Upgrade to PS Audio Direcstream Mk1 and Mac Mini?

…think Grimm MU1 and MU2, top of the line Innuos. But they’re in a different price category than the PS Audio DAC.
Something to think about. Oh and the Grimm units have a built in DAC.

Just for clarification, the Grimm MU1 is Roon Core (Server) and Roon endpoint (Streamer)  The Grimm MU2 is all this PLUS DAC.

I have the Grimm MU1 with a Tambaqui DAC and it sounds excellent, and yes a different price point.  And, while I agree to keep streamer and DAC separate, the MU2 seems to be a combo unit with little compromise.

@fastfreight thank you - I stand corrected. 

Hi Malcolm - I don’t have much to input on your question on pre-amp or not (although I prefer using my BHK Pre vs going direct), but if you stay with the MK I, I’d highly recommend removing the Bridge2 and going to an outboard streamer (I have the Airlens).  It’s really a leap up over using the Bridge.  Also if you’re not already doing this, dim the DAC’s screen - it cleans up the signal a lot. 

Appreciate all the suggestions. I am going to try putting a tube pre-amp in my chain and see what that does.  I will then try putting a streamer connected to my PS Audio DAC and see what improvements that yields.  i will then try a streamer/DAC combo and see how that is . (Something like a Rose150B) @audphile1 thx for suggestions regarding Roon. I think I should just consolidate to using Qobuz as I don't have a local set of files to manage.  I do like the Roon interface but it seems like an unnecessary chain.  

@mwthorne i would start with the source. Adding a preamp will improve things but your source is still farm from ideal. The network bridge in the PS Audio DAC is known to not be the best. I really believe that the biggest bang for the buck is to start with the streamer. If you’re looking to potentially ditch Roon and focus on qobuz. a used Aurender N150 should be a good start. If you can swing the N200 even better.