Placed the newly upgraded PS Audio DSD MKI DAC into my system at around 6 pm yesterday evening after the system had been unplugged for two weeks and was pleasantly surprised how good the music flowing from it sounded. Normally my system remains turned on and in standby at all times, but even then, it takes at least 30 minutes to an hour of playing music before the sound really starts to gel to the point where I get lost in the music. Yesterday I was held captive immediately and remained affixed in my listening chair for 4 hours straight as I went through my music collection as if hearing these silver discs for the first time. The PS Audio MKI DAC was no slouch to start with, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to music through it, but it's an entirely new and more refined DAC now.
The top end is more detailed while also sounding smoother and more delicate. Cymbals have more shimmer and sparkle, and their presence lingers longer as the sound decays into a blacker background. The midrange and vocals sound absolutely stunning and to die for! Again the lower noise floor reveals subtle inflections in the vocals that were previously obscured, further suspending my disbelief.
The bass now digs deeper and is more controlled and articulate. The foundation of the music has more drive and bass lines are easy to follow now. I also noticed I don't need to listen as loud in order to get the bass to come alive and really boogie. Before when listening at lower levels the bass never really had the presence and punch it did when turned up louder. Now even at much lower levels everything including the bass sounds prefectly balanced.
I can say without hesitation, this is the best bang for the buck upgrade I've ever made.
It's come to my attention that JK Richards has started a thread here on Audiogon himself, so any further discussion will take place here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/modding-the-ps-audio-directstream-dac-mk1-and-mk2#2553976