PS Audio DirectStream DAC Mk. 1 without Bridge, 10 months warranty left
- Condition: Used
- Price: 1367.43 EUR
- Status: unsold
- Item number: 176495354780
- Seller: mos1127 (204|100.0%)
- Seller information: non commercial
- Item location: Pasadena, California
- Ships to: US
- Shipping: EUR
- on EBAY
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Description
This is a refurbished PS Audio DirectStream DAC Mk 1, bought just a few months ago. It came with a one-year warranty which is transferable (about 9 or 10 months left on the warranty). Its in perfect cosmetic condition. I left the plastic on the top panel, so youll see that in the photos. It comes with remote and factory box, as well as an outer box. Also comes with original paperwork. The factory box is a unique protection system that will keep this very safe, but does tend to increase the volume of the box and the shipping will probably end up with dimensional weight (raising the cost a bit).This does not come with the Bridge network module. This DAC sounds just wonderful. Very refined and detailed sound, while being musical and analog-like. One of the best things about it is that it has programmable firmware. There have been five or six versions of the firmware since the release of this DAC in 2014 and I tried several of them. They sound quite different! You can really tune this to your liking. Includes Remote, factory box and outer box, original paperwork, and SD card.Here are some quotes from Vade Forresters review of this DAC on The Absolute Sound.Another demonstration of how much information the DirectStream DAC could retrieve came when I queued up the cut “Folia Rodrigo Martinez” from Jordi Savall’s CD La Folia 1490-1701 [Alia Vox] ripped to an AIFF file. The percussion instruments are quite vivid when played loudly, but often tend to fade into a background noise when played quietly. Or at least that’s what I used to think; the DirectStream DAC raised them above the noise level and made them audible at all times. The clack of the wood blocks was clearly audible throughout the entire piece, as was the clatter of the castanets. The DirectStream DAC also generated a wider, more stable soundstage than I usually hear from this piece. The dynamic level is constantly changing, and the DirectStream DAC made it clear how band leader/viola da gamba player Savall was driving those changes. There was unusually precise placement of instruments in the soundstage, as well. The Direct Stream DAC gave my subwoofer a good workout as it delivered a deep extension of the bass drum, with lots of power and impact I could feel as well as hear.To see if the DirectStream DAC would fall apart playing a recording of a full orchestra, I queued up Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony in Mahler’s Third Symphony [SFS Media/Downloads NOW!]. The SFS Media DSD recordings of the Mahler symphonies may well be the most realistic orchestral recordings I’ve ever heard. The result: rich, accurate harmonics, well-defined spatial environment, dynamic changes ranging from barely perceptible to hammering blows that threatened my speakers’ well-being—and the breathtaking performance didn’t hurt, either. Instruments sounded spookily realistic and were scaled to create a believable impression of a large symphony orchestra. The DirectStream DAC played the recording effortlessly; the passive output stage never sounded strained or congested. After we’d listened to the Mahler Third, another audiophile buddy commented: “It really doesn’t sound digital anymore.” He’s never said that about any other DAC.
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