The MK2 with APS mod is quite warm even in standby, I have no doubt it consumes more electricity than the std. DS Mk2.
Now I listen to streaming more through Grimm MU2, I started to turn off both PST and Mk2 a few days ago. It took only one hour for them to sound good which is not too bad.
Yes, that is correct, so long as you can reach behind the unit to turn it off.
I’ve enjoyed my upgrade from my DirectStream DAC Mk1 to Mk2 and every time I listen to something I’m familiar with, I hear new sounds I never experienced before with the Mk1! As well, I think the sound stage left to right and front to back is more stable. And with sources that have a lot of high frequencies, they sound a bit smoother with the Mk2.
With regards to powering the unit down, I typically do that by turning the unit off with the switch on the rear panel, as I might go several days between listening sessions. It seems that it takes my system (with a tube preamp) about 10 minutes to sound its best.
When I had my Mk1 DAC, and upgraded from the P10 to the P15 regenerator, the difference in the soundstage, bass and natural instruments and voices was immediately improved! Something to think about.
I have to agree. . . my Mk I was great, then I bought one with the analog power board (and a Farad Super 3) and the same transformers in the Mk II, and then I bought a Mk II and each time there was an improvement. And when I went from the P10 to P15 there was immediate improvement (and it seems odd as I am only using about 18% of the load available).
Hi there! I am new to this forum, but not really new to high end audio 
Thanks for having me here and I am looking forward to some meaningful discussions.
First off: I am heavily invested in PS Audio already, with a BHK Pre, dual mono Stellar M1200, a Power Plant and an Airlens.
I moved from X-Sabre Pro to PS Audio DAC MKII and back and maybe I am going back to the MKII a second time, but here are my observations so far:
The X-Sabre Pro has a tight, bass-rich presentation I was missing from the MKII. There were also some examples where I was missing reality, tonality in the MKII vs the X-Sabre. What the X-Sabre did present better were:
Those are details, I could not resolve from the MKII after 50hrs of burn in.
What the MKII immediately did do better were voices and saxophones:
Now, where does this leave us for now? Good question. Here in Europe I can buy and return the MKII only within 2 weeks. So I ordered a second one and I sincerely hope I can get a better burn in result than in the first place, so it can stay and outperform the X-Sabre Pro in the areas it fell short at my first attempt.
What do I miss? Well, I am working in cyber security sales and our solutions are costly but purposeful. I never sold a product with the promise it would work at its best after 100, 300, 500 or even 1000 hours. I wonder why we must go through this? For the asked price, which is steep enough in my circumstances, why can’t I buy something that works at its best out of the box? Or: Why, to maybe it’s limited extend, did the X-Sabre Pro presented much of it’s performance out of the box and why am I still hoping that the DAC I want so much in my PS Audio high end chain has to develop it’s character in well over a month, costing me even after-sales money for burn-in?
Why are we buying this story in 2024? My customers (and there is a fierce competition out there) would never buy solutions like that. In fact we offer a POV, a proof of value, before they would even buy. And we save them about 70% of their existing costs in protecting their business. Like this, we have already justified their purchase, before they even hit the order button.
Why is it, that in audiophile gear it is the opposite? How can this model even be successful at present?
So long, and cross my fingers with me that the last investment I’ve just made will at least unleash the magic, the intangible, we all hope we will hear when we leave the world of measurements and price-to-performance ratio 
Your descriptions is exactly how I felt about the MKII to the Stellar Gold DAC, I felt in my system the SGD was more detailed with a little better bass, maybe not as deep of a soundstage, but more to my liking. It sounded more analog of vinyl like if you will.
The break in think is very dependent on the type of circuit and I think FPGA ones take longer than chip DACS’s. I also feel you should get 80 to 90 percent of what a product will sound like within 48 hours of playing.
Hi Yves! 
I vaguely recall that there is supposed to be a reason why an FPGA-based DAC benefits from burn-in when new additional code is added to where no code was previously active. Whereas a “normal” chip-based DAC should “rock” out of the box. Therefore, I gave my MK2 DAC a couple days before assessing it. But not the hundreds of hours that other give. I had a similar-priced ESS-based DAC at the time, as well as a more expensive AKM-based DAC. The ESS-based DAC sounded “crisper” to me. But it missed “texture”. A bass or piano note from the MK2 was not a simple one-frequency wave, but a composite Fourier transform. Put differently, a single sharp percussion turned out to be a tinkling mix of sounds when played with the MK2, not just one. Over the first year of software updates, the MK2 also surpassed my AKM-based DAC. And so I sold the Bricasti too.
I agree with this.
If you don’t “like” something right out of the box, the odds of it wowing you after a few days are relatively low in my experience.
I tried bypassing my preamp by feeding the MKll directly to my Orchard Audio power amp for the first time today. I’ve taken the opinions, including from Paul himself, that a preamp can be a net positive for the sound compared to feeding the power amp directly. Got to say, I found quite a nice surprise with the direct hookup. Maybe this is more a reflection on my preamp than anything but I noticed better soundstage and nuance this way. Definitely going to live with things this way for awhile and relegate my preamp to vinyl playback only.
Putting in a premp in the signal path or not, that is the question. While I find running the signal straight in the power amp is very nice and clean, putting in a tube preamp like my Bruce Moore Companion 2 adds a bit of warmth and fullness, but loose some clarity and detail in the process. But when I put in my Esoteric C-02 preamp, it was a revelation! It brought more fullness, subtance,dimentionality, detail, and opened up the soundstage even more! Wasn’t close at all. You can definitly improve the sound with a better preamp in the signal path for sure.
Yes, maybe if I invested in an expensive top tier preamp I would hear an improvement. But it’s kind of fun to hear an actual improvement without having to open my checkbook for a change. So far it’s been a enjoyable and entertaining afternoon exploring hook up alternatives and it hasn’t cost me a cent.
you don’t have to put in an uber preamp, I heard just putting in the BHK preamp does wonder to improve the sound on the MK2.
A couple of months late to your comment but I have to say I felt exactly the same when comparing the ESS-based Oppo 105D to the DS DAC Mk1. I thought the 105D had more “presence” with sharper attacks while the Mk1 was more “refined” and nuanced. I still have both and enjoy each for their respective virtues.
I’ve heard that about the BHK preamp as well. Some kind of synergy going on there perhaps
That’s been my experience with both Mk1 and Mk2 DSD. I have a nearly full suite of PS Audio (P20, SACD, DSD Mk2, BHK Pre, BHK300s).
@Chris_Brunhaver also expressed his preference for the Stellar Gold Pre over the BHK Pre, which is a very high commendation.
My 4 day experiment of feeding my MKll directly to my Orchard Audio power amp has come to an end. I concluded that the small sonic gains were not worth the loss in sonic flexibility that my preamp provides. I especially missed the ability to feed the signal through my tube stage. It’s not something I listen to regularly but there are times when tubes are just the ticket.
As did I about the SGP
Not that I have sour grapes after purchasing my BHK Pre a few years at full price (I LOVE it!), but this sounds a little too “convenient” to me. I would surmise that cost/labor/materials etc. for the SGPre is way less than half of the BHK. So…maybe the BHKs aren’t flying off the shelf, so let’s dump it in a fire sale and pump up the SGPre. It’s Paul’s prerogative to do.
if it ain’t selling he has to make a business decision. He wont let the cat out of the bag, but maybe a newer high level pre in the works. its how the industry moves naturally.