PS Audio Pefect Wave DAC IS DAMN PERFECT!!!

Sumerian

Finally found the key missing piece in my Audio Puzzle.

Shortlisting a DAC is like swimming across ocean with no sign of shore.

My search started with Benchmark DAC after reading through eye straining number of forums and reviews I was finally found the match for my cary SLP05.

I was little suspicious about PS Audio brand initially but now I feel PS Audio is in the same league as Parasound.

I was actually looking for a used PWD DAC II with Bridge but lucky me I found a brand new sealed "BLACK" Perfect wave DAC MKII with Bridge for couple of hundreds less than used price and the icing is, it came with transferable 3 year warranty.

Received the package today, as all audio premium components this DAC is also nicely packed in double box.










Right from the moment I opened the box this DAC screamed premium



Came with a nice pair of gloves unlike Cary these actually fit and are functional.


Dac is covered in a nice white cotton bag, Looks very pleasing.



the way the DAC is packaged is very interesting it is stacked between two plastic pillows kind off setup ensuring the perfect wave DAC is perfectly protected.










And then the remote .. Same old recipe, nothing new here copied the codes, removed the batteries packed it back with the boxes.






Top of the DAC has Glossy black piano finish just like the trim lines in premium car dash boards. Though it will be Royal pain in the rear end to keep it clean, It sure looks luxurious.





connectivity on this DAC is unquestionable, every thing we need and little more








Comes with SD card for upgrading the firmware.












For the first time I decide to read the manual before fiddling with it, surprisingly it doesn't come with one... not even a single sheet illustrating connections details.
Has to go through real pain to connect this thing to my media server vie Bridge.. I never spend this much time setting up anything ....it really pissed the piss out of me before I could make JRiver in Media Server to see this DAC as a player. After decent nerve cracking moments I was finally able to connect JRiver in media server to DAC through Ethernet Via Bridge.


One interesting thing to me is this bridge which basically adds network capabilities to the DAC. I read in few reviews how this bridge connection sounded as good as USB and Coaxial and even better than those standard connection options. I didn't believe it until I heard it today.. Though I haven't done A/B comparison yet, I feel bridge connection is in its own league and wont be a compromise by any means.




LCD display looks decent and serves the purpose really well




Colorful Album Art Display... Nice touch!





Finally fired it up....

Boy O Boy this DAC makes my 707 sing perfect tune.



I was hearing this DAC from last few hours... Out of box without any break in time, this DAC really excelled by line up.

It added the same effect I felt in my line after breaking in CarySLP05 for 200 hours. It added same amount calories to my line up as Cary SLP05.

It really took it to next level Perfect Wave DAC II is no joke it looks and sound serious business.



One very surprising thing to me is the Bridge option.... Which basically adds a network capabilities to this DAC, all these days I was assuming USB and Coaxial are the best ways to connect a DAC. Though I have read in few reviews how this Bridge gives same level and even better quality than traditional connections I couldn't believe it. Though I haven't done the A/B comparisons with other connections I fell bridge connection sounds "Freaking" awesome.

I cannot wait to hear how this thing would once it is nicely broken in after few hundreds.


It is basically making everything sound "The Best" ...Throw in a crappy MP3 and compare it to the Standard DAC you will know what I am talking about....

If bought for a right price this will be a biggest bang for the buck and will be a center piece of the line up.


I was very hesitant to buy this but I am really glad I did it.


I can only imagine how the new DirectStream would sound the damn thing converts every thing to DSD......

dragon1952

I recently got a similar deal on an unopened MKII w/ bridge that some guy bought and never opened. The transferable warranty makes it a no-brainer. I wish more manufacturer's offered that (like Parasound wink, wink)

Sumerian

dragon1952 wrote: »

I recently got a similar deal on an unopened MKII w/ bridge that some guy bought and never opened. The transferable warranty makes it a no-brainer. I wish more manufacturer's offered that (like Parasound wink, wink)

I think credit goes to DirectStream...

dragon1952

Yeah, people are bailing out while used prices are still reasonably high. Still not buying into the DSD version though. But hey, if people want to spend $5K to "upgrade" and sell their MKII's for bargain basement prices, I'm cool with that.

Sumerian

dragon1952 wrote: »

Yeah, people are bailing out while used prices are still reasonably high. Still not buying into the DSD version though. But hey, if people want to spend $5K to "upgrade" and sell their MKII's for bargain basement prices, I'm cool with that.

