Welcome to the April issue of the PS Newsletter.  In this edition we start with a bit of Audiophile humor, explain a Power Plant in 3 minutes with the quickest artist on the planet, turn you on to a new twist on live music, help you understand a new type of audio distortion, get you a great deal on a music editor, provide a primer on how to organize your music library and lots of great music articles to enjoy.

First I’d like to congratulate Isaac Velasquez of our shipping department for winning our basketball championship.  Each spring PS Audio’s social activities committee organizes various events (like our summer olympics) to get PS’ers outside in the sun and out of the building to enjoy our gorgeous Colorado weather – and Isaac (aka Dallas) blew everyone’s socks off with his many baskets.

You know you’re an Audiophile when ....

• You change the power cord on your microwave and swear the food tastes better.
• You have your children cryogenically treated and discover they are much quieter.
• You install a DAC into your Ford F150 to smooth out the ride.
• You rewire your doorbell with Cardas cable and invite the neighborhood kids play
  ring-and-run.
• The bank calls once a year to renew the mortgage on your preamp.
• You discover your kids are illegally downloading MP3’s… so you give them a stern lecture about sound quality and compressed files.
• You ask the clerk at Home Depot if they have any 1952 Sylvania NOS light bulbs.
• You get tossed out of a live concert for running on stage and toeing-in the musicians.

Thanks to newsletter reader Lorne Cherry for that bit of humor.

The Power Plant technology explained in 3 minutes

We’ve been building the Power Plant AC regenerators for 15 years – first launched in 1997.  Technically superior to any power conditioner ever made, Power Plants are unique in their ability to generate new, perfect AC.

It’s pretty easy to wax enthusiastically about their many benefits to your system: improved dynamics, removal of any harsh artifacts in the music, better depth and soundstaging.  But how does one explain this very technical product to those amongst us that aren’t so technical?  It’s a problem I’ve wrestled with for the last 15 years.

As we travel the world meeting high-end audio lovers the conversation always turns to power: it’s importance to the system and sound quality.  Inevitably someone will refer to the Power Plant as a power conditioner – which immediately gets the hair on the back of my neck up.

“It’s not a power conditioner!”  I say with arms folded.

“Oh, sorry, whatever you want to call it.  How is it different than (insert brand)?”  The poor guy just wanted to understand what makes it different.

It’s at that point I launch into my technical explanation and at least half the time I see eyes glaze over.  Bummer.  The person probably just wanted a 10 word answer and instead got a 15 minute lecture.  Sigh.  I just never have been good at short answers.

So we finally decided to see if we couldn’t tell the Power Plant story in under 3 minutes through a fun video without any lectures or technical skills needed.

The presentation utilizes a technique that might be new to you – rapid hand sketching.  This is where an artist tells the story with hand drawn pictures and we speed up the film to make it appear quickly.  If you’ve never seen this type of approach, I think it’s worth your time to view it.

Farewell Levon Helm: Gilbert Heatherwick bids farewell to the Band’s drummer and singer Levon Helm in a touching article including music. Read the story.

One size doesn’t fit all Genre and sub genre: Proper tagging of your library is a critical elements to getting everything easy to find. Dan Gravell tells us how. Read the story

Video helps? To see or not to see: Lawrence Schenbeck gives us an interesting perspective on Blu-Ray and high-end audio asking a great question. Read the story.

Saxophones From Adolphe to Gerald: Keith Copeland tells us the story of the saxophone from its inventor to it best players with lots of music. Read the article

Paul’s Posts As always a lot of new controversy: Why digital sounds like analog, we soon begin a new series on tubes vs. transistors.  Fresh insights every morning. Give it a try

A little less than 30 minutes ago the pianist Alfred Brendel finished a lovely concerto and now Jacqueline Du Pre, conducted by Daniel Berenboim, is playing cello.  Later this afternoon I have invited Christoph and Stephan Genz to knock off a couple of my favorite Mozart arias and, just before I go home for a cold beer, Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane will entertain.

What a wonderful way to spend Friday afternoon writing to all of you.  I am on my iPad, writing this Newsletter and when the mood strikes, sending invitations to even more musicians with the touch of my finger.

I am honored by my guests performing right in my office and, as Johnny Hartman would suggest “They say it’s wonderful”.  Indeed.

There’s a new Power Plant in town!

In last month’s newsletter I promised details and photos of the new P3 Power Plant, our most affordable PerfectWave Power Plant ever.  Here in the United States $2,495 gets you one of the best sounding magical editions to your system possible.

Capable of driving just about any size system, the P3 really does bring back the magic in your system with the touch of a button.

What’s inside

What we did to create the P3 was simple: took the regenerating engine out of the P5, added a slightly smaller power supply and dropped it into a somewhat less expensive PerfectWave chassis without a touch screen.  Then, just in case you might have a few power hungry beasts in your system, we added an unlimited filtered high-current protected zone on the back.

Between the 750 watts of continuous regenerated power (peaks to 1000 watts) and the high-current zone, the P3 handles any size system without blinking an eye.

MultiWave, CleanWave, scheduled power events, distortion analyzer, wattage meter and switchable zones are all included with the P3, just like its bigger brothers.

Yup, there’s a remote control as well and from your listening chair you can give the system a good cleaning between tracks if you wish just to make sure you’re getting everything the kit is capable of.

