I just tried to add a library to elyric. The library is on a NAS (Western digital Live Book). But elyric refuses to add? Isn’t it possible to add a library which is stored on a NAS?

Thanks for help

Bertuccio

It took David Niven and Cantinflas 80 days to go around the world but I was able to manage considerably less time than they – and yes, I did [...]]]>

• Around the world in 24 days
• The Dectet Power Center
• The Elegant Music Garden
• Trade up is almost over
• Lots of music on PS Tracks

It took David Niven and Cantinflas 80 days to go around the world but I was able to manage considerably less time than they – and yes, I did get to ride an elephant as well as a camel!

Our trip started in Japan where we attended the high-end audio show giving multiple demonstrations of the PS Power Plants andDAC plus a number of interviews with the Japanese high-end press.  It was a blast.

We next travelled to Hong Kong to spend time with our dear friend Michael Wong who is our distributor and he, in turn, got us in to see what has to be the coolest high-end audio showroom I have ever seen in the 40 years I’ve been making audio equipment.  More on that in this newsletter.

Then it was on to India – a country I have never been and one I have longed to visit.  We were met by our good friends Burge Cooper and Sanjiv Chona who are our distributors in India and have a stunning multi-story showroom – Perhaps the finest I have ever seen had we not previously visited the one in China I am going to tell you about.

India was simply amazing and I find I’ll never be quite the same after spending a week seeing the country and experiencing the culture and the people.

Our best experience in India was visiting one of the oldest cities in the world, Varanasi a revered city where the Ganges river runs past and where it said every Indian must visit before they pass on.  We took a little boat down the river and joined what had to be 10,000 people who gathered that evening for the “Ceremony”.  

The Ceremony consisted of 7 Hindu monks standing on a platform on the river’s edge waving smoke filled incense containers in a complex and choreographed ritual that was perhaps the most stunning group dynamic I have ever been a part of.

The weather was roasting hot – perhaps 105 with 80% humidity – and the crowd was absolutely transfixed on the evening’s events and engaged in ringing bells and gongs while some live music was performed on an accordion and broadcast via an antiquated PA system.  I don’t know that I have ever heard anything like it and the swell of energy from all the activity will live in my memory forever.

It was then on to Spain for a few days of R and R and back home where shortly after arriving in Colorado I am sorry to say much of our beloved state is on fire!

Aside from the fires it’s sure good to be back home and thank you to all our Community Leaders on the forums that helped out in my absence.

The Dectet Power Center
Yeah I know everyone and his brother has given me grief about the name but I am sticking with it.  Heck, it’s a musical term denoting ten players in a group – in the same way that our Quintet Power Center was 5 musicians and our Duet Power Center was 2.

This is a product I am extremely excited about.  A perfect entry level power product built and engineered here in Boulder – and for once it doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re in because everyone gets 10 outlets!!  For those of you in the States that are unfamiliar with the issue I am referring to, our older export Power Centers had only enough real estate to support 1/2 the number of outlets as our customers in the US and now we’ve designed the new Dectet so every country gets as many outlets as they need.

So what is a Power Center and why would you want one?  Simple: if you don’t have a Power Plant this becomes your primary power center that cleans your AC, protects your equipment and improves the performance of your audio and video setup.  You basically plug everything in your system into the Dectet, sit back and enjoy.

The Dectet is the next generation Power Center following a long line of successes like the Ultimate Outlet, the UPC, the Quintet and the Duet. What’s different between these past generations of Power Centers?  Performance.  With the Dectet we were able to start with a clean slate design and rethink the whole genre of the Power Center concept.  Our goals were all about performance and taking advantage of the skilled labor we enjoy here in Boulder.

The first order of business on this redesign was to increase the size of the internal magnetics we use for filtering the AC.  In the past we’ve relied on smaller cores with fewer turns of wire but in this generation we returned to the big cores and heavier wire gauges we used so effectively in the older Ultimate Outlet and UPC products.  Big cores and heavier wire produce a robustness to the sound of connected equipment that is remarkable and, well, big.

The second order was the construction itself.  In the older designs we relied upon parallel bus bars to deliver the power to each outlet which worked well from a number of areas but had one weakness: isolation between connected gear.  Our listening evaluations have shown that properly executed individual star wiring is really a better way to go and thus each zone has its own wiring path back to the source.  The improvements we hear of isolation and separation between connected equipment really sealed this for us and the sound quality, coupled with the wonderful skill of our Boulder workforce clinched the decision to go with star wiring throughout.

