December, 2017
 
Christmas in Asheville, North Carolina
Thanks to Frank Goldfarb
PS Goodies for sale here

Redcloud

PS Audio is unique in many ways, but one we’re most proud of is our free upgrades to our DACs. These upgrades are not labored over and lavished upon for any reason other than to help the DACs sound amazing. Owners of both models of DirectStream instruments enjoy essentially new equipment every 6 to 12 months. Each upgrade is a significant improvement over the last. Compare an older Firmware version, like Torreys, to our latest, Redcloud, and you might swear the sonic differences were the result of new hardware.

And you would be wrong. They are the results of a free upgrade, just part of the joy of owning these fine musical instruments.

DirectStream hardware is completely upgradeable through a simple download process.

For free. (That’s what we do for PS family)

Redcloud is our latest, released just in time for the Christmas holidays. For free.

And, there’s more. Bridge II owners have a free update as well—one that brings a wealth of new streaming services to your high-performance audio system: Spotify Connect, Qobuz, VTuner, the latest ROON with MQA.

If you haven’t yet upgraded you owe it to yourself.

“I’m really having trouble wrapping my head around how you can squeeze even more information out of the same bits I’ve been using in my Demo tunes for 4 years now! Not just that, but some of these are rips of CDs I’ve owned and listened to since the 90’s. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

I’m hearing more detail, and more balanced “information” across the board. And somehow, tracks that were great sounding but always had a few spots that were a bit….edgy, are now smoothed and listenable, but without any loss of detail…in fact, I’m hearing more detail in these rough spots in recordings…with more of the dynamics and timing accuracy that I’ve always associated with Master Tapes, and what sets master tape above and beyond all other formats.”

“A live symphony orchestra at full bore can be very thrilling and often the power of a symphony climax can bring you literally to your feet. Impossible to duplicate that at home but yesterday, listening with Redcloud I got close.  Osmo Vanska’s performance of Sibelius’ Symphony 5 with the Minnesota Orchestra (96k,24) is well recorded. So I played the final movement appropriately loud and the last few bars gave me absolute chills and goosebumps. That never happened before. I’ve no Idea how you did the magic Ted.”

Download Redcloud versions here. Have a Bridge II? Follow these instructions for your free upgrade.

Happy with your old DAC? Fine. If not, let us purchase it from you at full retail when you upgrade to a new DirectStream.



The news cycle problem

Listen to the news, read the forums, react to a sensational headline, find overblown news stories on Facebook, and you might be afraid to walk outside. There just could be a war zone around the block.

Yet, walking outside you see an entirely different view: the sun is shining, people appear to be at peace and going about their daily lives as if the headlines didn’t exist. And, in fact, they don’t. Not really.

When we attempt to find out how others feel about a product or service we turn to reviews and public information places like forums. There we can see the opinions of the few who have posted their thoughts. But those few are exactly that: the vocal, the opinion makers, the happy, the dissatisfied, the angry, the overjoyed. In short, the posters are the exceptions.

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The art of the recording engineer

Just what do recording engineers do? We see video of them working hard at flipping dials and moving volume controls at a frenzied pace, but why? Paul shares some history with Georgio Moroder and Musicland studios where Paul got his first taste of the recording environment and we learn how he threatened to burn down the network while in the army. You can watch his video on the subject by clicking here.  And coming up on Ask Paul, Women in Audio.

The art of recording
 

Copper Magazine

At the end of 1971, Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna bassist Jack Casady was seen with a mysterious, and obviously custom-built, instrument: symmetrical, big like his Starfire, but not apparently hollow. From the audience, it looked like it had stripes on its face. As a 15-year-old, I remember thinking: what the hell is that thing???

Find out in Copper Magazine, the world’s most interesting free publication.

Want to read more? Jump over to Copper Magazine.

Copper is cost-free, ad-free, and committed to great articles without an attitude.
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Same room different sound

Everyone agrees that when you’re tracking drums, the room makes a difference — but with so many other variables in play, identifying its specific contribution can be tricky. Enter producer Tommaso Colliva, drummer Alex Reeves, and a unique experiment…

It’s not often that the worlds of studio recording and celebrity chefery intersect, but such was the case for Tommaso Colliva, the Italian-born, London-based producer and engineer best known for his long-running collaboration with British rock trio Muse.
Watch the video

 

Laser tuning

Want to set up your speakers quickly and correctly? Paul Rigby looks at Kralk’s KALSUS which claims to do just that, with laser-borne accuracy.

Produced by the speaker outfit, Kralk Audio, the KALSU system is designed to set the ideal orientation of your speakers. So that everything is pointing in the right way and so that each of your ears is receiving the same information at the same time, in a balanced manner.
 

HD on disc

One of the physical problems I’ve had with HD audio is that it’s not very portable – the files are large. Up until now my HD music has been strapped to my office computer, which connects to my secondary stereo via an Audioengine D1 DAC in order for me to enjoy them. I want to play my HD music on my living room home theater system… on the other side of my apartment. Easier said than done…but then the lightbulb-over-my-head solution appeared when I was recently using Roxio’s Toast and discovered a no-brainer fix I’d amazingly enough never considered: burn the HD albums to audio-only DVDs.
 

Redcloud rave

So Christmas indeed arrived early this year.  It may have come from a wizard in a Hawaiian shirt but the beard does make Ted look a little like Santa.  Well done Paul, Ted and the rest of the team at PS Audio.  If any of the Part-Time Audiophile readers need reference level digital playback, you really must audition the entirely new DirectStream DAC with Redcloud.  This is one cloud that you will find in the audio heavens.
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