PS Audio PerfectWave DAC Upgrade

Mrtennis: The most noticeable improvements of the MK2 board are bass and soundstage. That is what I noticed in a before/after comparison, not side by side. I will say that I find well-recorded CDs to sound more dialed in, immediate, and absorbing. So, it is likely that more changed than bass and soundstage. Even my wife, who takes little interest in audio, has commented on how the sound quality has improved. (I use the Transport with an HDMI cable, and haven't experimented with other digital connections.)

Mrtennis, my experience is that the upgrade's effect on sound quality depends critically on which version of the firmware you install after the upgrade. The SD cards that are shipping with the Mk2 board contain firmware version 2.1.0. The sound with this firmware is very extended at both frequency extremes but perhaps a bit too hot in the treble and a bit too clinical...great for a laid back system, but not so great in more highly resolving systems.

The sound quality of the Mk2 digital board is significantly different if you instead install the earlier version of the firmward, version 2.0.2. This is available on the PS Audio website in the "support" section. You just copy these files onto the SD card, replacing the files that are pre-loaded onto the SD card. This can all be done with a $5 SD card reader from Best Buy, Staples, or Radio Shack.

With the 2.0.2 firmware, my guess is that you would really like the Mk 2 upgrade. The main difference I noticed was substantially improved bass, but a mid-range and treble that is still warm and very musical. In other words, real improvement over the Mk1 DAC that doesn't veer towards overly clinical, fatiguing, or bright in any real sense.

Wit both firmware versions, the soundstage of the DAC widens pretty significantly, which is another very noticeable area of improvement. That said, the soundstage of the Perfect Wave DAC is still not all that wide.

I know there has been some debate on the PS Audio forum, with numerous upgraders complaining that they are not happy with the latest firmware version, 2.1.0. In response, PS Audio has allowed owners to download the earlier 2.0.2 version of the DAC firmware to see whether they prefer the earlier version. My impression from the PS Audio forums is that Paul McGowan prefers the latest version 2.1.0, but has kept version 2.0.2 available. Moreover, they are supposedly developing a new version that they hope will be btter than other firmware version.

Mrtennis: I am very sensitive about anything that sounds overly analytical or fatiguing...so I am in the same camp as you. I think the MK2 is a significant improvement over the MK1, so long as you install firmware version 2.0.2 in the MK2. The MK2 DAC using 2.0.2 firmware is more musically involving than the MK1 with better defined bass and better soundstage. In no way is the MK2 worse sounding, fatiguing, or overly analytical. The improvement is very obvious with the PW Transport in my system, although not quite "mind blowing", just substantially better. Mind you, I still think the SQ from the Perfect Wave Transport far exceeds the SQ from other inputs and from the Bridge. The Bridge has not lived up to the hype yet, which may explain why so many PW DACs are for sale.

What has been really striking to me is how the sound quality of the MK2 Perfect Wave DAC depends so substantially on the firmware used. With an SD card reader, it is quite easy to demo the three versions of the DAC firmware that PS Audio has made available on its forum. Buy a $5 SD card reader at Radio Shack and you can try each version very easily.

Today, I installed and listened to all three firmware versions in succession for about 45 minutes each (with the PW Transport as my sourcee), starting with firmware version 2.1.0. This is the firmware that is shipping with the latest upgrade kits and is factory installed on new MK2 DACs. With 2.1.0, the sound quality is very dynamic and very extended. However, the upper frequencies seem much too forward for my tastes, making the DAC seem somewhat artificial and ultimately fatiguing. The best aspect of 2.1.0 is that bass is really impressive. It is very deep, very resolved, and moves a lot of air. If downstream equipment is fairly warm and you are looking for better bass, this firmware might be a good choice.

I also tried version 2.0.3 today. This version is supposedly similar to version 2.0.2, although 2.0.3 corrects some minor programming issue that affects the S/PDIF input. (I have used the S/PDIF input with all three firmware versions without any difficulty.) Version 2.0.3 is less fatiguing than version 2.1.0, but bass seems overly lean to me. This firmware might work best if you have a powered sub.

