Upgrade PS Audio DSD Mk1 to?

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.

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.

@orvilletc I look forward to your observations.

Thanks,

Ty

@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....

A couple of thoughts. 

First, member JT Richards at APS Transformers modifies the PS Audio Directstream on different prices/levels and says they are great. I obtained in a trade a Directstream mki which was modified to some degree (not by APS) to be more like the mkii and found it to be pretty, pretty good. 

Second, I sold the PS Audio Directstream and got the Garlubidor Divinity Dac which sounds to me along the lines of the PS Audio Directstream Dac with better resolution and better bass. It retails for under 2k. 

Hans Beekhuyzen did a video review of the Garlubidor and said it sounded much like the Holo Cyan 2 (which is one of his reference dacs) except a bit better in the bass. 

There certainly are other options. I haven't heard the LTA or the Laiv dacs. I think the Garlubidor would be a better option than the Pontus 15th unless you want oversampling as the Garlubidor is a NOS Dac but it has a volume control so you could use it in place of a preamp if that helps your system. Additionally, the Garlubidor has two I2S inputs and it has an OLED screen. I haven't heard the Pontus 15th but Steve Huff's written review says: "Spoiler: I know of no other DAC in this price range that can compete with this one. It has that R2R sound which is detailed with killer dynamics along with a balanced top to bottom performance. I’d take this over a Pontus 15th, easy,"

https://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2025/11/09/the-garlubidor-divinty-r2r-dac-is-a-better-denafrips/