I recently added a PS Audio PW DAC11 with the bridge to my system .Has anybody had any experience with these boards so I can take advantage of the I2s inputs on the PW theres one on Amazon called a GImax for $89 there’s even one on ALIexpress called Lusya which mentions PS audio in a illustration of the board .
Any thoughts ,
Welcome!
I don’t have experience with these boards so can’t help here–I would definitely look for one that is compatible for the PS Audio DAC as that is not the standard HDMI pin out.
Being a bit of a devil’s advocate I’ll note that one of Ted Smith’s goals with the Mk II was to make each input sound as close to equally alike as possible. And I will say that I have used the AES/EBU output/input combo from a component into the Mk II and with similarly great cabling it is very very hard to tell them apart as far as sound quality. Of couse that won’t give you the SACD handshake, but for Redbook and other formats I personally would not stress over I2S. I have a lot of SACDs as well as a NuWave Phono Converter so I use the I2S/HDMI connections most.
I don’t know what a PS Audio PW DAC 11 is. Is it really old?
Or are you talking about a DSD MK2? If that is what you have don’t spend any time at all worrying about inputs. They are all excellent on the MK2.
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On my MK1 (DirectStream DAC Sr.), I use USB in from my Apple MacMini (M1). It’s sounds fine to me. I could use my DOUK audio USB in —> I2S Out/S/PDIF/Toslink out interface that I bough on Amazon last year for the Florida Audio Expo 2023. Wound up not using it in the Orchard Audio/Soundfield Audio/Triode Labs Cables room. It has become an indispensable tool when I was at Capital Audio Fest 2023 last year and at various AZAVClub events that I ran.
I haven’t tried using it’s I2S output into my MK1 PSA DAC since both I2S inputs are occupied (Perfectwave Transport & Sony UBP-X1000ES w/ HDMI I2S adapter). Even if/when I do. I wouldn’t expect a night and day improvement.
Welcome, and yes I use one between my 105 and DS DAC. You simply need to bridge two pads with solder to switch channels. I have posted pics in an earlier thread you can search for.
That’s helpful info I was planning on using the HDMI output from my Denon 2910 SACD player but Denon support says that the SACD stream is not supported through hdmi only on the RCA outputs after its been through their internal DA/converter .
The PerfectWave DAC mk11 was the predecessor to DirectStream
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This model was my PS Audio “Gateway Drug”.
It convinced me that bits are not just bits in the sense that DACs matter and all are not created equal.