Industry Reviews - DirectStream DAC Mk 2

For sure the DirectStream DAC MK2 reflects the people at PS Audio and especially Ted Smith, who writes the firmware/software that has a major role in how the DirectStream DAC MK2 sounds. Of which, sounds neither bright, dull, rolled off, hyped, lean... sounds like what we want our music to sound like. Wait... come to think of it, the DirectStream DAC MK2 sounds like Ted; humble, honest, and truthful, all the while being playful and fun. Full of color and joy.... Read More

Positive Feedback

The same size as its well-regarded predecessor, the MK2 processor replaces the rectangular, four-color touchscreen with a smaller display with a Mute/Menu button to its left and a blue-illuminated five-button controller to its right. However, it still upsamples PCM data to 30-bit words, now sampled at 2× the original's 28.224MHz... Read More

Stereophile Magazine

While the PerfectWave DirectStream DAC garnered a lot of buzz when it was released, my guess is a veritable chorus of accolades will soon be surrounding the DirectStream DAC MK2. If my budget only allowed for an $8,000 DAC, I would give this one a very, very serious listen. Given its retail cost, it will effectively raise the bar on delivering a magnificent audio experience. Read more

Future Audiophile Paul Wilson

The short form is simply, Holy Shit! However to be a little more expansive: This is one extraordinary piece of gear. Well actually two but I consider them as a singular set. Who would have thought those little silver discs contained so much musical information of such high quality. Truly analogue like and then in some ways even better. Smooth as the finest silk, dynamic as a thunderstorm , three-dimensional as virtual reality, transparent and grainless as museum glass and detailed and revealing like the space telescope. Listening to Coltrane and his band performing A Love Supreme live in Seattle was as though I had stepped into a time machine putting me live in the club with absolutely no hifi artifacts, just pure musical excitement and enjoyment. Bravo! Congratulations!