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REVIEW: PS Audio Digital Link III DAC Processors

Model:	Digital Link III
Category:	DAC Processors
Suggested Retail Price:	$995
Description:	24 Bit 96/196 With USB, TOSLINK, Digital Cable
Manufacturer URL:	PS Audio
Model Picture:	View

Review by Max Raden on November 23, 2012 at 18:45:52 IP Address: 108.41.249.238

Add Your Review for the Digital Link III

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This will be a long and rambling review. Seriously.
You can go directly to the last paragraph and skip the meandering digression.

My DacMagic abruptly stopped working without warning.
It took some time to isolate the problem as I discovered that the upgraded
power-supply , the Pangea P-100 was dead.
This is my first Pangea product and so I’m very disappointed.
One-hundred-dollars bought me approximately two years of sonic amusement.
As I look back it seems like it wasn’t a good deal after all.
Fortunately I saved the original DacMag wall-wart power-supply.

Upon connecting the original power-supply, it became apparent that something was wrong. It was not that the DacMag became suddenly flawed or defective,
its just that music didn’t sound as pure and fine as I preferred or as I was used to.
My senses had adjusted to the power-supply tweak and there was no going back.

The P-100 power-supply was used with Harmonic Technology AC11 power-cord. These tweaks helped to take DacMagic to the next level while adding an additional three-hundred-dollars total cost.
It occurred to me that I had not been listening to the value-leader,door-busting
four-hundred-dollar DacMagic. This was a seven-hundred dollar DacMagic
with highly-regulated low-noise power-supply and Continous-Cast-Copper cabling.

The ubiquitous wall-wart power-supply is all too common on many budget DACs.
So, instead of ordering another P-100, I decided to go a different direction.

Opportunity often occurs when you’re not looking for it.
I discovered this demo-sale on the PS Audio Digital Link III while gazing equipment reviews. The PS originally retailed for a thousand-dollars and here it was on sale at four-hundred and fifty.
Since I was already emotionally vulnerable because of aforementioned equipment failure, I pounced on the Add-To-Cart button almost reflexively.

The PS-DigitalLink has been in my system for over a month now and I have been doing comparisons with DacMagic. The DigitalLink is immediate and refined and audacious and in an entirely different league than the DacMagic.
Both DACs present a similar approach to reproduction.
On some recordings the DacMagic sounds just like the DigitalLink.
While other recordings make the DigitaLink sound noticeably superior.
This means more resolution and detail with analog realism.
Listening to The Look of Love, Burt Bacharach Collection disc three,
was like hearing studio-master tape-reel recordings.
The vocal tracks sound alive with noticeable midrange lucidity.
Jazz recordings like Monks-Dream, Thelonious Monk Quartet, AjA by Steely Dan and McCoy Tyner New York Reunion are presented in a pure and distilled flow of musical emotion.
The DigitalLink rocks. Nickelback This Side Up, was tactile ,full of life and uncongested. I only wish Nevermind by Nirvana was as well recorded.
This recording sounds almost exactly the same on DacMagic and DigitalLink.
The DigitalLink rendition being ever so slightly cleaner sounding.
and speaking of cleaner sounds, the electronica of Depeche mode, Violator
comes out of the left and right speakers like signal-generator-sweeps.
In closing Id like to mention that the DigitalLink has-- powerful realistic bass, significant bass, prodigious bass. Analog like reproduction. Large soundstage environment. Excellent detail-retrieval and is musically gratifying.
The DigitalLink allows one to either concentrate on the music or just bathe in the melody, depending on your mood.

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Product Weakness:	usb input requires asynchronous link.<br>Musical Fidelity V-Link works for me.
Product Strengths:	analog-like reproduction is very convincing

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Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	PrimaLuna ProLogue One
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	N/A
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	N/A
Speakers:	Focal Chorus 706s
Cables/Interconnects:	Harmonic Technology
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	jazz, rock, pop, soul
Room Size (LxWxH):	30 x 30 x 8
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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