Lots of hi Rez. Can't wait to give it a listen.

[4N6]

Originally Posted by kngale1

Setup was simple but just wondering how you configured JRiver for DSD. I only found instructions for JR19 on PS Audio forum but think my settings are correct.

Just to clarify...are you asking about playing DSD music files or communicating with the DirectStream DAC (also called DSD)?

For streaming DSD files natively (without conversion) in JRiver, go to Tools > Options > Audio > Settings. Click on Bitstreaming and select DSD. In my experience, this will allow DSD files to be streamed natively to the DAC. If the DAC cannot accept a certain type of DSD file (such as 4x DSD), JRiver will automatically convert it to PCM.

I hope this helps.

[timm]

Originally Posted by timm

Very cool. I am just pushing cd thru it now. I'm about a week away from setting up my music from hard drive via USB. Lots of hi Rez. Can't wait to give it a listen.

Well I got jriver setup... Got my USB cable ... And have hooked up my hard drives with high Rez and dsd. Sound is spectacular. Stage ...clarity... Image ...bass weight... Mids and highs. I can't believe this is my shoddy i3 laptop. I was expecting ear fatigue possible thin sound. Everything sounds like demo quality recordings to me. I have listened 5 hrs straight at times with absolutely no listening fatigue. I ended up getting an AQ Diamond USB for a formidable discount. Based on write ups it was everything that I wanted and right now I am just blown away. The DS sounds amazing. Will continue to listen. The DS seems to let the beauty of these recordings shine thru.