PS Audio PerfectWave DAC

[The Monkey]

I ordered one of these DACses and will post impressions, pics, and random musings here.

[Dreadhead]

I ordered one of these DACses and will post impressions, pics, and random musings here.

Look forward to your impressions. I only heard this dac when it was across from Headamp at CJ09. It sounded good to me but this is coming from a guy who can't hear the difference between my DEQ2496 and the BelCanto DAC3. Recently I've just been listening to the DEQ because I'm too lazy to surn the BC on and set it to the right input etc.

[macstah]

Sir Monkey, you're on the list for the P1u loaner program, are you not? I'd be very interested to hear how the two sound together. Especially with the JH13s (he said calmly as his bank account attempted to take its own life.)

I've been interested in the PWD since I started reading about the Bridge music server add-on thingie. If they ever work out all the gremlins, that sounds like it could be a very sweet setup. On the PSAudio forums, their main guy (Paul, is it?) said that Apple Lossless files sounded significantly worse than WAV files in his test unit. I'd hope that is just a software/decoding issue that they can fix without too much insanity.

[Voltron]

Sir Monkey, you're on the list for the P1u loaner program, are you not? I'd be very interested to hear how the two sound together. Especially with the JH13s (he said calmly as his bank account attempted to take its own life.)

Better make funeral arrangements.

[macstah]

Better make funeral arrangements.

Great. Now I have to go shopping for tiny, little pants that I can put onto my credit card so it will have something to poop.

[tyrion]

A large PS Audio box was just delivered to my office.

[The Monkey]

Hopefully our other PWD owners will join in here, too.

Heh: Pefect timing. I don't think my unit has shipped yet...

[Voltron]

Neither of you ballers got the transport?

[tyrion]

Hopefully our other PWD owners will join in here, too.

Heh: Pefect timing. I don't think my unit has shipped yet...

I thought you had yours already.

Neither of you ballers got the transport?

I didn't get the transport. All my cd's are on my drive.

[Hopstretch]

A large PS Audio box was just delivered to my office.

You ought to get some new cans to evaluate it with today, too.

EDIT: Maybe tomorrow. At local sort facility last night.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Hopstretch

[Eric5676]

This is a sweet piece of kit although that price tag certainly makes me take pause. I'll be following this thread with rapt interest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKm6zDAb7G4&autoplay=1

^^ Nice video.

[tyrion]

You ought to get some new cans to evaluate it with today, too.

EDIT: Maybe tomorrow. At local sort facility last night.

The HP-1 arrived. I was going to pm you but kept being distracted. Thanks!

[The Monkey]

The PWD is at home waiting for me to caress it.

[VPI]

Some tips for the new adopters. When you turn the unit on and the Initializing screen comes up touch the screen for a couple of seconds and the options screen will appear. On this you can adjust some things like the auto dimming feature and a few other behind the scenes things.

I really like mine on Filter 3 with no upsampling but Filter 1 is the fancy filter with apodizing whatevers.

[dreamwhisper]

Look forward to your impressions. I only heard this dac when it was across from Headamp at CJ09. It sounded good to me but this is coming from a guy who can't hear the difference between my DEQ2496 and the BelCanto DAC3. Recently I've just been listening to the DEQ because I'm too lazy to surn the BC on and set it to the right input etc.

Try the two with a nice pair of studio monitors in a treated room. You may notice a difference in the resolution, frequency extension as well as tonality/neutrality. (the areas I thought it excelled nicely)

At the very least, why not do your subconscious a favor and adhere to the placebo-affect inherent in listening to the more expensive gear?

BTW, what do you vinyl owners have to say about how the PerfectWave compares to your vinyl rigs?

[mrarroyo]

I believe this is the owner's manual.

Edit: Oops ... wrong dac.

[deepak]

I keep reading the thread titles as "FS Audio PerfectWave DAC" me fail.

Maybe I need to make the fonts moar bigger like Al's laptop

[xand1x]

Damn that DAC is a wallet breaker...can't wait for preliminary musings

[The Monkey]

It can be found new for 2100-2200.

[Voltron]

I keep reading the thread titles as "FS Audio PerfectWave DAC" me fail.

Maybe I need to make the fonts moar bigger like Al's laptop

*tweet* 15 yard penalty for unnecessary roughness!

[deepak]

*tweet* 15 yard penalty for unnecessary roughness!

[shellylh]

Subscribed to this thread and eagerly waiting for a monkey's opinion.

[tyrion]

C'mon dinny, we are waiting...mine sounds pretty good and it's silver.

[The Monkey]

Very very preliminary impressions. But wow. I really, really like it so far. I've got it going head-to-head with the Dodson now, using the SkipJack to A/B (not blind). As you guys know, I love the Dodson. But compared to the PWD, it sounds a bit veiled and smeared. I haven't done any volume matching, which of course is important. But my gut reaction is that regardless of whether the PWD may be a little louder, I feel like I'm hearing deeper into the musical presentation. For instance, on The Pogues' "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge," there's a banjo that I simply have not heard so clearly before now. I knew it was in the mix, but now I can hear it being plucked. Who knows, maybe I just like the fact that it has cool lights and my mind is playing tricks on me. But my initial thought is that the PWD is revealing more layers than what I have previously heard from a source. PEEL THE ONION, BABY!

And the thing has lights and features galore, so I'm a pretty happy monkey right now. But we all like new car smell, so I will insert the caveat here that I need to live with this baby for a while.

Most of my listening so far is on Native (no upsampling) and Filter 3.

Of course, I will post at 33, 97, 398, and 1000 hours to catalog the changes.

Edited February 4, 2010 by The Monkey
Insert unboxing pr0n

[Augsburger]

OK, it's been one hour, anything new? As I recall from my brief experience with the PW DAC over the summer the PWD DAC was indeed very revealing and the music seemed to present a lot more depth to the soundstage giving the rooma a real clubby sound. I really liked it based upon my all too brief audition. Are you considering getting the bridge when it is released 2Q this year?