It seems upgrading these DACs is not that hard ...may be once the initial heat goes down we might get lucky with upgrade kit too LOL!

polkfarmboy

Your not upgrading the dac, your ripping everything out and only keeping the touch screen and shell. These dacs are getting dumped like turds in a taco bell bathroom on a Friday night. I just got rid of three of them and have only 4 more to go then I am done selling them. The transports hold there price pretty well though, I have 2 of them and one has some crazy mods done to the architecture and it sounds pretty good. I also have about 6 of the ps audio powerbase platforms if you guys are ever intereted in those then send me a pm.

mrbigbluelight

polkfarmboy wrote: »

These dacs are getting dumped like turds in a taco bell bathroom on a Friday night. I just got rid of three of them and have only 4 more to go then I am done selling them.

PFB, maybe I'm misreading your post, but these 2 sentences seem to imply that these DACs are lemons and not very good. Am I reading that correctly ?

dragon1952

Do you just work at Arctic Audio or do you own it?

tonyb

Nice PFB....no, your dumping them like turds because that's what you do, flip, and flip some more. People are selling them while hot because the dsd version is about to come out, has no reflection on the SQ these units produce.

Sumerian,
Congrats dude, I knew you'd like it with that Cary pre. I want to stress though, read the manual....LOL. Just bustin' balls bro, again...conrats and enjoy.

polkfarmboy

dragon1952 wrote: »

Do you just work at Arctic Audio or do you own it?

I am a pretty good haggler, my favorite tactic is to get sellers engaged in a phone call rather than emails or pm's. You would be surprised how many people do not know how to say no once you put a lil persuasive pressure on them.

polkfarmboy

tonyb wrote: »

Nice PFB....no, your dumping them like turds because that's what you do, flip, and flip some more. People are selling them while hot because the dsd version is about to come out, has no reflection on the SQ these units produce.

Sumerian,
Congrats dude, I knew you'd like it with that Cary pre. I want to stress though, read the manual....LOL. Just bustin' balls bro, again...conrats and enjoy.

I never mentioned anything about SQ? The way the market is right now is that dsd is out and people are just off loading these at ridiculously undervalued prices. Same with the wyred 4 sound dac's, you can now get the dac 1 for only $500. Again a very good dac at a very low price because of the common belief that these are going to obsolete because of dsd.

I have yet to see let alone hear any dsd files for download and would love to do a comparison with the new ps audio dsd dac vs the mk2.

tonyb

Then think about how you word your posts. You made it sound to the OP that people were dumping them like turds, leading him to believe because of poor performance or build quality.

Sumerian

tonyb wrote: »

Sumerian,
Congrats dude, I knew you'd like it with that Cary pre. I want to stress though, read the manual....LOL. Just bustin' balls bro, again...conrats and enjoy.

Thanks Tony you were the first one to suggest me this DAC.

This DAC really adds lot of energy to everything in its path and I don't give a **** if this is not the greatest and latest.

Sumerian

tonyb wrote: »

Then think about how you word your posts. You made it sound to the OP that people were dumping them like turds, leading him to believe because of poor performance or build quality.

I hope he is referring to the fact that when you upgrade this DAC to DS you will be discarding all three boards (Digital, Analog and the power board)... you will be able to reuse the LCD display, the network bridge card and the metal frame (Container).

But anyways his metaphor is little too unnecessary.... PS Audio itself is giving 2k for trade ins.

Sumerian

Polkfarmboy,

I tried to respond to your previous IM but your inbox was full....

Anyways here is my response now.
"I am not looking for cheap alternatives .. what I meant was the price you quoted for a used PS Audio is little too high for a used DAC and I am only looking for PS Audio DAC."

I like bargaining and haggling a lot and yet I thought there is no point haggling.

If people are dumping them like turds then why your quotes high???

Anyways please keep all the turds and haggling skills off this thread.


I just want to share my joy of finding a nice piece of equipment with fellow polkies. So lets keep it that way

Loud & Clear

I bet if you play an SACD into the DAC it will play and sound really good. I experienced that with a Sony bluray player, running coaxial digital out into a Peachtree Dac iT x. It downmixes to LPCM but sounds fantastic. No need for me to worry about DSD capable DAC's any longer. Works with DVD-A as well. I don't have any DSD downloads to try, so not sure if that works or not.

Moose68Bash

Sumerian wrote: »

I never spend this much time setting up anything ....it really pissed the piss out of me before I could make JRiver in Media Server to see this DAC as a player. After decent nerve cracking moments I was finally able to connect JRiver in media server to DAC through Ethernet Via Bridge.