We also wanted to go back to the original Power Port style for the US market.  We were unable to use these separate hand wired outlets in our prior designs because of our need to PC mount as many components as we could to keep production levels high and costs low.  Now that we’ve redesigned everything we’re able to hand wire all the outlets using Power Ports in the US.

For protection we kept the successful system of surge, spike and over/under voltage of the Quintet series and simply integrated them into the new Dectet.

The final step was to design a new chassis look that more closely matches the PerfectWave style and here I think our industrial design folks did a terrific job.  It really is a beautiful piece and one you would be proud to own.  It’s very much a mini component rather than the power strip that the Quintet and Duet were.

Cost on the new Dectet is just $499 and we start shipping in a couple of weeks.  So if a Power Plant isn’t in the cards for you, consider the new Dectet Power Center.  Contact us or your dealer for details.  We’ll get something up on the website as soon as we can.

The Elegant Music Garden
OK, this place is nuts.  Just simply over the top in every way shape and form.  I was blown away at what we were shown.

Located in Guangzhou China which we got to by train from Hong Kong, this stunning testament to high-end audio has to be seen to be believed.

The owner Mr. Ye Hai Feng has, along with our good friend Leo Fung, created a masterpiece.

There are 12 listening rooms, each designed by Leo specifically to accommodate the system inside and they sound wonderful.  Then there’s the 200 seat auditorium and live recording facilities where groups come to play and be recorded as well as Audiophiles who come to either be part of the audience or attend seminars by manufacturers and musicians alike.

And what kind of equipment do they display?  Basically if you’ve heard of it they seem to have it – and most all of the rooms are powered by PS Audio P10 Power Plants.

I just have never seen or been a part of anything on this scale and majesty.  Original art hangs on the walls, the place is outfitted like nothing I’ve ever seen.  No stone or design idea has gone unattended to.  It really is something extraordinary and should you have an opportunity to visit Guangzhou China this should be your first stop.  Really.  It’s amazing.

And after spending time in this amazing showroom we then went to India where our distributor, Audio Visions, has what has to be the second best showroom I have ever seen.  Located in Bombay, which is supposed to be called Mumbai now but we learned the locals don’t appreciate the new name at all, this multi-story building houses some really beautiful and well executed listening rooms.

In particular, the main listening room features a pair of B and W “snails” – which officially are called theNautilus.  This is a speaker I have never heard before and never paid a lot of attention to since it looks pretty whacky and certainly isn’t something that suits my personal tastes for looks (not to mention it costs a small fortune).  I am sure George Cardas would love the look!

I must say that after having lived with this speaker for a day – driven by a PerfectWave DAC and Bridge, powered with the mighty P10 and a whole slew of Jeff Rowland amps (one channel for each driver), I am impressed.  It’s a fine loudspeaker and my only complaint is the narrow sweet spot the speaker provides – but within that sweet spot it’s pretty great alright.

Trade up is almost over
Last month’s newsletter announced the beginning of our one month trade up sale which is scheduled to end this Saturday.

The deal is simple: if you want to trade up to a P3, P5 or P10 Power Plant, we’ll purchase your older piece for $1000 and you can apply that money towards the purchase of a new unit.

It doesn’t matter the condition or brand of your older conditioner, just that you trade it in and go for a new one.

This is the last chance to take advantage of this offer so if you’re interested, get on the phone, email or visit your dealer soon.  $1K off the price is a really strong deal so if you’ve ever wanted to enjoy the benefits of pure regenerated power, there’s perhaps no better time than right now – certainly before the weekend when it’s over.

Lots of music on PS Tracks

5 essential tools Get it right: Ripping, tagging, cataloging and getting your digital music library right is an essential task.  Here’s how. Read the story.

Dapp theory Jazz fusion: Keyboardist Andy Milne leads a unique and wonderful jazz fusion group that you’ll want to learn all about. Read the story

Brahms remix Get the real story: The orchestral output of Johannes Brahms includes just four symphonies, but those four rank among the best of the repertoire. Read the story.

New old New old stock: The best new classical music being written today isn’t all that new and it isn’t all that classical. Read the story

Paul’s Posts As always a lot of new controversy: Why your audio system can’t get you as close to live as you want.  Fresh insights daily. Give it a try

First let me mention that if you’ve [...]]]>

May’s turning out to be a busy month for me so I thought I’d make the newsletter just a “short” note instead of my usual novel sized one.

