I’m not suffering with my DSD Mk1 APS modded dac but it is getting older needing to be rebooted every day or two. According to ChatGPT this behaviour is not that uncommon with an older modded APS DSD Mk1. All that said I am having fantasies of a new PMG512 dac but it is more money than I have. I am also wondering about a DSD Mk2 at considerably less money. It occurs to me that I am fantasizing but I thought I would ask people’s opinions on these three dacs. I turn 65 in a couple of of weeks so who knows? Maybe someone will get me a birthday gift.
My silver DSD MK2 with APS runs well, and it has never had any reboot issue. But I may put it for sale in January since I plan to move up to PMG512. SACD transport may go too, but it is too early to say.
I have a DSD MkI APS modded DAC, and it runs perfectly fine, no rebooting needed. I also thoroughly enjoy its sound despite knowing there’s probably something better out there.
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Sell yours…maybe get 1200-1500, Buy a gently used MK 2 for 3K or less, and your into a fantastic Dac for probably less than 1500. BTW- There is an immaculate MK 2 for 3K on the PS Audio marketplace…and no its not mine.
Or he could send his DSD MkI DAC back to JK Richard for his Signature Series Upgrade.
I’m still curious how that DAC would compare to the PMG 512 DAC.
Like to hear those opions as well, how these 3 compare.
Yes, the Mk 2 is a Ted Smith design.
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My version 1 APS modded DSD Mk1 is sounding very nice but my next move funds permitting would be a new dac. As I’m listening to my system right now it sounds very good.
I had a MK1, NO APS, but did the transformers Resistors etc on my own. I moved to the MK2 and did the APS thing on my own. It was a big step up from MK1.
I know have the PMG 512 and out of the box its much better than MK2 with APS. It was not a full blown done by them (I am not sure what else they do) but it was 90% there. No contest, PMG blows it away.
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I’m late to the game here. Is Ted Smith involved with the PMG512? If not, will he still be creating occasional upgrades to the DSD mk2?
MKII updates are no longer. Ted was NOT involved in the PMG 512. But they are similar in their approach of up sampling to DSD, pushing the noise out etc…
Thanks for the quick response. Is PS Audio recommending feeding the new DAC with i2S or USB now comparable?
512 has internal streamer. But it does have USB and I2S and yeah they will always say I2S is better. But the difference between USB and I2S on the MKII and 512 is much much smaller than on the MKI. MKI always use I2S. Shunt the usb if not in use. People on forum may have spare shorting devices…they are cheap to make. Or get a Matrix DDC.
I use a Matrix Audio X-SPDIF2 with my Mk2. I had bought it for my Mk1 and consequently never tried USB on my Mk2. I’m ultimately trying to figure out if I should pull the trigger and upgrade to the PMG. I do love the Mk2. Any more input you can supply would be most appreciated.
I had the upgraded MK1 and MK2. The MK1 was just transformers and a few others. The MKII I did the APS Transformers ONLY. That was a big jump. But the 512 easily beats that. I am very happy with upgrade.
Was I happy with the only 3k trade in..nope. So I sold on own, but I had $2,250 available from trade in cash saved. So I was able to yield almost 5,500 off. if you have an unmodified MKII, and no trade in cash in the bank like I had, your best and easiest thing would be to use their tradein. You wont get much more if any more at all by selling on own. Market is being flooded with people buying the 512.
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Right. The in-house tradein will be the way I go. Your stand out line for me is “the 512 easily beats that. I’m very happy with the upgrade”. Thanks again Brian for the quick replies.
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Check out the 512 DAC thread. I’m not the only one.
Scroll past the early phases. There were many bugs with streamer section. We are still waiting for Roon certification, but Those issues have been worked out. There seems to be locking issues with the UnPNP protocol that some are seeing as well. Forces reboots instead of handling smoothly. They have been recently reported.
How does the inboard streamer compare to an Auralic Aries G2.1?
I do use Roon. Does no certification mean Roon doesn’t currently work with the PMG?
If you really like DirectStream’s architecture, why not T+A DAC 200? I wouldnt recommend any of the DS DACs in 2025 when better options are out there.