I think I might be a Mount Massive die-hard lol. I tried Blue Sky, and instrument decay is noticeably longer, and I could absolutely be convinced that the sound is more lifelike, but to me, Mount Massive hits all of my pleasure centers 
I think I just find it more musical with my setup and tastes, but I commend PS Audio for continuing to focus on pushing it further.
I had no trouble with either of the update files.
But I’m somewhat curious as to how this release came about. Normally Ted will give us a bit of a heads up here online, some of us will beta test at his request, then the mothership does what they do and it gets released. Near as I can tell for this release, I’m not aware of any of us having done beta testing in the last few months. I could be mistaken of course, but if any of the regular beta testers had done some recent testing, please let us know.
@Paul or @aaronm, could you give us a little background on how Blue Sky came about? And oh, can I drop back to Massive if the latest image.bin is installed?
This should be in your PS Audio toolbox.
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I’m happy to hear all MK2 owners are enjoying this update. I remember the updates with the MK1 and it was always like getting a knew DAC with the updates!
An interesting coincidence happened today, I was driving through Colorado near Leadville and saw this …
Later today I see Aaron’s email on Blue Sky is this a sign? Stick with Massive or pass it by? I’m perplexed! I’ll try Blue Sky in a few days to see which is the right interpretation…
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Josh, did you drop back to Massive keeping the 3.2.1 image file in place?
I dropped back to massive.
And you’re running it with the 3.2.1 FW?
I played Aaron’s video alongside my Mk2 stopping and starting as I went through each of the steps…
AND I DIDN’T BRICK THE ENTIRE THING IN SO DOING!!!
Yay me!!!
I just buy a new thumb drive every time there’s a new FPGA load, and it’s hard to believe you can buy a new 64GB drive for eight bucks at Staples!
When I was a mainframe sprout around 1980, we were introduced to a very early disk drive array that was the size of a washing machine and had storage capacity in the low MBs, I don’t remember the exact figure, but it sure didn’t start with a G, and a speck of dust inside would cause catastrophic failure.
Playing again some tracks I listened to this afternoon on Massive, and I have no complaints, but also no firm conclusions yet on what specific sonic aspects might be different or better, though I have to say that the bass reproduction is pretty stunning.
I’m a happy boy and many thank yous to all involved!!!
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For the firmware ui updates, yes. Just download the new firmware upgrade from the support > downloads page, and a pdf with the firmware upgrade history details is included. Afaik, not for the fpga changes…
As it seasons in this upgrade shows great improvements. . . a bit more relaxed, a bit more bass, a bit more of what I am happy to hear. A bit wider soundstage, a bit more micro-detail without being analytical.
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I’ve done 40 hours of burn-in with Blue Sky, and the soundstage has opened up significantly since the first listen—it now spans the entire wall and extends behind the speakers. The sound is clearer, with more detail in the background compared to what I heard with Massive. The bass is better—tighter and deeper—but vocals and string instruments are a bit more forward, bordering on sharp. Perhaps it just requires some getting used to 
I assume this is system-dependent; I have speakers with a very open sound and ribbon elements in both the treble and midrange, so others might have a completely different impression. It’s almost like getting a brand-new DAC, so the ears need some time to adjust to the new sound.
Thanks to PS Audio for giving us the opportunity to enjoy a “new” DAC without paying anything extra
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Remember that the FGPA chips respond differently to new firmware and the new sound will “burn in”. You may not have given Blue Sky enough time. It certainly changed for me hours after updating.
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Yes, everything is system dependent. I have ribbon tweeters, omnidirectional as well as directional drivers, and a passive radiator bass driver. I’m not able to treat my room and yet I’ve managed to get great sound. . . this new firmware is a step forward in musicality, so happy to get this improvement yet again in one DAC.
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I don’t have real listening impressions yet, but I just wanted to report that the actual update process was simple and painless for me. Worth mentioning for balance.
What I heard on first listen was a much smoother, clearer, more 3d presentation, that I personally enjoyed immediately.
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Day two on Blue Sky, This update has something in it, at first I thought it was just loudness,but there is more… I can’t put my finger on it, but I can’t stop listening. Familiar or New albums now tickles, pains, massage my ears/heart that Massive never managed to do, it’s almost like listening to my turntable now minus the you know what.
Best Yet, the music doesn’t loose it’s impact no matter where I’m at in the house, as long as it’s the same floor.
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That’s awesome. Yes, I too have found that over time it settles in (or I do) and it sounds amazing. There’s no going back.
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yep
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Interesting, I may give it another go and give it some burn in time before evaluating. Thanks for the observation I hadn’t considered burn-in as a variable.
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