First let me mention that if you’ve ever wanted another chance to trade your Power Plant Premier in for a brand newPerfectWave Power Plant, the time is now and details are below.

Yikes and zounds!

The first thing that’s been occupying my time is my decision to write a mini series on the difference between tubes and transistors in the Paul’s Posts series.

You can read them here or sign up to get it mailed to you every morning instead.  Just click one of the links.  That’s a subject worth reading about and we started out with the Audion, the first tube, went to how crystals turned into transistors, the major differences between the two, how they work, how they differ sonically and lots of controversial stuff as well (go figure).

The subject is, of course, biting off a big chunk of time and on top of all that I am leaving on a three and a half week around the world trip starting tomorrow and getting ready has been, well, challenging.

Terri won’t let me out the door to catch my plane without some new duds and shoes (ugh), I am trying to cram a music server, computer, iPad, router, camera equipment and clothing into two carry on size luggage pieces and then all the normal day-to-day stuff I have to get handled in order to make this work – it’s all been an ordeal.

I am really looking forward to this trip as my first stop is in Japan for the Tokyo International Audio Show this weekend.  If you happen to be in Tokyo at the end of this week I’ll be presenting a few times in our room as well cruising through the convention center hall seeing what’s new.  Please come by and say hello if you’re in the neighborhood.  Japan’s always one of my favorite places to visit – especially to enjoy their cuisine and people.

Next stop is Hong Kong and there I’ll be hanging out at our dealer Radar Audio as well going to Guangzhou on the mainland to check out what’s reported to be the finest high-end showroom in the world.  We’ll see.  I have been told there’s some sort of auditorium I’ll be speaking in to a lot of folks – I don’t have a clue actually as I just go where they point me.  Again, if you’re in the area, please stop by as I’ll be there next week.

Then it’s on to India for a visit to Audiovision to see their amazing new showroom.  I’ve seen pictures of this palace of sound, courtesy of our good friends Burge and Sanjiv, and I am excited to see and hear it all in person.  We’ll arrive in Mumbai at the end of next week – and I would be happy to meet any of you if you want to chat.  Terri and my son Sean are meeting up with me later in the week so we can do a bit of exploring before heading back home.  I have every intention of riding an elephant while in India, even if it kills me.

If you want to chat or have questions for me (like why I’d want to ride an elephant), it’d be my pleasure to meet you.  Please just check with your country’s PS dealer and they can give you exact dates.  Hope to see you!

The trade-up deal is back!

Owning a Power Plant provides the ultimate performance benefits for any system.  Clean, pure, low impedance, high current and regulated AC is essential if you’re going to get everything you expect out of the system.  Power Plants get you closer to the music in ways nothing else possibly can or does.

Power Plants are not power conditioners, filters or Band Aids, they’re honest to goodness personal AC generators right in your home.  If you’d like a 3 minute video of what they do and how they work, head herehttp://youtu.be/XaRuFeEYTWQ

If you already own a Power Plant Premier, upgrading to a new PerfectWave can be extremely rewarding – so great is the improvement between the Premier and the PerfectWave.  So it is with great pleasure that I announce the return of our trade-up program.

Now, through the end of June, you have a terrific opportunity to upgrade your Power Plant Premier to any PerfectWave Power Plant and save a bundle.

Here’s how it works: bring in your Power Plant Premier and we’ll buy it back from you for $1,000 so you can apply it towards the purchase of a P3, P5 or P10 PerfectWave Power Plant Premier.  That’s a great deal.

Take, for example, the new P3 Power Plant which retails for $2,495.  Bring in your PPP and you can walk out the door with a new P3 for $1,495!  The last time we offered this deal was over a year ago when the new PerfectWave Power Plants were just released and it hasn’t been back since.

One of our new Power Plant owners, Jack Foley, sent me a kind note about his new P5 that really sums up the excitement of a new Power Plant nicely.

“Hi Paul

Just took home and set up the P5, yesterday. I have NEVER heard my Vandersteen 5 speakers EVER sound as articulate, dimensional, deep and delicate as I did when I powered up the P5 and played some music. Every kind of music was affected: Janis Joplin, The Beatles, Bill Evans, Telemann, Peter Green, My Morning Jacket, Danny O’Keefe, Beach House, The Band, Van Morrison, Tom Rush, Chris Smither, Dan Hicks, The Doors, Mark Knopfleretc etc. It just didn’t matter what the musical genre was, the results all around were astounding.

