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  1. #301
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Myles - VERY interesting stuff. Never thought about this. Makes complete sense.


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  2. #302

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike View Post
    Myles - VERY interesting stuff. Never thought about this. Makes complete sense.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I'm sure that many saw the controversy about the $1600 or so crystal discs? (Yes the piece says $2000, but think they are now priced at $15-1600 each.)

    The $2000 CD Made From Glass | The Absolute Sound

    Luxury hard glass Crystal CD packs JVC?s K2HD audio technology - SlashGear

    https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10151746268238559

    ??CD : Modern Audio
    Myles B. Astor, Senior Editor, PF, www.positive-feedback.com
    Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Doshi Audio EVO phonostage, VPI Avenger direct-drive turntable/VPI 12-inch gimbal Fatboy/vdH Colibri Master Signature/Triangle Art Apollo cartridges, SAT LM-12 tonearms/Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, VPI 12-inch gimballed Carbon Fiber arm/vdh Black Crimson and Sumiko Songbird, Mutech Hayabusa cartridges
    Technics RS1506 reel-to-reel with low inductance Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi Audio EVO tapestage, AudioQuest Dragon Zero, Audience FrontRow, Ensemble PC, Skogrand, Kubala-Sosna Realization speaker cable, Ikigai Kangai speaker cable, SRA Craz 3/OHIO 2.3 platforms and Symposium ISIS/Ultra rack/platforms, Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC.

  3. #303
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Wow! And they say vinyl is expensive.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    My Systems: http://www.audioshark.org/showthread...481#post158481

    "We can hear everything we measure, but we can't measure everything we hear. Let your ears be your guide."

    Dealer for: Aqua Hi-Fi, Aurender, AudioQuest Cables & Power Products, Berkeley Audio, Block Audio (distributor), Boulder Amplifiers, Bowers & Wilkins (B&W), Bryston, Clarisys Audio Loudspeakers (distributor), Classe’ Audio, Degritter Record Cleaning Machines, Esoteric, Finite Elemente, FirstWatt, Focal Loudspeakers and Headphones, GigaFoil, Harbeth Loudspeakers, Hegel, HiFi Man, Innuos, ISO Acoustics, Keces Power Supplies, Kharma Loudspeakers and Electronics, Kuzma Turntables, Lumin, Luxman, Magico Loudspeakers, MBL Speakers & Electronics, MSB Technologies, MySonicLabs Phono Cartridges, Nordost Cables, Ortofon, Pass Labs, Quadraspire, Rega Turntables and Electronics, Shunyata Research, STAX, Stein Music Products, Stillpoints, Soulution, VAC, Vicoustics, Viva Audio, VPI Industries, WireWorld Cables.

    https://suncoastaudio.com/
    Phone: 941-932-0282
    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Suncoast-Au...1105178279194/

  4. #304

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Just some more food for controversy:

    The following description is provided by Memory-Tech in Japan to tell us what Crystal Disc is:
    Crystal disc, a revolutionary Compact Disc using glass substrate, this new technology allows sound reproduction at a level previously unknown and is as close to the master sound source as cutting edge technology allows. For this purpose, Crystal disc is fabricated by our Laser Disc technology cultivated over many years with using the best selected materials.

    ■ The use of glass substrate instead of conventional polycarbonate substrate. As the reflective layer, gold is adopted in exchange for conventional aluminum.

    ■ For pit transcription, Photo Polymerization process (2P process) using a metal stamper is adopted. This process makes pit transcription highly precise compared with the conventional injection molding process. The technology of 2P process was cultivated by our production of test discs for calibrating industrial optical pick up heads.

