Anything wrong with PS Audio DirectStream DACs?

wow talk about a lot of free time on hand.

There are folks who chase the absolute best (to them). The DirectStream has been very well reviewed and in terms of the cost of the best DAC the DirectStream is a bargain (as frightening as that sounds). For those folks they buy a unit, try it for a short time, then move on to the next thing. I have no idea if they get the new unit at a reduced cost so are selling for a small loss or buying at full retail and are taking a big hit. I certainly don't have that kind of disposable income!

out of curiosity, it took 8.5 seconds to count the listings...

I would certainly think twice about buying this unit even if it had spectacular sound. It looks awfully complicated say compared to something like a Bricasti. This many units for sale on a product so new spells TROUBLE. My opinion.

I have a DirectStream DAC that I bought new when it was first introduced over a year ago. Many of the "glowing" and over-the-top reviews were done with DirectStream's original or early firmware. Since that time, DirectStream's firmware has continued to improve/evolve and now the latest Pike's Peak firmware package has transformed DirectStream into a super quiet and resolving DAC that has an immense holographic soundstage and the best definition at both the low and high frequency extremes that make it easily the best performing DAC I've ever heard. And it is dynamic and musical as all get-out to boot.

There was a time, when I too was thinking of selling my DirectStream because it is quite large for a DAC and takes up a good portion of rack real estate. Plus, with the earlier iterations of the firmware, although it sounded better than any other DAC I tried, it wasn't night & day better and I thought I could get by with a smaller and cheaper model like the Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 DSD SE or the Benchmark DAC2 HGC. But in my opinion, with the Pike's Peak firmware package it sounds so much better than other units I've compared that I can't bear to part with it.

But to realize this kind of performance from DirectStream it is necessary that the amp, speakers, system wiring, power delivery, room acoustics, etc, are at an equal performance level and do not mask the amazing performance of DirectStream by adding their own noise, distortions, phase shifts, and colorations to the final musical presentation that results... and that is not as easy to achieve as one might think. So some users may not be as impressed with DirectStream as I am because the other weaker links in their system prevent them from hearing DirectStream's breathtaking presentation in its full glory...

And of course some other people who got a "great deal" on DirectStream are only interested in flipping it for a profit. Anyway, that's my take on it. Maybe you should grab one at a good price while you can. It's a DAC your system can "grow" with--in that as you make other improvements in your playback chain you will be rewarded with better and better sound quality.