Yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, I ordered the upgrade/fix for my Gold Note DAC: a PS Audio AirLens Streamer and a PS Audio PerfectWave DirectStream DAC, Mk 1 from The Music Room—my go-to place for audio equipment. While I have been very pleased with the way the Gold Note DS-10 Plus DAC performs, I was less enamored with its quirks. To me, it seemed like owning a bespoke Italian sports car: a lot of fun when it was working.
I ordered the Gold Note DAC and power supply unit last January. The DAC was slightly finicky right out of the box: it took a minute to get wifi working. Once I did, it seemed to be fine. For a few days. First, the remote control just topped working. No problem, I thought; I don’t use it anyway. Next, the screen developed a vertical line in the middle of it. Then, a horizontal one. No big deal, I thought; I don’t use the screen anyway. Then, the PSU stopped working. It was only giving static through the speakers. When I bypassed the PSU, the DAC still worked. Oh bother, I thought, and sent the PSU back to the Music Room for repairs.
Six months later, I receive the repaired PSU back. By this time, my listening room is complete and I have moved in. I’ve been listening for a couple of weeks at this point, so I was curious to see how adding the PSU back into the system would improve my sound. Well, when I did, nothing had changed. We were right back to the beginning: only a buzzing through the speakers. If the PSU is working, there’s something else wrong with the DAC.
Long story short: I contacted the Music Room, and they agreed to take the both units back for a full refund or trade. So, with some help from Giles, I landed on the PS Audio equipment which should be a pretty good upgrade for not much more money. I hope these will arrive before the weekend. Happy birthday to me! Needless to say: I am psyched to hear these in my system.
As for Gold Note: I was very happy with the sound I got from the DS-10 Plus, but the writing was on the wall. I was wondering how much longer the DAC would function. It had begun randomly dropping Roon and even shutting off during listening sessions. As much as I liked it: it was time to replace it, and TMR made that super easy.
My hearty thanks to the Music Room. You guys rock.