    ■ Surface flatness of glass substrate is much superior to the conventional CD. Glass substrate is hardly influenced by the variation of temperature and humidity. Furthermore, the absence of bi-refringence coming from the optical uniformity of glass substrate realized signal with extremely low noise and low jitter.





    pt01.jpg

    pt02.jpg
    Myles B. Astor, Senior Editor, PF, www.positive-feedback.com
    Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Doshi Audio EVO phonostage, VPI Avenger direct-drive turntable/VPI 12-inch gimbal Fatboy/vdH Colibri Master Signature/Triangle Art Apollo cartridges, SAT LM-12 tonearms/Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, VPI 12-inch gimballed Carbon Fiber arm/vdh Black Crimson and Sumiko Songbird, Mutech Hayabusa cartridges
    Technics RS1506 reel-to-reel with low inductance Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi Audio EVO tapestage, AudioQuest Dragon Zero, Audience FrontRow, Ensemble PC, Skogrand, Kubala-Sosna Realization speaker cable, Ikigai Kangai speaker cable, SRA Craz 3/OHIO 2.3 platforms and Symposium ISIS/Ultra rack/platforms, Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC.

  5. #305

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Of course may be a moot subject with hi-rez downloading nowadays.
    Myles B. Astor, Senior Editor, PF, www.positive-feedback.com
    Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Doshi Audio EVO phonostage, VPI Avenger direct-drive turntable/VPI 12-inch gimbal Fatboy/vdH Colibri Master Signature/Triangle Art Apollo cartridges, SAT LM-12 tonearms/Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, VPI 12-inch gimballed Carbon Fiber arm/vdh Black Crimson and Sumiko Songbird, Mutech Hayabusa cartridges
    Technics RS1506 reel-to-reel with low inductance Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi Audio EVO tapestage, AudioQuest Dragon Zero, Audience FrontRow, Ensemble PC, Skogrand, Kubala-Sosna Realization speaker cable, Ikigai Kangai speaker cable, SRA Craz 3/OHIO 2.3 platforms and Symposium ISIS/Ultra rack/platforms, Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC.

  6. #306
    Senior Member
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    we did a listening session in my room involving the Crystal Disc last year which may be of interest to some of you. it compared various versions of a particular recording and files from different formats. it starts with this post and then proceeds for a few pages.

    Crystal Disc US$1600 was played with Genesis Speaker - Page 29

  7. #307

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    I guess my point is that the comparison was between a hi-rez PCM download and an SHM PCM disc made from the master tapes by the same engineer as well as a DSD version. Regardless of the difference(s) between hearing a hi-rez PCM download and a SHM CD, I still suspect they would sound closer to each other in terms of overall sound quality than either one would compared to the DSD version.

    I have only heard one SHM CD and that was the Steely Dan "Asia" album. The guy who owned the SHM version of "Asia" was quite proud of it and thought it sounded great. As soon as he put the disc on, I knew it was severely lacking compared to the vinyl version (pick any one). I asked him if he had "Asia" on vinyl and he did. I gave it a quick spin on his VPI 16.5 and we played it and it was immediately apparent that the vinyl version was FAR superior.

  8. #308

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    I'm curious, if you ripped the files from the different CDs of different substrates, would they look/checksum exactly the same? If so, shouldn't they sound the same through the same processor?


    Allen



  9. #309

    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Lavigne View Post
    we did a listening session in my room involving the Crystal Disc last year which may be of interest to some of you. it compared various versions of a particular recording and files from different formats. it starts with this post and then proceeds for a few pages.

    Crystal Disc US$1600 was played with Genesis Speaker - Page 29
    Thanks for the link Mike!
    Myles B. Astor, Senior Editor, PF, www.positive-feedback.com
    Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, Doshi Audio EVO phonostage, VPI Avenger direct-drive turntable/VPI 12-inch gimbal Fatboy/vdH Colibri Master Signature/Triangle Art Apollo cartridges, SAT LM-12 tonearms/Lyra Atlas SL Lambda, VPI 12-inch gimballed Carbon Fiber arm/vdh Black Crimson and Sumiko Songbird, Mutech Hayabusa cartridges
    Technics RS1506 reel-to-reel with low inductance Flux Magnetic heads, Doshi Audio EVO tapestage, AudioQuest Dragon Zero, Audience FrontRow, Ensemble PC, Skogrand, Kubala-Sosna Realization speaker cable, Ikigai Kangai speaker cable, SRA Craz 3/OHIO 2.3 platforms and Symposium ISIS/Ultra rack/platforms, Silver Circle Tchaik 6 PLC.

