[jc9394]

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Which DACs were those?

DACmagic, Pico, DA10, and DAC1

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

DACmagic, Pico, DA10, and DAC1

Sorry for being dense, but "DAC1" is fairly common across a number of brands. Which Dac1?

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

Sorry for being dense, but "DAC1" is fairly common across a number of brands. Which Dac1?

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Benchmark DAC1 PRE

 

[jc9394]

Bridge is finally shipped, question to the beta tester.  How do you install the firmware, it is comes with the Bridge or I have to download it from PS Audio site?  I did not receive the firmware link from PS Audio.

 

[Mr.Sneis]

Here's some innard shots for those that care, very surprised to see how small and simple it all is inside the huge chassis:
 


 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I actually got my PS Audio Bridge for my Perfectwave DAC  many days ago, but everything is packed up for RMAF next week.  So, I have no idea about the firmware updates for Bridge or Perfectwave DAC yet myself.  Maybe I should open the box and see what's in there.  My understanding is that we update the Perfectwave DAC via SD card to recognize the Bridge, and then we can start doing wireless or network updates after the Bridge is installed. I just don't know if those updates do both the DAC and Bridge from that point forward, or if sometimes we'll need to use an SD card.
 
I've been playing with the TagNPlay iPhone software using TwonkyServer on my iMac with iTunes library on external 2Tb drive, and it seems fine when playing the music through the iPhone as the destination (obviously not through bridge which is still boxed up).  In order to access my music without having to leave the iMac running I recently bought a Netgear Stora 1Gb NAS (UPnP/DLNA compatible) and copied 180Gb of music into it's shared music folder.  It took three attempts to copy because my Mac would give me an error message after about 70-80Gb went through (15-20 Gb/hr via 802.11n, so I moved the Mac upstairs to plug right into the router and got 60-70 Gb/hr copying music from a 1Tb USB drive into the NAS, with no errors).  
 
The PS Audio TagNPlay software can see the music on the NAS just fine, but most of the Albums on the NAS server play out of order when using TagNPlay.  iTunes has no trouble seeing the correct song order for albums stored on the NAS (shows up as a shared library in iTunes).  I double checked and TwonkyServer on the iMac still has the albums in the right order with TagNPlay, even if it's pulling the music off the NAS instead of my normal 2Tb USB drive.  It's just the Netgear server that doesn't have the right play order.
 
I decided to return the Netgear NAS and may order a LaCie Network Space MAX with two 1Tb, and see if their music server does a better job than the Netgear.  If that doesn't do the trick, I may just elect to leave the iMac server running all the time.  This may be a good excuse to pick up an cheap used Mac Mini to connect to my 27" bedroom TV and set up as a TwonkyServer instead.

 

[Yikes]

The firmware is upgradable via the front panel and the network connection. Or it can be upgraded via a web interface from a computer attached to the network.

As I understand it the SD card is for the PWD firmware (which Is different than the bridge firmware). It is a little confusing which is which. TagNplay is not perfect, but IMO it is serviceable. The main issues are things like missing album artwork, which I blame more on the upnp software (Twonky). I'm looking forward to the release of PS Audios Upnp Server later in the year.

 

[jc9394]

Thanks HPA and Yikes, I guess I have to wait until I return back from Chicago.  The Bridge is waiting for me at home now.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

As per my last post, I bought a Netgear Stora NAS but songs in the music server directory played in the wrong order using TagNPlay.  It shared my music with iTunes as a shared library and there the music played in the right order, but not in TagNPlay for the Bridge.  
 
I returned the Netgear and got a LaCie Network Space Max as recommended elsewhere.  It arrived yesterday and I loaded it with 200Gb of music, and songs play in the right order and album art is correct as well through TagNPlay.  So it's perfect with the PWD and Bridge.  LaCie actually uses Twonkey and Firefly to serve music, and Twonkey for Mac works well too if you don't mind leaving a computer on all the time.
 
