# DirectStream DAC MKII Beta Tester Reviews **URL:** \ **Category:** DACs\ **Created:** [November 10, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036 "2022-11-10T14:33:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 63
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1257 "2022-12-05T01:57:05Z")
Perhaps you alternate. Make a play list in your music server and put it on repeat. ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1258 "2022-12-05T02:01:59Z")
@alexreusch I loaded 2.3.3 and it didn’t brick or go into a Mute state. The first DSD256 (Joey DeFrancesco “More Music”) over USB muted for a few milliseconds twice during the first track. I let it play all the way through and played it again without issue. So far I am quite a few DSD256 tracks in and haven’t had an issue using USB. I’ve also switched back and forth between CD over SPDIF and USB with no issues. @tedsmith I wonder why @badbeef and I who have MKII’s from the original lot that haven’t been sent back for repair are working without any incident. I’m not a fan of luck when it comes to these types of things. Edit: Using USB, all formats are properly displayed in tiny little text above the Volume. The light also turns green. ---
**Author:** ![tedsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/tedsmith/32/96626_2.png) [@tedsmith](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/tedsmith)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1259 "2022-12-05T02:22:11Z")
As things were discovered and the fix was documented the boards on hand at PS Audio were fixed, and also the boards coming from the CM. When the CM got the documentation on the fixes they would switch over and then PS Audio could skip the fixes… Also the first few from a run are checked by engineering and hence may have a slightly different path. Who knows how those different sets are scrambled by shipping in PS Audio and the final shipping companies. So there is definitely a little luck involved at the beginning, but things should be evening out now. ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1260 "2022-12-05T02:29:42Z")
I received mine on 11/7, well before there was any inkling that there was a need for a H/W change. I think @badbeef is in a similar situation. ---
**Author:** ![tedsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/tedsmith/32/96626_2.png) [@tedsmith](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/tedsmith)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1261 "2022-12-05T02:39:32Z")
I understand. Not all units fail, otherwise we would have seen it as PS Audio much earlier. I am still running a board without the fixes. My only point was that the correlation between when a unit was received and when it was built isn’t as strong as one might expect. Also, I’m not convinced that there isn’t a board or two with one off manufacturing defects that take a little time to show up. Since the analog card looks into the power chain in three places to enable it to mute before destroying people’s speakers, multiple different unrelated failures can all have the same symptom, a spontaneous mute. And so far, I’ve had a bug in the FPGA (pre 178) that could cause a loss of sound and the 2.3.0 code would lose sound on an unmodified board. There’s plenty of room for confution. ---
**Author:** ![tony22](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@tony22](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/tony22)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:41am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1262 "2022-12-05T02:41:32Z")
There have been, in Stereophile, some many years ago. I’ll leave it at that. ---
**Author:** ![dchang05](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/dchang05/32/294697_2.png) [@dchang05](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dchang05)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1263 "2022-12-05T02:43:23Z")
How do you like the sound from USB vs Matrix/I2S route? ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1264 "2022-12-05T02:47:16Z")
> [@tedsmith](#): > > There’s plenty of room for confution +1 … ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:48am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1265 "2022-12-05T02:48:14Z")
> [@dchang05](#): > > How do you like the sound from USB vs Matrix/I2S route? Indistinguishable. But, let me go out on a limb here and say that I think it depends on your streamer. I have a Rendu Signature SE. It’s fiber in, so Ethernet jitter isn’t an issue. It has a fantastic power supply. It is galvanically isolated. The USB out is by very clean. ---
**Author:** ![gd7288](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/gd7288/32/189098_2.png) [@gd7288](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/gd7288)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1266 "2022-12-05T02:49:01Z")
I got mine pretty early in the process 2 very brief episodes of room playing but no sound One after upgrade But overall it’s been great ---