100% analog

Power Plants are not power conditioners.  Power Plants generate new power from old and they accomplish this through an extremely large and powerful analog class AB power amplifier inside.  The power amp is fed from a low distortion D to A converter that creates either a pure sine wave, CleanWave or our unique MultiWave.

Driven by regenerated power your system has never sounded this good.  Why settle for just a power filter when you can own a Power Plant?  A P3 is affordable and available for audition next month.

Honestly, there’s nothing better for your system than to build a solid power foundation and a Power Plant is the right way to do that.

See your local PS dealer or distributor or give us a call at 720.406.8946 and we’ll tell you all about it.

How to audit your music library

Since it’s close to tax time here in the US let me start out by saying this article has nothing to do with taxes!  It’s all about music and its enjoyment.

I’ve written before about the importance of cataloging your music library correctly.  It’s something I have become quite involved in because not getting it right has real downsides.  For example, tagging some of your Beatles collection as The Beatles and the rest of it as just Beatles can, with the wrong program, cause you to miss a lot of your music if you only search for one or the other.

The more consistent and correct your music library is tagged the greater access you have and the more you’ll enjoy all that great music stored on your hard drive.

Getting the tagging right can be a bit of a chore and, if the library is big enough, even a nightmare if it’s out of sorts.  To the rescue comes a great little program aptly named Bliss.  Bliss works on either MAC or Windows platforms and with a Saturday afternoon set aside for housecleaning, you can use the program to do much of the heavy lifting cleaning up your music library.  Don’t be freaked out by the tilte on Bliss’s website “Music Tagging for MP3″.  Bliss works with all formats you and I are interested in, not just those of the iPod crowd.  Bliss is a real high-end program.

The program is written by UK author Dan Gravell and it’s neither complicated nor difficult to use.  It’s actually kind of fun.  And, if you want to learn about tagging and get some great reading, go to the Blog and enjoy.

Dan’s a PS Newsletter reader and now a PS Tracks contributor.  We’re very pleased to announce Dan’s first contribution to our online magazine PS tracks.  In this latest edition Dan writes the kickoff article How to audit your library.

What’s a library audit?  Quite simply taking stock of how you have things organized and if the library adheres to Dan’s three C’s: Complete, Correct and Consistent.  In the article Dan walks us through how to handle this, what to look for and what you can do about it.

Even if you don’t have a library that’s easy to access and are still working with optical discs, it makes for an interesting read and primer for where high-end is moving towards in the future – which for many of us is here now.

Save some money with HD Tracks

You’re probably familiar with HD Tracks, the preeminent high resolution download site?  Their musical library just grows and grows with nearly every artist in just about every genre you can imagine (and I can imagine a lot!).

The site is owned by two brothers, David and Norman Chesky and the Chesky’s have graciously agreed to offer PS Newsletter readers a 10% discount for the first two weeks of April.  This discount applies to as much of any music you want to download, so if you’ve been thinking about buying music, here’s a good way to save 10%

How do you get it?  Simply enter PSAUDIO10 in the promo field when you make your purchase.

New version of eLyric Music Manager to enjoy

As I promised in last month’s newsletter, we’ve released 27.15, our latest official release of eLyric Music Manager, our free program that manages your collection of music and serves it up to any UPnP player like the PS Audio Bridge.

I know many of you are fed up with programs like Twonky that you’re kind of stuck with if you have a NAS or perhaps it’s built into something you’re working with.  if that’s the case, give eLyric a try.  You can point eLyric to any storage device (including a NAS) and get away from having to use other server programs that are kind of lame.

What’s the future of eLyric?  We’re working hard on adding player functionality to eLyric so those of you without a Bridge or a UPnP player can also enjoy it.  In the not to distant future you’ll be able to use eLyric with any USB enabled DAC – which means you too can access your entire library with the touch of a finger on an iPad or iPod.

Samsung making tube equipment?

Reader David Pogue sent me a news snippet I found entertaining.  Samsung – yeah, the guys who make TV’s, washing machines, most of the world’s memory chips and microwave ovens has decided to get “high-end”.

Wait a minute – as I am typing this on my iPad the story’s too weird for the Mozart I am listening to – I am going to have to switch over and listen to the TAS Hearts of Space CD instead – ahh, ok, that’s better.

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yeah, Samsung decided they needed to try their hands at the high-end and so they’ve announced a line of tube equipment that’s an interesting hybrid – tube front end with Class D output stage – which is sort of what Infinity did in their original Hybrid Class A and closer still to what we did with our PS Audio Hybrid Class A with a FET front end driving a class D power amp.

OK, Hearts of Space is more than I can handle.  Hmmmmm.  I got it!  Keith Jarrett Trio.  Yup, perfect listening for right now and then I can finish the newsletter.

I am giggling a little as I write this but I wish Samsung the best of luck.  After all, they do make a great TV.

Jean Luc Ponty Jazz violin? You don’t normally associate the violin with jazz but when it comes to French artist Jean Luc Ponty it’s what he loves best. Read the story.

Least favorite composer Really?:Not many of us would consider writing an article about our favorite music from our leasst favorite composer. Read the story

Winter’s best 2012 winter: Lawrence Schenbeck covers the best releases in classical music over the winter and gives some great insight into classical music. Read the story.

