PS Audio's Paul McGowan on DACs and Loudspeakers | Stereophile

[@GBukalders]

Thank you, Paul! Watching your videos almost every day. :-)

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

Listening in 2021 I can confirm your forecast that you'll ship in 2019 was aspirational :)

[@bretspangler8717]

re-upped my Stereophile subscription about 5 weeks ago and my first copy just arrived in the mail today, I did go a few years without, and I really missed it.

[@rethinkhome1674]

This is SUCH a great capture of Paul and his vision! I am so grateful I came across this . Ordering M700's now! :-)

[@ChannelyMcChannelChan]

Great interview! It was very interesting. Thank you Paul and John.

[@duantorruellas716]

This is a treat for me being an audiophile , the head of ps audio and Mr stereo review himself. Very articulate , very knowledgeable and to top it off , 2 nice people. 👍👍

[@lhl]

Internet routing is not so magical (mostly BGP), although your streamed content almost surely comes from the edge servers of a CDN - all this however has nothing to do with audio quality since the audio data is buffered by the playback app so is completely independent of the bitstream being sent to the DAC (if you had streaming issues at the network level, you wouldn't get jitter, the music would just stop).

[@dell177]

Thank you for a very interesting interview. You are right that everything matters when it comes to how something sounds. In my mind it's important to realize about how much each part affects the sound and then decide how far down the hole you can afford to go both from a monetary and the commitment of time it takes to follow all that paths involved. In my own mind you have to get the interaction between your speakers and your room right before getting deep into other aspects. This means if you change either the speaker or the room you have to go back and get those two working together as well as you can.

[@jaydipbhattacharyya4488]

Its a great conversation, these types of conversations lead to the growth of manufacturing industry and reflect the real content of the entrepreneur .

[@Billfish57]

Man this guy talks so much without saying anything at all. He never changes, he loves the sound of his voice more than any stereo system.

[@QoraxAudio]

@ 15:38 that's why good USB audio devices have a ground lift, to decouple/isolate it from the noisy PC ground.

[@307skynet]

What a great man - Paul.

[@MrRAW1968]

You now the 2 guys from the Muppet show? Well, this might look like that, but I found it very interesting and enjoyable to watch. At almost 70 years old they both have so much enthousiasm and passion for music and audio equipment. And the way PS Audio is using all the media to reach their audience is an example to the industry.

[@kevinsmith8328]

Excellent insight of your company and goals. This was inspiring to watch and listen to a company that started in 1974 and grew to what they are now. I hope continued success.

[@almoniousor3112]

25:00 What is the problem is with the recording? artists and bands sound different in a studio recording then "live". Even live recordings sound different, regardless of any type of playback equipment. what if the recording simply does not contain a good reproduction source?

[@chrisrussell5498]

Highly informative video .Great conversation

[@barney6888]

YAAAAAY !!! I'm the umpteenth watcher of this video and I win all the gear from PS Audio that I want, delivered to me free of charge!!! YAAAAAY!!! Now I can hear the viola part in Mahler's 9th !!!

[@asterixx6878]

Congrats....i guess.

[@Chris-wp3ew]

Hi, Paul. When will these speakers be available?

[@johnvalatos4073]

Love to hear that listening room even if it is over KZbin.

[@juanmillaruelo7647]

Brilliant interview! Thanks a lot to Paul and John! :-) Regarding programmable DSP's: they are a brilliant solution. You can fine tune them without limitation (provided you have engineered enough headroom). Of course, it's more expedient to use ready made chips. And other people are fascinated by resistor ladders. DSP is the intelligent, flexible solution.

[@MrFryfish]

How can you preserve your hearing at 70 years old? How can you hear at 70 years old the same level of intrinsic subtleties within a track, I am very curious..

[@JorgeRodriguez-fy1kj]

Damn!!! That's big talk hope to hear those speakers some time

[@r423fplip]

Two great guys.

[@sjowners]

😂😂😂😂

[@googoo-gjoob]

i wish theyd gone on for longer...

[@HansDelbruck53]

Did he make it to dinner with his wife or not?

[@dwightballard3868]

I think there are components that marry together well, for me harmonic richness along with resolution is a sonic goal. So, I have found top end components from Rowland and Meridian are safe bets. I also am a big believer in PS Audio Power Plants. I am also a big fan of Revel Speakers. So these are companies that I have found to provide good synergy- you can't go wrong with top end products with excellent design and engineering hitting to an area of specialized expertise. I think Meridian did what they are talking about- modular cards in the 861 that have basically been upgradable from V2 to V8 over the course of 22 years.

