How To

If your stereo or video system has a hum or buzz coming from the loudspeakers, there are several easy steps you can take to discover what the cause and cure will be. If you need a more extensive procedure, click here for the extended version. First, you should determine the type of hum you are dealing…

PCOCC single crystal construction and the Skin effect It’s important to think of the power cable as it relates to the current needs of the amplifier. The audio being played back places requirements on the amp and thus, a load on the power cable’s ability to allow current to flow from the wall. As the…

I have had a stable configuration driving NAS-based FLAC files to Bridge II in a DirectStream DAC.  I switched computers and after cloning all of the JRiver Media Center settings, I still could not stream.  This topic is intended to help others who might face similar issues with bad network firewall configuration blocking successful streaming…

Tube rolling, the practice of swapping stock tubes that we designed the product with for a different variety to change the sound of a preamp or power amplifier is something we not only support but encourage. It’s why we made it super easy on the BHK series to roll your own tubes. In the BHK preamp,…

Unpacking our heavier and larger built equipment can be a challenge, but not if you know how. Plus, once unboxed, the packaging material can be more easily stored.

With the latest Bridge II update it is now possible to stream music from Spotify directly from Spotify servers to the Bridge II installed in either a PerfectWave DAC or DirectStream and DirectStream Junior DAC. Download the Spotify app on your mobile device. Sign up for their premium service ($10 a month). Choose a song and…

Sometimes it is important to reformat a USB memory stick before using it for an upgrade on our products. PS products require USB sticks formatted in FAT 32. Follow these steps: For Windows WARNING: Formatting the USB device will delete all content on the device. For Windows Operating Systems Connect the USB storage device to…

Using rear toggle switch on your DirectStream DAC or DirectStream Junior, power down your unit. Power unit back up. Update Bridge— DirectStream DAC: Select Bridge II as input then press the Network Button.  Bottom of the screen will show available firmware update. Select update. DirectStream Jr: Long-press input button to enter setup-screen.  Short-press input button…

From enthusiasts who deny their contribution to those who spend thousands on them, cables are one of the more highly debated topics in audio. While building a system, this widespread skepticism and polarization can leave an audiophile scratching his or her head about how much they should spend. My opinion is that there are falsities…

Most of us understand what a CD player is; a box we insert CDs and play them. But, what’s going on inside? How do they work? What are the basic elements of a CD player and why do Audiophiles not use them very often, preferring instead CD transports and DACs? Back to the beginning On October…

Building a dedicated music server from a Mac Mini, or even a Windows NUK, can be a snap if you just want to load your products and go. These instructions will walk you through the process of building a simple server. If you want to get more in depth, go here to read the extended…

This is the extended version. There is a shorter 3-step version available here. Very few audio or video systems are dead quiet. There are usually always a few hum related problems. If your system has a bit of hum , is it the transformer or a ground loop? How do you determine the source of…

These instructions will walk you through the process of connecting up your system correctly. It is specific to the PS Audio ELAC Sprout system, but will also apply to any other speaker, amplifier, integrated, receiver setup. Use these guidelines for every system. Proper polarity Connecting loudspeakers to a receiver, integrated, or power amplifier is easy,…

DHCP is the standard means of routers and devices to connect over a network. DHCP basically means network devices will automatically be assigned an IP address (specific location). Sometimes DHCP will not make an automatic connection in your network. If this happens, and your connection to PS Audio’s Bridge is severed then you can instead create a static…

Bridge II is built into DirectStream Junior, and available as a network streaming option for DirectStream and PerfectWave DAC customers. Bridge II, with the latest firmware installed, can become a Roon Endpoint – making any of our DACs with Bridge II installed, Roon Ready. It can also work with the European streaming service Qobuz, and the internet…

It is rare, but sometimes a disc can get stuck in the drawer of the PerfectWave Transport disc player. We’ve seen instances where two discs have been placed in the drawer by mistake, and other times it just happens. If, for whatever reason, a disc gets caught in the drawer and the touch eject function (on…

In stereo systems of the highest caliber, ensuring proper grounding is critical. Hums, buzzes, ticks and pops can often be avoided by practicing proper, safe, grounding techniques. One of the worst offenders of good grounding practices is the cable TV provider. If there are any connections between your stereo system and cable TV, you might…

Playing TIDAL from an Andriod device using mConnect is very easy. Simply press the browser button. The browser menu will open. Select your TIDAL account and enter your username and password. Then, Select the play to button. Then select the Bridge II. Allow the software to connect and select your file from the library.  …

The PS Audio Network Bridge is a high resolution network connected streaming device. Used in a PerfectWave or DirectStream DAC and connected to the home network, music can be streamed directly into the DAC over CAT 5. Here are instructions for installation.