I heard things in some of these recordings, which I have been listening to for years (decades), that I NEVER heard before. Robbie Krieger’s guitar work in Soft Parade was surprising in that I never heard him play picked and strummed details to compliment Ray Manzarek’s jazzy organ performance in the song. Rider’s on the Storm was new in its sound, elegant and even more eerie—Jim Morrison’s voice was awesome. The delicacy of the Neil Young’s acoustic guitar in his anthology collection was in-the-room aural fidelity. The bass in Tom Rush’s Driving Wheel was rich and smooth and the two gentle guitars were magnificent. The crazy vocals and back up instruments in Dan Hick’s Sweetheart was like having the diva singing in the room too and all the instruments spoke clearly and individually, no smeared, blurry mess. Amazing fidelity and richness in all instrument presentation.  At one point in my listening session if found myself looking around for a phone which was a new sound coming out of a Chris Smither song I was very familiar with. The other amazing element is the gentleness of the sound that balances so beautifully with the rich deeper bass playing. And vocals are delicate, distinct and real and very nuanced.

I am profoundly amazed by the Power Plant. It has given me a new system, in a way. Without a doubt, my system is so improved aurally that it is not the same one I have been listening to over time. I am totally grateful to Ken Gould at Audio Nexus for making the call to me to spend the best money I have spent on my entire system. The P5 has actualized my entire systems unused, unheard potential and fully realized my speakers’ capabilities which are greater than I ever could have imagined—and they were impressive in the past.

You are too humble about broadcasting the P5’s excellence. Every high end system owner should, must, own this component otherwise they are missing out on the true capabilities of their listening experience and their investment.

Jack”

It ends in a matter of weeks

The onset of summer has always been a great time for folks to get a great price on equipment and this summer’s no different.  The trade up program will run through the end of June and is available through most participating PS dealers.

I don’t know that there will be another chance to upgrade from a Premier to a PerfectWave but the opportunity is here, right now and I would encourage you to consider it if you want.

If you have any questions give us a call or if you simply need the name and address of your closest dealer, we’re here to help.  866.406.8946 in the States and 720.406.8946 outside the US and Canada or simply email ussales@psaudio.com and we’ll get you handled.

You’re also welcome to email me, I just might be a bit flakey hopping from the show to the hotel to a plane but I’ll do my best for you as always.

Look for a new eLyric

We’re beta testing the new version of eLyric, 29.15, as I write this.  This is the latest version I wrote about last newsletter that is complete with a controller and you can use it to both control your Bridge, play music on any USB DAC (like the PerfectWave DAC MKII or the Digital Link III) and, of course manage all your tunes in high-end fashion.

We’ll update everyone late this week or early next as the beta testing’s going quite well.  I am using it and going to show it off in Tokyo at the show.  I look forward to your comments.

Till June

I am running out the door to get ready so I don’t have time to let you know about the new articles on PS Tracks but they’re there and please have a look.  I’ll write again in June and hope to possibly see some of you in my travels.

I’ll be on email – not while riding the elephant – but in the evenings and mornings until I get yelled at.

Keep smiling and we’ll write again soon.

Paul McGowan

Just [...]]]>

Welcome to February’s PS Audio Newsletter, a short monthly update on all that’s fit to print – of course that implies there’s plenty else that’s not fit to print – but that’s another story. 

Just back from our trip to the Netherlands where we met many great people and listened to terrific audio systems.  I am here to report that high-end audio is alive and thriving in Holland.  Thank you for a great experience – one that renewed my spirit.

Soon after returning we had the pleasure of hosting CAS (the Colorado Audio Society) at PS.  What a great evening as 40 members of one of our country’s premier audio clubs converged at our Boulder location.

We started the evening by treating everyone to Boulder’s finest high-end Pizza and salads from Da Lupas, prepared by world renowned chef Jim Cohen (himself an Audiophile for many years), followed by an evening of music in our big listening room and our smaller Holodeck experimental room.

CAS is the group who puts on the annual Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, one of the world’s best consumer audio shows.

Are you supporting a high-end audio club?  If not, there’s a complete list in Stereophile magazine to find the nearest to you.  I would encourage you to think about becomeing a member.

High resolution audio going mainstream

Those of us reading Paul’s Posts either byemail or our PS Tracks Magazine are no doubt aware that musician Neil Young was reportedly in cahoots with Apple’s Steve Jobs to raise the sample rate and bit depth of music that iTunes offers.  Both Young and Jobs, apparently Audiophiles at heart, preferring vinyl to anything else.

