Another Interesting Video from Paul

A while back PS Audio's Paul McGowan bought some gear to make their "Coal to Coltrane" DVD and has been making interesting smaller videos ever since. The new one discusses what high resolution digital audio is, why it's better, and how we can get it into our systems. It's a good way to spend the next 9 minutes. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu_2EBnM4sI&feature=player_embedded

PS Audio strikes again

PS Audio has a habit of coming up with innovative, yet relatively affordable high end audio gear. Their newest transport reads a CD into a memory buffer in an effort to virtually eliminate jitter. The built in display is capable of showing cover art in addition to the standard information normally displayed by a CD player. The unit has been in development for quite some time, above is a picture of the original prototype.

Also of interest is the matching DAC which has an I2S input capable of much lower jitter compared to the more standard digital connections of optical, coaxial, and AES-EBU which are all based on S/PIDF. The built in volume control is also a nice touch. For those who use only digital sources it would allow them to do away with their preamp entirely. Due to the fact that the DAC can find music files on networked hard drives it can also be used to put together a first rate music server. Add all of that up and it's a virtual swiss army knife.

Who better than the man himself to explain it all? Paul McGowan tells you all about them in these two youtube videos.

Pure Power

For the last couple of years PS audio has been making some of the most exciting and innovative power conditioning products on the market. In the video below PS audio's founder Paul McGowan takes us on a tour of their Power Plant Premier.



I had a Power Plant Premier in my system for a month recently. The drop in the noise floor was unbelievable. The recording that sticks most in my mind was Paul McCartney's "Unplugged." The tonal shifts in his voice as he would move his head to talk to either the audience or the band were always audible, however with the Power Plant Premier the changes were astounding. Sound staging depth was also dramatically increased throughout the album. One detail that I had never noticed before nor have I heard since was the sound of McCartney shifting his feet between songs. Micro dynamics also became much more evident.

PS audio is currently offering a free DVD entitled "Coal to Coltrane: a Brief History of Power." Anybody that is interested in high end audio should request a copy. It's full of insight and anecdotes from Wes Phillips, Michael Fremmer, Robert Harley, and many more. The documentary not only demonstrates the basic principles of electricity it also explains how and why we have the electrical system that we do today. The program isn't a fluff piece selling merely PS audio's products, in fact it rarely mentions their wares. It could easily be shown on PBS, it's that educational and historically informed.