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AUDIO FORUMS >> Digital >> PS Audio Octave server
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Message started by lazb on 02/22/19 at 18:31:05

Title: PS Audio Octave server
Post by lazb on 02/22/19 at 18:31:05

Paul's comment:

Paul
CEO PS Audio
Our goal isn’t to “beat” Roon at the interface race. They have a wonderful interface. Our goal has always been a series of directives:

Ease of use. Customers should be able to pick up the interface and be playing music within the first 60 seconds with no instructions.
One library. Integrating streaming services should be such that it appears the user has one big library. Search for Beatles and your own copies plus all that are available on your streaming services appear.
Engage with the artists. The experience should be immersive with the artists and performers in the same way we engage with the back of the album cover
Find new music. Scrolling through the artist’s or album’s story brings up links that connect the user with more music from the roots of what they are listening to.
Smart search. Searching for music should be intuitive and a pleasure.
Visually appealing. The interface should connect you with the music and be a pleasure to work with.
Unquestioned audio. Because we control the hardware as well as the interface we can guarantee the best sound quality technically possible.
I won’t bore you with the actual document which is quite extensive but these are the precepts we are working on.

Central to our Octave system is controlling the hardware and software. The guys at Roon have done a wonderful job but they haven’t yet worried about hardware other than the NUC they package up real nice like. As always, the hardware is key. If you look inside
the Octave server you’ll understand what I am referring to. The computer, for example, is galvanically isolated from the output board. This means there are not only no wires, grounds, or shared power supplies between the output interface Digital Lens, but
only air connecting the two systems.

Our engineering staff has invented the Air Gap Audio Interface (AGAI) to completely isolate the noisy computer from the quiet Digital Lens.

So, yes, user interface is critical. But so too is hardware. If you don’t handle both in just the right way, you’ll never have what Octave will gift to the world sometime in 2019.

The best sounding audio server in the world.

Bar none.

Title: Re: PS Audio Octave server
Post by Lonely Raven on 02/25/19 at 15:13:14

I've not had time to keep up with the PS Audio forums, or Paul's Posts, so this is news to me!

This sounds very cool! The interface he describes is basically Roon, but tied to well designed hardware? That sounds like a great setup!

Roon Lifetime account was something like $499, so I wonder where this hardware will land price wise. And then maybe subtract $499 from it and see if it's even more of a value. Yes, it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself to get it...but no, I'm happy with what I have. It just sounds very well thought out!

Title: Re: PS Audio Octave server
Post by lazb on 02/25/19 at 16:41:09

L R, Paul has said depending on final parts cost it will be in the $5 to $6K range. Indications are it will release in 2019 and MAY be fairly soon? Dealers have about 40 points to play with.