Hey James,
Could you could grab the 2 items and give it a try for us? 
James - any chance for adding āSpeaker Gainā setting? Similar to headphones low/high gain, but for speakers? That would be quite helpful for people with very sensitive speakersā¦
Can you please run it by the product team?
Doesnāt the max speaker volume setting (pg. 18) take care of that?
No. This setting is to limit the maximum volume one can reach (e.g. 24 would be max you can crank).
My issue with hiss is present even (and especially) when no music is playing at all.
Think of it as always-present-noise-floor. When music is playing, you cannot hear it.
Frankly, I always thought that solid-state amps are quiet. At least quieter than tube amps.
My solution, for now, is turn off the amps when not in use. I do not think it is a showstopper at all, but if a āSpeaker Gainā can be added by means of FW update - that would be a useful feature!
Has anyone had this issue?
Listening to TV/Movies from the optical output of the LG TV to the Strata, I get very short āskipā in the sound every 30 seconds or so. The sound cuts out quickly for just a fraction of a second.
I still have my Direct Stream DAC hooked to the same system. If I move the optical cable over to the DSD there is no skipping.
I have heard folks have the most trouble with LG tvs and their optical output. I know you mentioned that it works with the DSD, but have you gone into the audio settings in the TV to make sure itās outputting a PCM stereo signal?
Mine will skip when I first turn it on or change the channel - it usually settles down within a minute. If it persists I adjust the angle of the cable going into the Strata connector and that normally solves the problem. I bought a Lifatec cable thinking the cable could be the problem but it had the same problem as the cheaper Livewire cable. Both of my optical cables are 10ā and Iām thinking that may exacerbate the problem - but it seems to be working ok now.
BTW - it is a Samsung TV it is connected to and it only works in PCM mode, but the short āskipsā occur in PCM only since it does not work at all with any other setting.
The tv was set to āautoā once in got into the menu that allowed me to change it. I set it to PCM and It seems better.
I had to turn off Dolby Atmos and volume leveling to make that option available.
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Great, thanks for the feedback. This will be helpful for others!
Can cause the blinking PSA power light/no user control problem to occur with 100% predictability.
My Strata had done it a few times in its first month and had not done it recently until yesterday - yesterday and today I tried to play (streaming from Tidal):
As soon as the first track starts to play my Strata locks up blinking. Power cycle the Strata and operational again, plays other albums no problems but with this album it is locking up 100% of the time - I used both PSConnect and iEAST Play on my iPhone and same problem. Just tried the 2nd track of this album and my Strata is blinking at me again.
This album plays fine on my PC system but for some reason is locking up the Strata - any thoughts (besides donāt play that album)?
It is not just this album!
I have been burning-in new speakers in the last few days, streaming Tidal playlists from various genres.
Every few hours, that happens to me too. Strataās PS Audio logo starts blinking at some point, and the Strata is locked!
In my case, the Strata keeps playing the Tidal playlist for an hour or more, but volume and all others controls are locked, and only power cycle using the switch on the back helps (until the next lock-up).
I have no idea which tracks cause it in my case, or whether it is some random bug that would cause it to happen at unpredictable timesā¦ I am not sitting in the same room while it is playing so cannot tell.
There are two versions of this album in Tidal. The 16/44 and the 24/96 MQA. If you have āMasterā quality set it would play the MQA version. I think setting to Hifi will play the redbook.
I hope it is not MQA locking it up. Tidal just pushed āmillionsā of MQA tracks from Warner Music into their system. In a lot of cases removing the rebook version of the track.
Wild guessā¦ butā¦ thought Iād mention it.
Strata doesnāt do MQA.
Yes, realize this. MQA files are ābackwards compatibleā to hardware that doesnāt know its MQA but resolves at slightly less than 16 bit. Recently Tidal trashed a lot of redbook and the only thing they send is the MQA now. Most equipment wonāt care. The Strata shouldnāt careā¦ maybe it doesā¦ thatās why I mentioned it.
That was it - Strata is playing the 16/44 version no problem. Interesting that it plays other āMasterā recordings from my play list but not this one - well it plays it but locked.
Edit: 2 minutes after I posted, while listing I heard a āglitchā and it is now flashing at me again.
I believe there is extra noise when you run MQA without any unfolding?
Yes.
Is it audible? Bob Stuart says ānoā. 
@jamesh - any update on the new FW version? I have been waiting for a loooong time for it to (hopefully) fix my display issueā¦
Hopefully that new FW would also fix these Tidal lock-ups??
Side topicā¦ everyone make sure you try the filters!
I have a ridiculous setup with AQ Thunder and AQ RH speaker cableā¦ letās say Iām ready for future upgrades wire wise.
For me Filter 3 is a clear winner in my setup! Best center image and articulation, dynamics, imaging.
Seems like Barry does have a fix for the display, but heās trying to rope in a few other bug fixes with that update which has delayed its release.