Disc Players

With its PMG Signature series (‘PMG’ for co-founder and CEO Paul McGowan), PS Audio now has a clear flagship range. Moved into the ‘Legacy’ section of its website are the BHK Signature Preamplifier, PerfectWave DirectStream DAC Mk2 [HFN Jun ’23] and PerfectWave SACD Transport. In come a new SACD transport, DAC/streamer/preamp, analogue preamp and phono preamp, all under the PMG Signature banner and sharing the same aesthetic and £8995 asking price.

Missing is any matching power amp, leaving the massive BHK Mono 600 [HFN Dec ’22] or the M1200s from PS Audio’s Stellar series [HFN Jan ’21] as possible partners. Otherwise, these new models represent a welcome ‘streamlining’ of a catalogue that has, in the past, appeared a bit… higgledy-piggledy.

Curve appeal

This series’ new look is also welcome. The transport and DAC auditioned here, plus the amps, feature a reasonably slender aluminium chassis in a black or silver finish, with a machined fascia that thickens on its left side in a swooping curve. Set into this is an illuminated on/standby button,[see boxout]while the opposite side has a novel circular touch-sensitive display that provides both at-a-glance info and access to menu settings. Excellent eyesight and small fingers are also recommended…

Above: Signature SACD Transport [top] and DAC [bottom] share the same sculpted alloy cases with touch-sensitive ‘porthole’ displays. Both feature setup and configuration menus

On the SACD Transport, menu options are limited to selecting different DoP modes (for playback of DSD files from its front-panel USB socket over its coax/AES outputs), changing the brightness of the display and power button, and choosing different operational ‘codes’ for PS Audio’s new remote [see p59]. Beyond this, its main function is to show track info and enable skip/repeat, etc, functions, although these are also available via the remote.

The Signature 512 DAC’s menus, thanks to its streaming and preamp stages, are more in-depth. There are settings for max. volume and fixed/variable operation, plus balance, phase and CD de-emphasis, in addition to the custom filters and DSD sample rate options [see boxout]. You can also ‘rename’ inputs from a list of presets.

Of the wide range of outputs on the disc spinner, I²S is the obvious choice for use with the ’512 DAC, as this supports a raw DSD datastream from SACDs.

Eye on timing

Meanwhile, wired connectivity on the DAC comprises USB-B; four S/PDIF inputs; a pair of I²S ports; Ethernet; and unbalanced RCA and balanced RCA analogue outs.

Catering to 384kHz/ 32-bit PCM and DSD256 from that USB-B input (and up to 768kHz/DSD512 over I²S), the Signature 512’s bitstream DAC sits downstream of PS Audio’s ‘Digital Lens’ clock technology. Galvanic isolation of the digital inputs and streaming module, plus physical separation of the analogue and digital PCBs, is also employed.

Use of the streaming stage is through Ethernet or built-in Wi-Fi. There’s Roon, Spotify and Qobuz compatibility, in place of a dedicated app, plus DLNA/UPnP playback. For those who use external networked hardware, or don’t want any network functions at all, the streaming section can be switched off.

Remote rethink

Both units are beautifully styled and reassuringly hefty, although these are not the first PS Audio models to have some idiosyncrasies – the underside of the transport has an ‘emergency eject slider’ to manually open the disc tray should a disc get stuck, while the remote has no button for the streaming input. Paul McGowan told HFN, ‘the remote was put into production before we decided to add a streamer’ – a workaround (two taps on the handset’s optical key) has been programmed instead.

McGowan also revealed that a new PMG Signature remote, with integrated rotary controller, is in the works. However, this might arrive after the SACD Transport ceases production – the company has acquired only a limited number of the Marantz-sourced drive mechanisms, retaining some for future servicing.

Clean sweep
For listening tests, the DAC and transport were laced up over I²S using an AudioQuest Carbon HDMI cable – other sources included a Roon Nucleus Titan [HFN Jun ’25] music library/server and the Signature 512’s streaming module. Using its variable output, the DAC was connected directly to a Primare A35.2 power amplifier [HFN Dec ’19], resulting in a straightforward system driven by a single remote.

