Beta Tester’s Impressions of the New PerfectWave SACD Transport

Audio Components Transports
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Looks like a pretty good system to me, budget-wise probably similar to mine, although I note you don’t appear to have a streaming set-up (or did not mention it) and I can’t see how you were spinning discs before.

Sound quality and audio performance is usually a relative thing. As you indicate, for DSD output the SACD license requires the digital feed to go to a paired machine, so the PST/DSD DAC is effectively one source component. Any relative sonic comparison would have to be with another SACD player, like the Marantz SA-12. Whether any reviewers do this remains to be seen. Darko might.

As I suggested, it’s really the comparison with 16/44 streams that I asked about and I suppose the comparison many will soon be interested in is this transport against the forthcoming Octave streamer.

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I agree with your statement. The PST is a further development of the way the DMP output the data stream to a DAC. As one who thoroughly enjoys the sound I get from my DSD and DMP I don’t want people to get the impression that the DMP is any slouch.

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Actually, I think if not due to OPPO decided to kill the transport mechanism, DMP might still be available today and PST will not exist. If I remember correctly, somewhere Paul mentioned the price of PST is up, partially due to the transport mechanism inside PST is same as that in Marantz SA-10.

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I have a simple YAMAHA WXC-50 to go with it. I use Yamaha’s multicast to drive the network music in my house to this Streamer and to my other Yamaha receiver (as background music player in my living room). Music files are served via NAS (Synology D718+).

For PST music playback comparison, I evaluated these 3 setups.

  1. PST to DSDAC on hdmi/I2S
  2. Sony DVD player optical to DSDAC
  3. Streaming - WXC-50 coax to DSDAC

Play same tracks. At the end, PST win. I notice that, the Dynamic is much better. Well, cannot rule out the psychological effect that PST is $6k vs Sony DVD player ~$100 / Yamaha WXC ~$350.
Today, I streaming less, but burn music files to audio cd and play on PST. Of course, maybe a $K level of streamer (Octave streamer?) might give much better streaming performance, but this is not in my budget and not my upgrade priority.

For SACD play back, indeed, PST needs to pair with PSA DAC, either DSDAC or SGCD will work. (Yes, I have briefly verified that PST work ok with SGCD. But wonder why SGCD user will pay $6k for PST, just to play SACD via SGCD.) So, for SACD, PST/DSDAC goes together, which add the total price to over $10k. With this price range, there are extremely nice SACD players avail. In fact, I might get Marantz SA-10 ($7k) instead, if there is no PST. Since I need a CD player, with PST, for me, it is no-brainer to have it pairing with my DSDAC.

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My favourite CD-player was a Marantz, which I bought 30 years ago, and seem to have retained much of the market for disc spinners as the market for them decline.

As has been explained elsewhere, my understanding that since Oppo stopped making SACD drives the only OEM units available are the Marantz drive and the TEAC Esoteric VRDS. The Marantz SACDM-3 drive is the same one in SA-10 and SA-12, a new version in 2017, apparently they charge a huge price for it, and the Esoteric is crazy expensive. The new Marantz Series 30 SACD player uses a modified lightweight version called SACDM3L so that it will fit in the smaller case. These really should not fail and Marantz’s dedication to this transport should provide PST owners with a considerable amount of comfort that it will be supported for quite a few years.

The WXC-50 is not really a fair comparison. It is a $350 streamer and there are a lot better streamers for $350. One report I looked at said it was very noisy and perhaps only for casual listening.

PS Audio is not alone in bringing out a high quality CD spinner. There still seems to be a market for them.

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I have to confess that I have not yet been persuaded that streaming can be good for serious listening in classical music that I like. I have a strong impression that anything to do with network is noisy. My consideration on network streaming is based on the need of full house background music network. It turns out Yamaha multicast fit my need that it allows Yamaha gears to link together.
I believe Beta testers for Octave server should be able to perform some serious comparison you are looking for.
Back to PST, I have ARCAM Alfa 7SE, for a long time, love it, sound very nice. Then I got DSDAC, even with Sony DVD as transport, it sound even better. With PST it is another lift. For me, PST/DSDAC is a perfect match.

