PS Audio Discussion Forum

I doubt the headphone option will appear anytime soon although it’s a good idea.  Hardware changes this late in the game are not going to happen.  The system should work the same regardless of PC or MAC but my preference is MAC (and this from a long time Windows person).

Thanks Paul.

I have Sennhieser 650 headphones (300 ohm impedance).  Can they be driven (with an adapter, with or without impedance matching) directly from the RCA outputs of the PerfectWave, with the powered speakers using the balanced outputs?  If not, and a headphone amp is required, can the headphone volume be adjusted directly from the PerfectWave?

Tim

You bet, no problem at all.

Ryan Conway - 31 March 2009 08:41 AM

In the top 50db, where you would do any critical listening, there is zero bit loss and the performance is vastly superior to traditional pre’s and even our own Gain Cell.

Is the above statement correct even when processing a 192/24 signal?

No, in this case you lose a bit.  I still think it sounds better direct.  But you always have the possibility of just going through a preamp.  Several beta testers prefer doing this - they suggest they give up transparency but gain some “slam” through the preamp.  I think they are using the preamp as a “tone control” when they do this - but to each his own.  The beauty here is that you can go either way whenever you want.

Thrasher - 22 April 2009 05:03 PM

Thanks Paul.

I have Sennhieser 650 headphones (300 ohm impedance).  Can they be driven (with an adapter, with or without impedance matching) directly from the RCA outputs of the PerfectWave, with the powered speakers using the balanced outputs?  If not, and a headphone amp is required, can the headphone volume be adjusted directly from the PerfectWave?

Tim

Tim,

I have the same headphones and am considering doing the same thing—do you know who makes a decent adapter to run from the RCA outputs to the phones?

Thanks.

Chris

Perfectwave DAC has a very big fault: no 12v trigger for on/off :(

What would you need that for?  It does have Rs232 for control if needed in a home automation setup.

Paul,

If I have a home automation,  can I program my music server, crestron processor and PWD to talk to each other, via RS232. This would be a fantastic set up. Then I should be able to control PWD remotely. Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Suresh

Paul McGowan - 03 July 2009 03:29 PM

What would you need that for?  It does have Rs232 for control if needed in a home automation setup.

If I switch on PWD would the Poweramp switched on too automatically…. (and other components). Most of Hi-End gears have 12v trigger in and out.

hogganbeck - 17 June 2009 07:13 AM

Thrasher - 22 April 2009 05:03 PM

Thanks Paul.

I have Sennhieser 650 headphones (300 ohm impedance).  Can they be driven (with an adapter, with or without impedance matching) directly from the RCA outputs of the PerfectWave, with the powered speakers using the balanced outputs?  If not, and a headphone amp is required, can the headphone volume be adjusted directly from the PerfectWave?

Tim

Tim,

I have the same headphones and am considering doing the same thing—do you know who makes a decent adapter to run from the RCA outputs to the phones?

Thanks.

Chris

Here are a couple of links to different ones I got from Alex at Apuresound.  I ordered the Neutrik.

http://www.audiogear.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?key=Adpt-FxFx&preadd=action

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/291877.html

Suresh Reddy - 03 July 2009 05:16 PM

Paul,

If I have a home automation,  can I program my music server, crestron processor and PWD to talk to each other, via RS232. This would be a fantastic set up. Then I should be able to control PWD remotely. Your input is appreciated.

Thanks,

Suresh

Yes, indeed you can on the PerfectWave transport as it has RS232 and I believe we’ll include the same with the PWD Bridge.

This thread appears to suggest using the PerfectWave DAC in the top half of its volume range (over 50) when using it as a preamp.  I’m using my PWD directly (i.e. no preamp, RCA’s) into my amplifier.  In my system, however, most of my listening results in the volume control necessarily set in the 30’s and 40’s. 
  Is there any way to adjust the gain of the PWD so that I’m using the top half of the volume range?  If not, is this a feature that can be part of a future software upgrade?

JonJ - 10 July 2009 08:52 AM

This thread appears to suggest using the PerfectWave DAC in the top half of its volume range (over 50) when using it as a preamp.  I’m using my PWD directly (i.e. no preamp, RCA’s) into my amplifier.  In my system, however, most of my listening results in the volume control necessarily set in the 30’s and 40’s. 
  Is there any way to adjust the gain of the PWD so that I’m using the top half of the volume range?  If not, is this a feature that can be part of a future software upgrade?

Are you using it with RCA or XLR cables? With the former is volume is lower. This might be a temp workaround.

For sake of curiosity can you tell me which is your amp and which is the efficiency of your speakers?

Thanks for the reply.  Gee, I’m horrible at using the “submit post” button.  I think I just lost a post, so I’ll write it again.  Sorry if this results in a double post.
 
  I am using the RCA outputs from the PWD since I remember the manual noted that the gain was lower through the RCA outputs.  My amp is a Moscode 401HR and speakers are Krell Resolution 2’s, so it’s definitely not a high sensitivity setup.  I’m feeding the PWD from the digital output of a Logitech Squeezebox.  Since the Squeezebox can also act as a preamp, could it be that the Squeezebox’s gain into the PWD results in too high a gain out of the PWD?  Or is that silly. 

  Dave at PS Audio just emailed me some helpful solutions.  Dave suggested adding resistance to the output or using a high quality passive volume control. 

    I was really hoping for a software solution though, since the whole idea of using the PWD as a preamp was to avoid putting anything else in the path.