Audit music The three C’s: Newest PS Tracks contributor Dan Gravell of Bliss starts a new series on how to manage your music library and the tools needed. Read the article

Paul’s Posts As always a lot of new controversy:The 4 steps to helping the high-end out of its slump, 3D Stereo and lots, lots more.  Fresh insights every morning. Give it a try

Snow fire
This month we had a big overnight snow and when I came out to scrape the car windows I keep hearing this “sizzling” sound – but didn’t pay much attention to it.  Then I smelled smoke and looked up.  My neighbor’s tree was on fire!  One of its branches was so heavy with snow it bent over and was touching the high tension wires below it and causing all kinds of havoc.

I shouted over to my neighbor, an electrical engineer,  “Hey, check it out.  Your tree’s on fire”!

“What?  Oh, wow, it’s shorting out to the high voltage.  Cool!”  Indeed, it was cool.

So now we have two electrical geeks standing around estimating the voltage on the line and how long the circuit would continue without tripping a breaker while the tree burns.  Then Terri came to see what the commotion was.

“Did you guys ever think to call the fire department?”

Uh, no.  It really never occurred to us to do anything other than be fascinated with the event.

Do we qualify for the true meaning of geeks?

The new website

Long overdue but finally here, we have a new website that we’re quite proud of.

The web design and site work has been going on in secret for the last three months and includes all new photography, layout, articles, features, forums, and ….. well, more than I can possibly write in these short pages.

In fact, so much new info is available that we produced a short article that walks you through all the details of the new site.  Getting around the new PS Site is worth the read if you have any questions at all.

I do want to hit some of the highlights of the new site in this newsletter because I think they are important.

Registering on the new site.  If you’re a PS owner or member on the old PS site, you need to head over and redo your registration.  NOT for your products, but for your login and control, warranty, forums, email options etc.

I am really sorry we have to ask everyone to do this but when we moved from the old site I learned that passwords used by our customers are not only private but completely encrypted – meaning we can move most but not all your personal info over to the new site.  This is why when you lose your password you’re sent a new temporary one.  In any case, trust me, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t necessary.

The good news is that if you have a product registered with us it’s still there and tied to your email address.  Just go to www.psaudio.com and register as if you were a new member and if you use the same email address as before, you’re in and golden.

My PS.  Once you’re logged in you can go to our new My PS section of the site.  Here is everything personal to you.  Your registered equipment, your preferences, email notifications and so on.

One cool thing we’ve launched with the new site is the option you can select to have us email you whenever there is an update or new software available for your equipment.  This saves you from having to scour the forums, ask questions or worry you don’t have the latest version of equipment.  We only email you if your registered products are involved.

This is also the area you now go to register or unregister your PS products.  We have another article that’s worth reading about the registration process and why it’s important and you cancheck that out here.

However, I will remind you that a standard PS Audio warranty for products that have not been registered is only 90 days.  To get the full 3 year warranty, you must register your product with us.  Once you fill out the registration form we will extend your warranty from 90 days to 3 years, so it’s important.

Resources.  This area is all new and has everything you might want to play around in.  This is where you connect onto our new Community Forums, there’s a Knowledge Base with years of accumulated high-end info for you, manuals, reviews, eLyric, Newsletters and Paul’s Posts.

So much more.  This is really a big deal for us and I hope you have a moment to grab a cup of coffee and spend some time on the new site.  if you have a chance, please drop me a note and let me know what you think.  I’d appreciate it.

PerfectWave Mark II DAC

Tomorrow, December 1st, thePerfectWave DAC will be officially updated from the original Mark I to the Mark II.  This is an exciting moment for us as the PWD has been one of the most popular DACS on the market for the last several years.

The PWD is, of course, the first DAC of its kind that has the ability to “go network” by simply inserting the Bridge in the back of the PWD.  Once you add the Bridge you can then turn the PWD into a no compromise music server that handles up to 192kHz 24 bits over the network.

But after two great years of service, our engineering department has upgraded the PWD’s performance significantly and it’s called the Mark II.

Mark II features.  The newsletter is too limited to list all the new features, so we’ve written a very comprehensive page on the new site and you can read in detail all the new killer features of the Mark II.

As you would expect, I’ll cover the highlights here in the newsletter but then you really need to head over and read the whole story – because it’s a biggie.

New digital processing board.  At the heart of the new Mark II is a completely redesigned digital processing board.  This board handles all the inputs, including the Bridge, and the changes here are simply stunning.

Built in Digital Lens.  Perhaps the most exciting for folks will be a new type of Digital Lens that you can switch on and off with the remote.  We call it NativeX on the touch screen display, but it’s a Lens that lowers jitter on any input and from any source without  the usual sonic degradation associated with a sample rate converter.  This feature has to be heard to be believed – it really opens up the soundstage and the separation between instruments in complex passages is really something to behold.

192kHz 24 bit asynchronous USB.  The PWD is a media DAC and that means you can use it as a music server without compromise or restriction in two ways: with our new reengineered USB input or through the network Bridge.  Both inputs can handle high resolution audio and produce stunningly beautiful audio.

11 new power supplies and analog switching.  We didn’t stop with features like the built in Digital lens and high speed USB.  To maximize the audio performance the new digital processing board has 11 new low noise precision regulated power supplies placed in critical areas around the board.  These power supplies really add image stability and eliminate any last vestige of tizziness on the top end.

We’ve also gone from industry standard digital signal routing with saturated logic gates to an all analog approach to the digital data stream.  This is really worth reading about if you get a chance – but the bottom line is you really get an almost uncanny analog sound out of the Mark II for any input or source you connect to it.  Stunning.

There’s so much more.  We’ve added a balance control, a new remote, a Critical Link fuse and new low jitter clocks just to name a few of the improvements.

