In any endeavor or project the greatest reward is to hit the mark. To do what you set out to do.
The bigger and more ambitious the project the greater the difficulty to arrive where you hope to be.
Imagine the challenge of conceiving, designing, building, and getting to market a product. At PS Audio, our product cycle from concept to ready-for-sale is typically about a year. That's a long time and a lot can happen in a year.
So, when we launch a new product that is recognized by an end user as having hit precisely the goal we had hoped for, the size of smile on our faces is huge.
Take the AirLens as an example. We built it to solve a big problem: the sonic differences between streaming and the playing of a CD.
Theoretically, bits are bits. If we play an identical digital file then it shouldn't matter if that file comes from a far away streaming service like Qobuz or a local high-end transport.
But it does sound different and, therefore, the two means of getting those bits into your DAC must be different. And they are.
Most streamers rely upon the USB inputs of your DAC. We've known for some time now that input isn't as good as coax and certainly not as good as I2S. In addition, we know that using a high-end transport like our own PerfectWave SACD was quieter and with lower jitter than any streaming device on the market.
Our goal with the AirLens, realized through galvanic isolation and a new internal Digital Lens, was to close that gap and, to my ears, we're close enough to rely upon the AirLens as our main source of music.
So, when I read this comment on the forums:
"For me music from a good transport like DS Memory Player or Metronome Kllista or SACD transport or … sounded always much better to my ears in comparison to the “computer Hifi” (NAS, PC, Qobuz, Tidal. For the first time: there is no more a quality question. Both sources are playing at the same level and that I couldn’t believe that this could happen. There is a new Sheriff in town. I’m really happy with the AL and therefore: thanks to Paul and his team."
I know of no better compliment. Thanks, Edzi.
