It is the current MK2. It was loaned to me by a dealer (In Canada there are PS Audio dealers).
Advice needed: It's time for a new DAC
Hello People of Audiogon!
I received some help a little while back when I was considering upgrading my speakers so I am looking to the community again for guidance and opinions. It is time to upgrade my DAC.
My current system is Sasha DAW's driven by a Luxman L-509X.

The three DAC's on my short list are:
MSB Discrete
Berkeley Alpha V3
Chord DAVE
One thing to note is that I am in Canada so many brands are difficult if not impossible to audition.
My priority is "musicality" or "soul". What's this? Well to me, it means feeling. The Luxman and Sasha's well convey musical emotion and that is important to me. I don't know how to describe it better beyond that. They have flow (perhaps PRAT, to use another vague term). Sounds have meat to them and texture. The music feels real.
The second priority is three dimensionality.
The third is resolution.
My one caveat is no tube DAC's. Tubes, for me, just don't work well based on my listening style and habits. I love tubes, I've owned tubes and tubes are wonderful, but as things are now, I just don't want them in a DAC. Perhaps they will find their way into my system in a pre-amp in the future.
I listen primarily to Tidal but MQA is not a priority for me. I would switch to Qobuz but they were not available in Canada until recently and all my play lists in Roon are with Tidal tracks so I suspect a switch will be a real headache, but I digress. My point is MQA isn't really important and DSD isn't necessary either.
Of the above DAC's, if you have heard them, what are your thoughts/opinion?
Thank you in advance,
-Paul
Thanks @bigfatpaulie good to know |
@bigfatpaulie quick question on a bricasti…did you experiment with different filters and clock settings? Having it on Linear 0 filter setting may create the impression of what you described. When I had the M3 I used it on Minimum 0, ClockWide. Very natural sound. Also, I was hoping PS Audio would address the items you mentioned with the MkII release…I was pretty sure you were talking about MkI the way you described it. Too bad… |
Well, take the comments with a grain of salt: the PS Audio mkII retails for $8000 OP’s top two choices here retail for $28,000 ~ $30,000, so once again typically one gets what one pays for, within the context of the law of diminishing returns. Clarification question though @bigfatpaulie since you mentioned a "CD Player" appearance, is that not the MPS-8 you have? (did you all catch that? "grain" of salt? ha ha)
|