PS Audio PWD MkII vs W4S DAC2

i'll second Vhiner's comments and take it one step further. my PWDII/Bridge/PWT are the most sensitive pieces of gear i've ever owned. power supply, power cords, fuses and vibration/isolation all made substantial improvements in sound...when similar upgrades were much harder to notice in the rest of my set-up.

went into the fuse upgrade thinking no way could this work....walked away completely impressed. just like dedicated power lines, PC's and a nice rack.... the sound just kept getting better!.

break in was incredibly long (300-500 hours). thought i was there after 300 hours as things were sounding really good. then....200 hours later....it was sounding even better??. you will know when you get there =)

also...don't forget to use CAT 6 or 7 Ethernet cables. they made a difference for me as well (yep...i know this is crazy).

This doesn't appear to be the issue, but just for others' reference, I tried an Oppo 95 as a transport for the PWD, and it was really terrible. Lots of the bad characteristics that were listed above. I loved the Oppo's video, but it was really a poor match with the dac and I returned it to Amazon within my 30 day window. I ended up using that money to buy a MacMini, and it completely turned around my impression of the PWD... especially once I copied all my disks over to a harddrive. I haven't heard the PW Transport, but using a computer server with the PWD was really a spectacular solution.

Gago1101,

You should probably check out the next firmware upgrade when it comes out. I hear it may be a big step forward....of course nothing is real until it's out of beta.

PSAudio has the best user community I've ever encountered and, as others have mentioned, the user forums on its website are a rich resource.

I lived happily with a DAC2 for the last two years. It replaced a Benchmark DAC1 HDR, which I could I found unforgivably sterile, anylytical, and dry. The DAC2 had plenty of resolution, and added meat to the Benchmark's bones. Over time, though, I began to feel like the DAC2 was a little bit flat in terms of dynamics and imaging. It also bothered me a little bit that its volume control had a narrow sweet spot; to my ears it only came alive at 50 and began to feel unrelaxed north of 58 or 60.

The PWD MKII I bought last week puts my system in a completly different league. Out of the box I warmed it up for 90 minutes, selected the NativeX setting, and sat my wife down in the sweet spot to hear its first noted played. "Holy Sh*t! Are you f*cking kidding me?" was her immediate appraisal of the change.

I have never heard a top end so extended, yet so sweet and liquid. The bass, likewise, feels limitless and yet has a pitch delineation that I have not ever heard in my room. Detail retrieval in the midrange is stunning. Even in very familiar recordings I am hearing things I never knew were present on the masters. For example, last night's listen was Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon's album _Clone._ I heard occasional fret buzz on an open E string that had been obscured before. Even further, I could hear the pitches of individual strings on strummed chords in a manner completely new to me.

All this detail seems to come with no perceptible harshness or fatigue. I just want to keep listening to everything that I have.

I am one happy camper over here. Neal, are you still feeling the same way? Also, have you noticed any ups or downs in the break-in process?

Cymbob,

There will be a little roller coaster ride during break in, but if you're this happy right out of the box, you are gonna be over the moon after 300 hours. Keep it on and in operation for best results. Once it's broken in, go for a Shunyata power cord and get ready for hyperspace. ;-)