I haven’t read all the posts but as to the grumbling about mod posts, I’ll say that remember early on there was also some shaming happening when testers would post honest opinions of lacking sound quality (the hum issue among others) or potential customers asking how widespread the issue was.
You can’t have it both ways. People don’t make mods just for the hell of it. They do it because they perceive the stock unit is lacking in some way. Note when I say mods don’t mean power cords, but things like fuses etc. Everyonne who is testing actually paid for the units, right? They own them and are sharing ways to make better.
If the modders didn’t mod and post about the improved results they’d post about the inferior (in their mind) unmodded results. And they should do that if that is the point of this thread. Don’t shut down the less than positive comments if not open to hearing about fixes in this thread. From what I’ve seen the spirit of the testers has been top notch given what were some pretty major issues (muting requiring return) out of the gate - keep perspective. Not directed at anyone in particular and I haven’t even read the last 50 posts or so (so def not directed at anything super recent) - just a general keep it chill comment
The world is a state of organized chaos. I too have done years of R&D and problem solving on in production products
One never gets to a workable solution for specific problems in all environments without a population of problems from varied environments. Only then can you parse what is there then find the variables that are contributing to the common cause(s) and reduce the variation that matters.
The controlled environment is for laboratory. This product is past that and is very good. It just needs a little polish and completion.
Yikes. I don’t consider a good power cable a tweak but more of a necessity. I don’t disagree that different cables can change the sound so I guess it’s a tweak. Stock cable tho for a power cable creator?
The way I look at this is: beta testers are to use the unit at home in their systems and try out all the features they would use and compare how it matches up to the former DAC in the system.
That would mean using your power cables and your isolation components and power treatment etc. Even fuses. I just wouldn’t stick the bone stock unit in my system, I’m not that person.
I think the two threads plan works for most. But I had no issues with one thread when that was what we had.
I too took the spirit of the Beta Testing to heart I did however use a PS Audio AC-5 Power cord. I feel our job was to find issues and report them and leave the reviews to the reviewers. Tweaking is fine for those who choose to do so but after the Beta testing is complete. I found issues with the DAC tracking the de-emphasis flag, not coming out of sleep with the standby button on the front panel. The balance not being adjustable from the remote. The de-emphasis option that shuts down the left channel and drops the level between 20 and 30db. The UI needs work to give us the updates via the internet like the PST and the ability to disable unused inputs. As far as what I am hearing from the mk2 vs mk1 is wider deeper taller more stable soundstage. Details that were previously over looked. The bottom end is more powerful and more tuneful. The instruments and voices are more life like. I am grateful to PS Audio for including me in the process.
Agree. PS audio made it an advertising point to say the unit has a an external fuse holder. Does anyone think that is because they chose the perfect fuse for everyone and did not expect us to try other ones. Those who don’t think they matter and those who do can both be happy.
The DAC once all the features are programmed and working will be full of choices. That is because they understand their market in its entirety which is all of us. Those who just wish to turn it on. Plus those who wish to optimize it for their taste. That I applaud. I don’t have be a DAC switching merry-go-round, and pay the depreciation that often accompanies that. The person who ogles their gear and thinks 100 percent stock is the way it was intended also gets their needs and simpler singular desire addressed.
If I have 30 days to like it or send back my DAC do you think I bought this for everyone else and a strict Beta protocol? No, I am going to find out if it suits me regardless and share my Beta experience good or bad. If the DAC was sent out free and pay later. That is a way to control your test group. It would be smaller and a bigger risk of missing the mark for your target audience.
The Pontiac Aztek was created by a controlled and paid focus group. It helped kill an entire brand.
As an Engineer I like that idea, but obviously not all agree. What seems to be missing here is a lot of beta testers have not reported their experiences. It was posted above that there are 100 beta test units, there certainly haven’t been anywhere near 100 folks posting. When I was a beta tester we were directed to post our experiences, that was the whole point of being a beta tester. I know some of the beta units didn’t ship until early December, but still, some more reports would tell a more broad story.
What we have here is a small group of repeat posters, many of whom have posted many times in other threads, many of which are about mods/tweaks. That’s not a knock against them, it just tilts the discussion here in that direction which some of us would prefer it didn’t. This forum is infamous for veering off the subject, the AirLens one annoys me like this one annoys vkennedy1, but I know my thoughts are not shared by all (most?), so we just try to get along.
@jamesh@aaronm and @Paul I just received unexpected news from a few dealers: the importer here in Italy seems to be able to ship the MK II since Monday! What??? I felt down my chair getting this call a few minutes ago!
What a wonderful Christmas gift!
Just one question: can you confirm me that these units are all worked after beta tests before you sent them from Boulder? It means that they already are tested and beta issues checked/fixed hardware wise and with FW179 already on board? This can be possible only if you sent to MPI last days. I’m asking you because the importer does not open the sealed boxes and I’m afraid is not able to assure me what I’m asking for.
So still fooling around with Aurender USB > MKII USB input vs Aurender USB > Matrix > MKII I3S input now that the hi-res and DSD transfer bug via USB has been solved.
I keep gravitating towards the latter setup. I perceive a slightly wider and deeper soundstage and “crisper” imaging (for lack of a better term) using the Matrix.
The Aurender is engineered to minimize noise and it’s power supply is a LPS, but it’s going on 10 years old at this point (time flies) and I’m sure improvements have been made in newer designs and streamers.
That said, it’s a minuscule difference. I can live with either option.
@pmotz spot on, thanks for putting this out there. I feel that PSA needs to set the standard for beta testing and how they want it reported on the forum. They should provide a test matrix that everyone should follow. Some people’s matrix would be much shorter since they might only have the PST as an input, other much more. There should also be a standard for how it sounds. Everyone has their own interpretation of sound but there should be some kind of standard as well.
In my continuing search for the issue of the dropouts via USB I am more inclined to believe that the problem resides with something related to the DAC USB firmware. I have two Computers configured for playback and have experienced the dreaded dropout with both of them. This never occurred with the mk 1. I hope that this will get looked into and resolved.
I did back when it was released, but they weren’t able to figure out the problem. Last update I did manually, then was told afterwards it was straightened out at their end, but haven’t been able to test it since because there hasn’t been a recent update.
I agree, this is exactly what I did with the MK2 unit. I did a one for one swap with my MK1 unit. So I started beta testing the MK2 with the same power cord, same interconnect cables and same position in my system as the MK1. It should e note that this is easy to do if you are a MK1 owner. It does not necessarily apply ( although it might ) if you are not a MK1 owner.
FedEx just flopped my MK2 unit on our front porch about an hour ago. The unit is back from being repaired at PS Audio, although I have no idea what was done to it.
It is sitting on the floor right now for a few hours to get it to room temperature before I see if t will paly for more than 45 minutes without stopping on its own. I will also check to see what system FW and FPGA FW is now installed.
