New "mountaintop" advances state of the art, yet again
PS Audio CEO Paul McGowan is joined by designer Ted Smith, in his infamous circuit-board shirt.
Boulder, CO: 10/1/2019----Since its introduction in 2014, the PS Audio Perfect Wave DirectStream DAC has repeatedly advanced the state of the art in digital audio. Thanks to its FPGA-based architecture, owners of the DirectStream can update their units with new OS firmware. PS Audio has chosen to name the free downloads after Colorado "Fourteeners", the 53 mountain peaks exceeding 14,000 feet in the company's home state---symbolizing the pursuit of the pinnacle of digital audio.
Nearly a dozen OS upgrades have been released for the DirectStream and DSJ DACs, and each new release has improved upon the performance and sound quality of its predecessor. Designer Ted Smith's latest effort is Windom, after the 14,093-feet high Windom Peak, the highest point in the San Juan River basin.
Windom reveals richness and natural detail within the music at levels formerly unattainable in any digital to analog converter we have auditioned. With its improved retrieval of reverb and ambience, Windom communicates with a glorious sense of openness and effortlessness, adding a sense of immediacy and ‘rightness’ without sacrificing honesty or transparency.
While developing the architecture of his ultimate DAC, the Ted Smith Signature DAC (TSS), Ted learned ways of moving functions from noisier FPGA resources to quieter ones, and restructuring memory allocations. The result is an even lower digital noise-floor with these benefits:
- Playback at high volume levels is clearer and cleaner than ever before;
- Soundstage is even better-defined due to increased channel separation and lower noise, providing a clearer, deeper image of hall acoustics and decay times;
- Overall “sound picture” is more 3-D, more realistic;
- Bass is significantly more impactful and better-defined than with any previous OS.
On October 2nd, Windom will be available on the PS Audio website as a free download for both DirectStream and DirectStream Junior (DSJ) DACs. As always, PS Audio and Ted Smith will continue to develop even better "mountaintops" for these DACs, ensuring that they will be better than when they were new---and never become obsolete.
About PS Audio: Founded in 1973, PS Audio has a worldwide following and a reputation for designing and manufacturing innovative, high-value, leading-edge audio products. Our design and core manufacturing facilities are in Boulder, Colorado, at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. While our engineering staff is second to none, PS is not constrained by NIH Syndrome: recent products have included design input from industry gurus Ted Smith and Bascom H. King.
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