PS Audio uber dac

Another trophy to attract the Platinum card crowd!

This is a rumor someone started and appears to have no basis in fact

From the PS Audio DAC forum, it DOES sound like Ted Smith is working on a two box unit, one with the digital stuff in it, the other the analog.  So, this rumor might actually be true!

So it looks like this new DAC is in the early stages of development. However, it’s not a DAC meant to outright replace the original Directstream. So it’s not a "MKII", rather a much higher tiered product they plan to sell alongside the original Directstream. Further software development will continue to happen on the currently selling Directstream. This new DAC is well beyond my budget anyways haha.

Ted Smith’s new Signature DAC will be called the TSS. Not just a rumor anymore.

From Paul McGowan...

"Does anyone seriously doubt Ted’s ability to beat the MSB regardless of price? I don’t like to be “that guy” that calls out other products directly but I couldn’t resist. DirectStream is Ted’s best work within a budget. Just wait until you see/hear what he can manage when the financial shackles are removed and he gets to strut his stuff.

We’re designing a new chassis and look for the Ted Smith Signature DAC, TSS (for short), because it deserves it. I am in love with this new look - though it’ll immediately be obvious to you it’s part of the PS family. It’s going to be taller too. 5” height is needed to keep his boards centered and away from anything resembling noise and interference from the outside and to accommodate the bigger power transformers. And there will be two of these beautiful chassis: one dedicated for digital, the other only for analog. They are tied together with a wicked cool fiber optic cable allowing you to place the units wherever you wish. This will certainly be a stunning achievement, the likes of which the world of high end audio has never seen.

Ted’s the last man on the planet I’d bet against."

PS Audio will have stiff competition in this price category and I wish them success.
However having recently sold a Direct Stream player & dac senior just months new replaced by better performing dac a couple grand less then the dac senior and a more reliable transport that’s equal in performance minus the occasional screen freeze ups and other frustrating glitches I experienced .
Also not to mention re-sale value they are definitely not “value for your money” components , not even close so I agree with you  Aolmrd1241 

In shore,what were your replacements for the ps combo?

First I have to admit I very much liked the PS Audio combo I had not been aware of PS Audio until my favourite dealer brought them in .
They swiftly replaced a aging Esoteric player and eventually my analog components though at times I do miss the resolution of good analog playback however I do not miss the fuss and maintenance .

i have a fairly expensive server / jukebox thingmajig along with trying trying out other digital components I no longer have the PS Audio pair nor the Denafrips terminator dac and settled on a CEC TL2n transport and backwards move as it may sound a $2,400. Yggdrasil analog 2 dac , it’s really good believe it or not .

What do you like better about the sound of the Yggdrasil  DAC over the PS Audio Direct Stream Sr ? Did the PSA DD Sr have the "Red Cloud" update?

I was perfectly content with the PS Audio pair and yes the dac had the Redcloud firmware installed .
A audio friend asked if he could bring over his new dac to try out the I2s compatibility with the PS Audio player along with just hearing it in a completely different system.
The dac was Denafrips Terminator , never heard of it however playback of well recorded familiar music really made me sit up and listen carefully. 
The Denafrip equaled everything the PS senior did with a slightly different flavour to things however what immediately stood out was the sound stage with far better separation particularly front and back , size and location which made listening that much more pleasurable and without getting into a top to bottom forensic analyst here what stuck in my thoughts most was the fact the Denafrips was a couple grand less then PS Audio .
My purchase of the Terminator came days later and after a couple months with it there was an annoying glitch developed where upon first start up the Terminator would reverse channels which had me going through the modes to reset the dac and PS Audio player .

I tend not to waste my time reading through online fan club dribble of certain components including mainstream praises of audio and I never gave Schitt a single thought mainly because of the name and their popular headphone fan base .
However thanks to my friend Clay who does waist a enormous amount of his life online the experience launched me all over the map trying out different front end components where for now I settled with a CEC transport and Yggdrasil DAC 2 and I will add like speakers I believe dacs are also a personal taste component.

I should of added the main reason for selling the Denafrips dac was the fact they did not have any North American representation, the mode glitch I’m sure could of been resolved but to what extent ?

On top this the annoying screen glitches and freeze ups had me questioning how many more firmware updates will it take to resolve these glitches with the PS Audio components ? 

