I was a dealer for PS before they went direct only. Though I sold several of them, I personally didn't love the Directsteam. IMO, it's a very smooth, laid back sound that rarely got my blood pumping. I also didn't find much improvement moving from one software update to the next. Never had two units at once to A/B test, but as opposed to the fanboys who described major improvements w/each update, they were frankly lost on me. I personally like the sound of the Stellar line more than that of the topline DAC and BHK stuff.