[@ctpmark]

Excellent Video... Currently using a PS Audio Pre Amp into my current rig ... sounds great!

[@mjjm6220]

I just watched the other video on Stereophile site. So I have a comment for Paul about his Clearaudio TT. I have a Clearaudio TT, with a Clearaudio Virtuoso V2 cartridge. That cartridge came with a clear plastic cover that slides onto the cartridge, protecting the stylus. So my question to you, Paul, is who threw away that plastic stylus cover that should be on your cartridge at all times, when not in use? To be more clear: If the 800€ Virtuoso V2 had a cover, most certainly the higher priced cartridge on the higher tier Clearaudio TT would have had a stylus cover as well.

[@sordello51]

The big question for me is how to explain compression to my customers. Why does the Marantz 30 watt system sounds so much louder than a au-x501 amplifier. I try to explain how compression works and they are lost in 10 seconds.

[@duantorruellas716]

If I'm ever in Colorado I would love to go to ps audio to hear Arnie's ribbon speakers that blow away the infinitys.

[@osangulon]

Hello, thank you very much for the great interview. Sorry, but I have one question: "Aren't the speakers placed behind you a bit too big for the room?" There are four very large individual columns, and in my opinion they are too close together. I may be wrong. Best regards from Germany

[@ollehedstrom3536]

Great talk. Very interesting.

[@bryandepaepe5984]

The materials used in a speaker affect the sound directly and are usually not the same materials used in real instruments.

[@rotaks1]

Need a integrated amp that performs like a BHK.

[@TheZooman22]

I love this guy (Paul) ... he shares so much information with everyone.

[@konadbenz3383]

great communication, no four letter words, a lot of information, thanks class, so seldom to find in now-a-days "wanttobereviewers"

[@davegongwer106]

paul I believe I mentioned using electro-voicel loudspeakers + EQ and crown power amplifier plus a crown Preamplifier (I believe crown no longer makes preamps) (2) cassette players (1) phono (2) Cd players (1)HiFi /VCR all the equipment I use is at least 15-20 years old

[@johngordon1175]

I believe that the purity of material and shielding of stray signals is also very important. I believe that the company OMA knows how to make music sound real but the current crop of commercial speakers have too many compromises.

[@20CycleMonger]

I've been reading JA's reviews for 33 years ( in the UK with HFN&RR, and now in the US). Nice to see him out from behind the veil ;-) No window in this listening room? Must feel claustrophobic?

[@zogzog1063]

John and Paul, thank you for time. A great pleasure to listen to two statesmen of the industry. Regarding the Stereophile magazine - two points: (1) I do not give much credence to mags that do not do measurements. The 'non-measurement' crowd is ok and there are interesting opinions. But if you want High-End writing then you need the tempering that meaningful measurements bring. (2) Stereophile style is a bit more interesting in that the writers' personalities are not restrained. So they go off on tangents every now and then, but I don't mind that.

[@jaritarkiainen7404]

Best sound speakers ,what i Ever heard.my Life...Jari Tarkiainen Finland to Oulu,but music can listen like Riders on The storm.

[@spanishguitar1696]

Paul McGowan, what a great raconteur!

[@MRKeema-vc6lv]

Can't wait to see more info. On those PS Audio Speakers.

[@dublininnis9695]

Mr. Keema, I don't know if you have seen the sneak peek he gives kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpKbn6SigdhmrbM

[@googoo-gjoob]

please and thank you...

[@pjs565]

Paul why would you want to convert ac to DC then back to ac like the 150 pound 1200

[@buttonman1831]

Great video Paul, I will be a customer soon!

[@amirjubran1845]

"can't find anyone to do the work". I think the real problem is they can't find anyone to do the work at the price that they're willing to pay. Which is likely not a reasonable amount given the cost of doing business in North America. My brother runs a millwork shop here in Canada and I'm sure he'd love to do the work. But not at overseas prices.

[@michaelwhiteside2875]

A true dumb ass liberal fool statement

[@Fluterra]

US/Canadian millworkers are to blame. They have priced themselves out of the market. It’s not about matching Chinese labour rates. It’s the whole package. Customer service, engineering, willingness to do small jobs ... the quality of the work in N America is generally sh!t.

