I am in the same position, had my mk 2 for a short period would never have bought it if I knew this was going to happen. Really disappointed as a very loyal customer with many PS Audio products, I hope @Paul might reconsider this position. These DACs are £ 8500 in the uk a huge sum and to have the rug pulled like this saddens me as it is not usually the PS way.
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Paul, has the trade in value for the MkII been determined yet? To some degree that will be a factor - at least for me - in deciding whether I’d make the jump to the Signature.
I’m in the same boat. No deals in the UK. £8,500 (over $11000) Big commitment to make. When one expresses an opinion, and of being dissatisfied with the situation, the usual American suspects with their pithy put downs of basically get over it. The same people who will be expecting the best deals possible from PS Audio.
Anyway, I certainly will get over it, and I will not be buying anything else from PS Audio. That’s guaranteed.
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I was never a fan of the MK2. It was good the USB input was a vast improvement over the MK1 but when it first rolled out the sound quality vs. a nicely modified mk1 was there but modest at best. IMO it did not justify the cost to upgrade at the time. I never heard it with the latest updates so I’m sure that gap performance increases a bit. At the same time I was comparing the MK1 vs MK2 I obtained the Dac that I currently use and realized immediately it was much better than the modified mk1 and MK2.
The tweaking and mods turned me off with MK2. I felt why are we upgrading output transformers on a new Dac? Shouldn’t it be great right out of the box? I also felt the same about the mountain top updates it should be great when you first get the DAC not very good with the expectancy it will get better once a year.
There is too much competition out there now. Many companies making great sounding Dacs and imo the Directstream needed to be replaced and PS Audio has made the right decision with the PMG I wish the new product great success.
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There’s few things more American than expressing you emotion by telling a company “I will not be buying anything else from [you]”
One thing that would be more American than that is to yell at the Double Decker bus driver “what do you mean you don’t take dollars!”
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I do not draw the same broad conclusion as you from this clip at the referenced time stamp.
Thanks for taking the time to post the video.
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Dear Paul,
Thank you very much for your detailed and transparent explanation regarding the transition from the DS-MKII to the PureStream DAC and the rationale behind discontinuing the DS-MKII. Your insights are highly appreciated and valuable.
I completely understand your perspective regarding the hardware limitations of the DS-MKII, particularly concerning the amplified lvds signals and resulting noise levels in the analog conversion stage. Given the extensive timeframe between the original DS-MKI release in 2014 and the DS-MKII launch in late 2022, my assumption is that thorough testing and measurements would have clearly highlighted this issue. Thus, I am genuinely curious as to why these noise limitations weren’t considered significant enough at that time to halt or significantly alter the DS-MKII release, especially since you mention that the PureStream solution was a considerable science project, presumably developed over several years (overlapping the release of the DS-MKII).
Furthermore, considering the relatively short 2.5-year lifespan of the DS-MKII—which PS Audio launched amid high expectations (indeed, expectations the company itself skillfully created)—it’s understandable that some DS-MKII owners (like myself) feel somewhat disappointed by the rapid discontinuation. While PS Audio did provide a bridging product with the DS-MKII, perhaps an alternative approach could have mitigated this frustration.
From my perspective, the purely software-based FPGA architecture of the DS-MKII still offers significant advantages. Its sophisticated 50-bit multi-step up- and downsampling approach to convert audio signals into high-resolution DSD256 goes beyond typical DSD512 implementations. Each intermediate stage meticulously preserves audio data integrity, enabling mathematically clean transitions and completely lossless format conversions. The extensive 50-bit processing depth further ensures maximum resolution and fidelity before the final sigma-delta modulator stage.
Considering this powerful and flexible FPGA-based digital processing capability of the DS-MKII, I wonder if an alternative approach might have been feasible. Wouldn’t it have been possible—and perhaps optimal—to leverage this superior digital processing framework from the DS-MKII and then feed the resulting high-quality DSD stream into your innovative SpectraWave 64-Tap Sequencer for enhanced timing, reduced noise, and distortion, and finally, route it into the newly developed state-of-the art directly coupled analog output stage of the PureStream platform? Such an integrated approach could have positioned PureStream as an evolution of the DirectStream line, leveraging the strengths and continued development of your established FPGA code while simultaneously introducing meaningful hardware improvements.
Again, thank you very much for your openness to dialogue. Your continued innovation in high-end audio solutions is inspiring, and I sincerely appreciate your dedication to advancing audio fidelity.
