direct stream 2-Stereophile review


has anyone read the review of the ps audio direct stream 2 in the latest Stereophile magazine?  I just received this dac for a 30 day trial, possibly to replace my direct stream 1.  Stereophile doesn’t generally post critical reviews but this one is among the most negative I’ve seen there. The main problem is with noise.  i’m not technically knowledgeable enough to understand their graphs and statistics.  the review is by John Atkinson, a very experienced authority.  i know better than to substitute a reviewer’s judgment for my own but still it is concerning.

wolverine1

I have ordered a DSD MKII.

Ironically, only ordered it when ARC went into receivership,

Was going to buy an ARC DAC 9.

But now that this unusually negative review is out and ARC looks like they are coming back, I will probably cancel my DSD order and wait for the ARC DAC,

I'm a very happy owner of the DSD MKll...was quite surprised at how negative the JA review was..especially as it's very rare to see such a negative review of an expensive product in a mainstream mag...lots on this in the PS Audio Forums if you're interested...

Another MkII owner. IMO JA’s review has no reflection to the reality of how good this DAC is (other than his admission he continually exceeded his allotted timeframe listening to it, which is a curious juxtaposition). I’ve been a PSA DAC user since the PWD MkI. The DS MkII is far and away a superior DAC to the DS MkI. Everything about it is better, including the retrieval of the most subtle nuances in a recording, which is interesting given how JA’s measurement methodology suggests such a thing should be worse over the DS MkI. Not the case by a long shot. @mglik, may I suggest you give the MkII a try since it’s already been ordered? You can be your own judge. 🙂