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140+ REVIEWS SEPARATES, VINTAGE 180 pages! & MUSIC

THE hi-fi SHOW 10-11th November SSeeee pp2525 Equipment Vintage Music Opinion 65+ standout Audio icons The best Vinyl, Our columnists’ separates tested of yesteryear CDs & Downloads hi-fi high points

• VINYL/PHONO STAGES Brinkmann to Technics • TRANSISTOR & TUBE AMPS Audio Research to YBA UK £5.99 US $14.99 Aus $13.99 • CD/SACD/NETWORK PLAYERS ATC to T+A • USB DAC/HEADPHONE AMPS Benchmark to Metaxas • HEADPHONES & LOUDSPEAKERS AKG to Wilson Audio • VINTAGE Hitachi, Sugden, Yamaha & more DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYER

SACD/digital media transport/DAC combination Made by: PS Audio, Boulder, Colorado Supplied by: Signature Audio Systems Telephone: 07738 007776 Web: www.psaudio.com; www.signaturesystems.co.uk Price(s): £6000/£5500

to DSD, not to mention accessing it via USB-B, network streaming or using Roon, reveals there’s really not much in it when played through the DirectStream Player/DAC. Explore the hard-hitting, multilayered percussion of The Rhythm Devils’ The Apocalypse Now Sessions [Rykodisc], and the sheer defi nition and dynamics of the DirectStream Player/DAC is much in evidence. And this was true from the ‘this is going to end badly’ jungle ambience of ‘Street Gang’ through to the disquieting slamming of ‘The Beast’. Not that it does a ‘silk purse’ job on recordings. Faced with audiophile darling Melody Gardot’s recent Live In Europe set [Verve PS Audio DS Records; 96kHz/24-bit], there’s not much that can be done with the singer’s swallowed, affected vocals, even though the recording itself Memory Player/PW sounds reasonable enough. Yet the DirectStream Player/DAC sounded true to the recording, revealing the strange vocal quality in all its DirectStream DAC oddness, but still not making what she’s singing any clearer! However, it’s when you give it a s the name suggests, PS centre/sub channels for use in 5.1 ABOVE: Input fi ne recording, like horn player Ben Audio’s DirectStream systems playing multichannel SACD switching and all Goldscheider’s Debut [Willowhayne Memory Player is much and/or DSD/LPCM downloads. other functions Records; 192kHz/24-bit] that it A more than just a CD/ The Memory Player also uses are enabled via brings on the sonic fi reworks, with SACD transport. It will seemingly the company’s ‘Digital Lens’ the touchscreen wonderful instrumental texturing, play every fl avour of physical disc, technology, to isolate and buffer panels and presence and depth. together with a host of music fi les the output from the disc-reading accompanying from discs or via its front USB input. section. Present, too, is a fully linear IR remote. Note VERDICT It has a network connection power supply, in place of the more USB slot for PS Audio’s digital offering has too, and not only offers digital common switch mode option. playback, below always been impressive, but output from stereo/multichannel And that’s just the transport! the Player’s recent upgrades have lifted the While the DAC’s 1-bit/DSD disc-drawer DirectStream DAC, in particular, into technology here may be familiar [top unit here] another league of great fl exibility ‘It will bring on the from previous PS Audio models, and scintillating sound. The Media sonic fi reworks given updates in both facilities and Player is a versatile partner in crime, performance have been made. with SACD playback enhanced by a fi ne recording’ With the £799 PS Audio Bridge II that proprietary digital link. add-on network card option, the SACDs, but also has an I2S interface DirectStream DAC can now do just HI-FI NEWS SPECIFICATIONS designed to service the same inputs about everything any user could on the DAC. Thus PS Audio can sensibly want it to – supremely well Maximum output level / Impedance 2.83Vrms / 145-149ohm (XLR) preserve the encryption between too as we immediately found. A-wtd S/N ratio (S/PDIF / I2S) 96.4dB / 96.3dB transport and DAC while still getting , Distortion (1kHz, 0dBFs/–30dBFs) 0.015% / 0.0019% the SACD data out of the transport SHEER DYNAMICS Distortion & Noise (20kHz, 0dBFs/–30dBFs) 0.031% / 0.0042% as a native 1-bit bitstream. Playing ‘Visions Of China’ from Freq. resp. (20Hz-20kHz/45kHz/90kHz) –0.2 to –0.1dB/–1.1dB/–9.7dB The partnering Memory Player Japan’s Tin Drum album [Virgin] has S/PDIF and AES/EBU outputs, of was a delight, the sinuous rhythm Digital jitter (48kHz via S/PDIF / I2S) 70psec / 62psec course, but the serious stuff uses section sounding at once tight Resolution @ –110dB ±0.1dB PS Audio’s proprietary HDMI-based and fl uid, and ’s voice Power consumption (Player/DAC) 11W/28W (1W standby) I2S connection, with three sockets crisply rendered in its mannered Dimensions (WHD, each) / Weight (total) 430x100x360mm / 33kg carrying front L/R, surround L/R and fragility. Switching from CD quality

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