It is important on a Windows computer to install the PS Audio driver before connecting the PS Audio DAC. During the install process you will be asked to connect the intended DAC for the PC to recognize. If this process has not been followed, it may be necessary to uninstall the USB driver and start over…

Sometimes it is necessary to format or reformat an SD card before using it to upgrade firmware in a PS Audio product. Cards can become corrupt and reformatting them typically brings them back to life. We recommend downloading an application, offered freely by the SD Card foundation, specific to the task. For Mac computers, use…

The DirectStream DAC is one of the best DACS ever built. Many will wish to convert their older PerfectWave DACS to this new reference standard. Conversion Kits may be purchased to convert. The three videos below will help you make the installation easy and rewarding.

Many of PS Audio’s products enjoy the benefits of updates to keep them sounding great as well as fix bugs and make improvements to functionality. These updates are typically performed through the use of an SD memory card. This video explains how to perform this function. The types of SD cards and formatting them can…

One of the beauties of DirectStream and DirectStream Junior DACs are their ability to have their operating systems upgraded. Operating system upgrades bring new levels of performance to your DirectStream, similar to a physical hardware update. Operating system upgrades are typically free. Installing new firmware on DirectStream or DirectStream Junior is a simple procedure. The entire…

These instructions are for Windows computers but with few exceptions, they are the same for Mac versions of Jriver. This tutorial applies to both Bridge 1 and Bridge II. First step is to make sure your computer is connected, via an ethernet cable, to your home router.  Second step is to make sure the PerfectWave…

Here are instructions on how to build a high quality. easy to use Music Server for less than $1,000.  This article is distilled from Paul’s Post series, starting here. With the goal of a small, quiet, affordable, lightweight box without a keyboard, mouse or screen, the choices available to us narrow down quickly. Many of…

Managing your media library properly can bring great rewards.  If you are using iTunes as a management tool on a Mac, make sure you use an aftermarket program such as Bit Perfect, Audirvana, Pure Music or Amarra to get the sound right. Our specific recommendation is for Bit Perfect. If you are running iTunes in…

In many cases we may wish to use iTunes as our media interface, especially if we use an add on program to help iTunes sound good such as, Bit Perfect, Amarra, Pure Music, Audirvana.  And when using iTunes as the media organizer for ur library, we may also wish to store our media on an…

Converting one file type to another is easy in iTunes, either on a Windows or Mac computer.  There are two types of files iTunes will not deal with: FLAC and WMA.  iTunes will handle most everything else. If your music is stored on your computer or an external hard drive or NAS and is managed…

If you are having a little trouble getting the DirectStream analog board to fit into the PerfectWave DAC, with the conversion kit, here’s some handy advice. 0) Make sure the gold nuts on the RCA jacks are REMOVED.  This will interfere with the fit no matter what you do. 1) With the analog board OUT…

The touch screens on PerfectWave products can get off registration or may not have been set exactly right from the factory.  In this case, it is possible to recalibrate the touch screen through a simple process. Turn the DAC off from the master switch in the back panel.  Let the unit discharge for 10-20 seconds. …

We have a bitperfect test you can perform with your comper and DirectStream  Here are the reasons why you might wish to do this: There are multiple reasons people might want to have bit perfect transmission from their player to their DAC: 1)      They want to play DSD via DoP 2)      They want to send, DTS…

To update the firmware in the NPC (NuWave Phono Converter)you will need a blank USB memory stick of about 1GB.  Smaller is ok as well, as the size of the downloaded file is small. Go to our downloads page and find the driver or firmware you need for your product.  Download the file, which will…

Vinyl Studio is the recommended choice for transferring vinyl to the computer using the PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter. Here is a step-by-step video tutorial on setting it up.

Setup PS Audio PerfectWave DSD DAC in JRiver version 19 with a USB connection to your computer (instructions for network streaming at the end of this page): Download and launch JRiver version 19.  Connect the PerfectWave DSD DAC to your Windows computer using a USB cable. Now to configure JRiver to play to the PerfectWave DSD…

This document is a short cut for Recording audio files in DSD mode with a Windows computer. For a more complete tutorial go here: https://www.psaudio.com/support/recording-with-vinyl-studio/ 1)     Download and install VinylStudio: http://www.alpinesoft.co.uk/VinylStudio/download.aspx 2)     In the Main window Create a new collection at: File>New Collection 3)     Create an album : Enter An Artist/Performer, and an Album title….