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I should hope a $6,000 modern upsampling DSD DAC sounds better than a CD player with a 24/96 DAC chip that was a budget device 20 years ago and can now be purchased for $100.

I’ve not had a dedicated CD player since 2009 as I found streaming better than CD even then, and it is a lot better now. For $6,000 you can get a pretty serious streaming system with no network noise issues, in fact for a lot less. That is why I asked how the PST compared to a streamer using 16/44 of similar price.

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This is my beta tester impression on the build and functionality. These are my own opinion.

If you have not yet see Paul’s video on PST in the PST product page, here is the link PerfectWave SACD Transport | PS Audio

  1. On the transport mechanism:
    In the middle of the video, Paul shows the transport mechanism, here is the screen capture.

    image
    image636×751 102 KB

    Compare to the Marantz drive below, you can see the similarity.
    image
    image1219×1064 132 KB

    No doubt, this is a “better” drive than previous OPPO and Samsung.
    PST provides a very simple and easy way to manually open the drawer, just in case the drawer is stuck.

  2. On the SACD/CD playback.
    PST handles it very smooth. This is the primary function of PST, and I give two thumbs up!

  3. On the Music files playback via USB or data disk
    Current Firmware, PST does not support folder structure. So, all music files need to be put on the top level. Also, depends on the number of files in the USB key/data disk, PST might take time to process them, before it can be played.
    So, for those who mainly plays music files, PST’s music files play back via USB/data disk will not meet your need. The upcoming “streaming transport” octave player Octave Music Player | PS Audio will be a better choice.

  4. On the output connections.
    Although PST provides 3 different type of connections - hdmi I2S (1), coax (3), XLR(2) with double rate support on coax / XLR, the recommended/preferred connection is via hdmi I2S. This implies PST and DSDAC live together! Also, only with hdmi I2S connection, PST can play DSD layer of SACD. PST default to CD layer play back on SACD disk, when it is not connected by hdmi I2S.

  5. On Firmware update.
    PST provides two methods for FW update - by automatic over the air (OTA) internet update or by manual update via USB. During the beta testing, two manual updates were done. Both manual updates ran smoothly. I don’t see a good reason to put my PST to network just to wait for the OTA firmware update. I suspect the OTA feature is inherent from DMP, since DMP needs network for album info, but with the change on the minimal LCD display on PST, the only application with network seems to be the OTA FW update.

Overall, the build quality is good, and PST serves as good SACD/CD transport to DSDAC as it has been designed to do so.

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Thanks for the reviews and input on the PST!
This maybe a little off topic but It seems some of you may have direct knowledge to share about my question. Here it is.
I have the DMP and DS DAC and have had previous PSA transports and DACs. And of course I have used the I2S from the beginning. Because the I2S is the designed and preferred way to interface the two.
My question is: if someone has another company’s DAC is there no good way to connect? In other words, are all connections (other than I2S) coming out of the PSA DACs less than ideal? And I know the DSD layer only works within a company’s own equipment per licensing. But I’m talking PSA transport to a non PSA DAC.
Thoughts/experience?

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If coax/XLR is the only way, then

  1. SACD won’t play DSD layer.
  2. DSD file playback problem. Although PST supports DOP (DSD over PCM) via coax/XLR, the DAC needs to support DOP too. For example, with coax connection only to my DSDAC, play DSD64 file on PST, DSDAC plays ok (with “DOP” on Display). On the other hand, same file will not play on my SGCD, since SGCD’s dac does not support DOP.
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i am not experienced in describing what i hear in music. so i will keep it simple n try not to ramble. TRY.

My system.

PS Audio BHK 250. P15. Directstream DAC. PerfectWave SACD Transport. Prima Luna dialogue premium pre-amp. Kimber Kable KS1021 interconnect. Audioquest Vodka HDMI. Acoustic Zen Crescendo Mark II speakers. Kimber Kable monocle XL speaker cable. Solidsteel audio rack. GIK acoustics base traps and broadband panels. PS audio and Acoustic Zen power cables. 11.5Wx8.5Hx16.0L foot listening space. with open back wall and partial open mid side walls. i do not stream currently.

