DMP 3.07 firmware released

Indeed and that’s accurate. Basic functionality is something everyone should expect will work without glitches. The one thing we never miss on is sound quality. I would still suggest the DMP is the single best sounding transport in the world and that is getting more so as we develop new firmware. That said, we have to get the basics right 100% of the time. No argument. The next release will fix those basic functions for good.

1 Like

Ok… Well put. I take on-board and I agree with many of the things you say. I am not some malcontent with my head buried in the sand. I have said that the DMP has improved and that it is operating better than previously. My point being that my pals DMP displays different quirks to my DMP running the same firmware ? That said, you have your viewpoint and I have mine.

Cheers.

1 Like

I appreciate hearing that and look forward to reading here that the firmware works without issue so I can download it and move on…no more stories about this or that not working or having to perform all sorts of random actions to get basic functions to work as expected…i also do believe that when you ultimately do replace the DMP with a new updated and hopefully flawlessly functioning model that all those who have suffered through all of this frustration will be allowed to make a straight up trade in of this unit for the new one but that is for future discussion

4 Likes

Paul,

Will the next transport play data discs? They have become such a large part of what I listen to when I eventually trade up I’d like to maintain that functionality.

Thanks.

1 Like

I will chime in which I never do. I agree with Badbeef above it is a problem and they are working on it even when they moved to another location. I will say that the DMP and my DS JR is the best digital I have ever head in my system so much so that I have been upgrading my analog front end, turntable, phono stage for a year and a half trying to convince my self I can get as good a sound as with my digital front end. That is why I did not know there was even a software update until yesterday when I was looking at the tube rolling posts for the BHK I came across this thread lol.

2 Likes

“Paul mentioned somewhere above (I think) that there is a new model coming, and that we will be treated right if we should decide to trade up.”

I think the operative word here should be trade back imho. :tired_face:

3 Likes

I have enjoyed five PS Audio products over the years, a P10, PWT, P15, DMP and DSD (currently enjoying the last three) and have had little reason to contact the company for help, but the few times I have, I can’t say enough about the great attitudes I’ve experienced with all the PS Audio employees I’ve engaged, and how responsive the company has been, when I’ve called upon them for help.

I applied v3.07 and enjoyed a number of SACDs last night and I noticed an improvement in the depth of the sound stage and left-right placement of the performers, immediately. It also seemed to get more detail off the source, timbre of the instruments seemed better. With this new release I saw the track names for these disks, which did not display with the prior releases. As well, in the past, playing SACDs only, I’d get a very occasional “skip”, a blip of silence, but so far haven’t had that problem with v3.07.

Paul, give everyone who contributed to this success a big “high five” from me!

4 Likes

Snap, crackle, pop!

I am a little late to the party here with 3.07. But let me second the observations of continuing ticks, snaps, or pops (take you pick of the descriptors) with SACD playback, characterized much as Dirk and others do . The phenomenon is not new with this firmware version, either. I just checked again wih 3.06, too. And I recall mentioning it here back in the early days.

3 Likes

Personally, I am thankful that PS Audio did not follow this line of thinking and decided to never conceive the DMP. And I have to believe that the vast majority here are thankful as well, otherwise the PS Audio Marketplace and Audiogon would be full of used DMP’s for sale.

Unless one owns or has owned a business with complex operations, it is difficult to fully understand and appreciate the level of scrutiny required with every significant financial decision. Profit & Loss statements and Balance Sheets are measurements of a company’s health and a tool for strategic planning. Financial constraints have EVERYTHING to do with the level of resources a company can allocate to whatever - in this case software design. Sure, PS Audio can add and dedicate three additional software programmers/engineers to this very issue. Of course that does not come without a cost. Even if they could find three competent and qualified individuals right now, those three staff members would likely add $500,000 annually (after workers compensation insurance, health benefits, and employment taxes) to the labor cost line item on their P&L. If there is not enough wiggle room in their NET profit to absorb this added cost, it MUST be passed on to the consumer in the form of product cost increases.

