PS Audio PerfectWave DAC Mk II Manual

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Thank you for purchasing the PerfectWave DAC Mk II upgrade kit. The instructions that
follow will assist you through the modifications necessary to upgrade your DAC to the DAC
Mk II. If you have any questions concerning your kit or the instructions please don’t
hesitate to call us at PS Audio.
We recommend you first watch the installation videos and then use this handbook as a
guide. The first video to watch is how to remove the digital input board. It is located here:
http://youtu.be/542U4yTFzJQ This will walk you through identifying if you have the A or B
Analog Output Bboard. From there, watch either the A http://youtu.be/hBWYzjWxYmY or
B http://youtu.be/fX3xCW6YFkA style installation procedure.
PS Audio
4826 Sterling Drive, Boulder, CO 80301
PH: 720.406.8946 FX: 720.406.8967
PerfectWave DAC Mk II Upgrade Kit

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Your Kit Should Include the Following:
2, 1A, Slow Blow Gold Fuses
1, DAC Mark II Name Plate
1, 1.5” X 0.75 Nylon Washer
1, DAC Mk II Firmware
Hardware images below shown actual size
2, Pieces Copper Tape
2, M2.5 Phillips Pan Head Metric Screws
1, 4-24 X 3/8” Tapping Screw
2, M3-0.5 X 6mm Phillips Pan Head Metric Screws
4, 4-40 X 3/8” Phillips Flat Head Screws
4, 4-40 X 11/2” “All Thread” Screws
3, 6-32 X ¼” Phillips Pan Head Screws

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1, White cleaning cloth
1, Upgrade manual
1, DAC II Input Board
1, PerfectWave Remote control II
1, Wrist Strap 1, 5/8” wrench
1, 9/16” wrench
1, 1, ½” open end wrench
1, #1 Phillips screw driver
1, Plastic Tweezer

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The Mezzanine Board
The I2S cables:
Type A
Type B

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Remove the Top Cover.
1. Unplug your DAC from its power source and unplug the AC line cord from the rear
panel of the DAC.
2. Find or create a padded work surface such as a table with a piece of carpet or rug.
3. Place your DAC upside down on the white cleaning cloth with the rear panel facing
towards you.
4. With the Phillips screw driver, remove the four 4-40 head screws shown in circles
below. No need to save these screws your kit has new ones.
5. Thread each one of the 4 pieces of “All Thread” into the 4 holes 6 turns each.

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Caution: Be sure your work surface is protected as the “All Thread” screws may
scratch the surface!
6. Flip the unit back over right side up on your protected work surface.
7. Uniformly push down on the sides of your DAC. The top will pop up as shown below.
8. Reach under the top cover and lift it out of the chassis, flip it over to the left and set it
down on the left side of the DAC as shown in the photo below.
9. Unscrew the 4 pieces of “All Thread” from the top cover bracket and set aside.
10.Wiggle and pull the top cover ground wire from the grounding block. (Some DACs
have this ground wire and some do not.)
11.Retrieve any pieces of gasket material that may have
come off the top cover and fallen into the unit. There
should be 9 pieces of gasket material on the top panel in
the locations shown below. Replace any loose pieces by
pressing them back onto the metal where shown below.
Top Cover
Ground
9 Pieces of
Gasket

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Remove the Original Digital Input Board.
12.CAUTION, anti-static precautions are necessary when handling your new DAC
Mk II board. Remove the wrist strap from the plastic bag, open up the loop and put
it around your wrist and make it snug.
13.Attach the alligator to the center terminal (ground) of the AC inlet module as shown
lower right.
14.Remove the 5 screws that secure the XLR, optical, and HDMI connectors to the rear
panel (circles). No need to save these screws your kit has new ones.
15.Place the 1.5” X 0.755 nylon washer over the outside of the nut on the RCA
connector to prevent the rear panel from being scratched and use the ½” open end
wrench to remove the nut from the RCA connector.
16.Using your thumb and index finger, carefully rock the J10 ribbon cable back and forth
out of the header as shown right.
17.Using the same method, unplug ribbon cable J11.
18.Unplug the ribbon cable from J13 of the old input board and J3 of the Analog Output
Board below. The J13 cable will not be reused.
Use ½” open end wrench

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19.Remove the three 6-32 screws (squares) that hold the old board to the 3 spacers.
20.Lift the board out of the chassis moving it away from the rear panel. The piece of
copper tape on the USB connector will peel off of the rear panel, this is ok.
Unplug J10
Unplug J11 Remove J13
Copper Tape

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Identify your Analog Output Board - Type A or Type B?
There are two types of analog output boards. The Analog Output Board is the larger
bottom board. How the Mark II Digital Input Processor board connects to the Analog
Output Board depends on whether it is an A or a B style of Analog Output Board. The
next step is to identify if you have either an A or a B style Analog Output Board. Once
you have identified the style, proceed to the A or B installation section to finish the
installation.
Type A Analog Output Board
21.You’ll note that the Type A Analog Output Board has a small black twelve pin
socket (J3 page12) adjacent to the two large power supply capacitors.
22.If your Analog Output Board has this socket you will use this short (3 inch/7.5cm)
I2S cable.
The I2S cable is labeled with four acronyms.
23.1. MCK (Blue) 2. BCK (Yellow) 3. DAT (Red) 4. LRCK (White).
24. These acronyms will correspond to the colour code on the new MKll Digital Input
Board I2S input coaxial sockets.

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Type B Analog Output Board
25.You’ll note that the type B board has a 16 pin socket, labeled J2, on the right hand
side (looking from the rear of the unit) between the metal support posts.
26.If your Analog Output Board has this socket you will use the long (6 inch/15cm) I2S
cable shown below.
The I2S cable is colour coded and will correspond to the colour code on the new
MKll Digital Input Board I2S input coaxial sockets.