But Paul, there is absolutely no way that I could afford a $4K DAC no matter how wonderful the sound. I recently pushed my budget to buy an almost $1K DAC from Denafrips that I'm positively thrilled with. I might be more thrilled with your DAC, but probably not $3K more thrilled.
Yea I have the Hermes DDC feeding the Pontus 12 av ed DAC and just at about 3G. At the time of this writing , they are " SOLD OUT" Somebody has the money. LOL
Not saying anything to oppose u, but just remind u that, the higher the price, the less u will get the improvement. The sweet spot might be 1000 to 2000 or 2500 usd.
I agree that the returns do diminishes in some respect. I was at the audi show last year and I heard a 50.000 DAC Hooked up to a 250,000 Integrated Tube amp. It did sound better than my system. At that price I would hope so. Be well.
i,m beta testing one of these right now. This thing sounds well beyond entry level. The price point is a bargain. Paul's description is accurate and he has every right to be proud of his product.
It may be that this DAC "sounds well beyond entry level" but the price of $3,999 is also "well beyond entry level" so I would expect it to be close to perfect.
Can't blame Paul for promoting his company's products and Stella Gold certainly sounds like it's been well thought through. I did notice a difference in Paul's body language in this video as he took on the role of the professional salesman. If the Stella Gold had been a refrigerator then I would make a great Eskimo! 😄
@@sean_heisler I think he gets the balance just about right as most people are probably coming to the channel because of Paul’s enthusiastic manner rather than out and out sales and marketing.
Summing parallel DAC circuits improves signal to noise ratio and can deliver great results. It is not unique to PS Audio though. Accuphase for example has been using this topology for years in all its CD players and standalone DACs.
Paul, the first thing that caught my eye was that BEAUTIFUL oversized toroidal transformer, which is very nicely mounted BTW. Cable management seems good, the earth bonding is solid, and I _think_ I understand how paralleling DACs would help, but it depends on their architecture. The datasheet and patents might help there. Also, no, I’m not copying you, there’s far more I don’t understand and I know it takes decades to get that good.
Interesting video, Paul. Would it be possible for you to do a side-by-side comparison of (say) the Steller Gold DAC and its non-gold counterpart, so that we can see the PSU improvements, etc.?
Hi Paul. I've been a loyal PS Audio customer for a few years now. I've owned M700s, GCD and I still have your first tier power plant (P12?). I recently purchased from PSA the Stellar Gold Pre and DAC. I pair them with a JC5 Parasound. This combination is sweet! However, I have a question: some people have taken a look inside the DAC and they only see one chip. Is that correct? Can you elaborate on that? Ps: I follow your channel since you started it. Thank you so much!
Is it possible to have a DAC that combines Delta Sigma (ESS type chips) & have R2R ladder? And maybe a computer mechanism to "pick" the appropriate DAC to use for the music being played? We have digital files with all this meta data on it. I'm thinking it would be possible for the music itself to "know" what to pick provided the system could read that data. I don't know, just thought it would be cool that you could get a DAC that can play ANY type of music perfectly.
You don't do straight product demo videos often (except Aspens?). And that's good! But this one was almost as much educational as sales. Nice balance. And good info. Begs the question about using different types of DACs together as well? Like some ladder and different S/D's? Basically summing the common elements and rejecting individual variances of the different approaches.
If one was to dac from a smart television ( that does not include a DAC) am I losing sound quality as apposed to running a streamer/ DAC from a modem? Thanks in advance!
Hi, cool. Looks like an error on the website you have DSD128 listed twice. Under USB section. I assume it should be DSD256 Sample Rates Optical (TOSLink): PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz S/PDIF (Coax): PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz and 192kHz; DoP64 I2S: PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 705.6kHz, and 768kHz; DoP64, DoP128, DoP256, DSD64, DSD128, and DSD256 USB: PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, and 384kHz; DoP64, DoP128, DSD64, and DSD128
The strange thing is there is no Stellar (non-gold) preamp to compare this to. Its slotted in-between a lower product that doesnt exist and an upper level preamp. There is a stellar DAC/preamp, but as this does not have a preamp, its an apples to oranges comparison.