Mark II DACS will start shipping next month, December 2011, and we’re really excited for you to audition one of these beauties.

The price for the Mark II is $3995 suggested retail here in the United States.  This is an incredible bargain for a DAC of this caliber.  I hope you have a chance to give it a spin.

Upgrading your PWD to a Mark II

So the big question many of you are asking is if we will hold to our promise of making an upgrade from a Mark I to a Mark II available.  I am delighted to report to you that indeed we will.  In fact, we’ve managed to build a kit you can purchase that will convert your PWD to 100% of the Mark II thereby enjoying not only all the sonic improvements, but maintaining the resale value of your investment in the PWD.

The process of upgrading is actually rather easy and described in great detail on the website here.  Basically, you (or your dealer) receives a kit that replaces the digital input board, updates your software and supplies a new remote control.  The process takes less than 1 hour, requires no soldering or skill and can be done at home or through your dealer.

The cost of the kit is the same as the difference in price between the Mark I and the Mark II, $995 complete.

The upgrade program will be handled in two phases: the early adopter phase and the standard.

The early adopter phase.  This is the first phase of the upgrade program and it’s going on right now.  We have a limited number of early adopter kits available directly from PS Audio at a significant discount.

This program runs through the end of December and then the standard upgrade program kicks in for the balance of 2012 at which time the upgrade program will end.

So, here’s the deal.  Early adopters can purchase the kit for $795 and we will ship the kit prepaid via FEDEX to any PWD owner anywhere in the world.  You’ll have great installation instructions, an online video to show you how to do it and support if you need.  Again, there’s detailed information available on the website here.

You purchase the kit now and this gets you the $200 savings and in line for receiving your kit which will ship to you in January 2012.  You install it yourself and bingo, you’ve got a full Mark II PWD ready to amaze you.

This program, while certainly a bargain, isn’t for everyone.  Some of you would be more comfortable having your dealer or distributor handle everything for you, including the installation.  We fully understand.

If you’re interested in taking advantage of the Mark II kit at the reduced price while they last, you can go here to order it.

The standard phase.  Beginning January 1, 2012, kits will be available through your dealer and distributor for $995 including installation (through most dealers).

This standard upgrade program will be carried forward throughout 2012 to make sure all PWD owners have the opportunity to upgrade to the new model.

This really is something you want to do.  If you own a PWD with or without the Bridge, the difference in performance on any of these inputs (including the Bridge) is just amazing.  Switch in the Native X Digital Lens and get an even better performance.

We’re delighted we can offer this upgrade to PWD owners and hope you take advantage of it.

If you’d like to order an Upgrade Kit and save $200, head over here and read all about it first.  Shipments begin in January 2012.

PS Tracks is now part of PS Audio

The very popular online magazine of music, opinions, news of the high-end and my daily posts has now joined the PS website. We’re very excited to have PS Tracks share the same home page as PS Audio and this month there’s plenty of great articles to read and learn about.

Stanley Clarke An introduction to a living legend:There aren’t too many living legends you can see in concerts, but Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is one of them.  Keith Copeland gives us the history, the lowdown and plenty of musical cuts to enjoy.  Read the story.

High-end in Hong Kong Only in HK can you find this: High-end in Hong Kong has always been at a fever pitch and reviewer and long time Hong Kong Audiophile Wing Cheung takes us on a great journey through the obssessed Audiophiles of Hong Kong. Read the  story.

Mystery composers Who is this mystery composer? Think you know the answer?  Well, riddle me this: why is he in Classical Corner?  Lawrence Schenbeck’s popular column on classical music has an interesting twist to it this month.  Read the story.

Passion in retail What’s missing in so many retailer outlets? Passion, it’s what we all seek and it’s what drives the interest in high-end audio yet strangely enough it seems to be missing in many retailers showrooms.  Read the article

Paul’s Posts There’s certainly been a lot of controversy:Paul’s Posts are sent to you daily – yeah, I know that sounds like a lot but they’re short, thought provoking and hopefully interesting.  They’re free and I think you’ll enjoy them – nearly 1000 people do.  Give it a try

]]> http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/7171/november-2011-ps-newsletter/feed/ 1 http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/5235/october-2011-ps-newsletter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=october-2011-ps-newsletter http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/5235/october-2011-ps-newsletter/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:21:00 +0000 Paul McGowan http://www.psaudio.com/?p=5235 Welcome to the October 2011 PS Audio Newsletter.  I just got back from a couple of relaxing days on the California coast and am ready to go back to work.  We have a great deal of news to go over that’s pretty important so with that brief intro out of the way, here [...]]]> Welcome to the October 2011 PS Audio Newsletter.  I just got back from a couple of relaxing days on the California coast and am ready to go back to work.  We have a great deal of news to go over that’s pretty important so with that brief intro out of the way, here we go.

This month’s news flashes are big: December’s price increase, the trade-up opportunity is back, a link to a great PerfectWave review, gapless update, a reminder about your product warranty and lots of new articles on PS Tracks to read.  Since there’s plenty to go through, let’s jump in and get started.

December 1, 2011
On this day we will be raising prices on all PerfectWave products worldwide, including the PerfectWave P5, P10, PWD and PWT.

The price increases are a result of higher commodity prices for raw materials, increased production costs here in Boulder and ongoing research, development and engineering efforts we’ve been pouring into the products.