The PS Audio Network Bridge connects the PerfectWave DAC and the DirectStream DAC to a home network.  It is a slide in PCB and the upgrade of its firmware is reasonably easy to do.  If your Bridge is installed in a PerfectWave DAC and you are upgrading to a DirectStream DAC, it will be necessary…

DirectStream is able to play DSD files from a computer over USB, or the coaxial, balanced or I2S inputs.  To do so, the DSD files need to be converted to DoP (DSD over PCM).  This process is typically handled on the fly by programs like JRiver.  Foobar, the free Windows media player can be setup…

Setting up on a Windows Computer requires the installation of our USB driver available for free download here. These instructions apply to the PerfectWave DAC MKII, the NuWave DAC, DirectStream DAC and NPC Phono Converter. Connect the DAC or NPC to your computer via USB Once you have downloaded the driver, but before you install…

M3U playlists are great for keeping track of your favorite tracks and albums. They can be created and then added to music server programs such as iTunes, eLyric and JRiver. Here’s step-by-step instructions how to create a playlist in Media Monkey, a free to use Windows program. New MediaMonkey Installation If you haven’t already done…

Idiots guide to Hi-Res burning on DVD for the Perfect Wave Duo using windows Vista” Rudimentary step by step This will assume to are starting with FLAC (most common download format right now) 1: Download and install “Nero 9.0” free trial version(huge program, takes forever!) 2: Download free “Traders Little Helper” software. 3: Create 2…

It is very easy to generate data DVDs with a Macthe simplest method is to use ITunes: (1) create a playlist by hitting the ‘+‘ button at bottom left (2) drag and drop tracks from your library list to this playlist (3) hit the burn button at bottom right (4) in the pop-up box that…

The PerfectWave Transport Memory player can play high resolution DVD’s with WAV files on them. Many times we get high resolution files downloaded in another format. Here’s is another Windows based software solution. Convert hi-res files to WAV using XLD. (XLD is a shareware program available at:http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html) (1) open Preferences, click ‘General” tab, set ‘Output…

If you own a MAC and downloaded or have acquired either FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) or ALAC, MP4 AAC (Apple Lossless) music files and wish to convert them to WAV so you can then burn a DVD and play them in your PWT, there’s an easy to use program that’s free. It’s called xACT…

The PWT can play high-resolution audio files up to 192kHz 24 bits as long as they are on a DVD and are in the WAV format. Here is a guide to accomplish this task using a free Windows program called Ashampoo. This How To document assumes you have already downloaded high resolution files to your…

Trader’s little helper is a Windows program that converts a number of different file formats, including FLAC to WAV. If you have a PWT Memory Player and wish to play high-resolution audio files on it, you must first convert those files to WAV and then burn them to a DVD. This program will do the…

The PWD and DirectStream DACs were designed to work either into a preamplifier or directly into a power amplifier. Using our PerfectWave DACs directly into the power amplifier is, for the most part, the best choice for sound quality because it bypasses the preamplifier’s added stage. One less stage to go through always gives you better…

Connecting the P5 or P10 to the network and internet allows you to control the Power Plants through your control page on this website as well as view power performance graphs and schedule events. Connecting to the internet is relatively straightforward. If you have a hard wired Ethernet connection to your network or home router,…

ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application for Windows. It can be invaluable for making discs for the PWT. It has several ‘Modes’, each one for performing a different task: Read– Read a disc to an image file Build– Create an image file from files on your computer…

Fuses make a significant contribution to the way your system sounds. Making sure you have the best sounding fuses in place can many times make a big difference in performance. The fuse values for these units are 1 amp slow blow and each will use two (2) 5x20mm 1 amp slow blow fuses 1. UNPLUG…

One of the beauties of the PerfectWave products, DirectStream, PWD, PWT, P5 and P10 Power Plants, is the ease of which we can add features, update software and keep your device current and operating flawlessly. This is accomplished through updates to the firmware inside each unit. The firmware is the operating instructions the PerfectWave system…

The P3 Power Plant can be upgraded in the field. The P3 uses a USB memory stick to install the firmware update. At your computer, go to our Downloads page and download the latest firmware for your unit. Prepare the USB stick To prepare the USB stick we suggest doing a quick format prior to…

There aren’t many inexpensive upgrades you can add that are as easy to install and effective as a Power Port and installing these in your home couldn’t be easier. It’s a great Saturday afternoon project. Getting the power out of the home’s AC receptacle is the first place we should concern ourselves with proper connectivity….

One of the best improvements you can make to your home’s high-end audio or video system is to use dedicated AC lines. This guide will help you install one. A dedicated AC line is simply a separate AC wire going back to your home’s circuit breaker box. Instead of the standard AC feed with multiple…

The PS Audio Soloist is the world’s first in-wall power conditioner offering full AC filtering, surge and spike protection. The product line has been discontinued. They are not difficult to install and can make a world of improvement. Installing and testing the PS Soloist The PS Soloist is a 15 amp receptacle designed to be…

The VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) of a tone arm on a record player is a critical adjustment for good sound. Many people would encourage turntable owners to play with the angle until the vinyl sound right. We would agree. However, there is a bit more science to it than just listening. VTA or vertical tracking…