Congratulations, Sumerian, not only on your new piece of equipment, but also on getting "JRiver in Media Server to see this DAC as a player." I, too recently purchased a PWD MKII and was similarly dissatisfied with the documentation that came with it, although you can download a "User's Reference" from the PS Audio website. Even that "manual," however, is very limited in its instructions about the DAC and the bridge.

How did you get JRiver to see the DAC? I've been trying to get Audirvana to see mine from my iMac to play tracks from my iTunes library. I haven't "cracked the code," yet. Maybe what worked for you with JRiver will help me.

I agree with your assessment of the sound quality of the PWD MKII.

Thanks.

dragon1952

Not sure how it works with Mac or Audirvana, but for Windows/JRiver, in JRiver you go to Tools, Options and then select Media Network and then check the box for 'Use Media Network to share this library and enable DLNA' and then for your device you choose I think it's 'Audiophile 24 bit DAC' or something like that. And I believe you have to have UPnP enabled on your network.

Sumerian

^^^^^^ What dragon said.

But it didn't help me though, so after completing the above instructions I fiddled around with the DAC and Jriver and found that the Bridge got a wrong IP.

So I picked one of the non assigned IP from my home network and manually edited the IP address in the DAC Bridge setting and then reset the server through the web interface of the bridge.

Running continuously from yesterday no drop outs yet.

tonyb

Glad you got that worked out. Mainly, you happy with the sound ?

Sumerian

tonyb wrote: »

Glad you got that worked out. Mainly, you happy with the sound ?

Yes, I am very happy with the sound.
isn't it obvious from my posts?

Moose68Bash

Sumerian wrote: »

^^^^^^ What dragon said.

But it didn't help me though, so after completing the above instructions I fiddled around with the DAC and Jriver and found that the Bridge got a wrong IP.

So I picked one of the non assigned IP from my home network and manually edited the IP address in the DAC Bridge setting and then reset the server through the web interface of the bridge.

Running continuously from yesterday no drop outs yet.

Thank you.

I'll give this a try later today.

tonyb

Sumerian wrote: »

Yes, I am very happy with the sound.
isn't it obvious from my posts?

Yeah it is....but sometimes we tend to exaggerate the new "different" sound and only later do we settle down and start picking it apart. Sometimes a new piece isn't necessarily better, just different.

Just making sure your happy with your purchase is all really. I hate recommending products to people and founding out later it didn't float their boat. I'm glad it's blowing your skirt up, enjoy your music .

Sumerian

tonyb wrote: »

Yeah it is....but sometimes we tend to exaggerate the new "different" sound and only later do we settle down and start picking it apart. Sometimes a new piece isn't necessarily better, just different.

Just making sure your happy with your purchase is all really. I hate recommending products to people and founding out later it didn't float their boat. I'm glad it's blowing your skirt up, enjoy your music .

Yeah that does happen... But so far I am liking it no remorse what's so ever.

Currently burning it in along with JC1's will know the real potential in a week.


For the prices these PS DACs are being sold right now, you can't go wrong

dragon1952

Sumerian wrote: »

Yeah that does happen... But so far I am liking it no remorse what's so ever.

Currently burning it in along with JC1's will know the real potential in a week.


For the prices these PS DACs are being sold right now, you can't go wrong

I agree.......DSD mania can net you a MKII w/bridge for a ridiculous price....like well under $2K in some cases.

Sumerian

dragon1952 wrote: »

I agree.......DSD mania can net you a MKII w/bridge for a ridiculous price....like well under $2K in some cases.

yup

Average used MKii with bridge mint 1600-1700
and new ones 1900-2000

Sumerian

Update:

Bridge dropped out couple of time in the last 2 days resetting the upnp server fixed it.
Not a biggie.
Even Air play drops out form time to time. If you are used to network streaming this wouldn't be a issue at all.

Polkie2009

Congrats on the new gear Sumerian, looks like a very well made unit and will last for many years of enjoyment.

Sumerian

Polkie2009 wrote: »

Congrats on the new gear Sumerian, looks like a very well made unit and will last for many years of enjoyment.

Thanks mate.
I believe I don't have to worry about DAC until unless I get into DSD.

bayni7

Congrats! I've been saving up to purchase one of these bad boys. I'm jealous.

dragon1952

Sumerian wrote: »

Update:

Bridge dropped out couple of time in the last 2 days resetting the upnp server fixed it.
Not a biggie.
Even Air play drops out form time to time. If you are used to network streaming this wouldn't be a issue at all.

Yeah, that is a known issue with the bridge. I have to reset mine at least once a day it seems. A mild annoyance.