[@mihakosir7221]

I'd dare to guess that reproduction of realistic sound could be hard to achieve due to nature of sound being volumetric form... Can we actualy capture sound propperly? Im more in graphics and here realism also causes a lot of grey hair... To saturate info in right spots in right amount thru time... Is fun afterall

[@lextr3110]

awesome discussion.. paul is so cool

[@AllboroLCD]

I believe Mark Levinson was the only one to come close to Pauls speaker aspirations back in the 80's

[@foxmatte]

The topic starting around 23:30 is for sure many are drooling to happen .............Make it happen Paul..... please!!!

[@musicman257]

Paul is awesome I could talk audio with him all night Long!!!

[@andrewhughes712]

Paul you are inspiring, fun and in my newbie audiophile from Cambridge UK, an all-round good guy. thank you for helping to inspire me to learn more about the sound i listen too.

[@Shalmaneser1]

Anyone remember the tech specs for IP v. VoIP? Two diametrically opposed protocols. Music communications involve timing, data doesn't. Digital protocols such as USB and SPDIF dont't include timing - and anything musical relies on overengineered hardware (which usually falls short) to take up the slack by overworking the protocol. VoiP and Webcam communications did the same thing - with mediocre results - and using the protocol woefully inefficiently, That's the fundamental issue that's challenging people such as Paul McGowan. When you work close to where rubber meets the road with music and data, the design issues become amplified (ha ha) as the quality expectations ramp up.

[@masayoshilouis]

It's 2021 now...

[@asterixx6878]

No, it's actually 2023.

[@keithmoriyama5421]

Mutual admiration society

[@johngordon1175]

Audio dealers are like car dealers who have a different set of priorities, just like cars and Tesla, the important target is the customer, they can sell for you and demand the improvements to the consumables.

[@djremotion2]

The lack of basic understanding on how the bits are converted into wave is concerning. As much as I like these gentlemen I have hard time taking "every cat6 cable sounds different" from 70 year old men. Answer being: Maybe they do because you want them to sound different and cant hear any better.

[@Vtrontv]

Can YOU explain what are you trying to say? Are you talking about DAC? They P S Audio makes DACs im sure they must have some understanding.

[@MZ-tm1tw]

Great interview. One experiment PS Audio can do with digital Audio is to play CD-player ,DAT Tape , Adat with output via Spdif or optical lightpipe to these new Wolfson 32 bit DSD DAC,s with AL-32 16 to 32bit upsampling and comparing it to same song played by a Audiostreamer with same resolution 16bit 44.1Khz and compare if there is a difference in Sound. My experience is that a dedicated Digital audioplayer not including a computer always sound better. But Digital Audio has come along way with better DAC,s and DSP Sound cards like UAD Apollo and Pro tools HDX. Why a CD player or Dat Adat machine has something different in the Sonics signature compared to a Audiostreamer or computer with souncard playing the exact same digital file is maybe due to Digital error correction used in every CD-player and Dat Adat machine and( lower ) jitter. Also there is a difference in sound when you have a Sound Card with separate AD DA converters connected via optical Adat lightpipe. Why it,s sounds better because nothing can disturbe light. No RF, 5G , Wifi network disturbances will make a difference to a optical connection.

[@kaybhee6]

paul does good again,,,,

[@tiagovirago]

Parasound or psaudio are my choices,but Paul makes a serious difference

[@Fluterra]

Major worry is that their reference speaker is not time aligned!! Otherwise I love PS Audio.

[@danielsh1015]

So, what happened to Terry? Did you join her later, or you just forgot her at the restaurant!

[@tjuan7]

The audio was really low. I had to turn up the volume on my MacBook just to hear you guys.

[@paulstubbs7678]

You both just proved that one needs to let their audio gear warm up before serious use, before it had warmd up I'm sure I heard you both saying your about 40 years old, but after if had warmed up the truth was audible, 70's

[@dsmdarryl]

so let me get this straight... sandals guy plugged in his giant board and said he never heard anything like it WHILE SAYING it sounds exactly like the other lol

[@Grassy_Gnoll]

Not a lot of traffic on these videos. With statements like, "Ethernet cables sound different", I can see why. Routing, however, is "black magic" that nobody understands. Cables carrying a digital signal can not "sound" in any way. This nonsense is what leads to $1000 HDMI cables.

[@dannywoods3928]

Richard Larson let me guess. Coffee is coffee, all wine tastes like wine, all lamb tastes like lamb, grass fed beef tastes like beef. Etc etc. All because beef is beef and lamb is lamb, and wine is made with grapes. All whiskey is the same, all cigars are the same. How the hell can you make ignorant and ridiculous statements like you did? You have to *also* use your senses and make and informed process out of it. No one likes a smart ass.