My problem is that I can see the LacCie shared iTunes library in iTunes 9.2.1, but if I click on it it wont load.  I get get an error message like the one below:
 

 
I don't have the firewall turned on for this computer, so I checked all the other computers in the house and I get the same error on all FIVE Mac computers running iTunes 9.2.1 and no firewall (I stayed with 9.2.1 because 10.0 broke shared libraries, but I hear 10.1 fixed it).  The "shared computer" is the NAS openshare, and it isn't running a firewall.  I went into my Airport Extreme setup and opened port 3689 for the LaCie's IP address, and set DHCP to always assign the LaCie that same IP address.  Still no help.  Called LaCie tech support and they had no idea what is wrong.  The had me generate a log file with the LaCie dashboard software and send it to them, and now I have to sit back and wait.
 
Has anyone else ever seen this kind of error in iTunes when trying to open and play a shared itunes library on an NAS?  What can I try next?

 

[Yikes]

There seems to be a fair amount of confusion concerning the Network Bridge and PWD. So in an effort to claify I am posting a question that I received and my reply.
 
 
Quote:

 Can I setup a Network hard drive steaming music from the HD itself to PWD w/o PWB, remotely controlled PWD via iTouch. What does PWB actually do?  

 
My reply
 
 
Quote:

  The answer to your question is No, and sort of yes. The PWD is a very high performance DAC. For a few years I have been using a dedicated Music Server PC as my digital "Transport" and controlling the PC with some type of handheld computing device running VNC. With this type of setup the Music Server PC must be within a few feet of the DAC. In addition getting a quality digital signal from the PC to the DAC is problematic. There are only a few PC Cards that provide a really high quality digital output (AES/EBU or SPDIF - Lynx or M-Audio). USB, even with the latest FOTM asynchronous DAC's doesn't offer the performance of the best AES/EBU or SPDIF connections into a quality DAC (It's the reason Asynchronous DAC's usually  don't offer AES/EBU or SPDIF connections; it would encourage comparisons). I disagree adamantly with PS Audio's claim that the USB is #2 (Behind their I-2S) digital input. I feel that this listing is them bending to market pressure (The Market wants USB to be the High Quality Input).
 
What the Network Bridge is (I believe this is what you are referring to with PWB) is a plug in interface that allows Streaming the digital signal (Music) from a Network attached UPnP device (Either a NAS or as in my case a PC attached to my network) to the PWD (The DAC) with quality that matches the finest direct connections (AES/EBU, SPDIF, or PS Audio's proprietary I-2S on HDMI cable). The Network Bridge is much more than a simple Network connection, it Buffers and then Re-Clocks the streamed data and then outputs it as I-2S to the PWD. It basically gets the audibly and electrically noisy computer out of the listening room, while still allowing performance as if the computer was right there using a Lynx or M-Audio sound card as its digital connection. The iPad interface is hardly perfect, but it is usable, and it is ever improving. 

 

[K3cT]

I'm doing some preliminary research on this and unfortunately my local distributor charges an insane rate of $2900 for the PerfectWave. Anyway, I would appreciate it if someone can provide with the actual dimension and weight of the whole DAC + packing material. I would guess the figures in their site (25 lbs, 3.75"H x 14"D x 17"W) refer to the DAC itself. 

 

[jc9394]

Add another 2-3" to the over all dimensions and add on another 5 lbs for both boxes.
 
Try Audiogon, they are usually around $2000 for a new/mint one.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

Add another 2-3" to the over all dimensions and add on another 5 lbs for both boxes.
 
Try Audiogon, they are usually around $2000 for a new/mint one.

Thanks, man. Wait, do they ship in 2 boxes or did I misunderstand you? 

 

[jc9394]

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Thanks, man. Wait, do they ship in 2 boxes or did I misunderstand you? 

Yes, they ship in two boxes.

 

[Yikes]

Not two separate boxes, but double boxed (one box inside another