I am not yet prepared to give you all details about this price increase and how each piece is affected.  We have been planning on this for some time now, but details and conversations with our dealers and suppliers are ongoing – probably right up to the last moment.

What I can tell you is that it won’t be extreme – it’ll be what we need to ask to cover the cost of building these state of the art products here in Boulder.  I can also tell you that our products have always been a bit undervalued and I believe, an excellent value for what we ask for them.  This will not be changing.  We understand that our market position is that of a high-end, high-value, high-technology company and certainly we would never do anything to change that formula.  It works and it’s who we are.

In next month’s Newsletter I’ll lay out the entire plan with full details for all our Newsletter readers and it’ll include a few surprises that I think you’ll be thrilled with.  Everyone at PS has rolled up their sleeves and are putting the extra hours in to make sure everything goes without a hitch.  Thanks for the understanding and support.

The trade-up program returns!
We have also announced as of Monday, the 24th of October, the trade-up program for PerfectWave products is back for a limited time.  So this means it’s on right now and available worldwide.   Yup, this is one of our most popular programs where we make it easy for you to get a new PerfectWave by buying back what’s in your system now.

From October 24th through the end of November, you can trade in your older PS products towards the purchase of a new PerfectWave Power Plant, DAC or Transport and save big.

Here’s the deal.  Pick up the phone and call your favorite PS dealer and ask about the trade-up program.   Your dealer will buy back your PS products and let you apply the repurchase price towards any PerfectWave you want.  You can even trade-back multiple PS products (if they’re on the list below) to get the new PerfectWave you’ve always wanted.

Here’s what your dealer is offering to buy back from you (in US dollars – other countries have adjusted prices for currency differences):

Product                        Product Credit
Premier:                       $1000.00
Quintet:                        $250.00
Duet:                             $150.00
Juice Bar:                     $150.00
DL3:                              $600.00

Imagine, getting one of these beauties for your system at trade-up pricing before the December 1st price increase.

If you need help finding your nearest PS Dealer, call us toll free at 866.406.8946 in the United States, 720.406.8946 if from Canada and if you’re outside the US, drop us an email for the name and location of your closest dealer.  We’ll be happy to help put a PerfectWave in your hands.

Certainly if you want to beat the upcoming price increase AND take advantage of this trade-up offer – there’s no better time than right now when we have some stock.

The most significant improvement of any audio component
I just got through reading John Sciacca’s great review of the PerfectWave network music system in Sound and Vision magazine and it’s one of the better reviews of a product I’ve read in quite awhile.  I will certainly admit that the fact he gushes over the product doesn’t hurt but there’s really a lot of great info in this review and well worth a read.

“In past listening sessions, I’ve found differences between DACs to generally be subtle. That was absolutely not the case this time. From the first second, it was totally clear that PS Audio’s DAC was performing nothing short of sonic magic. In fact, the PerfectWave DAC had the most profound impact of any audio component I have ever auditioned. It was as if someone had wiped away years of grime and build-up from the sound, taking each note and shining it up to a factory-fresh sparkle, or that my entire audio system had been upgraded instead of just the single component.

It didn’t matter what I threw at the PerfectWave system. Jazz, pop, rock, classical, blues: Everything sounded like I was hearing a special, newly remastered copy of the CD. Each note had a much more tangible presence. I could follow its decay in a way that seemed like I was hearing a completely different version of the recording.”

You can read the entire review here and certainly share this review with everyone you know.

Gapless update
For those PerfectWave Bridge owners waiting ever so patiently for us to finish gapless here’s a quick update.

We have about 10 beta testers currently testing a new version of both eLyric Music Manager and Bridge firmware that supports gapless play.  Our testing here is very positive but we need to get others in the field to test this new software before releasing it to all of you.

I suspect that sometime in November, given that all goes well, we’ll be in a position to release new software and firmware so all can enjoy gapless play on their Bridges and PerfectWave DACS.  Now that’s some excitement!

A reminder about our warranty
There seems to be a fair number of questions about PS Audio’s warranty policy.  Let me try and get everyone up to speed on how this worksand why it exists.

Standard from the factory we offer a 90 day warranty for all new PS Audio equipment.  If you want to get our extended warranty that provides a full 3 years of coverage, it’s free and easy to get, but you must register your product with us to receive it.  You can read the policy here: http://www.psaudio.com/ps/warranty/

Clearly we place a lot of value on registering your products and we do this for a few reasons: the ability to let owners know when there are updates or issues, a way for us to ensure second owners of products that they too can enjoy the remainder of the warranty period without a hassle and to try and help us lower the black market and counterfeit products that have been cropping up.  After all, it’s important that your PS product is genuine and fully supported by us.

Once you receive your new (or second hand) PS product, you can easily register online by going here: http://www.psaudio.com/ps/register/

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to email us or call and we’ll get you handled.

New to read in PS Tracks
Here are the highlights of what’s new in PS Tracks Magazine.  Since we’re a little early in sending out the October Newsletter, not all the authors have finished adding their contributions so check back when you can for more articles.

Gone too soon Clifford Brown was one of the best trumpet players ever: Keith Copeland details the music and the life of Jazz Trumpeter Clifford Brown in this great article.  Hear and see what Clifford Brown was all about in our continuing series on Jazz greats from around the world.  Read the story.

The new consumers The very first to be born in the digital age: Though the time has not yet come to squirrel away our audiophile recordings, if we take the time to understand the younger generation of potential Audiophiles we will weather the siege and the high-end survives.  Read the  story.