[@60zeller]

Yeah Richard, suck it

[@johnvalatos4073]

Well you need to go to Hans channel where he explains all that goes on with audio signals when it comes to streaming, whether it be the type of cable, type of connector, isolation of signals, use of good power supplies, input clock signals etc. Amazing channel. He has an e-book as well that explains so much. The streaming music guru. kzbin.info/door/R4tuhqPppVp-PD0q17sPEAvideos

[@johnvalatos4073]

I don't know if that is true, it seems to me he uses his ears to evaluate the difference when the changes something in his systems. Curious to know what makes you think otherwise. Cheers.

[@johnvalatos4073]

Here are two good videos on the subject. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGeZkneYbLGNl68 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoG6hGaCoJusZ8k

[@whateverrrrrr123]

nice guy

[@djvartan]

Are they in a tanning booth?

[@thegrimyeaper]

Yes. It's a tanning booth.

[@ProjectOverseer]

Good bit ... "There's a lot more to DAC's and digital processing generally than one's & zeros" ... Yes, Absolutely! I wanted to hear the system and an opinion from Mr golden ears himself, John Atkinson 🎼🎶🎵😁

[@raffiequler7510]

High quality audio can be had for very little money. Just like high quality cars. The only thing is these guys don't want you to know that. They are always trying to sell you the Ferrari because that lowly BMW is simply not good enough for you.

[@petermay1219]

I am surprised that Sterophile did not ask McGowan why copper sounds better than silver, moreso when you learn that McGowan is almost seventy years old, and has probably lost most of his remarkable, dare I say, magical hearing.

[@Bannockburn111]

Age doesn't necessarily destroy hearing throughout the musical bandwidth. Above, to use the most common factor people say, 10KHz you may hear nothing when you are 70 years old, but the rest of it doesn't have to be significantly less than what it was when you were 20.

[@petermay1219]

At Penterax. My apologies. And yes, age is a factor in gradual hearing loss in males over 65. My post was not intended to be a statistical analysis , but an informed generalization. By the way, I am intrigued by what people say and where you get your information, specifically the bit concerning 10Khz? My sources are; www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/age-related-hearing-loss apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/.../9789241508513_eng.pdf I think you have language issues.

[@23x31]

Cochlear hair cells in the ear die and don’t regenerate as we age. These hair cells change vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the hearing nerves. As these cells die off in people as they age, overall hearing is affected. Especially in the higher frequencies.

[@petermay1219]

At Penterax Still waiting to hear "what people say", and where you found this information.

[@Stereoeditor]

I can't speak for Paul, but I regularly have my hearing tested and as I approach 70, my upper-frequency cutoff has dropped to around 14kHz. Which is still higher than a lot of people younger than me. - John Atkinson

[@Stephen-nd1sx]

Read marketing lessons from the grateful dead!

[@MrDoneboy]

Wifi...Wifi...Wifi...Oh, sorry. Was I ranting?

[@jworthe]

Let's have a 🍺.

[@ob1keno227]

Paul is the coolest

[@bluelines1792]

KZbin red comes with google play for 10$ a month. you can get gift cards at 7 11

[@MrDoneboy]

Paul is the cat's ass of audio!

[@sebamariano]

I prefer reciever jvc rx-1050 from 1991.

[@fastgtp106]

Ken fritz has the better system..

[@andysummersthxcinemaandmyc7748]

too snobbery with hi-fi snobs and they don't own THX 3417 they must be poor peasants

[@24bellers20]

Your inspiration should be faithfully reproducing music.

[@KOKO-jo6ty]

I think is beautiful speakers! but too much!!

[@drichards7563]

Those speakers are a joke. Audio Nirvana makes a 15 inch woofer that plays higher than anyone can hear. One speaker, no midrange, no tweeter, no crossover, 98 dB efficiency. Best sounding speaker ever made.....

[@stanleynowak9325]

Oh pure bullshit from Paul.

[@MrFryfish]

Disagree.

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

oh my God how exagerate you are John! ten amps draw power a Xilinx chip? my two sony monoblocks TA-NR1 weight 95 kilos and draw that current, it must be a confusion!!!!!! oh no no half that, 5 amps in 120 volts

[@cbcdesign001]

I assume he was talking about 10A at 120V, but if it was 10A at 240V, at 120V it would be a little over 20A. Who knows what he was talking about, he didn't make it terribly clear?

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

@@cbcdesign001 who knows? Nonetheless, I assure you that that is impossible, if it draws so much current it, that damm chip, must dissipate a lot of heat needing tons of heat sinks, maybe 10 or 15 kilograms of extruded aluminium.