Now comes a newsflash in the UK Guardian I just received on the same subject.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/feb/28/apple-audio-file-adaptive-streaming

In it is mention of Apple’s intention of eventually offering music downloads in 24 bit 96kHz resolution!  Now wouldn’t that be a game changer?  Here’s a quote from an associated article:

“Apple suggests submitting high-resolution audio files will become more important down the road. “As technology advances and bandwidth, storage, battery life, and processor power increase, keeping the highest quality masters available in our systems allows for full advantage of future improvements to your music,” reads their guide to iTunes mastering. “These masters matter—especially given the move into the cloud on post-PC devices.”

The article goes on to say:

“Offering high-quality audio may help combat music piracy by attracting fans to iTunes, but the source says the real winners here will be mastering studios.

“It’s payday for mastering engineers,”….. “There could be calls for thousands of albums to be remastered, and at over £1,000 to master a mainstream album, it’s going to be a healthy boost for the recording industry.”

So what pleases me more than anything is the idea the we in the high-end are having an influence of the mainstream and the direction isn’t for lowering standards but raising them – and not just for us – but people who have no clue how good things can sound.  It could be a really good day for all of us in the high-end – and music in particular.

Time to make sure your DAC is capable of reproducing 24 bit 96kHz and above media without wrecking the quality of it through a built in sample rate converter - something we cover in this morning’s Paul’s Posts.

Update on eLyric Music Manager

On Monday, March 12th, we are scheduled to release a new and vastly improved version of our free music management program, eLyric.  It’s faster, easier to use and a lot more valuable.  The launch date is approximate so check the website or your auto update service when the program is first launched for the new version.

For those of you unfamiliar with eLyric, it is a music library management program that helps you organize and tag your library properly as well as serve it over the network.  If you are not yet into network audio through products like the PS Audio Bridge and PerfectWave DAC, then you might wait on downloading and installing the program as it won’t allow you to play anything without a network player attached.  Yet.

Newsflash

Here’s a newsflash for those of you not yet streaming over the network: we will be adding an awesome sounding player in eLyric that you can use to stream music to any DAC through either USB or a soundcard in your computer!  This new, free feature will debut in early May and will bring the fun of high-end music management and control (through your iPhone, iPad or computer) to just about anyone reading this newsletter.  Those of you with USB DACS will be able to enjoy an upgraded audio presentation through the powerful media engine we’re planning in eLyric.  To put it clearly, if you own a DAC you’re going to want to use eLyric to feed that DAC from your library.  You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!

We’re excited to be able to announce these improvements to eLyric and hope when the timing is right, you’ll give it a try.

Heck, the price is right!

Update on the MKII

Most of the first orders for the MKII upgrade to the PerfectWave DAC have been fulfilled and we’re on to any of the new orders in the queue.  I am delighted to report the reaction has been positive.

From the PS Audio Community Forums:

“In every instance, the Mark II is a revelation. I know, cliche…but I truly mean that the music was revealed in a way I have never heard it before. Turning a digital signal back into human beings and instruments proves Arthur C. Clark’s famous aphorism once again. I have heard systems five times the price of mine accomplish this magic. To think I have it in my living room now is a dream come true. From The Beatles to Oscar Peterson to Beethoven (sonatas and symphonies) to Patsy Cline to Eno (and beyond), I’m back to multi-hour listening sessions.

The soundstage is enormous. Instruments that were once “etched” in space now have a roundness, a three-dimensionality and an interaction between them that just wasn’t there before. Digital hash is a thing of the past. The Mark II upgrade has taken the PWD from a great under $10K DAC to an outstanding DAC, period.

I’m closer to my music than ever before; thank you so much!”

Thanks.  All PerfectWave DACS shipping from us have the MKII upgrade installed and ready to know your socks off.  If you have a PerfectWave DAC already, upgrade kits are available through your dealer, distributor or online through our website.

There’s a new Power Plant!

The P5 and P10 Power Plants are our most successful and sought after power regenerators in our 15 year history of building Power Plants.  Power Plants make the single biggest improvement of any power device on the market today and provide real, meaningful, measurable and audible improvements to any equipment connected.

And now there’s a new, lower cost Power Plant getting ready to enter the marketplace next month.  It’s called the P3.

The P3 is a slightly smaller power output version of the P5 in a lower cost chassis and without a touch screen.  Cost of the P3 is approximately 25% less than a P5 and is designed to provide full system power to just about any size system through both regenerated and filtered AC Power Port outlets on the rear.