This is the second video about this DAC I see and I am still not sure which chip(s) it uses and how many. ESS PRO chips have 8 channels. Is he referring to each of these channels as a 'dac'? Does it use 4 of the 2 channel ESS Q2M chips? The one thing I'm pretty sure about is it does not use 8 ESS PRO chips (4x8=32 dac channels).. That would be both technically ridiculous and too costly. A little more transparency wouldn't hurt anyone, Paul.
That is a silly thing to say. The company would soon go out of business if it made equipment that only a very few people could afford. PS makes several levels of equipment for this reason. If you want the best at any price you can buy their perfectwave gear
That’s more about company strategy though. There are many hifi brands who only make one product or several different types. It’s a choice. Jays Audio, Audio Music are 2 examples, although Jays do have 2 CD transports.
@@Coneman3 of course its a strategy. It's a strategy to be competitive. It's only because Honda make and sell so many Civics that they can also make a supercar like the NSX. If they did as you suggest and only make the best, the NSX, then it's likely Honda would have gone out of business long ago.
These DACs devices are getting more sophisticated at embellishing and turning the music into something quite unlike the original sound. All the reverbs, ambience been knocked out and we hear sounds that have been enhanced and cleaned. Like the AI now used on smart phones to make photos look the best. I like my music raw and natural on records and tapes like the sound in recording studios or concert halls. Warts and all.
That will always be available to those that want it that way as you said. You can still listen to AM Fm radio for instance. No fear, no panic. Old is not going away.
@@davidfromamerica1871 I was not referring to old is better. I was referring to the way some people love to have the things they consume to be filtered and altered. The marketing behind these gadgets is working well.
That's not the idea. The idea is to get as close to the original sound in the studio as possible, with all the tonality, soundstage, dynamic range, and imaging intact, coming through our speakers.
@@rosswarren436 Yes.And a heap of electronics in the signal path like in digital audio processing using binary digits data which is manipulated to "correct" the sound is not the way to go. Very dry, crisp, flat compressed then pushed out like in a sausage machine. Digital audio sounds all the same. Very boring. Not many people listen to a whole CD. Very convenient though. As background music. I have DSD CDs. Sounds clear and sparkling as spring water. Nice but in reality humans and musical instruments don't sound like that. I prefer natural simple and beautiful. To each his own. No one tells me what I should like.
$3999 and I think they could have sold this for $2999 but because it sounds so good they would have a hard time selling their more expensive dacs. For some this might be their end game dac. Hard to say as this has some class A elements to it so it probably sounds very good.
Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to buy PS Audio again. My new Stellar GainCell DAC arrived to me with a small screw rattling around inside the case. The screw had come loose from the display board. Not sure how that could happen unless the assembly was not completed correctly. Then I noticed that the RCA jacks in the back were mixed up and installed in the wrong positions. How could this get by quality control. It was very obvious as the color coding on the RCA jacks was incorrectly placed. This did not leave me with a good feeling about my purchase or PS Audio’s attention to detail. I had bought dozens of PS Audio products over the years, but this was my last.
Or FPGAs like Chord and others use. It makes little difference in the long run. What counts is the cleanliness of the power supply and how well the output stage is doing its thing in turning it all into music. I mean, you could buy a SMSL SU-1 for $99 if that's all you want, depending on how good your ears are and the level of possible quality in the rest of your system. I'll never buy a $4000 DAC because my whole system is $15K. Figure a DAC in the $2000 range (Denafrips, Gustard) is more price commensurate with the rest, not that I wouldn't LIKE a $4000 DAC.
It's not really fair to say 8 dacs... Its One ES9038PRO chip (and there is the ES9039PRO so this isn't the best ess chip anymore and hasn't been for a few years) ... Using 4 internal dacs for right and four for left. There are many dacs that use TWO ES9038PRO using all 8 internal dacs for the right and another ES9038PRO for the left. The lks dh004 is $1500 vs $4000 and uses two ES9038PRO and has two toridals seperating digital from analog power vs one here and has a fully descrite analog stage without any chips vs a hybrid approach here..... For $2500 less....
