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alphonse

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  1. I am currently using a PS Audio Perfectwave Dac/Pre with an ATV2 and I have to say that it sounds way better than it has a right to given the comments that it is not bit perfect. Maybe the sample rate converter and filter options in the Perfectwave Dac have something to do with that. I don't know. I am streaming wired ethernet from an iMac via iTunes and Airport extreme and use an iPad2 as the wireless controller. The Apple remote app is just a great user interface. I tried the ATV2 as an interim solution because I wanted a user interface that just works. But I am pleasantly surprised at how good it sounds. Cheers, Al
  2. I also have a PWD and it sounds great! I am using it as a DAC/Preamp streaming music via ethernet from an iMAC, Airport Extreme, Apple TV2. I have purposely held off on the bridge card because of the issues that owners are having. I have been following the PS Audio forums regularly. Hopefully they can work out the bugs. If not I will look at other options. I am actually quite surprised at how good the ATV2 sounds, despite claims that it is not audiophile level quality because it has a noisy switching power supply and is not bit perfect. And the Remote App on an iPad works great. Al
  3. I am currently using a PS Audio PWD as a Dac Preamp balanced to Bryston monoblocks. Sounds great! I just looked at the PS Audio web site discussions. Looks like the Lens and "Black Box" products are still under development. I am using an Apple TV2 as a music server until some of the new streaming products evolve a bit more. Al
  4. I recently purchased a PS Audio PerfectWave Dac and I initially hooked it up to a Bryston BP6 preamp connected to Bryston 300SST monoblocks. Sounded great! Then I removed the BP6 and hooked the PWD direct to the PP300s. I tried both single ended and balanced cables. To my ears it sounds every bit as good as having the preamp in the chain. No loss of dynamics. Very clean without sounding clinical or analytical or thin. After some time I intend to insert the BP6 back in to see if something was missing or not, but for right now I am enjoying the PWD as a DAC/PRE. Al
  5. I am still experimenting with music server options and was curious about this bit perfection issue. I bought the Apple TV2 last fall and have tried it via optical output into an Arcam rDac and most recently the PS Audio PerfectWave Dac. I am streaming music from an iMAC via iTunes to the ATV2 connected to an Airport Extreme router via ethernet (not wireless). I certainly don't claim to have golden ears but I am having difficulty finding major faults to the 48kHz output of the ATV2. I have tried different settings in Audio Midi in the iMAC and now with the PerfectWave Dac different sample rates and filters. The PerfectWave Dac verifies that the ATV2 is outputing 48kHz. It gives you the option to change sample rates from Native (48 in this case) or 44.1 - 192. In Native mode it sounds very good. After some experimenting with various combinations in the PWD I have currently settled on 96kHz with the Filter 1 option ("Minimum phase Apodising filter. Low pre-ringing, minimal group delay, minimized post ringing, good phase vs. frequency, sharper filter cutoff" as described by PS Audio). To my ears this has detailed, dynamic, and smooth overall sound. But the main point is that differences are subtle and as I said before at 48kHz I am not hearing faults like increased noise floor, or brightness or other digital nasties. So, my question is, what are the net limiting sonics effects of not being bit perfect? What should I be hearing or not hearing if that is case? If I take the ATV2 out and get the bridge card option for the PWD I would be able to play bit perfect at native 44.1 or 96kHz for the 25 or so DVD-A discs I have imported. Would this provide a significantly noticeable improvement in SQ or would it just be subtle? I am open to other suggestions. Thanks, Al
  6. Curious if anyone here has purchased the MC200, or had a chance to listen to this new product at length as a stand alone music server with only the iPad as controller. I am specifically interested in how it sounds via analogue outputs and how well the Sooloos UI works with the iPad, i.e. would this truly be plug and play reliable with high sound quality. To quote the product literature, it says that it includes "Meridian’s Resolution Enhancement DSP technologies, delivering pristine quality via analogue, S/PDIF digital and SpeakerLink outputs". At $4000 retail, it certainly seems expensive to me, and It is also a closed system. I do not have a large music library so 500gb would be plenty of storage, although given lowering prices of 1TB+ drives it doesn't make sense to me to limit storage as they do. I am also considering Linn Majik DS ($3500+NAS?),the PS Audio PWD with Bridge ($3800+NAS?) and the Bryston BDP-1/BDA-1 combo ($4300+USB drives). I will get a chance to audition the Meridian, Linn, and PS Audio products at a dealer about 45 miles away. They do not expect to have a demo MC200 for at least another couple of weeks though. Any opinions or other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, Al
  7. Hi all, I have been lurking for awhile and finally took the plunge and got into this music server stuff. The information I have gathered at this site has most definitely helped with my initial choices of the 2010 Mac Mini, Arcam rDac via USB and external firewire 800 HD for iTunes library. For the most part setup has been plug and play smooth. And I am not a tweako computer guy. Sitting on the couch scrolling through album art with the iPad via the remote app is very cool. I have 235 CDs loaded including some higher bit rate DVD-As. So far I am pleased with the sound quality via iTunes. If anything critical I would say that the sound is a bit too much on the clinical, analytical side. First question. I upgraded to 8Gb of ram right away. Is there anything I need to do in system preferences to make sure I am making the most of it, or does OSX automatically optimize ram utilization? Second question. I am going to do the 15 day trial of Pure Music. Any setup suggestions for PM. I have seen a bunch of posts about using memory mode. Is there an easy way to switch back and forth between iTunes and PM to A/B differences in SQ? I am also open any other SQ improvement suggestions. Thanks to all for the informative posts. This is a great forum. Al
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