Next month’s newsletter will give full details, pictures, pricing and availability so please stay tuned if you’re interested.

Till March

With the prospect of mainstream high resolution files on the horizon, the launch of a new eLyric, MKII kits getting caught up and the unveiling of the P3 Power Plant next month, we’re all pretty excited here in Boulder.

I’ll write again in a few weeks.

I Hope you didn’t go overboard with partying on New Years eve (I was in bed by 10!).

If you’re in Asia celebrating Chinese New Year be careful because while we get only one night to party, you get a couple of weeks!

I am getting ready to [...]]]> Welcome to the first newsletter for 2012.

I Hope you didn’t go overboard with partying on New Years eve (I was in bed by 10!).

If you’re in Asia celebrating Chinese New Year be careful because while we get only one night to party, you get a couple of weeks!

I am getting ready to hop on a plane tomorrow for the European version of the Consumer Electronics show this weekend in Amsterdam.  If you’re attending the show come say hello and if not I’ll try and bring back some info if I see anything new and cool.Following the show we’ll be traveling a bit and spending time at a few of our dealers in the Netherlands including Multifoon Hi Fi on the 29th.  There we will be showing the prototype of the upcoming Silent Server and bringing along a 5000 losless album library to play with.

We’ll have time to chat about AC power products and streaming audio to your heart’s content.  I have always enjoyed my visits to the Netherlands – so into music and high-end are the people of that country – it’s a real joy and I look forward to meeting you all.

Kits shipping as planned

The PWD Mark II kits have been a smashing success and we are now shipping only Mark II PWD’s to customers purchasing the unit new and upgrade kits to those of you who already own the DAC.

When we announced the kits would be available we promised to ship out the first 300 in January/December if possible.  Half went in December to domestic customers, the second half will go out as promised by the end of this month (a couple going with me in my suitcase for Multifoon customers).  The majority of those kits shipping out next week will be international orders.

We are still on schedule to ship the next 300 kits out in February as promised.

The feedback has been uplifting and gratifying as people are amazed.  In fact, just this afternoon Cris posted:

“Paul, you and your team have a real winner with this MKII.  I just love it.  I never thought the DAC could get better than it was, but boy it did improve with this new board. Money well spent!”

One area I wasn’t so sure about has turned out to be a success – the ease of the installation.  With but few exceptions, the installs have gone far better than we could have ever anticipated – most taking less than 30 minutes and users reporting “it was a breeze”.  Thanks to the engineering and sales teams for putting together an easy to read and follow manual and video.

If you haven’t ordered your PWD upgrade kit you simply don’t yet know what you’re missing.  We still have some slots open for March if you’re interested.  You can order through your dealer or distributor as well.

Tagging albums

For those of you that read Paul’s Daily posts or visit the PS Audio Community forums this next piece will probably be familiar to you – but for those that just read the newsletter perhaps this will be interesting as well.

One of my goals is to build a great music library that our sales and engineering people can take with them in the field to demonstrate the PerfectWave Bridge and DAC system on the iPad.  What we’ve learned in demonstrating the product is pretty simple: the most effective way to show off the system is to simply hand the iPad over to a customer and tell them to “have at it” and play whatever they want.

Sounds simple enough, eh?  Well, one thing I can tell you is that certainly it’s simple if you’ve tagged your library properly.  Imagine handing over the iPad and having someone go to “B” for Beethoven and not find anything.  “No Beethoven?”

“Sure, but he’s listed under ‘L’ for Ludwig”.  Goofy and unintuitive, right?  But if you follow convention that’s what you can get.

“OK, I think I understand, so I should go to “M” to search for Mac when I want to play Fleetwood Mac?”

“No, no, no.  You go to the “F” for Fleetwood.  You go to ‘P’ for Paul McCartney unless Paul wrote the piece you’re looking for and then you go to “M”.

Eek!

Here’s what I am learning over time – first the obvious.  The quality of any music library is directly related to the ease by which you can find an album to play.  I have observed multitudes of people using our eLyric app to find and play their music and spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours fine tuning the process and the library to be intuitive.  Honestly I have a long way to go.

Second, when it comes to popular music there are a couple of really nice solutions out there for tagging, but classical music not so much.  Tagging classical music is a real challenge and as of late I have been focusing a lot of my time figuring out rules and standards by which folks might have a good experience sorting music.  I have seen everything from listing the composers as artists (sorry, most of the composers are no longer with us) to W.A Mozart, Mozart, Wolfgang A. Mozart etc.  It can really be a tangled web.