No Band Aids Band Aids for your system? Brad gives us a great story about his recent visit to a high-end dealer demonstrating a Power Plant and while somewhat self-serving, this article none-the-less shows the problem of putting lipstick on pigs and includes a link to a consumer review worth reading.  Read the story.

Fall record roundup Great music for the fall: Lawrence Shenbeck reviews new high-end classical recordings to add to your collection of classical music.  Come over and check out his fall suggestions which includes examples of the music, hand selected for you to audition.  Read the story

Paul’s Posts Daily insights into the high-end: Last month: powered speakers, how you know it’s real, the Vector DAC, scrappy companies, why millimeters matter, the problem with Netflix, keeping an open mind, the Sweet Spot, the problem with high-end audio dealers and 20 more.  Sign up, it’s free.

Here in Colorado we’re having a wonderfully warm fall and the leaves are trying to figure out when it’s ok to change color; so warm the weather’s been.  But we’re loving it!   I am hoping summer never goes away, but that’s probably not going to happen.

In this issue
We cover a lot of ground including: testing gapless on the PerfectWave DAC, new version of eLyric released, P5 and P10 Power Plant shootouts, Power Plants are finally in stock, a peek at our setup in the Milan high-end show, a new support help desk and what’s new over at PS Tracks Magazine.  Come on in.

Testing gapless

The PerfectWave DAC and Bridge never had the ability to play gapless albums, but now we’re very close to releasing new software versions that adds that (finally).

This is welcome news to all of you waiting for this feature.  The ability to play gapless on the bridge is going to be accomplished through changes to eLyric server, our free music management server program that quietly runs in the background on your computer.

eLyric server beta testing is going on now and if you download the latest version of eLyric by going here: www.elyric.com or update your existing version of the program, you can try it out.  In this beta version you will need to go to the tag editor (right click an album) and check “gapless” for each album for this to work.  Future versions will have this handled automatically.

There’s certainly more work to be done that will include a Bridge software update sometime next month that should finish it.  But we’re close and hopefully that’s welcome news for PWD Bridge owners who will be able to enjoy gapless soon enough.

One feature you have been asking us to add to eLyric is a player/controller so you don’t have to have a mobile device (like an iPod) to run your system.  We will endeavor to add this in 2011 and make eLyric work with USB audio-only DACS as well.  Stay tuned.

Lastly, I just received this note from customer Larry Adams and had to share.

“Kudos on the Perfect Wave DAC with Bridge.  Again.  My wife LeAnn just paid you/PS Audio the compliment that you have hoped for. I hooked the balanced outs to our McIntosh 501 amps directly and she said, “That sounds damn good!”  LeAnn does not swear and it will never get stronger than that.  High praise.

I knew our big stereo sounded good, but stepping around the McIntosh preamp, and it is a good preamp, really made the sound wonderful.  Much cleaner with better imaging.  There are some other audio magazine superlatives, but that comment from LeAnn pretty will summed it up.”

eLyric iPad versionThe first few versions of eLyric for the iPad were, unfortunately, pretty buggy and we apologize for this and wanted you to know it is now fixed.

If you have an iPad version of eLyric Controller, be sure and get the free update through iTunes or just go to the app store on your iPad and update right from the iPad itself.  The new version is a lot more stable and an enjoyable user experience.

P5 and P10 shootoutsI don’t think there’s any arguments that a P5 or P10 Power Plant blows away any Power Plant we’ve ever built.

The new P5 and P10 are simply stunning in their abilities to restore the missing magic in your system.  Connect them up, power everything in the system, and all you’ve been missing is back; restored in all its wonder and glory.  Heck, until you connect your setup to a new Power Plant, you probably had no idea what was missing until you hear it returned!

Several customers have been on the fence: both between the PPP as well as between the P5 and the P10.  Maybe the following snippets will help you make your decision as well.

“You can uncross your fingers.  After a couple of days with the P5, I can hear what all the fuss is about. I don’t know what black magic you have wrought with this unit, but the cost of the upgrade over the PPP was well worth it.

My system is CD/SACD based and the improvement in clarity alone is remarkable. BRAVO.”

“Your findings are similar to mine when I decided to take advantage of the trade in offer to replace my PPP with the P5 shortly after if was released.

I too was skeptical but my buddy Odd convinced to to try one. After just one day in my system there was no looking back.   A no brainer.”

“I auditioned the P5 vs P10 at Tivoli hi fi today in their purpose built non audiophile room. The comparison lasted about 14 seconds and I told James to pack it up so I handed him the cash.  Enough said.”

“In my A/V system the PPP could not handle the extra power requirements of my large AV receiver in addition to my 60 inch Pioneer Kuro Plasma TV, Bluray player, and TiVo HD DVR while the P5 handles all with ease. The PPP would quit generating power when I connected it up to my receiver unlike the P5 which handles everything with ease.”

“The P10 is by far the single biggest expense in my system…notice how I did not use the term investment…..but since it drives my entire two channel and home theater requirements it does soften the economic blow somewhat.

I also see the whole power issue as a fundamental one akin to building a house on solid foundation vs constantly moving soil e.g. fluctuating power with high distortion.”

Power Plants finally in stock

After nearly 8 months of backorder, the P5 and P10 are in stock and ready to ship out.  Thanks to all for your patience.

These are the best sounding, most powerful, reliable and certainly the best looking Power Plants we’ve ever made in the 15 years we’ve been building these AC regenerators.

