1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 197032-150060

Upgrade PS Audio DSD Mk1 to?

I've got a bit of upgradeitis.  My current DAC is a PS Audio DSD Mk1 that has had the xfrmrs upgraded and Vcom mod done.  I like it and the music it makes but I've got an itch to upgrade.  My first, and obvious, thought was a DSD Mk2.  I've also been thinking of the LTA Aero and Lampizator Baltic.

What am I looking to improve?  I find the Mk1 a bit noisy and rather long in the tooth.  What do I like about it?  It doesn't sound "digital" and i find that it's pretty even over the frequency range and the.musoc has good flow.  I don't like hyper analytical, dry music that can cause listener fatigue.

Budget is $5k or under and I dont mind buying used.  My main concern is that the dacs listed above will be a slight lateral move and not a real upgrade.

I think my virtual system is up for reference.  If you can't find it please let me know so I can fix that.

Has anyone compared the DACs I'm interested in or have first hand experience with them?

Thanks in advance

 

tko956
orvilletc's avatar
orvilletc
4 posts
 

Just got my Lampizator Baltic 5. I'm gonna burn-in some tubes and get it settled before I listen properly.

deep_333
2,436 posts
 

Get this R2R dac with tubes it for only $350

https://www.amazon.com/FIIO-Warmer-R2R-Desktop-Buffer/dp/B0G2BHKTRF/ref

There is no point in spending too much on dacs, as of 2026. Budget dacs have gotten very good. If you buy some expensive dac today, a better sounding dac may show up 2 months later for less than half the price. 

@tko956 wrote

I might have had too many bad experiences with the Sabre chips as they are in so many lower end DACs. Before the PS Audio I had an SMSL Su-9 and when it was replaced I felt i could relax into the music.

 

tko956 OP
52 posts
 

I received my Baltic 5 a couple of weeks ago but due to some business trips I’ve only been able to put about 10 hours on it.  The stock tubes are Shuguang 5U4G, Shuguang WE6SN7 Plus, and EH 12BH7 gold pins.

So far I can say that it is a very good sounding DAC, nice and relaxed, good detail, and extended frequency extremes.  Over my modified PS Audio DSD Mk1 I can hear much more bass detail and layers of bass that were missing.  Bass guitar and stand up bass notes are much better defined and separated than before.  The bass is really the only stand-out difference so far.

I’m hoping to be home all next week and put some more hours on the unit to fully burn in the tubes and get a better handle on the sound.  Once fully burned in and I understand the DAC’s sound better I will start to roll some tubes.  I have some RCA 5814As that I haven't tried yet and a friend has an EML274B that he's willing to loan me to try out.

tko956 OP
52 posts
 

@orvilletc I look forward to your observations.

Thanks,

Ty

orvilletc's avatar
orvilletc
4 posts
 

@tko956 I'm still burning in so I'll wait and see how it truly sounds when it's settled but initially I totally agree with you. My system was pretty resolving and I feel that I had squeezed almost every inch of capabilities out of my Pontus 15th. The Baltic 5 certainly has an "extra shelf" of bass to it. It's also ever so slightly more detailed (some tracks I can hear breathing etc.)  However, I'm not sure if it's as natural/organic sounding as my Pontus, but that might be down to the tubes. I'll experiment more....

More to discover