8 dacs wrap inside one chip is still 8 separate dacs. Like a quad Intel cpu is one chip with four processors inside. The real question we are all waiting for is, does the sound justify its $4k price.
@@flargosa no I don't say my 13700k i7 is 16 processors... Its One processor with 16 cores and 24 threads. There is a difference. If I had two of these chips I'd have two processors.
@@ClassifiedBrief the core is the processor or cpu. the entire chip can contain a number of processors plus other things like memory, gpu, some have storage, etc… It is correct to say your quad core has 4 processors.
@@ClassifiedBrief from an engineers/designers point of view 8 separate dacs or 8 combined dacs is the same. Same performance, same results. Maybe a customer would want to see 8 separate chips for bragging rights, but in the end combined or separate makes no difference, It’s all about improvements.
Need an advice I have a Stellar on my active monitors, I use iPhone Spotify YT for listening, its really sharp, would like to warm it up a bit for longer listenings, how can I do that ?
why have 1 dac when you can have 8 & charge 8 times the price ..marketing genius though i suppose it needs to have extra parts to fill up all that fresh air inside it.
Sorry, one ESS per channel is not extraordinary. The Chinese do that all over the place. In one of your recent videos you indicated 8 chips, which would have been truly extraordinary (and kinda nuts). BTW the Topping Octo actually is going down that road with 8 Cirrus chips.
It's probably a misunderstanding: it does have 8 DAC "chips", but they are packaged by ESS in a single IC. So only one chip visible on the board, but internally made of 8 discreet DACs per channel. Hope that helps.
Used car salesman nonsense. Only one ESS chip doing the work. Can get Chifi dacs for a fraction of the price with higher end chips doing the same thing, or even using multiple chips. Some of them also have linear power supplies and discrete outputs. Not saying this doesn't sound good since I haven't heard it. But it's value to price ratio is not good in purely technical terms.
PS audio or any of the other high end manufacturers aren't in any way looking for "commoner's" as customers. Its priced so far out of reach for most listeners its astounding lol. They do sound awesome but again way overpriced just to keep it out of reach
I could listen to your voice for hours when you talk about hifi equipment
But Paul, there is absolutely no way that I could afford a $4K DAC no matter how wonderful the sound. I recently pushed my budget to buy an almost $1K DAC from Denafrips that I'm positively thrilled with. I might be more thrilled with your DAC, but probably not $3K more thrilled.
Yea I have the Hermes DDC feeding the Pontus 12 av ed DAC and just at about 3G. At the time of this writing , they are " SOLD OUT" Somebody has the money. LOL
Not saying anything to oppose u, but just remind u that, the higher the price, the less u will get the improvement. The sweet spot might be 1000 to 2000 or 2500 usd.
I agree that the returns do diminishes in some respect. I was at the audi show last year and I heard a 50.000 DAC Hooked up to a 250,000 Integrated Tube amp.
It did sound better than my system. At that price I would hope so.
Be well.
i,m beta testing one of these right now. This thing sounds well beyond entry level. The price point is a bargain. Paul's description is accurate and he has every right to be proud of his product.
@@default8973 Why is it junk, have you heard it?
SINAD lol. Are you even audiophile bro?
@@default8973 yup everything is just placebo. Might as well just go with $500 topping rig, doesn't get any better than that lol
It may be that this DAC "sounds well beyond entry level" but the price of $3,999 is also "well beyond entry level" so I would expect it to be close to perfect.
Looks like a great sounding product! I would love to try it! Best od luck Paul and PS Audio on the new lineup!!
How can it "look" like a great sounding product? 🤣
Why is the case so empty? Does it run hot and you need the air space?
Can't wait to give it a good listen, soon as my pre-order StellarGold DAC arrives in late October timeframe.
How do you like this so far?
