PS Audio unveils their PS Audio Directstream DAC


First of all I have no affiliation with PS Audio, just an interested observer.

PS Audio has just announced their successor to the Perfectwave MKII called the Directstream DAC. It implements DSD and eliminates the PCM delivery system and uses a Field Programmable Gateway to acheive results which they say will "uncover more music on redbook CDs than was possible.

A full explanation can be read here:

http://www.psaudio.com/products/audio/media-players/perfectwave-directstream-dac/
aurelius
Jon2020,

My system is not on the "dry side". I have a tube amp and a tube preamp. By the way, all PS Audio firmware versions are already "switchable on a whim". All you need to do is insert the SD card and away you go. So, there is never a problem choosing and using the firmware that best suits your system.
Sabai,
What I mean by switchable on a whim, is that one could have all the different versions switched to instantly without a reboot, use each to compare for different recordings(much like filter/upsampling settings) and then choose a particular version instantly the next time one plays the same recording. This would make the DS a dream machine for many. It's like FPGA settings instead of filter or upsampling options.
Jon,

You mean firmware rolling as opposed to tube rolling?
On my Big7, I do similar to change the presentation, but I was told that with the DS, you should wait 10 mins after rolling so that the system degauses the output transformers (during playback) and then you hear the Dac at its best.
Jon2020,

That's not the way it works. There is no such thing as an instant install of all versions simultaneously -- and an instant comparison switch. You need to use an SD card for each version and reboot each time.
Wisnon,
Yes, I meant firmware rolling.

Sabai,
I get that reboot is required for each firmware version. That's why it would be great if you could change each FPGA version as a setting option on the fly without the reboot. I guess that may be hoping for too much. Maybe someday, the folks at PS may come up with something. After all, it is just software. So, instead of a firmware reboot, it could just be an FPGA setting option. The PS team would certainly want the DS to be all things to all people and that would indeed make it a topseller.
Cheers! J.