DSD? The DirectStream's D/A conversion engine, designed by former…
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When Art Dudley reviewed the original PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream D/A processor in Stereophile's September 2014 issue, he very much liked what he heard. "For those who've waited for a computer-friendly DAC that offers, with every type of music file, the best musicality of which DSD is capable, the PerfectWave DirectStream may be in a class by itself," he concluded. It was computer-friendly because, with an add-in card, you could connect it with USB or to an Ethernet cable and use it with, for example, Roon or JRiver.
As I was writing this review, it had been 8 years since Stereophile reviewer and gifted pianist Bob Reina passed away from an aggressive esophageal cancer. I had used the DirectStream MK1 to play several of the recordings I had made of Bob's free-jazz ensemble Attention Screen back in theday.
The DirectStream MK2's maximum output level is 2.3dB higher than that of the original DirectStream, so after switching to the new DAC, I matched its level to within 0.3dB with the 1kHz warble tone at –20dBFS on Stereophile's Editor's Choice CD (STPH016-2). Playing Attention Screen's Live at…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state D/A processor with volume control. Digital inputs: 2 AES3, 1 TosLink, 1 coaxial S/PDIF, 2 I2S on HDMI, USB Type B. Ports: Ethernet (RJ45), USB Type A. Analog outputs: 1 pair balanced (XLR), 1 pair unbalanced (RCA). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, ±0.25dB. Channel separation: not specified. THD+noise:<0.1% (1kHz full-scale). Maximum output level: 4V RMS (balanced), 2V RMS (unbalanced). Output impedance: <200 ohms (balanced), <100 ohms (unbalanced). Power consumption: 25W. Supplied accessories: AC cord, remote control.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Roon Nucleus+ file server with HDPlex linear power supply and AudioQuest JitterBug FMJ; iPad mini running Roon; Benchmark DAC3 B & PS Audio DirectStream D/A processors; MBL N31 CD player/DAC; Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP disc player; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter; NetGear Nighthawk router.
Integrated amplifier: CH Precision i1 with 2.1 firmware.
Power amplifiers: Parasound Halo JC 1+ monoblocks.
Loudspeakers: GoldenEar BRX, KEF LS50.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Coffee (USB), DH Labs (AES3). Interconnect: AudioQuest Wild…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the DirectStream MK2 first using my Audio Precision SYS2722 system, then with the magazine's higher-performance APx500. The review sample was fitted with the v2.3.5 FPGA firmware, but after I experienced some anomalous measured results, I installed the v2.3.3 firmware package, which was available as a download on the DirectStream MK2's information webpage. I then installed the v2.3.6 firmware when it was available and repeated the testing.
The DirectStream MK2's optical input locked to sample rates up to 96kHz, the coaxial and AES3 inputs locked…
FLASH! Record Business Conquers Death! Musicians Live Forever! There is life after death in the world of recorded music. Elvis left the building 46 years ago. Jimi Hendrix has been absent for 53 years. Yet both continue to release albums of unreleased material. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bruce Springsteen wisely recorded much of their music throughout their careers, live and in the studio; they'll continue to release "new" music long after they pass.
Keeping fans satisfied but also looking forward is an effective marketing tool, one that Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, the guru of all things…
In 2009, Robbie Fulks decided to make a change. For almost 20 years, the singer/songwriter had led a series of hard-hitting country-rock bands across America and beyond, his blistering guitar chops and madcap levity (the latter frequently testing, if not violating, standards of taste) winning him a modest-sized but ardent fan base.
"I was fatigued from what I'd been doing," Fulks told me recently via Zoom, sitting in his kitchen in Atwater Village, a Los Angeles neighborhood between Glendale and Burbank. "Me on acoustic guitar, with electric guitar, bass guitar and drums, that was my…
Photo by Will Byington
2001's Couples in Trouble, which he released on his own Boondoggle Records, was offputtingly eclectic. Even as The Washington Post's Geoffrey Himes hailed the record as Fulks's "most intimate, most ambitious work," Himes all but warned off potential buyers. "Before the record ends, the singer will try his hand at new-wave pop, art song, show tunes, troubadour folk, synth noise and honky-tonk." Sorry, too rich to digest. Fulks set out on a multi-album journey through classic hard country with 2001's ironically titled 13 Hillbilly Giants; its perverse conceit is…
Sidebar: Fulks's Choice
When an artist has written hundreds of songs, it seems a logical request that he list the 15 or so that, as Fulks put it, “don’t embarrass me.” Would he consider this list “The Essential Robbie Fulks”? “Sure,” he said, “it’s fine if you want to say that.” Here they are, from the most recently released to the earliest, with the albums on which they appear.
"Angels Carry Me": Bluegrass Vacation (Compass, 2023)
"Molly and the Old Man": Bluegrass Vacation (Compass, 2023)
"I Just Lived a Country Song": Wild! Wild! Wild! with Linda Gail…
Laurie Styvers: Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings
High Moon (auditioned as CD). 2023. Various prods., engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
High Moon (auditioned as CD). 2023. Various prods., engs.
Performance ****
Sonics ****
High Moon Records is on a mission. Used-record crate diggers and musical anthropologists at heart, they have introduced lost artists like Ace of Cups and Sons of Adam to a new audience of fans. Their latest project may be their best yet.
Gemini Girl augments the out-of-print Laurie Styvers releases Spilt Milk (1971) and The Colorado Kid (1973) with previously unreleased material including demos, alternate takes, and original…