I love this honest and top off product videos
Can't blame Paul for promoting his company's products and Stella Gold certainly sounds like it's been well thought through. I did notice a difference in Paul's body language in this video as he took on the role of the professional salesman. If the Stella Gold had been a refrigerator then I would make a great Eskimo! 😄
This is a PS Audio social media account, they should be promoting their stuff a lot more than they do.
@@sean_heisler I think he gets the balance just about right as most people are probably coming to the channel because of Paul’s enthusiastic manner rather than out and out sales and marketing.
Summing parallel DAC circuits improves signal to noise ratio and can deliver great results. It is not unique to PS Audio though. Accuphase for example has been using this topology for years in all its CD players and standalone DACs.
You are exactly right, Accuphase did this decades ago. They still use this topology
Soldout!! Paul you got me excited next time save me one I am the president of your FAN CLUB after all.
Paul, the first thing that caught my eye was that BEAUTIFUL oversized toroidal transformer, which is very nicely mounted BTW. Cable management seems good, the earth bonding is solid, and I _think_ I understand how paralleling DACs would help, but it depends on their architecture. The datasheet and patents might help there.
Also, no, I’m not copying you, there’s far more I don’t understand and I know it takes decades to get that good.
I really like the 2-tone, hope it's an option ❤
I recently got hold of an older elite plus. I did not know how how better it was than my old Sansui that I had loved for years.
Congrats to PS Audio
Interesting video, Paul. Would it be possible for you to do a side-by-side comparison of (say) the Steller Gold DAC and its non-gold counterpart, so that we can see the PSU improvements, etc.?
Hi Paul. I've been a loyal PS Audio customer for a few years now. I've owned M700s, GCD and I still have your first tier power plant (P12?). I recently purchased from PSA the Stellar Gold Pre and DAC. I pair them with a JC5 Parasound. This combination is sweet! However, I have a question: some people have taken a look inside the DAC and they only see one chip. Is that correct? Can you elaborate on that?
Ps: I follow your channel since you started it. Thank you so much!
Will it be showcased at the Toronto Auto Show on Oct 20th? I hope to hear/see it there!
I’m so there !!
How would the DAC function as a preamp? Could you use this unit to function as both? Would there be a sonic penalty?
Will it be on display at the upcoming Toronto Audiofest next weekend 🤔
Would this be an upgrade from the 1st Gen PW DS DAC?
hello Paul. Similar to merging Hapi mkII? Very thanks for your videos
Does it come in black, like the SGCD?
Is it possible to have a DAC that combines Delta Sigma (ESS type chips) & have R2R ladder? And maybe a computer mechanism to "pick" the appropriate DAC to use for the music being played?
We have digital files with all this meta data on it. I'm thinking it would be possible for the music itself to "know" what to pick provided the system could read that data.
I don't know, just thought it would be cool that you could get a DAC that can play ANY type of music perfectly.
You don't do straight product demo videos often (except Aspens?). And that's good! But this one was almost as much educational as sales. Nice balance. And good info.
Begs the question about using different types of DACs together as well? Like some ladder and different S/D's? Basically summing the common elements and rejecting individual variances of the different approaches.
If one was to dac from a smart television ( that does not include a DAC) am I losing sound quality as apposed to running a streamer/ DAC from a modem?
Thanks in advance!
This looks great. Might have to check that out. Using a chord qutest Now this might be the next big jump.
I’ve never heard ps audio in Ireland there isn’t anywhere to hear it
Is this better than a Denafrips Pontus 2?
What type of transformer is that ? Are they reverse phase windings to eliminate cross talk
Hi, cool. Looks like an error on the website you have DSD128 listed twice. Under USB section. I assume it should be DSD256
Sample Rates Optical (TOSLink): PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz
S/PDIF (Coax): PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz and 192kHz; DoP64
I2S: PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, 705.6kHz, and 768kHz; DoP64, DoP128, DoP256, DSD64, DSD128, and DSD256
USB: PCM 16 and 24 bits at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz, 192kHz, 352.8kHz, and 384kHz; DoP64, DoP128, DSD64, and DSD128
ES9039PRO is an excellent 8 channel DAC chip.
