Opinions on PS Audio Direct Stream DAC (Mk 1)
PS Audio is clearing out factory refurbished Direct Stream DACs, the original version from 2014 or 2015, for about $1800. I'm wondering if I could get opinions on this DAC. It's old technology as far as digital goes, but it got nice reviews when it was new. It can do DSD64 and DSD128. It upsamples everything internally to DSD.
I'm interested in musicality and musical involvement, especially dynamics (macro and micro), accuracy of instrumental timbre and extracting the beauty out of the recording, low noise floor and high resolution.
Old technology? You are dead wrong! It’s fpga based. I preferred this dac over many others costing 2-3x more at the time. I used Ethernet, never usb. If you want to increase the sound quality of the mk1 DS sr dac, get their airlens and use the i2s interface. I’m using the Revelation Aufio Labs prophecy i2s cable. Maybe next steps would be to modify some of the internals of the mk1, but in no hurry. Also, with the later firmware releases, I think you can get dsd256 and higher resolutions. |
@yyzsantabarbara there’s stuff around on HeadFi and YouTube on Singularity. To be honest if you need a slightly darker sounding DAC to match your speakers then I’d probably stick with the LiM - put the money elsewhere for a bit until things move on. |
@gavin1977 Thanks. I am not replacing my LIM. I use that in my office with my Magnepan LRS+ and RAAL CA-1a headphones, it sounds great on both slightly bright speakers. I am looking for a slightly less dark DAC for my other system. That is where the interest on the MIB DAC arises. I would have 2 Yggi's, the LIM and MIB. I will look in Headfi for more into. I think Mike Moffet posts there.
|
I think the MKI with the full APS mod would be a fantastic dac when fed by a streamer, as people found the bridge card not as desirable. I used the bridge II card and found it better than the USB input. However I upgraded to the MKII and had the APS transformers installed. The top end was more extended (as shown in the graphs Jeff has posted) as well as a bunch of other sonic benefits. Jeff thinks a fully modded MK I can compete with a MKII, so that might be a great bargain, though I have no idea what that costs. The MKII with APS transformers is so good I’m currently running with no preamp, and recently reviewed two amps for The Absolute Sound running direct from the MKII with no preamp. I felt this was a better way to hear each amp since there would be no preamp to effect the combo. My AGD GAN review vs. BHK300 is here https://youtu.be/K0p6MUKSVo8?si=5Gz8MTTzCYNStBwf
|