More on this subject later or stay tuned in through our community resources if you’re interested because we’re working on how to make this simple and easy to implement so our customers can have as much fun as we are.

Our Community forums have been lighting up like nobody’s business as of late – what with the Mark II upgrade questions and comments going hot and heavy.  If you want to get into some serious high-end subjects I would recommend spending some time reading, it’s a fun group of people.

PS Tracks, our magazine of the high-end and music has also gotten some fresh new articles to read so if you want, please take a moment to enjoy.

Lastly, Paul’s Daily posts have really been firing up both people’s imaginations as well as hot buttons with recent discussions on hot topics like music sharing and the fate of the high-end industry.

Till February

I’ll try not to drink too much beer in Europe and visit with as many of you as I can.  It’s fun going to visit our customers, friends and high-end community and I hope I have a chance to see some of you.

I’ll report back in February.  In the meantime, happy new year!

Paul McGowan

Greatest Drummer? Gene Kruppa: Our jazz column delves into the life and the music of legendary drummer Gene Kruppa. Read the story.

Occupied? No protest music? From the controversial department an article on why music hasn’t followed protests. Read the  story.

Franz and Ludwig? Beethoven and Schubert: Beethoven and Schubert compared to Jobs and Wozniak of Apple? Geniuses all. Read the story.

New music The independents: It’s always fun to get new music and here’s some great suggestions from the independents. Read the article

Paul’s Posts As always a lot of new thoughts: January’s posts have been particularly hot topics concerning the state of music sharing and hi fi retailing.  Give it a try

Welcome to the last newsletter of the year.

In this issue we remind you there are only a couple of days left to order the Mark II upgrade at the cheap price, let you know the status of the upgrade, give you some feedback from the first installation, share some cool stuff going on in [...]]]>

Welcome to the last newsletter of the year.

In this issue we remind you there are only a couple of days left to order the Mark II upgrade at the cheap price, let you know the status of the upgrade, give you some feedback from the first installation, share some cool stuff going on in the web forums and, of course, PS Tracks has some great new articles for you to enjoy.

Christmas is just about here

I wanted to get this newsletter out to all our readers before Christmas for two reasons: we have some important news below and I figured you didn’t want to be reading this over the holidays – and well – I didn’t want to be writing it over the holidays. 

At PS we buy Christmas presents for 4 families in need each year and this year was no different.  Through a local organization we were given lists of Christmas wishes from the four families and the company chips in the funds and our employees and families head out for a shopping spree.  It’s really fun and rewarding for everyone involved and gets us in the mood for Christmas.  Jim Laib, our illustrious GM, went straight to the manager of our local Target department store and twisted his arm to give the PS shoppers a hefty discount.  Thanks Target!

The Daily Camera newspaper ran an article on the activity which you can read here:http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_19512911

We hope you and your family enjoy the holiday spirit wherever you live and we wish you all the best as well as a happy new year (both calendar and lunar).

There’s only a couple of days left

I wanted to mention early on in the newsletter that you have only a couple of days left to order a MKII upgrade for your PerfectWave DAC at the early adopter pricing of $795 including shipping.  December 31 is the last day to take advantage of this offer and save $200.

You can order directly from us by going here, or you can work through your local dealer if you’d prefer.  We are taking orders from all corners of the earth and the kits will be delivered to you via FEDEX, if you order directly through us, wherever you live.

December and January shipping allocations are sold out and the remaining kits will be shipped in February or March depending on how many more of you sign up.  Best you can do right now is February but those allocations are going fast.

On January 1, 2012, the price goes up to its normal $995 level.  

Now, I know there are a number of you that would prefer to wait until after the 1st and order directly from your dealer and have him handle the install for you.  At the $995 price many of our dealers and distributors would be happy to do this installation process for you as part of the price.  Please check with them before making a decision based on this, but we encourage you to consider upgrading as this is one BIG improvement to an already wonderful product.

If you do decide to save the $200 and get the early adopter pricing – but are worried you may not be able to handle the installation yourself, I recommend you watch the videos that we have posted.  You’ll see the process is straightforward and relatively easily.

If you’re uncomfortable at all, then certainly wait until after the first of the year and have your dealer, technician or distributor handle the install process for the extra few bucks.