Looks veryy nicee!!
The strange thing is there is no Stellar (non-gold) preamp to compare this to. Its slotted in-between a lower product that doesnt exist and an upper level preamp. There is a stellar DAC/preamp, but as this does not have a preamp, its an apples to oranges comparison.
Looks like there is room for a nice transport in that.
This is the second video about this DAC I see and I am still not sure which chip(s) it uses and how many. ESS PRO chips have 8 channels. Is he referring to each of these channels as a 'dac'? Does it use 4 of the 2 channel ESS Q2M chips? The one thing I'm pretty sure about is it does not use 8 ESS PRO chips (4x8=32 dac channels).. That would be both technically ridiculous and too costly. A little more transparency wouldn't hurt anyone, Paul.
I don’t like when things are just made to a price point. Make the best you can, that’s it.
That is a silly thing to say. The company would soon go out of business if it made equipment that only a very few people could afford. PS makes several levels of equipment for this reason. If you want the best at any price you can buy their perfectwave gear
That’s more about company strategy though. There are many hifi brands who only make one product or several different types. It’s a choice. Jays Audio, Audio Music are 2 examples, although Jays do have 2 CD transports.
@@Coneman3 of course its a strategy. It's a strategy to be competitive. It's only because Honda make and sell so many Civics that they can also make a supercar like the NSX. If they did as you suggest and only make the best, the NSX, then it's likely Honda would have gone out of business long ago.
Ferrari and Bugatti do ok with only top models.
These DACs devices are getting more sophisticated at embellishing and turning the music into something quite unlike the original sound. All the reverbs, ambience been knocked out and we hear sounds that have been enhanced and cleaned. Like the AI now used on smart phones to make photos look the best. I like my music raw and natural on records and tapes like the sound in recording studios or concert halls. Warts and all.
That will always be available to those that want it that way as you said. You can still listen to AM Fm radio for instance. No fear, no panic. Old is not going away.
@@davidfromamerica1871 I was not referring to old is better. I was referring to the way some people love to have the things they consume to be filtered and altered. The marketing behind these gadgets is working well.
@@artyfhartie2269
Old is not filtered. It’s raw as it was mentioned to be.
ruclips.net/video/Pf4_1bAv7BU/видео.htmlsi=gPeRKhjg7U6zKzAW
That's not the idea. The idea is to get as close to the original sound in the studio as possible, with all the tonality, soundstage, dynamic range, and imaging intact, coming through our speakers.
@@rosswarren436 Yes.And a heap of electronics in the signal path like in digital audio processing using binary digits data which is manipulated to "correct" the sound is not the way to go. Very dry, crisp, flat compressed then pushed out like in a sausage machine. Digital audio sounds all the same. Very boring. Not many people listen to a whole CD. Very convenient though. As background music. I have DSD CDs. Sounds clear and sparkling as spring water. Nice but in reality humans and musical instruments don't sound like that. I prefer natural simple and beautiful. To each his own. No one tells me what I should like.
Price?
website?
$3999 and I think they could have sold this for $2999 but because it sounds so good they would have a hard time selling their more expensive dacs. For some this might be their end game dac. Hard to say as this has some class A elements to it so it probably sounds very good.
I want the gold!
Not much in there. Could be Sprout size.
Sorry, but I can’t bring myself to buy PS Audio again. My new Stellar GainCell DAC arrived to me with a small screw rattling around inside the case. The screw had come loose from the display board. Not sure how that could happen unless the assembly was not completed correctly. Then I noticed that the RCA jacks in the back were mixed up and installed in the wrong positions. How could this get by quality control. It was very obvious as the color coding on the RCA jacks was incorrectly placed. This did not leave me with a good feeling about my purchase or PS Audio’s attention to detail. I had bought dozens of PS Audio products over the years, but this was my last.
Hi Paul, I thought Darren Myers went to Parasound...