Version 2.0.2 in my system still sounds head and shoulders better than the other versions. The mid-range is simply transfixing and the bass is still really solid -- perhaps not as resolved as with version 2.1.0, but still really dynamic and pleasing. With version 2.0.2, everything falls into place so coherently and musically that I stop thinking about equipment altogether and just listen to the music. Vocals really shine with 2.0.2. Image placement also seems better with this firmware.

So, experimentation with firmware (if possible) is definitely worth the effort.

I dare say that opinions of this Perfect Wave DAC in both reviews and in some DAC shootouts I have read about on other forums are probably not very meaningful. I would not like the DAC very much, especially in light of the price, if it was loaded with version 2.1.0 or even version 2.0.3. With version 2.0.2, my guess is that it would beat all comers in the general price range. (I also question the validity of DAC shootouts and reviews when owners compare the Perfect Wave DAC to Weiss, Berkeley, or AMR, using a computer as a source. The Perfect Wave DAC was not designed as a USB DAC. The Perfect Wave DAC has a special synergy with the Perfect Wave Transport, with sound quality leagues better than from other digital sources, including computers, cheap transports, and even PS Audio's Bridge.)

Edorr, no reason to be skeptical or to blindly believe my assertions. You can buy an SD card reader at Radio Shack or Best Buy for under $10 and then try each firmware version yourself.

But I am not the only one who notices substantial differences in sound quality among different versions of the firmware. PS Audio's own community forum has a thread on the subject. The vast majority of owners who contributed to that thread preferred 2.0.2 pretty strongly to version 2.1.0. Similarly, Head-Fi has a massive thread about the Perfect Wave DAC, and toward the end, a number of people stated that they preferred the sound of the original MK1 DAC to the MK2 upgrade, finding the latter to be too bright and fatiguing for headphone listening. These folks were told to try 2.0.2 in place of 2.1.0. They then reported back that they were very happy with the upgrade once they had installed 2.0.2.

Mrtennis, I have no idea why so many Perfect Wave DACs have come up for sale here in the last year or two. The most benign explanation is that the Perfect Wave DAC had a very high market share after it was first introduced, so it naturally represents a large share of used sales now. The other possibility is that a fair number of owners are not happy with sound quality or with the complexity of setting up the Bridge + NAS + eLyric, and want something simpler or cheaper. Unfortunately, Audiogon provides a regular reminder that digital equipment is a lousy investment.

Tonyptony, according to PS Audio, version 2.0.2 only has a problem with de-emphasis flag decoding for the S/PDIF input, not for any other digital input. So, yeah, you would have a problem if your transport is a CD player connected by coaxial cable to the Perfect Wave DAC. In that case, you can switch to version 2.0.3, which fixes the de-emphasis flag decoding for the S/PDIF input. With all other digital inputs (HDMI, AES/EBU, USB, optical), NativeX works fine in version 2.0.2.

A while back, the topic of one of Paul McGowan's daily e-mails was the mystery surrounding the differences in sound quality between different versions of PS Audio's firmware and software. He wrote, "Fact is we’ve been struggling with trying to figure out why small changes in the code that runs our products have an impact on the sound quality – why folks love one version of software and dislike another. There are many great mysteries concerning sound quality and they only become obvious once you figure them out." (Unfortunately, they have not figured out the mystery yet.) He goes on to write that differences in sound quality "might seem obvious to you but not to our designers since the changes we were making had 'nothing' to do with the data stream or the audio itself. Sometimes a change in the front panel display code would cause a major upset in sound quality." So, even Paul McGowan is admitting that a change to 2.0.2 to fix de-emphasis flag decoding for the S/PDIF input may cause 2.0.3 to sound different than 2.0.2.

In any case, PS Audio does seem to want to resolve this mystery. My only concern is that Paul McGowan has said that he likes version 2.1.0 (now 2.2.0, I guess) better than other versions. Mrtennis elsewhere has said that PS Audio's product revisions tend to make them sound more analytical. So it is by no means certain that their programmers are aiming to replicate the sound quality of 2.0.2 as they continue to revise and refine firmware. As long as they make a number of firmware versions available, as is the case now, I am not overly concerned. I do feel sympathy for people who are buying brand new MK2 DACs, find the sound to be a bit ruthless, and cannot switch to version 2.0.2 because that firmware does not work with the new front panel display of their new MK2 DAC.