Previous recent digital playback included Prima Luna CD player and
Benchmark Dac 1, Nuprime cdt-8 transport with DS DAC.

i had no idea it was possible to approach the natural, musical sound of good analogue with a CD or SACD. Perhaps exceed it in some ways. in particular, i had no idea a transport could deliver dramatically superior sound quality coupled with the DS DAC, compared to components i had been listening too. incredibly low noise levels and black background. i have listened to my cd collection with enjoyment that it is hard to describe with the PerfectWave SACD Transport. my interest extends to all genres, but is largely classical. anything beethoven. piano, violin and cello sonatas and concertos! but enjoy something of everything!

the unique resonance of a particular players string instrument. the distinctness of a pianists tonal colors. and my goodness. the differentiation of the colors of various wind instruments. the power of a bass violin section. ALL present in a way for the first time to my ear in my system. hearing clearly the various choral sections of Verdi’s Requiem on CD. Every soloist distinct, placed in space in a well defined sound stage. deep and layered. soundstage. clarity. definition. accuracy. never “edgy”. just more and easier music.

the lack of any audio fatigue is apparent. speakers just seem to breath now. as loud as i could stand it really. higher volumes than i have listened to and enjoyed in my space.

this was my first experience with SACD. The gap between the CD and SACD was smaller than i had anticipated. CDs were clearly elevated to a sound quality level i did not think possible. some of the remastered SACDs were too bright and hard to listen to in my system and space.

also listened to dozens of different rock, pop, old and new, cds. The PerfectWave Transport brought them to life! of course a bad recording is a bad recording. and that too was evident with the PerfectWave, as one would expect. i have purchased some 80 plus cds since having this transport in my system. likely many more to come now.

i found user interface with the remote to be easy and intuitive. front panel as well after some familiarity.

my first time participating as a Beta Tester. enjoyed the experience. learned a lot.

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Thanks!
I was just thinking outside the box, having no experience for many years other than PSA transport to PSA DAC. I was just thinking if someone wanted to buy the PST for its Great SQ but already had another company’s DAC, are they sacrificing the SQ of the PST into their DAC if they can’t use the I2S connection?
I get that PSA to PSA has a certain synergy and no doubt incredible SQ, but someone (like I did years ago) might want to work their way into eventually owning both a Transport and DAC from PSA.

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During my beta testing, I swapped between hdmi / coax to DSDAC, I did not notice any sonic difference. It seems that “trick” to make it sound good already done before the output phase, so all output get the same “good” signal.

On the flip side, in the first place, I thought transport just a spin disk device to get the digital bits to DAC, no way it can make any sonic difference. I am wrong. Totally has no idea how PST can contribute to better sonic performance vs the cheap Sony DVD as transport, but it just did. (Good chance, this is the psychological effect that PSTis $6k spindle vs Sony dvd is $100 spindle, so PST must be good. But this does not matter, since I really hear PST sound much better, even if psychological effect, I take it and enjoy it.)

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Not only playing cd’s and SACD sounds better from a superior transport. I have the DMP and playing files in it is in another ballpark compare to Mac Mini and other servers as well. I can assure you it is not your imagination.

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I’m sure the new drive is a contributor to improvement but I bet the “galvanic isolation” is as big or bigger a contributor. Maybe later this year I can swing a trade in. We’ll see. Hopefully I won’t have too many more home repairs from here on in. They were killing me in November and December! Took my mad money away for months to come.

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What transport did You use before? Was the SONY DVD the only challenge?

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Both the drive and galvanic isolation come from Marantz.

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i used four different transports recently… an audio note cdt2. also used the Prima luna cd player as a transport. not very good really. had a Nuprime CDT8 in my system as well for a bit. also not very satisfying. also used an old denon 2910 DVD player! wasnt horrible. the audio note cdt2 sounded quite good with the DSDAC.

i frankly did not fully appreciate the significance of a high end transport. but with PST in place i certainly do now.

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So… are ALL the beta testers using the transport through the DSD DAC? (And i2S connection.)

I know the product detail page says “any DAC” but I’m just curious whether having a DSD is a prerequisite for fully appreciating the PWT.

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correction to my post. i had the audio note CDT One/II, not the audio note CDT Two/II in my system. considerable difference.

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