So the stellar is compromised
How so?.
dac chip?? ah Ess chips... same Smsl and topping and everyone else is using. akm and ess everywhere
The key isn't the dac it's the power supply and output stage. Here it's definitely better than who you listed, but far and away as good as you can do.
Or FPGAs like Chord and others use. It makes little difference in the long run. What counts is the cleanliness of the power supply and how well the output stage is doing its thing in turning it all into music. I mean, you could buy a SMSL SU-1 for $99 if that's all you want, depending on how good your ears are and the level of possible quality in the rest of your system. I'll never buy a $4000 DAC because my whole system is $15K. Figure a DAC in the $2000 range (Denafrips, Gustard) is more price commensurate with the rest, not that I wouldn't LIKE a $4000 DAC.
If only PS Audio would design much better cases for their products! They should consider dropping the plain-box look, it's very unappealing.
It's not really fair to say 8 dacs... Its One ES9038PRO chip (and there is the ES9039PRO so this isn't the best ess chip anymore and hasn't been for a few years) ... Using 4 internal dacs for right and four for left. There are many dacs that use TWO ES9038PRO using all 8 internal dacs for the right and another ES9038PRO for the left. The lks dh004 is $1500 vs $4000 and uses two ES9038PRO and has two toridals seperating digital from analog power vs one here and has a fully descrite analog stage without any chips vs a hybrid approach here..... For $2500 less....
8 dacs wrap inside one chip is still 8 separate dacs. Like a quad Intel cpu is one chip with four processors inside. The real question we are all waiting for is, does the sound justify its $4k price.
@@flargosa no I don't say my 13700k i7 is 16 processors... Its One processor with 16 cores and 24 threads. There is a difference. If I had two of these chips I'd have two processors.
@@ClassifiedBrief the core is the processor or cpu. the entire chip can contain a number of processors plus other things like memory, gpu, some have storage, etc… It is correct to say your quad core has 4 processors.
@@flargosa regardless... Saying it has 8 dacs to most people will mean a very different thing. Let's be honest here.
@@ClassifiedBrief from an engineers/designers point of view 8 separate dacs or 8 combined dacs is the same. Same performance, same results. Maybe a customer would want to see 8 separate chips for bragging rights, but in the end combined or separate makes no difference, It’s all about improvements.
Need an advice
I have a Stellar on my active monitors, I use iPhone Spotify YT for listening, its really sharp, would like to warm it up a bit for longer listenings, how can I do that ?
why have 1 dac when you can have 8 & charge 8 times the price ..marketing genius though i suppose it needs to have extra parts to fill up all that fresh air inside it.
Sorry, one ESS per channel is not extraordinary. The Chinese do that all over the place. In one of your recent videos you indicated 8 chips, which would have been truly extraordinary (and kinda nuts). BTW the Topping Octo actually is going down that road with 8 Cirrus chips.
That would be this video where he talks of the eight chips, four per channel.
It's probably a misunderstanding: it does have 8 DAC "chips", but they are packaged by ESS in a single IC. So only one chip visible on the board, but internally made of 8 discreet DACs per channel. Hope that helps.
Jays Audio DAC uses 2 AKM chips.
Topping just released a new Octo Dac w/ eight cirrus logic chips for just $499. Why should one spend $4k on a StellarGold Dac?
Buy both and compare them in your system and let us know.
Used car salesman nonsense. Only one ESS chip doing the work. Can get Chifi dacs for a fraction of the price with higher end chips doing the same thing, or even using multiple chips.
Some of them also have linear power supplies and discrete outputs.
Not saying this doesn't sound good since I haven't heard it. But it's value to price ratio is not good in purely technical terms.
Why are these videos always sponsored by PS Audio😉
PS audio or any of the other high end manufacturers aren't in any way looking for "commoner's" as customers. Its priced so far out of reach for most listeners its astounding lol. They do sound awesome but again way overpriced just to keep it out of reach
Psaudio makes poor quality products . Don’t fall for sweet talker Paul. He tries to act like a mentor but in reality he is a salesman