I learned it so long ago that nobody called it Sequel ... just by the letters. Then later people start to say it as a word - and it catches on. Now it polluted the meaning into Sequential Query ... i'll just call it S.Q.L like i always have. Its like the way they changed RAID from redundant array of "inexpensive" drives to "independent" so they could make expensive RAID oriented disks.

Not only did he create it, but he's re-created it with each OS update to the DAC. It's simply amazing - the latest update is like getting a brand new $10k DAC for free.

I agree. And I think it comes with the bridge installed now. Price that into the equation when considering what you'd pay SOtM or Sonore.

I was part of the Beta team for the Bridge II - so I lucked out and got to keep mine. I hope to get out and see Paul's Music Room 1 sometime this year...but it's a long drive from Chicago.

Lot of bullshit that didnt hold up to the measurements, sorry.

Vitor Roma Excuse me. Got to tell you that measurements do not tell even partially the whole story. The direct stream you have to hear it then you’ll know.

+Hitashi son He forgot the remote for the DAC, and was using a poweramp/preamp setup that was provided at the show.

Eric Ventura i was just trying to be funny :)

How Evan the speaker sound wonderful if you're listening to a compressed youtube stream?

Sounds like a ghetto way to lower your signal to noise ratio, lower your bandwidth, and use a tape deck as a fixed EQ to compensate for a harsh sounding and poorly resolving system.

I wrote this 7 years ago. Still no response!

LOL, Sorry about that. You have no idea how long I was trying not to cough - I'm just a dude at a show with a smart phone doing my best to share this information. :)

No, sorry. I'm sure I asked, but that was 3+ years ago.

I can help you with this - I had similar issues when I didn't understand a few concepts. Now, I'm not speaking for Ted and Paul of PS Audio, but I believe I have a good understanding and can explain it to you (assuming KZfaq gives me enough space to type this out) First off, lets drop your terminology and speak in very simple concepts. The terms you use don't make sense, which tells me you might not fully have your head wrapped around digital in general, it is daunting with all the different formats and compression and conversions and whatnot. So Keep It Super Simple and throw out your previous concepts and terminology and start fresh. First off, this is digital. So there are no "harmonics" to add, because there are no harmonics in digital. Drop the analog mindset! OK, so now that we're digital, lets think in numbers. Let's say I draw a number 1 on a corner of a piece of paper, and in the opposite corner I draw number 3 - that's the information you *have*. If I tell you to put a number 2 between the 1 and the 3 imagining there is a straight line between them, that's like kindergarten simple, right? (this would be so much easier if I could draw this next part) So now let's take this straight line with numbers concept and do the same with the S curve of a sine wave: lets say #1 is at the start, #3 is the top of the positive curve, #5 at the middle, then #7 at the bottom of the lower curve, and #9 at the end. We know what a sine wave looks like, and we have these points of reference at 1,3,5,7,9...that's the information we *have*. Now I ask you to put #2, #4, #6, and #8 along the sine wave curve in their appropriate places. You basically just upsampled that one sine wave by following the rules, which is to place more points of reference along that curve! Again, we aren't adding *sound* that wasn't there! Because that's in the realm of analog. What we're doing is predicting points of reference along known path, giving the DAC more *digital* data to convert back into analog sound at the END of the process. Upsampling is in the world of numbers, which we can crunch within a set of rules provided. In this case, look at the information you're given (the digital sampling of sound, each point a number), and predict the points *between* the points we *have* to "smooth out" the curve between those points. That's really the concept you need to get - this is all numbers, and numbers are predictable within the rules of math...and we're just crunching numbers to add more points of reference (samples) between the points of reference we have. Now, only read further if you care to - I'm just bringing the above concept to numbers and technology we use and I'm typing this out to help me better put this into words the next time someone asks me this. Again, this would be easier if I could draw it out. So now lets imagine what PCM and DSD look like on paper and how the above concept of adding points of reference, and upconverting it to DSD works with that concept. PCM uses bits and samples that when taken together look like stair steps. 16/44 for example is sampled 44,100 times a second. Most upconverting keeps the math simple, which is why you often see 16/44 typically upconverted to 88k samples. Because the math is simple and won't leave you with rounding errors. The math isn't *adding* sound, because there is no sound, only numbers. You are adding more points of reference between the existing points of reference to go from 44k to 88k i.e more stair steps. Now, DSD is different - each sample is a single bit point along that sine wave, but sampled 2,822,400 times a second! LOTS of points of reference along that sine wave to predict where the points are between existing points...lots for the algorithms to work with and crunch!! So, the DirectStream DAC is using math to crunch those bits and convert the stair steps of PCM to the single bit points of DSD, then uses further math to predict those DSD reference points to 2xDSD before it outputs to analog. The resulting sound is smoother, and appears as if there is more information coming from those original 44,100 samples a second! I hope that makes sense, and I'd be happy to be corrected if my information is wrong. I did dumb it down in places to better get the concepts across, or simply because my understanding of the algorithms isn't as deep as someone that actually does the programming. ~Eric~

Eric Ventura - In other words if the upsampling was not happening you could very well have a sine wave that looked like triangles? 1-3-5-7-9

Good thing I don't listen to measurements! It has been one of the best DACs I've had the pleasure of listening to. Especially with all the OS updates.

@@LonelyRavenProductio LoL you wasted thousands on it...what else would you say. The measurements don’t lie.

And I just checked...upon firmware update it was retested, with no difference. You got ripped off by a smooth talking snake oil sale.

Here is what another buyer said after reading the reviews “ I Received the Topping E30 today. Bypassing the Stellar DAC/Preamp and going straight to my M700 monoblocks made a big difference. Now I just have to sell that thing And find a preamp for my TT. Good riddance! Thanks to you all for your help!” Read it and weep.

@@plcamp1 Again, good thing I listen to music and not measurements. Number cruncher nerds still haven't realized that's only part of the picture. I've listened to, reviewed, and demo'd dozens of DACs in my own personal setup and other's setups, and I'll still take this over 95% of what's out there. Maybe you should reach out to Ted Smith, MIT graduate and designer of the DirectStream DAC (who is smarter than you and me put together), ask some questions and learn something. I have. Or maybe you could just sit at home and comment on DACs you've never demo'd in your own system, on 7 year old videos on KZfaq. You're doing gods work, mate.