This first video is one all of you should watch.  It gets you through the PWD’s top removal and helps you figure out if you have the A or B version.  The second two videos simply completes the process depending on which version you have.  Here’s the link to the first video to watch.  http://youtu.be/542U4yTFzJQ

The second video will be the balance of the project – either A or B depending on which unit you have.  You can watch either one as the process is nearly identical.  The A video is by our own Mark lewis and the B video is our customer service manager, Alex Millet.

Lastly, the first beta tester for the upgrade kits, Gordon, posted his own video and frankly it’s better than ours – in that he starts out with a glass of wine and has plenty of good humor to it. http://youtu.be/gIjn3UNlc68

First reactions to the upgraded PWD

Thanks to our very helpful forum member Gordon of Montreal (watch him in his online video) we have the first reaction from an unbiased listener.

Gordon has a really nice and highly resolving system.  He describes it here:

“For the test I am running the PWD direct to the amp using: 

• Wire World “silver” balanced XLR cables
• Jeff Rowland MC6 amp running in high current mode
• Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 3/2 updated with Puppy7 lower drivers
• Cables are all Shunyata Anaconda, King Cobra on Mac and PWD via Hydra6 to Hubble outlets, fed by a dedicated 20a separate circuit to the panel.
• Grand Prix Audio rack system various resonance goodies from Walkwe, Stillpoints, gummy bears etc that have made it into my house over the years. I swap them in and out just for fun sometimes when I’m bored.”

You should know that Gordon thought the Mark I PWD sounded terrific and didn’t have a lot of room for improvement.  Here’s where he was coming from:

“Since I got the PWD my Meitner, Berkley and Wavelength DACS were sold and my Theta David transport became a flower pot”. 

Here’s what he commented on the Mark II upgrade with less than a day of burn in.

“This is the biggest jump in enjoyment with my system since I first got my PWD.  Bigger than my HFT fuses, bigger than my last cable change and well, just bigger everything.

Conservative? OK. Maybe I did tell Paul that it blew the roof off my house but I thought that might be a bit strong for an initial post.  But yes, it certainly surpassed my expectations.

You gonna like it!”

I won’t print everything he said but I would encourage you to head over to the PS Community forums and click on the thread First Impressions.  So far, 5,000 people have already read the page, why be left out?

Want to read more?

There’s plenty of information on the PWD Mark II (now shipping) and the PWD Mark II upgrade for those of you who have already purchased or are thinking of purchasing a Mark I.  I would recommend startinghere.

There’s a lot going on in this new DAC and we’re quite proud of it.

Forum fun

If you haven’t recently visited our new Community Forums I would encourage you to head over.  We’ve made some changes in the forums themselves and revamped the entire Discussion area.  Plus, there’s some really interesting threads about sound quality, fuses, recordings, favorite demo materials and much more.

One of the fundamental changes we’ve made is the appointment (anointment?) of a group of Community Leaders.  These folks have proven themselves to be consistently helpful contributors on the forums – not always in agreement with us – but certainly always knowledgeable and willing to help.  I am really excited about engaging part of our community to help everyone that has a question about PS or just hi-fi in general.  Please give them your support.

There’s a lot of great banter and info going on over there and I would encourage you to read up and enjoy and – if you have the time – be sure and post your thoughts and questions as well.

PS Tracks

I am delighted to report to you all the great articles we’ve added to PS Tracks magazine this month, now an easy to reach part of the new PS Audio website.  Our Jazz column is a few days late but Keith will have it up right after Christmas.  Lots of people are reading and enjoying these monthly articles and commenting on my Daily Posts in ever larger numbers.

I must say it’s really encouraging to watch our community grow as we add content and provide a place for all of our friends to communicate, read and learn.

We’ll write again in January.  Meantime, have a great new year and Merry Christmas.

Choral music New choral music? What could be more appropriate this time of year then new Choral music?  Come share, listen and learn.  Read the story.

History of music/Hi-Fi A two part article: One of the most informative reads on PS Tracks yet, the history of music and hi-fi in this two part series.  A great read.  Read the  story.

Chasing the dragon Multichannel systems for audio: We all know about using a 5.1 system for home theater, but what about for audio?  Chasing the dragon explores multichannel audio.  Read the story.

Stereo? The opposite of multichannel: A reprint from the Wall Street Journal that takes the opposite approach to home theater – using stereo instead of multichannel.  Read the article

Paul’s Posts As always a lot of new thoughts: December’s posts have been stimulating a lot of feedback and interest.  They’re free and enjoyed by more than 1000 people just like you.  Give it a try