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PS Audio PWT software bugs

I purchased a PS Audio PWT about a year ago and have had some strange transport/software bugs since new.

If I put in a CD and then let it sit for more than about 10 minutes, the transport will refuse to play the disc when "play" is entered. The Icons on the front panel will change as if the disc is playing but no output. I am using the AES/EBU digital output to a Brystom BDA-1. The unit will freeze and I can "skip" to the next track but still no output. Often I cannot even eject the disk. I have to do a hard power shut down and cycle. After power up, it recognizes the disc and plays normally.

Same thing happens if I start a track, then stop it and go away for more than about ten minutes. When I try to resume the mode changes to icons showining "play" but no sound and the track will be frozen. Almost no response from any input after that.

When I contacted PS Audio (Marcus Iezzi), he replied in an email:
"There is a bug in the firmware that is causing this issue and our software team is working on fixing it."

Has anyone else had this problem and do you know if a firmware version has been released to fix the issue?
dhl93449
dhl93449 OP
455 posts
 
BTW, my firmware version is 1.22.
mcondon
233 posts
 
Dhl, I have not had the problem you describe, but believe you when you say it has a bug. I guess my phone doesn't ring that much, and if it does, I just press stop rather than pause.

Overall, I like the PW DAC & Transport quite a lot, but agree that the company falls short when it comes to fixing software bugs. Just go to the PS Audio forum and read to your heart's delight about other issues people have had. I suspect the particular bug that is causing you problems is a very low priority for PS Audio. They seem to move on to their next big project before they tie up the loose ends of existing releases.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,230 posts
 
I`ve had my PWT for over 3 years and have not experienced this problem(maybe just lucky). I can say that in terms of sound quality it has been brilliant connected to my Yamamoto YDA-1 DAC. Utterly organic with much involvement and realism.
Regards,
dhl93449 OP
455 posts
 
Looks like this problem may be individual hardware dependent, although PS Audio tech support never suggested I return the unit so that they could swap drives and see if the problem persists. They just told me its a known issue and I have to live with it. Well, maybe I will and maybe I won't.

If you use the "stop" control the problem does not exist. But then you cannot go back to where you were when you were interrupted.

I have no quibble with the sound quality. But I recently acquired a Bryston BDP-1 and A/B'd the Bryston vs the PWT and I could not hear a difference. That was with a ripped .wav file using IMGburn and a Plextor drive, so the rip was not technically a perfect rip like you may get with dBpoweramp. I used the identical CD for both the rip and playback in the PWT. And when you pause the Bryston, you can replay without a hitch.

Although there is a bit of a learning curve to use the Bryston and you have to spend time ripping your music, sonically they are extremely close. If you are going to listen to single CDs, then you can rip a CD and put it on a USB drive in minutes and be listening almost as fast as loading the PWT. Plus, if you want to put together an afternoon of listening with three or four albums, the Bryston can do that easily and the PWT cannot.

Perhaps for some the sonic edge may go back to the PWT if you use the PS Audio DAC. I am using the Bryston BDA-1.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
Dhl93449, dump your transport and build yourself a music server. Only tedious part is ripping your music but only ONCE. Always rip to lossless.
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