PS Audio PerfectWave DAC Upgrade

just read the posts on the psa site. he also made mention of a reduced upgrade price for "early adapters"....which is extra cool imho.

i really like how psa does business. their discussion forums are a great example of how open and transparent they are as a company. Paul and his crew put up with alot of negative comments that many mfg forums would delete in a heart beat. hats off the folks at psa. great product and customer service.can't wait to get the upgrades as they sound fantastic.

glad i got on board early.

Tab: you might want to believe this one as it just went on sale this morning and is available for pre-order. mid or late december deliver is what's expected. hope this isn't what you're referring to as a BS product as it looks very promising. just ordered my upgrade and can't wait to get it.

btw...many psa products are being discontinued. they are focusing on a fewer number of core products. since i'm not sure what products you're calling "BS", all i can say is you're wrong *if* you are referring to the pwd and pwt.

Paul had mentioned the new PWD will msrp for $1k more then the original.

Mr Tennis and Sgr both make good points. no way to tell how good it is until it's plugged into your own gear. the return policy helped me get around that. also helping was the fact that many of us have more funds wrapped up in a single pair of ic's then this upgrade will cost. as crazy as this sounds...the thought of noticeable sound improvement for $800 seems cheap right about now lol!.

no doubt some will not like it. am yet to see an audio product everyone agrees on. am looking forward to finding out for myself....soon!!

cheers

Just received and installed my upgraded board this afternoon. Very simple process to say the least. As good as the PWD was/is......this upgrade takes it to yet another level. Space, detail, layers and separation have all been improved. And this with only a few hours of listening. Both the bridge and the PWT have benefitted from this upgrade IMHO. Plan on doing another comparison of the two when things get settled in. I can already tell they are closer now but will wait and see.

the new native x mode is fabulous!!. You can hear the difference immediately and obviously. Hi res left me speechless.....really!

Hi Ben, just finished listening to some hi-res music you recommended a while back(i believe?). good call, as it was something i never would have stumbled on...but really enjoy now. Poncho Sanchez and Congo Blue from hdtracks (24/88). only problem is, i s*ck at articulating what i hear. will do my best but please do ask if something i say doesn't make sense. am thinking the new native x mode is responsible for most of the changes as that's where/when i could hear the differences best (not all though).

track 2 (B*Same Mama) had some very noticeable differences in my set-up(and to my ears of course). horns really separated and moved back and up. layer and definition....detail wouldn't be accurate imho because i had a ton of it before. after the horn "solo" towards the middle...the other horns blend in sweeter/softer but have a distinctly separate position/image. before they sounded almost stacked/crunched together....now they sound side to side...separate but very close (think live). also noticed the keyboard imaging stayed very consistent. this was not the case before as it shifted considerably as the song progressed. key's also seemed to have more dynamic range then before...becoming much more evident during certain sections. i do think there's a little more to it then my comments relay. bigger and "live-er" is what i'd call. no doubt many subtle differences help accomplish the new overall sound.

as a side note, i'm ecstatic about how it managed to up the bar on both the bridge and pwt. seems to me the bridge benefited a bit more because it sounds closer to the pwt now. they could be REALLY close or equal now imho. will know more soon and report back. this is the result i had hoped the most for. fingers are crossed!.

again...apologies for lack of audio terminology and sophistication....hope it points you in direction at least. this was the best i could do with 1 day under my belt. =)

Srg...love it. Sounds fantastic. One step closer to having the band front and center. I noticed bigger improvements to the bridge but the PWT also sounds better. Zero fatigue, silky smooth with the most non- digital sound I've heard from digital. I think you're gonna love it buddy. We stole it at $795 lol!

Install was easy for analog type A board. Type B looks a little harder but not much. Watch the video once or twice and you'll be fine. If my fat trembling fingers can do, anyone can ( kinda cool playing with guts of the thing as well lol)

Cheers

Ben, you have a very valid point. The only way/reason the changes were obvious to many of us is due to the preparation we had to undertake to make any comparison at all. This was the first time I've ever "taken notes" and "studied" for an upgrade. Knowing an a-b wouldn't be an option forced some of us to really focus on a handful of tracks to carry over ASAP to the mk2. For me.....this was why things sounded obvious from the get go. Had I not prepared and focused.....my comments would be the same as yours.

This is exemplified by the fact that I now have no detailed observations to report. Specifics on the mk1 sound are now a distant memory for me. Putting in music I didn't "prepare with" yields me your thoughts and comments to the tee.

Am yet to hear a negative review of this upgrade. No doubt some will eventually chime in not so happy but for me.....this thing is a slam dunk.

no doubt G. i've had three people tell me i looked tired at work this week. can't stop listening. tell myself i'm only going to listen for a few minutes....then 3 hours goes by. am hating my alarm clock this week.

whats really funny is...i come home tired and do it all again LOL!

outstanding upgrade!. can't get enough.

Ben, that's where the good stuff is hidden imho...Native X!. it adds smoother detail and an almost "warmer sound". the improvements in space and the accuracy of that space using native-x are incredible. not so much adding space...rather defining the space and where the sound comes from. if you like a live sound...native x is a leap towards that end imho. am still on the honeymoon with the mk2 and glued to my rig, listening until the wee hours of the morning and getting up tired everyday. just can't get enough.

are you still having trouble hearing differences with the upgrade?

cheers

Jiminia......this might be a stupid question but why are you using USB to feed the pwd?

Jiminia: why would you use USB (or converted usb) to feed the pwd?

stupid question but wondering why anyone would use usb to feed the pwd??.

Not sure how my edits all got posted?

My apologies..

that's how i understood it too Ben. sure would be nice to find out for sure though.