Yeah I get that. Just more curious than anything. I will say with roon it’s nice to have tactile remote with skip song feature instead of using iPad. Just easier to have in hand. Volume too if you streamer supports volume control which my guess for this new one it can do.
I used $12 eversolo remote just for this when used that streamer
It was not operational. Was just a prototype to show what they are thinking, and to see our reaction to the optional remote with a cool volume control.
Think I’d rather use a buttons to control the volume, easier to do with one hand.
I felt all these interviews glossed over the tech, no one asks about the giant caps in the preamps, why is it that it takes PS Audio and according to Paul the entire industry until now to know that using better parts produce better sound. It seems to me that’s the “innovation” in the PMG, basically we just use better parts.
Same for the DAC, no one asks about the resistor ladder DAC part, or the upscaling, why are these important, how do the design contribute to better sound? what are the engineering compromises?
These are usually the insights we love getting from PS Audio through forum interactions and builds up to the launch of new products, definitely missed that for these launches.
Unfortunately Paul’s sharing of products in development led to a good deal of infighting and churlish behavior by foum members, sucking the air out of the room.
You bet it can and, to that point, the PMG Signature handles the volume in a very different way. Instead of what 99.9% of all DACs (including DirectStream) do, apply math to the digital signal to control the volume, PMG Signature does it differently.
We have built in a full analog stepped attenuator so that the volume is controlled entirely in the analog domain. Why does this matter? Because unlike a digital volume control, where the noise floor remains intact while the signal level goes up and down, now, in the PMG, the signal AND the noise floor go down when you attenuate.
Because the PMG starts out at a very low -100dB noise floor to begin with, this only gets better with use.
Amen. Thanks, Elk. Indeed, it was fun at first and then turned into squabbling.
Honestly, as the company grew and the forums grew, the voices of dissent and bickering got too loud and I backed off on both counts. The company noise and dissent is better now, which is good.
Let me see if I can help explain some of this.
First, let’s start with the upsampling and why 512DSD, which is what the PMG runs at (if you want as it is selectable in the menu) is better than 256DSD, which the MKII ran at. Quite simply, noise. The higher the DSD frequency the easier it is in the analog filter to reduce the ultrasonic noise.
One of the tricks with an analog filter is to make sure it does not introduce phase shift in the audible band. To do that you need to start at a high frequency and not make it too steep. But, you also have to be effective. This is one of the reasons why upsamping really helps: a gentle filter is effective if the starting frequency is high enough.
Next, jitter. Ted was brilliant in his algorithms that worked on lowering jitter in the FPGA. The lower the jitter, the better the sound. In PMG, because we are not using an FPGA in the digital section, but rather dedicated chips and sophisticated reclockers, we are able to get the jitter lower than DSMKII by quite a lot through hardware and technique. No need for fancy programming. PMG enjoys jitter at an astonishingly low 2Ps (two Pico seconds) which is extraordinarily low.
The ladder DAC is in the analog board and here we use an FPGA and some fancy programming to build a precision 64 tap sequencer that shoves the noise and distortion out further in frequency so our gentle analog filter can lower noise and distortion to better than -100dB (DSMKII was around -80dB). That extra 20dB of better noise and distortion performance is significant. The reason we gave this system a fancy name, SpectraWave, is because the way engineer Bob Stadtherr pulled this off is unique and potentially patentable. Really cool ideas here that haven’t been done before.
Lastly, as mentioned in an earlier thread, PMG Signature is radically different in yet another way: the volume control. While many (most) will be able to implement the 512 properly, through a PMG Signature Preamplifier, for those wishing the go it alone, using the built in volume control of the PMG 512, we have eliminated the math approach of lowering the signal amplitude through programming, and instead implemented an analog stepped attenuator at the output. This is better because, while -100dB is quite low, as you turn down the volume, the noise floor remains and the signal level goes down, thus making the S/N ratio worse as level is decreased. PMG 512 solves that with the analog volume control because both signal AND noise are reduced at the same time. Simple in theory, not so easy to implement properly.
Hope this helps folks understand better.
Thanks Paul! this helps alot at getting us excited about the new DAC. Would appreciate similar insight for the preamp as well. 
Congrats to the team on release of some beautiful looking products.
Yes, certainly agree to a big congrats to all at PS Audio. I bet it was hard to keep it all hush, hush!. I have the BHK Pre and DSD MK2 and Airlens (and 300s & FR30s) so I am keen to see what trade in might be offered in Australia.
I am certainly thinking Christmas might be coming early this year!
Sigh. All I gotta say, Paul, is the extra special trade in value for MkII owners better be d@mn good! 
@Paul, this hasn’t been brought up yet, but as the new DAC has a streamer, the question is what software interface (if any) will PS Audio provide for it? If PSA does intend to offer something, please think very carefully about what this means - continual software development and support… making sure gapless DSF works… having easy to use and effective playlist management… making sure UPNP/DLNA is effectively implemented… Have some youngster 
on the team check the various forums (Rose, Aurender, Auralic, etc) to see what users are complaining about.
Paul can provide the official response but my expectation is that no PS Audio developed stream management software will be provided. They tried that once before and I recall they determined it was a better use of their resources to support commercially available products. I would expect the streamer to be treated similar to the AirLens with many/most users using Roon, Tidal Connect, Qobuz Connect (or whatever it is called).
Welcome back to FL and thank you for your AXPONA-related posts!
From what I’ve gleaned, most, if not all of the discussion around the PMG DAC has been centered around noise floor, parts quality and volume control. Please forgive me if I’ve missed it, but I’ve yet to hear much, if anything, stated about tonal comparisons/improvements between the MK2 and PMG.
I have the MK2 DAC, BHK pre, M700’s and FR5’s with a sub. I’m very pleased with the results and am not in any hurry to change. This set up suits my particular listening conditions just fine. That being said, when I switched from the MK1 to MK2, I did notice an appreciable difference in tonal qualities, background and the like.
Can anyone fill me in on what they’ve read or what was stated?
Also, in the near future, it would be nice to get a few reviews regarding the two DAC’s to actually give succinct impressions without all the bloviation and unnecessary fluff that some major audio reviewers include, as if they’re writing a sequel to ‘War and Peace’..
‘Just the facts mam’, as was said in days of yore.
My guess is Roon. There was no mention that I heard of a PS Audio developing a music OS for the streamer Dac. Follow the Grimm way and make what works the best sound the best.
Very happy with DS2 and AirLens but looking forward to hearing PMG with their aggressive trade in …
This is the way. As long as the new DAC is fully UPNP/DLNA compliant, we’ll be able to use whatever we want.
Yeah, and Roon certified too for the Roonies.
Many congratulations to @Paul and the team for keeping the secret and surprising everyone with some fantastic new products. I hope you bring in a bunch of new customers to the PS Audio family.
It’s a shame the forums devolved to the point things HAD to be done behind the scenes. When I was really sick I was here a lot more because I had more time available, and always found the community so welcoming. It helped me keep going at the time.
So, are the screens on the new product touchscreens or is all the control done via remote inputs?
Good luck with the new line. It certainly looks worthy of the founder’s name.
Best,
Mike in Dayton
