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I feel like a toothless hillbilly - PW DAC

I recently purchased a PS Audio Perfectwave DAC with a Bridge. Everything I read in the manual before the unit arrived would end with something like; "and just plug it in and it will automatically download the drivers and take care of the rest".

Fastforward to today: unpacked the unit and connected the USB input on the DAC to my computer. Nothing worked on two different computers. The big problem I am having is that the owners manual seems to be out of date, and PS Audio is still improving it's latest offerings....but this is very different from the way it is portrated online. For the record, I sell hospital medical equipment and electronic medical records interfaces, so I am not a twit (though I am having my doubts now). The big problem for me right now would seem to be that there are so many connection options for the PW DAC that I don't know how to just play music off my computer.

Please tell me where to start (just to play music from iTunes):

1. Twonky
2. eLyric
3. iTunes
4. USB or CAT5 cable

I will be setting up a network later (which should be a laugh), but for now I just want to hear music!

Thanks in advance,
Jeff
jeffatus

Showing 2 responses by edorr

edorr
714 posts
 
In order to be able to connect a drive to the network (i.e. to your router via CAT5), you need a NAS drive. NAS drives are quite a bit more expensive than a standard USB harddrive drive. I am using a synology NAS, but there are others that are probably a lot easier to set up. Once you have your music files moved to the NAS, you need three things: eLyric (fka TagNPlay) on an iDevice, a DLNA server on the network and a music server to manage your library. In my experience the easiest solution that gets you both the DLNA server and music server is to buy JRiver 17 for $50 and be done. It has a build in DLNA server. PS audio has their own server (also called eLyric), but I don't think it is quite ready for primetime (you could be lucky and never have a problem with it, or unlucky and have all sorts of issues - I would not risk it).
edorr
714 posts
 
Jeff, I copied the instructions I put together below from another thread. This guy had the same problem. Keep in mind that if as you stated "you will be setting up a network later", you obviously CANNOT use CAT5 and the bridge for now, and need to use the USB. In my experience, JRiver 17 is by far the most foolproof server platform. If you use the bridge and network streaming, you will need the eLyric client on your iDevice. If you use USB, stay away from eLyric alltogether!

Here are the copied instructions (again, without a network you can forget the DLNA server / eLyric / networking, and just need JRiver and USB drivers):

Install JRiver 17 on your PC
Install myRiver on your iDevice
Install PS Audio's eLyric on your iDevice

Store your music collection on your NAS, preferably as FLACs.
Connect your PS audio bridge to the network over ethernet
Connect your PC to the PS audio DAC using USB - You probably need to download and install PS Audio USB drivers for windows. Check on the PS audio site.

Point JRiver to the music directory on the NAS as your main library, and load the library.
Setup your JRiver as a DLNA server (this is an easy configuration option)
Setup your JRiver for WASAPI output
Setup myRiver to control your JRiver 17 remotely on your iDevice
Select the PS audio DAC as rendered and JRiver as source in eLyric on your iDevice

You can now play music both over the USB input and the bridge.

I know it sounds a little overwhelming, but every step I descibe here is well documented and instructions can be googled. I have gone through many permutations of software hardware, and this is by far the most robust, foolproof setup I have come across.

myRiver is more stable than eLyric, so USB may be your preferred signal path. The bridge controlled with eLyric should sound a little better though. If you cannot get the bridge to work, just forget it and stick with USB.

Good luck!
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