Above: PMG Signature 512 DAC is separated onto two PCBs with the top ‘digital input board’ hosting a Wi-Fi/network card [top left], ComTrue USB bridge [top], Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA [lower left] and custom ‘DSD512’ DSP [under can]. The ‘analogue/DAC’ output PCB is located beneath

From disc, USB-B or streaming, PS Audio’s new DAC sounds both musically compelling and insightfully detailed. Its clean, crisp character reveals plenty of instrumental and percussive information – such as hi-hats and cymbals, or fingers on guitar strings – without risking listener fatigue from an over-etched sound. The music simply flows from the ’512, solid and three-dimensional, tonally transparent.

The best results were achieved with SACD. Richter 858, by Bill Frisell [Songlines Recordings; SGLSA1551-2], is one of the weirdest albums I own, being music ‘inspired by eight abstract pictures by Gerhard Richter’. The discordant, jerky opening to the first piece will be a turn off for some, but after a minute or so Frisell and his jazz quartet relax into a slow, hypnotic groove of piano and strings – and the PS Audio system showed its hand.

The texture of viola and cello, the upper-band reach of the violin, their positioning in the recording space – it all sounded remarkable, benefiting from the kind of clarity and involvement the SACD format can bring. As said, this disc isn’t really my ‘cup of tea’, but I still listened intently, swept up by not only the wealth of detail, but also the organic, natural presentation and deft dynamic touches.

Black magic

The same feeling of sheer resolution was apparent from a live recording of Shostakovich’s 5th, by the Kirov Orchestra under Valery Gergiev [Philips 470 651-2; SACD]. Here the presentation was gentler and less angular, the soundstage notably deeper, as ‘I/Moderato’ unfurled with vibrato woodwinds. Then came deep, resonant orchestral drums and a soaring mass of strings, everything set against a background so black the occasional ‘noises off’ in this live recording were easily heard.

Above: The Signature SACD Transport [top] offers outputs on coaxial (x3), dual AES/EBU and HDMI/I2S. The Signature 512 DAC [bottom] has USB-B, HDMI/I2S (x2, to 768kHz/DSD512), coaxial (x2) and optical digital inputs, plus an Ethernet port for its internal streamer, all alongside analogue outs on RCAs and balanced XLRs

I should stress again that the sound of this PS Audio transport and DAC isn’t solely an exercise in clarity. The constituent parts of the performance, from a tight, revealing low-end to the solidity of its musical soundstages, add up to an inherently immersive and listenable whole.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s collaboration Raising Sand, played from CD [Rounder/Decca 478 0199 DH], has a deliberately rich quality to the rhythm section across its 13 folk/bluegrass tracks, with drums and double bass that often don’t so much slam as bump softly. This fulsome, nostalgic vibe was beautifully conveyed, contrasted against clear-as-you like vocals and Krauss’s fiddle.

Above: PS Audio’s comprehensive system remote caters for both the Transport (track skip/ search, stop, play, pause, repeat) and the 512 DAC (input, volume, mute, phase and digital filter)

The DAC’s networked stage performs well too. The hard-charging blues/rock of Greta Van Fleet’s ‘Edge Of Darkness’ [From The Fires; Lava/Republic 44.1kHz/24-bit], streamed via Qobuz Connect, was presented with plenty of textural detail, plus heaps of attack and energy. And if this track betrayed a little bit of stridency in the high treble, the flowing instrumental soundscapes of Polish composer Hania Rani’s new Sentimental Value soundtrack album [Gondwana Records; 96kHz/24-bit] presented a more refined, nuanced sound.

Stream team

So, yes, the streaming element might not have been in the ’512 DAC’s blueprint but its inclusion here is worthwhile. It’s the partnership with the SACD Transport that should most excite audiophiles, though. When these two are in full flight, for instance delivering the prog rock majesty of Elton John’s ‘Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’ [Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Rocket/Mercury 981 320-5, SACD], the performance is utterly compelling.

Hi-Fi News Verdict

As upgrades on PS Audio’s earlier flagships, this PMG Signature 512 DAC and SACD transport make a striking impression, not only for their musical flair, but also for the new, modern aesthetic. The networked DAC may lack app control, but it remains a well-connected unit with support for firmware updates. The partnering disc player, meanwhile, is a no-brainer for PS Audio diehards with big CD/SACD collections.

Sound Quality: 88%