@in_shore If sound quality was the only thing you cared about, and you were to pick between the PS Audio DirectStream and the Denafrips Terminator, which one would it be? 

in shore...Yes...personal taste is of paramount importance when it comes to the sound quality of one's audio equipment choices. 

I do own both the DS dac and DMP transport and think most highly of the sound quality offered by the combo via hdmi. The dac has been trouble free since the get go.. but the transport does have a few glitches that can be annoying. There is supposedly to be a whole new firmware release at months end to fix all misgivings with it...here's hoping to a fully functional player. I am sure it will happen.

Nenon It would be the Denafrips connected to PS Audio Direct stream player checked out through Magnepan 20.7 speakers with subs including Focals Maestro Utopia speakers with subs that revealed differences between the two dacs .
However the Denafrips is a fairly new product with a unproven track record though I understand Denafrips now has North American representation if repairs need to be done.
The PS Audio is in my estimation is poor value for your dollar and the Terminator selling at $4,500.00 I feel the price point is also poor value after listening to a fully run in Yggdrasil analog 2 at $2,400.00.

Aolmrd1241 I know this to be a constant complaint of some owners when I first unpacked and hooked up my new PS Audio dac the screen was blank though the problem was temporarily solved by rebooting the dac I did have other screen issues occasionally with the Direct stream player along with a continuous motor noise at one point, could be unit to unit production differences , parts etc etc ,.

In_shore, is there anything with the sound of the Schiit Yggdrasil A2 you don’t like or is deficient compared with the PS Audio and Denafrips you previously owned?

I’ll put it this way ,price of said component has no bearing on performance.
 This notion of “you get what you pay for” really doesn’t apply in this hobby .
If the three were equally priced it was really a matter of taste and the Yggdrasil analog 2 won , sure there were other factors involved however they were minor . 
For now I’m satisfied however there is one dac I would like to check out in the near future and that is the Rockna Wavedream .

Well, Andreas Koch's MPD-8 has already gotten one rave review. Hopefully, Playback Designs will market the Dream Series just a little bit. There won't be much hype, but who will bet against the result?

I haven’t tried the Yggdrasil (I do hate having to type that) but am considering getting one in to try on a trial basis. Of course there IS the "restocking fee" they charge so they don’t make it easy the way PS Audio does and I do like the Directstream. I ended up buying the Directstream Jr because I hate touchscreens so I also know there are some who believe Jr is a stepdown from Sr and others who believe any perceived difference is confirmation bias but I trust that people hear what they hear period. STILL, really digging the directstream at the moment and you have to remember with this gear that NO ONE should pay retail for PS stuff...I paid 62% of retail for a new unit from an authorized dealer so just remember that when you’re talking about the price of that gear.  ALSO been thinking about trying the Metrum Acoustics DACS since I have a distributor in my home city.  Any thoughts about Metrum Acoustics?

@pwhinson ,

 from all what I've read the Metrum Pavane is fantastic. People describe it as vinyl sound. Seemingly it has all, micro dynamics, separation of instruments, soundstage, tone and timbre spot on. Basically what one would expect from a great NOS implementation.  I dream DAC, at least for me. 

However, the sound does not come cheap. It's pretty expensive at retail price, which is natural given that Metrum  have their own chips.  You only get the DAC, or the preamp  in the Adaggio/Jade versions which implement an amazing volume control manipulating the voltage through through the chips without the shortcomings of usual volume implementation in DACs. There is not headphone output, no DSD files, and of course the best inputs are I2S (only works with their Amber which seemingly is great but only works as a Roon endpoint) followed by AES, Spdif an finally USB. 

I would like to know how Pavane compare with Jade. I've not seen any serious comparison and trustable (= non commercial) in that regard. The Jade is half the price with half of R2R ladders and less sophisticated AC/DC circuitry than the Pavane. Is it worth the price difference?. They the Onyx version, which is the Jade with volume control. 

Personally, I'm watching for some good deal in a used/demo model. 

Wow Yggy better than directstream sr?

you have to remember with this gear that NO ONE should pay retail for PS stuff...I paid 62% of retail for a new unit from an authorized dealer so just remember that when you’re talking about the price of that gear. 

I’d sure like to get 62%  off a new DirectStream DAC.  How the heck do you do that??

Check my math but 62% of retail is 38% off.  

Good place to start...
ASK if the dealer has any flexibility on price.  
Maybe they've got a demo that could be sold
OR a v1 when v2 is about to be released.