@gavin1977 given all the DACs you've tried, would you say the Directstream MK 1 is close to offering a nice wide soundstage with good imaging and "musicality" - whatever that word means to most people - as good as a great R2R ladder-based DAC like the Holo? If so, $1600 to $1800 would indeed be a bargain. Thanks. I was looking at a $2100 Pontus II but wondered about this one for $1800 and if would be in the same ballpark.
Opinions on PS Audio Direct Stream DAC (Mk 1)
PS Audio is clearing out factory refurbished Direct Stream DACs, the original version from 2014 or 2015, for about $1800. I'm wondering if I could get opinions on this DAC. It's old technology as far as digital goes, but it got nice reviews when it was new. It can do DSD64 and DSD128. It upsamples everything internally to DSD.
I'm interested in musicality and musical involvement, especially dynamics (macro and micro), accuracy of instrumental timbre and extracting the beauty out of the recording, low noise floor and high resolution.