**Author:** ![dchang05](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/dchang05/32/294697_2.png) [@dchang05](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dchang05)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:53am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1267 "2022-12-05T02:53:13Z")
I moved my SR Purple from BHK Pre to MK2 (it is a 2.5A, so I need to get a 1 or 1.25A for the appropriate rating in future), then put the AM M-1 (luckily it is 2.0A) into BHK Pre. No kidding! My system sounded so clean and detailed, but it is still sound full. The Purple characteristic of clean, clear, and bright (in a particularly good way) is emphasized. DS MK2 sounds so rich I can totally understand why Purple works better than M-1 in this case. Like waymanchen’s experience, I like this setting. ---
**Author:** ![dchang05](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/dchang05/32/294697_2.png) [@dchang05](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dchang05)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:54am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1268 "2022-12-05T02:54:38Z")
I have Euphony Summus2 which has an I2S output, it also has USB output. The only problem that I cannot try USB is I do not have a USB cable. 😑 ---
**Author:** ![badbeef](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/badbeef/32/142_2.png) [@badbeef](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/badbeef)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 2:55am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1269 "2022-12-05T02:55:41Z")
Mine muted with 2.3.3 ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1270 "2022-12-05T03:50:39Z")
Ohhhh…I forgot! A little embarrassing since that was what, two days ago? Sigh. One two many blows to the head. ---
**Author:** ![vkennedy61](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/vkennedy61/32/41241_2.png) [@vkennedy61](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/vkennedy61)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 4:01am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1271 "2022-12-05T04:01:19Z")
> [@dchang05](#): > > Euphony Summus2 I haven’t looked at the Euphony endpoint before. It looks very nice. Other then curiosity, I don’t know why you would spend any money on a USB cable. As far as I can tell you are all set. ---
**Author:** ![dchang05](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/dchang05/32/294697_2.png) [@dchang05](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dchang05)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 4:26am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1272 "2022-12-05T04:26:58Z")
You’re right. If I have a high quality USB I can make a direct comparison without going through another box. It is more of a curiosity, and may help others to pair streamers in future. ---
**Author:** ![joma0711](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/joma0711/32/277666_2.png) [@joma0711](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/joma0711)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 5:16am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1273 "2022-12-05T05:16:57Z")
Pink - white is equal per Hz whereas pink is equal per octave, meaning pink exercises evenly, whilst white can blow tweeters, since most of the energy is concentrated in the top octave. ---
**Author:** ![dawkinsj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@dawkinsj](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dawkinsj)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1274 "2022-12-05T05:27:59Z")
If you just want to have a good USB cable on hand for not a “lot” of money this Inakustik cable is really good. I use it between my Aries G1 and Spring 3 KTE in the system in Greenville. With shipping via USPS about $60. > **[Inakustik Exzellenz II USB A B 1 m Black | Techinn](https://www.tradeinn.com/techinn/en/inakustik-exzellenz-ii-usb-a-b-1-m/137851503/p)** > > Buy Inakustik Exzellenz II USB A B 1 m - Black, Usb cables from Cables for only 46.99 $. Find electronics and computers deals in Techinn | Fast delivery I’ve bought from these guys several times. Also available through Amazon UK and DE ---
**Author:** ![dchang05](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/dchang05/32/294697_2.png) [@dchang05](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/dchang05)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 5:47am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1275 "2022-12-05T05:47:34Z")
Thanks, I have Inakustik Ethernet cable and it is a good value. I will not conduct a comparison now since I’m using a I2S cable that’s quite different from this one. But it’s good to know I can order one from the site in future. ---
**Author:** ![badbeef](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forum.psaudio.com/badbeef/32/142_2.png) [@badbeef](https://forum.psaudio.com/u/badbeef)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2022, 9:27am UTC](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036/1276 "2022-12-05T09:27:59Z")
No worries. This has all been rather a lot to keep track of🙄 [Previous page](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036.md?page=62) [Next page](https://forum.psaudio.com/t/directstream-dac-mkii-beta-tester-reviews/31036.md?page=64)