I have no doubt that the Mk2 is a wonderful dac far superior to the Mk1 but for less than half of the cost of the Mk2 the modded Mk1 is still a good sounding dac. I recently had my Mk1 fully modded except for the transformers which are rewired XS4400 and the sound is quite nice. For the time being I am happy with my Mk1 but should finances one day permit I may consider the Mk2. I have a hunch that the Mk1 may remain a classic dac for time to come.
The MK2 is a wonderful unit and worth every penny however I prefer my Modded DS#1 with the big Jensenās after an A/B listening session. The MK2 is just a tad bright for my liking and the user interface is hard for me to see. I feel It would have been better if they used a single turn / push encoder and a larger display instead of the 5 position switch. I guess Iām used to the large touch screen that automatically turns off so no noise is emitted when not needed. In my system the speakers disappear very well with my DS. Not so much with the MK2. Maybe because of the brighter / forward sound? Others who compared the two here in the listening room agreed. And noā¦ Iām not moving my 250 lb ea. spiked speakers to try and compensate for the brightness issue we didnāt like. This reminds me of the old days where mix engineers would put a sheet of tissue over the tweeters of the old MS10 studio monitors because everyone thought they were bright. The truth was they were lousy monitors and most studios had them this way.
Just my $.02.
Waiting for the TSS
Let the flaming / excuses commence 
My UI preference at this juncture as well.
I thought you werenāt going to order a Mk2!
I really like my modded Mk1 a lot . . . and probably would like it even more with Jensen transformers. For this reason and fiscal reasons I wonāt be ordering a Mk2 for some time if indeed I do.
I did not order a MKII.
I was considering it however I changed my mind when I actually had my hands and ears on one. Donāt get me wrong it is a great unit itās just not for me. I will be very happy listening to my DS until the TSS is released.
Sorry I missed the werenāt and my brain thought were.
Certainly not the first person to make the āDS2 is too brightā comment.
But thatās not necessarily a bad thing, because it is all personal preference. There are several who say dCS are too bright. That shouldnāt necessarily discourage anyone, just help to paint a picture of what it really does. If nobody was saying it is too bright, that would almost certainly mean it was unusually warm, or alternatively that many testing it hadnāt heard other dacs of comparable quality or were hesitant to post non-glowing reviews. Either way, glad to have the full spectrum of feedback and not just the positive ones. Many people say my speakers are bright compared to classic Spendor, which is probably true, but that doesnāt discourage me because before purchasing I compared them to 25 other speakers.
Only way to know is to hear it. Wish there was a way to do that without shelling out 8 grand, oh well.
And just to be clear, this if anything is praise for the person confident to post the impression, not a flame of it. I know sometimes on here when one criticizes PSA gear that folks arenāt receptive and start throwing around the ātrollā label. Most clearly really like the DS2, but if some donāt love it that is okay
Some like a brighter sound. Some like it warm. I like a natural sound that sounds more like you are in a cozy club listening to live music. With the right recording I get this with the DS.
I thought my Terminator 12th was a tad bright however after comparing to the MK2 not so much. The Terminator does make symbols and drums sound very real.
Canāt wait to hear this brightness. I felt like sunlight was a bit dark in the beginning but rounded out after some burn in. Hopefully the additional brightness will be in my favor.
Iāve struggled with brightness for many years, and especially the last seven in this present house my system presents bright. I too want a natural sound. I worked hard to get the Mk1 to be ājust right,ā so brightness is not what I am looking for in another DAC. Maybe Iāll just somehow arrange to have Jensen transformers added to the Mk1 in the future as the next starting point. Seems they are a significant upgrade from the Edcor.
Yes I feel the Jensenās are even better (more real) sounding and less bright then the Lundahl LL1948.
We all hear things differently as I felt the prior version sounded a little dark. Sunlight was a bit more dynamic to me.
Oh then Iām happy with the Lundahls.
For me one thing to notice was that the original Mk I was a little too calm on the top end (I know, every DAC measures flat, no matter how it sounds 
). And I welcomed the clearer top end of the Lundahls.
So Iād probably also be fine with the Mk IIās tonality.
We had both my DAC1 and DAC2 units setup to do instant A/B comparisons. With our system the Jensenās were just a bit more real sounding.
What is the total cost of your DS1 with the mods?
Since I did all the work including 3D printing adapter brackets for the Jensenās and purchasing the last 3 Jensen JT 11SSP-8MA Transformers I could find at an incredibly low price of $50.00ea. Including the external power supply. About $3,000.
The 3rd Jensen JT 11SSP-8MA was purchased so we could clone them as they are no longer made.
I have been fighting mkII bright sound but in for a penny in for a pound and trying to figure out how to tame it for my system. I have great respect for your opinions and tweak development.
The 3M absorber on MKII sounded promising last night. Calmed brightness and in the speaker forwardness. Between that M-1 fuse and the maybe the Lundahls on your adapter boards and 3M absorber I think it will start matching my expectations . I think the sum of thes minir MKII mods will give me something superior to just the modded DS.
Until you do ājust the modded MKIIā when the TSS is released.
Itās unfortunate you have to change your whole system to tame something you do not like in a new
DAC.
The Lundahls are a tad brighter than the XS4400 wired in series secondary as in the MKII.
I have gathered that so I will tame xs4400 first in MKII. If there is anymore room for the Lundahl that will be another jump.
My speakers are pretty unique as line arrays in jumbo size. It is unfortunate they are too hot with the current firmware on MKII. But that will change as will the noise floor. Just with absorber on lid the MKII becomes way more 3D for me.
My amps have way better SNR and no tubes anywhere so I am not surprised I need to make changes for a DAC they voice on a single PSA system versus trying to optimize for various systems. It is Paulās vision to be able to match a whole system curated to his products. So I respect that though am not in a position to jump on the single manufacturer band wagon fully and like to curate to my tastes.