As an international customer, I am even more affected by this transition, since no trade-in program is available to us. This adds another layer of difficulty and disappointment for those of us who have supported the DirectStream platform from abroad.
Warm regards,
Alex
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DARREN MYERS. PS Audio Senior Analog Engineer
While it’s true that there will never be a component that satisfies every persons unique preferences when it comes to feature sets and UI (I happen to massively prefer the MKII UI and no thanks on putting noisy streamers in top flight DACs)…
This DAC is blowing my MIND when it comes to SQ. It has taken my system to a level I never thought was possible - from a digital or even an analog source. There is a gut punching confidence with this DAC that hits you with an absolute immaculate top to bottom coherency and tonal “rightness”. The palpable 3D imagining, layering, and noise floor “blackness” is intoxicating. I’m swimming in a dimensional room of sound with a big smile on my face over here and everyone that I have shown my system to since installing it has pretty much flipped out, including Chris.
Ted has hit it out of the park on this one people. I’m serious.
I cannot wait for people to hear this masterpiece!
Who would have ever thought this talented engineer could get it all so wrong. And, today’s dissenters agreed with him to the hilt…ah, the vagaries..!
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Many viewpoints here. Could the MKII continue to be supported? Sure, but at what (and I hate to use this word) costs?
I am in a manager in IT of about 40 small to large applications. Supportability is one of our biggest issues. If you cannot support it long term, it has to be replaced. Again, could they yes, but it seemed to me that it was very single threaded through Ted. finding a replacement for him is a needle in a haystack. Did he want out? Was he tired of it? Only they know and its their business not ours. Being obsolete in this hobby is not a rare thing. Heck I remember paying 1500 for two low def DirecTV boxes put in my house so I could get the same product I had via cable (a bit better) but with NFL Sunday ticket. A few years later they were $100 boxes with free installs. Go figure. Surround Processors seem to come and go much faster than two channel devices. There is always the next best thing.
I have not yet heard back on the buy back numbers but I took Pauls advise and I am now on the list. They said the website should be ready in a day or two, but I pushed and he took my reservation. Thank you whom ever that was. If its as good as the MKI I traded in I should get most my money back with is 1000 times better than most companies do. They just shelf your device.and call it day.
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Exactly my thoughts. The new dac I bought wiped the floor with my DS mk1. Stereophile A+, Stereophile product of the year, great measurements, Al’s favourite dac in the world 
.
Being out of the US myself, I am so glad I avoided what is happening now to the mk2 owners outside of the US. I feel for them, however.
@Phil:
Which DAC are you talking about by outperforming the MK I and MKII?
I still enjoy using my MKI in my setup, connected via USB.
I’m eagerly looking forward to listening to the PMG DAC.
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Holo Audio May level 3 KTE. I don’t know about the DS2, but I vastly outperformed my DS1.
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Paul, remind us again which DAC you wound up getting? My recollection is bad on this one.
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Since I know what DAC Paul172 has, i can bud in. The Gryphon Ethos. Streaming is from the Grimm MU1 to the Ethos
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Ah, well. That’s quite a step up from PS Audio land.
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I prefer not listening to music versus having to listen to the Holo May Placebo Edition. And yes, I owned one for a month. The DSD Jr. Is still my most listened to DAC. I couldn’t get rid of the May fast enough.
I am very pleased you have one Phil. It seems right.
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It does take time to burn in. You probably gave up too fast. Anyway, whether you like or not, it got the highest praise from John Atkinson and was elected product of the year by the entire Stereophile staff. Class a+ recommended to this day.
What
Ever
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I also found very interesting this turn on measurements and critics on the DSD inherent noise. It has never been that way. It was always about the sound quality, and “analog” feel.
I can relate with those who bought the mkII, and their frustration, and I feel for Ted, one of the most generous person I have ever talked to in these fora, that is now orphan of someone to turn his dreams into real products.
Also, if the focus is on measurements:
-100dB is not even in the same league as the delta/sigma dacs, that are reaching -120dB
-the specs sheet states THD+N of 0.1%, which would relate to a SINAD of -60dB. Must be an error
-a ladder dac feels like an inferior choice SINAD wise than delta/sigma conversion
-to accommodate a streamer also feels like a step backwards regarding complexity and noise.
All in all I wish PSAudio all the success with the new line and I celebrate the openness and transparency allowed on this forum.
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