Communication of firmware updates

Audio Components
1

It seems like there’s not really a great way for PS Audio equipment owners to discover whether firmware updates are available, and if so what those updates are intended to do. Mostly, it seems you just keep manually checking the Downloads area of the psaudio.com website, or you happen to be following a topic relevant to your equipment when Paul or other PS Audio employee posts that new firmware is available or imminent.

I have a few ideas about what would make it easier to know when updates are available, and I’m sure there are others I haven’t considered.

  1. Create a new forum category, Firmware Updates, to which PS Audio folks would post a descriptive topic when new firmware was available, e.g., Stellar DAC 2.3.1, PMG 512 DAC 2.5.4, PMG 512 DAC Streamer 2.1.1f3db7, and so forth. Importantly(!), include RELEASE NOTES in the body of the post so owners know what to expect.
  2. Allow owners to opt-in to receive email when updated firmware is available.
  3. In units with a display and internet connectivity, periodically (daily?) check for firmware updates and show a small icon when one is available. Currently I guess this is a set of one, the PMG 512 DAC, but it applies nonetheless. My AVR does this, and my television tells me about updates when I turn it on, and it’s really very helpful. Before I apply any update, I also go to the relevant support site to read the release notes to decide whether to pull the trigger.

I realize that (2) and (3) would require some amount of additional work from PS Audio’s side, but (1) seems like it could happen fairly quickly.

Just my two cents.

— Chris

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2

Thanks Chris!

“Communication of Firmware Updates” with Chris’s option #1 would be a great first step and seemingly easiest for PS Audio.

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Option #1 please! This needs to happen!

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Totally agree with making this more visible in a dedicated thread on the forum. However, just discovered, there are release notes in the downloadable firmware ZIP files for their respective products.

@Paul I had initial problems with the streamer when I updated my PMG 512, Saturday. After a frustrating several hours with the network connection I was finally able to get it to connect. (documented, here: PMG 512 DAC first impressions - #560 by jaycee )

Unfortunatly, dropped connection again, yesterday. I’d hoped to fall back to the previous firmware version and went looking for the file on the the “Download” section of the PSA website.

Armed with the release notes I clearly see my problems are likely related to areas that were ‘updated’ for this release. One bug…release notes state, “A factory reset will delete all saved Wi-Fi connections/ SSIDs on the streamer”. This did not happen when tried this morning. I wanted a fresh attempt at initializing the DAC. I was surprised when, after it rebooted, it connected to the network. So, I manually deleted it using the DAC config option, rebooted and then entered my network credentials. But, to the bigger problem, I’ve had nothing but grief with the streamer and my network, which wasn’t a problem in the previous firmware.

Apologies to @flenser55 for getting into the weeds in your “Communication of firmware updates” thread. I’m on a roll and typed more than intended.

Back on topic to the OP’s thread. Following, copied from the latest PMG 512 zip file, “PMG Signature 512 DAC Release Notes.pdf”:

“Version DAC: 2.5.4
Streamer: 2.1.98380d
Date 09/25/2025
File pmg_dac_v2.5.4.bin
Description
This load improves streamer initialization, fixes several UI issues, improves Wi-Fi provisioning, and gives better control of Menu volume settings (fixed volume, max volume).
New Features
•Streamer icon input lock will blink green during initialzation
◦When the streamer is initializing, the streamer lock icon will blink green after the streamer gets Internet connection and the streaming services are first initializing. During this period, the PMG DAC streamer may not appear on streaming apps such as Spotify, Roon, etc… The green icon lock will blink for about 30 to 60 seconds. At this point, the streaming services should appear. Note that some services come up faster than others, and when the PMG DAC Streamer appears in your streaming app it is ready to use, you don’t have to wait for the green input lock icon to stop blinking.
Fixes
•Fixed issue where fonts on the screen become corrupted
•Added interactive volume control for fixed volume and max volume
•Improved Wi-Fi provisioning and UI Dialog interaction
•Fixes for volume not behaving properly when changing inputs
•Menu timeout is turned off during streamer FW updates
•Fixes for trigger menus not working
•Some settings were not properly restored on power on
•Added pop-up to indicate a reboot after a factory reset
•A factory reset will delete all saved Wi-Fi connections/ SSIDs on the streamer
•Factory reset will wait until the streamer has completed factory reset before rebooting the unit
•Improved factory reset dialog”

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PMG 512 DAC first impressions
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Love that Idea. It could be a locked / Pinned thread at the top.

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Yeah, you’re right that we need to do something about release notes and so on rather than just a file. Let me noodle on it.

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