As the one poster suggested, AC power is the foundation of your system.  Get it solid, get it right.  Power Plants do just that and they allow you to take full control of your power: measure what’s going on with the built in oscilloscope and THD analyzer, manage the entire system over any web browser.

Power Plants restore all the magic that’s been missing from your system.

Milan high-end show

Our good friends Marja and Henk from 6 Moons attended the big Top Audio show in Milan Italy a few weeks ago and grabbed a great shot of the PerfectWave Memory Player in action (you can see it on the floor).  Check out this setup!

The horns are single German AES driver based, made of a sandwiched fiberglass with damping material in between and hand polished to perfection. Height is 220 cm, mouth is 100 cm wide and total depth is 90 cm totaling in 72 kilos. Frequency response is 41Hz – 22KHz (+/-0 dB!) and the costs are 24,000 euro.

In the pix the left speaker has a frill over the driver while the right is in the skin…

New support help desk system

Just a quick note that we have installed a custom built support help desk system to make things both easier for you to communicate with us 24/7 and to keep track of everything that happens in any support case.

Soon the system will expand to show you tracking and status info on your repairs.

For now, if you have questions or problems simply email us at customerservice@psaudio.com and your email is converted automatically into a support ticket and someone will get right back to you.

Lots of new articles

PS Tracks, our online magazine of high-end audio and music has lots of new content this month as well as Paul’s Posts, my daily email about the high-end that really seems to be gaining a lot of traction lately.  Thanks for the support.

When I started Paul’s Posts we had only a handful of daring souls that signed up to see what in the heck I could possibly write about each and every day.  I mean, every day?

But since those first few posts more than 500 people have signed up and seem to be engaged and enjoying the dialog.  If you want setup tips, advice and something interesting about high-end audio sent to you each morning, this just might be for you.  It’s free and I would encourage you to give it a try.  If we’re not connecting, simply unsubscribe.

Here’s what’s new in our magazine below, plus the link to paul’s Posts and thanks for reading!

Paul McGowan

Tune up with Pink Floyd? You may have an amazing system and not know it: Many Home Theater systems actually could be classified as a world class multi-channel music system and yet the owners of these systems may not even know it, or even tried true multi-channel music before.  Joe Adams takes us to another level with any home theater system and shows us how to get multi-channel audio to work.  Read the story.

Woodstock a fresh perspective Here’s a very different view of the music: ”A band that should have hit it out of the park, just stunk the joint up. They were appallingly bad.”  They were, of course, the Grateful Dead.  Charles Albert writes a fascinating appraisal of the most famous rock and roll event of our lifetimes and we get an insider’s view of the documentary film and the players that made it all happen.  Read the  story.

Keep your hearing A new study tells us how: As we age our hearing starts to go away and get worse – problem is, that trend is permanent.  A new study tells you how to stop that process, retain your hearing and be healthier in the process.  It’s a good read and one that just may save your hearing.  Read the story. Jazz for TV? You bet: Jazz is cool and some of the best known jazz tracks were those themes written for TV.  Remember Lalo Schifrin and Dave Grusin?  Sure you do.  Keith Copeland delves into the world of jazz classics written for TV and film and you get to enjoy the videos and the music they made.  Read the story.

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (1860–1911): a certifiable tortured soul, largely dismissed as a composer in his own time, somehow became an indispensable part of twentieth-century concert life by the time the century was over. How could that have happened? Simple: he was one of us.  Read the story Saving pop music Is it worth saving?: Our window into what younger music lovers are listening to is from Aaron Berger’s column and he has some strong views:  ”Pop music is beginning to benefit from a resurgence of creativity that is intelligent, colorful, and rebellious”.  Who cares?  You should. Read the story.

Getting all you can Get everything and pay nothing: Isn’t that what we all hope for?  Part III of our series on maximizing your system without spending money puts the finishing touches on your 2-channel audio setup and helps you understand how to make it sing.  This is the final in the series.  Read the story Paul’s Posts Daily insights into the high-end: Over 500 people receive Paul’s Posts each morning.  I write about everything high-end: the gear, the people, the history, the music, the experience and the fun.  It’s easy to read and easy to cancel if we’re not connecting.  It’s free, and I’d be honored if you gave it a try.  Sign up, it’s free.

]]> http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/2613/september-2011-newsletter/feed/ 1 http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/4980/august-2011-ps-audio-newsletter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=august-2011-ps-audio-newsletter http://www.psaudio.com/blog/newsletters/4980/august-2011-ps-audio-newsletter/#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:58:18 +0000 Paul McGowan http://www.psaudio.com/?p=4980  

Welcome to the August 2011 PS Newsletter!  In this edition we include:

 

Welcome to the August 2011 PS Newsletter!  In this edition we include:

• Year end wrap
• P5 and P10 production
• The upcoming CEDIA
• Golden Ear award
• PWT review
• What is an Audiophile?
• Quest for the objective ear
• Why simple is better
• Call for audio writers
• What is Jazz?
• What makes rock “classic”?
• Guess the composer
• Paul’s posts.

There’s lots for everyone, let’s jump right in.

Year end wrap

Most companies end their financial year on December 31st to coincide with the calendar.  True to form, PS Audio is different.  Our year ends on August 31st.

I am delighted to report this is one of the very best years in recent PS Audio history.

Production levels out of our Boulder facility hit an all time high, our P5 and P10 Power Plant backorder is finally completed (that doesn’t mean we have stock, but we’re getting closer), our new Director of Operations (Greg Hoath) has completely revamped our supply chain and production facilities to improve output and assembly reliability and we’re finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel from our transition to products Built in Boulder.