  10. #310
    Senior Member
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    I sincerely apologize. The Japanese didn't translate into what I posted. I went back and looked at my original post and noticed English characters not in the translation. Here's what the Japanese translated to:
    [Warner Premium Sound series ~ SACD / CD hybrid specification ~] immortal masterpiece album of the 20th century. This participation is instead Joe Walsh to Bernie Ridon than work. More powerful and sharpness good sound is completed here. SACD / CD hybrid panel. 5.1ch surround & stereo voice recording. Commentary lyrics, with translation.

    So Mike may be right. The SHM SACD may very well come direct from the master. I suppose there are a few possibilities such as the substrate SHM(Super Hi Material) really makes a huge difference, or perhaps PCM doesn't sound as good as DSD. I, like Miles, may be "skewered and ridiculed", but I did convert this DSD to 24/192 FLAC and found it didn't sound the same as the DSD. I found it sounded more like the HDTracks version, but again I did apply filters to reduce the "inaudible" spectrum that DSD has that can make for crazy large PCM files.

    What I'd like to know now is the provenance of the SHM SACD of Hotel California -- what was it made from and how was it mastered? I did some additional searching but couldn't find much. Does anyone know??

    Edit 10/29 -- I just assumed this SACD was an SHM SACD since it came from Japan -- it's not. It doesn't say SHM anywhere on the disc or materials. I looked and don't even believe there is a version of Hotel California in SHM SACD. There is a CD version, but not an SACD version. So now more head scratching. The inner liner mentions that it was 5.1 remastered at Sterling Sound in NY. I happen to know someone there and am going to send them a note to see what they say.

    Bryan




    Quote Originally Posted by radioactive View Post
    Good question, here's the answer:
    The PCM version came from "The hi-res remastering of the entire Eagles box set was done using the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman Mastering using a JCF Audio Latte A/D converter." -- At least according to HDTracks. (just go to The Studio Albums 1972-1979 | HDtracks - The World's Greatest-Sounding Music Downloads, and click on the right hand "About This Album")

    As for the SHM version, the translation of the Japanese on the outside of the case says: The hi-res remastering of the entire Eagles box set was done using the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman Mastering using a JCF Audio Latte A / D converter."

    Don't believe me, here's the japanese, just go plug it into Google Translate:

    [Warner Premium Sound series ~SACD/CD ハイブリッド仕様~] 20世紀を代表する不滅の最高傑作アルバム。本作よりバーニー・リードンに代わりジョー・ウォルシュが参加 。よりパワフルかつ切れ味のよいサウンドがここに完成。SACD/CDハイブリッド盤。5.1chサラウンド&ステレオ音声収録。解説・歌詞・対訳付き。

    So they both come from the same source.

    (ps. here's a link to the Japanese (SHM) version
    http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/WPCR-14165 )

    Bryan
    Ref System: Wilson Alexx on Stillpoint Ultras w/Base, dCS Rossini & Upsampler & Clock, Audio Research REF 160S, REF 6SE, WW Platinum Everywhere, Roon
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  11. #311
    Senior Member
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    To revive this thread, is the DIRECTSTREAM DAC still considered state of the art? For those who loved it a few years back, is the love still there? If something replaced that love, what DAC was it?

  12. #312
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    Can't say if its still state of art or not hardware wise but obviously has the potential to improve down the line with free firmware upgrades. I bought it when it was released and still have it. If you have a lot of SACDs (or still spinning disc), then the DMP + DS combo can be hard to beat.

  13. #313
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    Re: PS Audio DirectStream DAC

    From my perspective the DS DAC isn't quite considered state of the art, but represents a good value at its price (especially since it's often available brand new at significant discounts.) The support of their ongoing firmware updates makes its ownership an even more appealing proposition for many enthusiasts.

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