So the real question is, how many of us would have been willing to pay $8,000 or even $10,000 for a quirk-less DMP out of the gate? Some who could afford would say “yes,” but I imagine there are plenty that would not or could not pay such an increase and that is too bad because it is a World Class sounding piece of gear. Unless you believe PS Audio is price gouging us at $6000, you cannot honestly expect them to allocate any and all resources necessary to solve the functionality problems with lightning speed without consideration of the financial impact this would have on the company. Maybe they have infinite amounts of cash in reserve and are laughing all the way to the bank. I don’t know this and nobody else does either. In all fairness and refraining from assumption, financial considerations/constraints are real and often impact daily corporate decisions.

I am so pleased with the DMP’s sound quality and for me it functions well enough. I listen to it nearly every day and it sounds magical. Honestly, it is the best transport I have personally owned and for its asking price, I think we can all be thankful that PS Audio didn’t shy away from building and releasing this product when they did. And I am also thankful for the honest and open effort PS Audio is making toward resolving the problem. It shows compassion and integrity - something not a given or even commonplace regardless of the industry.

So, no… this is not a “failure” of their product. I applaud PS Audio for owning the issue and working as hard as they can - considering what we know and don’t know about their internal workings - to get this problem resolved as quickly as they can.

I think it important to broadcast from time to time, a “glass half full” perspective to balance some of the opposite that tends to dominate these types of threads.

5 Likes

I couldn’t agree more! (in reply to JeffofArabica–can’t seem to get ‘reply to’ to work)

I read your weighty tome. But my DMP and my pals DMP still have different frailties of operating system ! Not going to talk business other than to say I sold my business and retied before 50 and now live like a king .

2 Likes

Congratulations! That makes two of us. Although after a few years I got bored and started a new venture. Just couldn’t stay away, but I still have plenty of time these days to travel and immerse myself in too many hobbies - audio being one of them.

IH

Mine plays them Flawlessly on both 3.06 and 3.07.
I can’t explain why some would and others not.
I do burn mine with Toast Platinum and can burn as an audio CD, DVD ROM or a data disc on either type and all work perfectly on my DMP.

1 Like

These will be very different. Do keep in mind that DMP is a very special player, one that plays SACD directly and that it will be the last to ever do so. We built this piece because of our love for music and high resolution audio. We wanted our customers have a way to enjoy what’s truly on an SACD and, for the first time, hear what’s really on a CD. DMP’s sound is so damned good that I rarely ever worry about whether I am playing high resolution discs or even SACD, though SACDs do have a slight edge to CDs.

When we launch a new transport sometime in late 2019 it will not be able to play SACD. It will still have remarkable and unbeatable CD and datadiscg performance, but not what DMP has. It will also not be multi-channel for the few that find that useful.

DMP is one of a kind and I am glad and proud of this product. That it has some operational issues is certainly true. And those have been and will continue to be addressed and fixed. We will make it possible to upgrade to the new transport when it’s available and will be extremely generous in our trade up policies to the best of our abilities. But the new one will not be a DMP, so depending on how important DMP’s capabilities are to you this may or may not be one you want to trade one for the other.

Just FYI.

5 Likes

Hybrid SACD Reference Recordings FR715 Mahler symphony no.1 “Titan” is recognized as CD and played in 16/44.1. Does someone know why ?

Are you sure that it is playing as 16 bit 44.1khz. Usually when my DMP hiccups trying to play an SACD it downsamples the DSD layer to 24 bit 88.2khz. Double check that. You can also go into settings and change the default to Redbook and back again to see if that fixes the issue for you.

Playing with 3.07 today and noticed a few more issues. When playing a CD I pressed stop on the remote and than eject. the DMP locked up. It did this a number of times and the only way to get control back was to reboot. I noticed too that playing SACD every time I select a track I hear a tick before the music starts. I wonder if the people who say they are not having any issues are listening close enough to pick them up.

Interesting, was just advised that there is a bug in 3.07 and we should not use it. I am going back to 3.06 until 3.08 comes out. Hopefully things will be much better than.

1 Like

Doesn’t surprise me.

More details please about the bug in 3.07 and that we should not use it.