Tour PS Audio

We’re all a bit crazy with the pandemic entering its second year. Crazy or not, it’s important when we’re in public to wear our masks and when it’s our turn, get vaccinated so we can someday get back to normal. But still, it’s restricting.

Terri and I have been fortunate enough to get both our doses of protection and we’re certainly feeling a lot better. Still, it’s hard because things just aren’t as they were.

Part of what “they were” was PS Audio’s factory tours. For years we’ve invited anyone and everyone into PS Audio’s Boulder facilities. Visitors get to meet our team of more than 50 PS’ers, see how products are engineered and manufactured, get a glimpse of how records are made in Octave Record’s studios, and best of all, a chance to sit alone with PS Audio’s amazing reference system.

Just seeing the IRSV in Music Room Two is an experience in itself, but to be able to enjoy its amazing sound is…well…something you don’t get to do on a regular basis.

We can’t invite visitors in until our crew’s been vaccinated, but there’s an alternative. A virtual tour.

When you have a bit of extra time, click on the link below and join me for a virtual walk through tour of PS Audio. We filmed this hour-long piece in one shot on two video cameras so it is as live as if I were personally walking you through the building.

Enjoy!

If it’s good enough for NASA

…it’s probably good enough for Octave Records. 

DPA Microphones (just down the street from us) is one of our favorite microphone suppliers. Many Octave releases are made using their terrific microphones. So it was no little surprise to learn that those same microphones used by Octave Records are now sitting on the surface of Mars.

Yup, DPA’s parent company out of Denmark has outfitted the Mars lander with DPA’s 4006 Omnidirectional Microphone, MMA-A Digital Audio Interface and MMP-G Modular Active Cable, to provide the first sounds from the surface of Mars.

After being put through vigorous testing by NASA scientists, the DPA equipment, affixed to the Mars “Perseverance” Rover, officially launched into space aboard the Atlas V-541 rocket in July 2020. Over the past seven months, the DPA equipment has faced pressure changes while leaving Earth’s atmosphere and again when entering the Martian surface, and extreme temperatures — as low as -100 Celsius/-148 Fahrenheit — on Mars. Additionally, the DPA gear has endured the massive vibrations caused by the rocket launch and subsequent landing on Mars.

So the next time you listen to an Octave Records release, just remember some of what you’re hearing was captured by the same microphones as are now sitting on Mars.

Wow.