Our last days of the month find us bursting out of the warehouse and into the parking lot with boxes full of product.

The FEDEX guys have to bring multiple trucks nearly every day of the last week and I am betting they draw straws to see who’s unlucky enough to go to PS Audio on P10 ship days.  These 80 pound beasts are no fun to put into the back of the truck.

Thanks to all our customers, dealers, distributors and staff for a great year and we’re excited to go into the new fiscal year on September 1st.

CEDIA 2011

This year the CEDIA show is back in Indianapolis on the 8th through the 10th and we’ll be displaying in booth 611 (across from Monster Cable).   New on display will be the Silent Server, running a PerfectWave networked setup, powered by Prima Luna electronics driving Thiel loudspeakers.

We’ll even have a video demonstration of how much the P10 Power Plant improves the video picture.  We bought two identical 42” Sony LCD high def panels and are sitting them side-by-side.  One’s powered with a P10 Power Plant and the other the wall voltage.  We haven’t found anyone yet that fails to see the difference in the two screens immediately.

CEDIA is an industry only show, but if you’re there, please come by and say hello.

PerfectWave Golden Ear award

The Absolute Sound Magazine (TAS) chose the PerfectWave DAC, Bridge and transport to receive the prestigious 2011 Golden Ear Award.  We are very honored.

“This combination may not equal a handful of units that cost far, far more (like the Meinter XDS1 or the Meridian 808 Signature), but comes so close that differences are as much matters of taste as of the finest nuances of sonic detail. The sound is extraordinarily live and detailed,  and capable of getting the best bass response out of digital. The PS gear is detailed without any hardness or edge that is not on the recording.

A “must-hear” unit if you are trying to scale the heights of digital—particularly if you are not operating on an unlimited budget. It is in the process of becoming a full music server with its own music-management system, and it can handle even the highest sampling and frequency rates with ease—making it one of the few buys with full growth potential for the future. (Review pending)”

PWT Review

Jason Serinus of Secrets for Home Theater and High Fidelity magazine finished a nearly year long study of the PerfectWave Transport and published it for everyone to enjoy.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cd-players/1347-ps-audio-perfectwave-disc-transport.html

“Well over a year later, the PS Audio remains my reference transport.  Buying it wasn’t simply a matter of convenience or industry discount;  the Perfect Wave Transport sounds so much better than my old Carmen II Transport (which I’ll happily sell to anyone who needs the parts), and is far more geared to 21st century technologies, that it has ushered in an entirely new era of music listening at Casa Bellecci-Serinus.”

Thanks Jason!

I really wish we had more room to bring everyone up to date on all the progress we’re making on our streaming music server, eLyric,  the Silent Server, gapless, transcoding but we tend to put people to sleep if the newsletter gets too long.  There’s plenty of activity on the forums you can catch up on whenever you wish.  Rest assured,  progress is being made daily.

Let’s move on to the the lead stories at PS Tracks because this month’s packed.

 

What is an Audiophile?

We’ve been called the lunatic fringe and stereo nuts: You have to ask yourself “at what point did it become controversial to listen to good sound?”  Industry estimates suggest there are 80,000,000 “audio enthusiasts” so, just what defines them as “audio enthusiasts”?   Cookie Marenco dives right into this controversial subject to define the question and we need your help to discover the answers.  Read the story.

 

 

 

The quest for the objective ear

A view from a much younger generation: “My poor generation came into the world upon a sharp incline at the bottom of which lay Zappa’s valley girl dungeon.”  If people the world over can find faith in that which they cannot taste, smell, or hear, why can’t we believe in the thoroughly subjective musical experience? Aaron Berger gives us a unique perspective to consider.  Read the  story.

 

 

Why simple is better

24 dB phase perfect crossovers?: Our own Brad Paulson gives food for thought about why simple loudspeaker crossovers almost always sound better than the “technically better” steep slopes that are all the rage today.  This is a really informative read with nothing held back.  Read the story.

 

What makes rock classic?

What makes it a classic?: Charles Albert drops into our new Rock Corner section to tell us his opinion.  Featured in this great article is Jethro Tull’s Aqualung, and we include a live video of Ian Anderson and the gang on stage.  This is a column worth supporting.  Read the story.

 

Call for audio writers

Help our community by sharing what you know: We asked for music writers and the results were amazing.  Now we ask for you to tell us about your system and what makes it worth listening to.  Email me  because it’s time to get off the couch and give it a try.  I’d appreciate it.

 

Guess the composers

Are you up on your classical music?: We present three mystery composers and give you their information, plus samples of their music.  Then, try and guess their identities.  If not, we tell you at the end of the article.  Classical Corner is the premier classical music column going today.  Read the story.

 

What is Jazz?

A great American artform, to be sure: but what do you really know about its origins?  Writer Keith Copeland starts his new series that explores one of the best musical genres we have, Jazz.  Read about Dixieland, swing, European influences and we include plenty of music and video to help along the way.  Read the story

 

 

 

Paul’s Posts

Daily insights into the high-end: Over 300 people have chosen to receive Paul’s Posts each morning.  I write about everything high-end: the gear, the people, the history, the music, the experience and the fun.  It’s easy to read and easy to leave if we aren’t connecting.  It’s free, and I’d be honored if you gave it a try.  Sign up, it’s free.

     

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