has anyone tried PS Audio perfect wave duo

Hello Roger,

"Interestingly enough my Dell PC's (T7400) drive and sound card together with the Media Monkey player software played the hi-rez DVD-R just fine.. "

Whar sound card did you use? There are not too many around which can handle hi-rez files without first downsampling them.

"..you have a dac that can handle such high resolution formats (are there any out there at this time?)"

There are number of them: To match level of Forcell try MSB Technology (price range from $7k to bazillion) or Berkeley Alpha. I am sure there are more but I mentioned once I know that they will do this job...well.

If you will buy PWD (with optional Bridge, it can also work as relatively inexpensive music server of rather high quality - lets give credit where its, as seems to be, due) please post your impressions.

Good Luck.
Rafael

others who use noisy computers with non-dedicated UBS port or Sonos as the source and compare to... other PS Audio DAC ( improved by Mr. Cullen or not) should be very clearly happy with his results, and its important and its useful.

I should point out that my use of the Sonos and laptop are temporary until the Bridge is available - which is the main reason for using the PWD. Because I just plain don't listen to disks anymore (other than vinyl, of course), I decided not to invest in the PWT too.

If not for the bridge, I probably would have gone with a Wavelength because their asynchronous USB DACs are the best I've ever heard. I was mesmerized by one at the RMAC last year and spent a good 2+ hours in that room.

shazam- what are your thoughts on the various media types?. have you had a chance to compare redbook, reg cd's, high res dvd, ect... thanks for the write up. look forward to more of your input.

I have a few albums on both redbook and what I've been able to rip from my DVD-A collection (24 bit, either 48k or 96k). I'm still getting used to the superior redbook sound I'm getting now, so I haven't done a lot of comparison, but what I have done there are some noticeable differences. I notice more resonation with certain instruments for sure. I think what made the biggest impression is the sense of a much bigger and "clearer" stage. I haven't listened enough to pinpoint what is creating it, but it noticeably is different (in a good way). I'm looking forward to collecting some good classical pieces in hi rez - where I believe (hope) it will really shine.

Cheers!

just got my pair hooked up this morning. been running them for about 7 hours now and they're sounding phenomenal. using the high grade PSA IS2 ac-12, silver hdmi and 2 PSA PW AC-5 power cords. the PC's are running to my PSA Quintet which in turn is using a PSA PW AC-10 power cord going to a dedicated 20A line. have 5 XLR IC's to try out but currently have Tera Labs RSC Air 2 connected. other 4 to be tried are Cardas GR's, Acoustic Zen Silver Ref II's, Audio Art IC-3SE and AudioQuest Colorado's. Krell S-300i integrated is what it's all going through. aerial 7b's and velodyn dd12 sub is where everything ends up. it'll take me a while to sort out which IC sounds best.

DAC is set to native and auto filter mode per PSA recommendation. testing music is a wide variety of stuff but mostly rock but some jazz and classical too. hi res dvd in 24/88 and 24/96 was jazz and classical only.

units were packaged nicely and a snap to set-up. went with the silver exterior finish and it looks good. got a laugh out of the white gloves and liked the soft cotten PSA bag each unit was wrapped tightly in. i'm not a huge fan of touch screens. prefer old school buttons but the touch screen's will work fine imo. no flickering and easy to read at least. was glad to hear my transport drawer didn't have the kinda cheap sound the unit i demoed did. opens and closes nicely with a solid sound.

any comments i make regarding the sound need to taken with a grain of salt. i'm new to hi-fi and have very limited experience with other DAC's/Transports. my comparisons were done against a Consonance Turandot CDP that imo....is a decent/nice sounding player(standard cd only).

right out of the box the duo sounded good. i could hear it start improving/opening up after about 3-4 hours. not sure how much "better" it will get but even if it stays right where it is....i'll be plenty happy.

regulare CD's.

biggest difference i noticed right off the bat was soundstage. it is huge!. very tight/extended bass and incredibly smooth top end. mids are crystal clear and without any harshness. the most un-digital sound i've ever heard coming from a digital source. outstanding tonal balance and imaging with great detail as well. at the risk of sounding cliche-ish, i'm things i've never heard before.

high res DVD-RW 24/96 and 24/88

Note: i have no frame of reference what so ever here. it's the first time i've ever played downloaded hi res stuff on my system. again....more grains of salt please.
was totally blow away here. have no clue where to even start so i won't. i'll just say it sounded phenomenal in every sense of the word. have never been exposed to anything like this so i'm speechless. i would have guessed that this was a completely new/different system.....not just a source (and connection) upgrade.

no doubt most of you veterans will need to look deeper then my basic/rudimentary comments. wish i could comment further but again...a mans got to know his limitations =). debates regarding what's ultimately "best" or "better" will be left too those of you who know what "better" is(i don't). this much i can tell you.... when compared to my Consonance cdp, it is MUCH better. i'm in heaven and couldn't be happier

unless something unforeseen comes up....i'm now in a very happy place. need to finish up my IC tests but that's about it. put a fork in me because i'm done for a while. plan on upgrading the krell integrated too separates next year but that's still a ways off. for now...it's time to enjoy the music for me!

cheers
Lev

Thank you Lev for sharing your observations. I am glad that you like the duo.
Enjoy!
Rafael

I have just taken delivery on the PW DAC (not even unpacked yet). I will use it for a computer based system, probably with a MacBook. If anyone is trying a similar set up, and has thoughts on implementation (cabling, iTunes or alternative, etc.), I'd be very interested to hear them. Thx! John