PS Audio Direct Stream Mk2 DAC - How good is it vs Mk1? Weiss, Bricasti?

I had the PS MK1 for a few years, now the MK2 and it is better in every way, especially with the recent upgrade FPGA...the PS Audio forums have extensive discussion with lots of comparisons...the TAS review predates the most recent upgrade

I upgraded from the Directstream 1 to 2 about 6 months ago.  Ar first, I wasn't sure it was worth the difference...until this week when I installed the new massive firmware update.  Wow-Major improvement.  Now I wonder if they will ever be able to improve on that--and find it hard to imagine how.  With the generous trade in allowance and 30,day trial period, it's pretty irresistable.

I recently was in a local shop that sells the Weiss dacs and had a chance to listen to the 501 and 204. Now granted this experience was not in my own system, but in a very expensive setup nonetheless. I wanted to hear how it somewhat compared to my MKI.

A while back I sent my MKI in for the APS transformers and Vcom mods to determine if I would still feel the need to upgrade to the MKII. After the long and I mean long break in period, it has satisfied my upgrade itch. These mods transform the DAC in all the right ways.

I think it would worth the APS upgrades first and then see if you still feel the desire to upgrade. It saves a lot of money and sounds really really good.

Brownsf-  yep, that trade in and trial makes it almost an offer I can’t refuse. So this is much of a sanity check before making the final decision.  

pursuitofnow- I had not heard of the upgrades, so I’ll google them
 

Pursuitofnow - who did your upgrade? How much was it? Even with the mk1 upgrades, the firmware upgrades to the mk2 will just keep making the mk2 better and better. I use Ethernet and the new mk2 doesn’t have Ethernet so I would have to get their server so I could us i2s, I never use usb. I still like the sound of the mk1 over many other more expensive dacs.