Paul didn’t appear as contrite today. But thanks for deciphering for me out of the reply from Paul what he really meant. Special skill you have there SSW … I still intend to stay with PSA because I like the brand and the company but I will never back down when I am in the right … I would expect Paul to take action but then again he shouldn’t berate me for something that isn’t my fault ?
I’m in the opposite camp. My starting point with anything is it should work as expected. Then I assess the sound quality.
This was supposed to be a thread about the 2.08 DMP interim release. Why not open a new thread about the problems you have had and post there? My preference would be to read posts about 2.08 in a thread about 2.08. Perhaps I am the only one that feels that way.
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WHY… My first post was on the 2.08 and I only replied to a post regarding quality control which started this train wreck…
Fair point. It’s called thread creep. I don’t think there is any need to continue with further discussion about QA issues with our PS gear, either here or elsewhere. The company has taken stock of the comments and are addressing the issue internally to prevent further similar occurrences.
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Our entire lives are focused around two things: customers and products. It’s something we take very seriously. The hair on the back of my neck bristled this morning at the suggestion we didn’t pay attention or take any corrective action. That seemed to me to be an unfair characterization and one I wanted to set the record straight on.
Of course we don’t want mistakes to be made and neither do you. I feel horrible for what you went through as a loyal customer or even as a prospective customer and I apologize on behalf of the company.
But, please do not expect perfect. We are not perfect. We make mistakes every day. We take immediate steps to fix those mistakes but then others pop up. Trying to build perfect products is a zero sum end game. What one realizes over the years is that in any complex product or service perfection is impossible. As the complexity rises so too the defects. What is a realistic goal is to try and build products whose mistakes are below the threshold of perception of affectation to the end user. When defect are discovered either in process or design they are immediately addressed. Sometimes they happen again. It’s rare, but we do have different people working on different parts of the products. We hope our exhaustive testing and burn in process picks up any problems and for the most part it does. But it too is not perfect.
What’s truly maddening for us as well as you is when the mistake is so freaking obvious you wonder how anyone could have missed it. Like an upside down panel or the wrong product in the wrong box. But the answer, like it or not, is easy. Forest through the trees. I can’t tell you the number of times someone’s asked me to take a close look at a defect on a front panel. Often it’s so small I have to put the magnifying hood on. Then I peer closely and maybe see a little mess up on the silk screen and decide it’s acceptable or not. All the while missing the fact the wrong words are written there. It’s because I was laser focused on one thing and missed the boulder coming down the hill.
We are not perfect and we never will be.
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I hear you about Murphy’s Law in bunches. Where I have been served very well by PS Audio and able to get through any challenge usually of my own design. However I once had three 10 hp VFD drive come into my hands DOA for the same remote job in sequence over a three month period. FE products and never would have thought it possible. Go figure.
Getting back to the original topic, the 2.08 upgrade, I am very, very happy with the improved sound now. After 8-10 hours of burn-in, the Sound Quality is amazingly good. Not subtle at all. Everything got better - I’m guessing it is because the “noise floor” is lower. Didn’t have any issues with the DMP before the new upgrade, so I can only address the SQ. I urge others to not hesitate to try 2.08. Give it a few hours and then simply enjoy the music!
Thanks PS Audio.
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Interesting that you felt that the code needed burn in. Electronics I get but code? Don’t get that. Did you hear a quantitive difference with a few hours of burn in?
Yes, jaiello, I did. I heard less distortion. I’m guessing that different (new?) pathways are being used with the new upgrade. Same thing has happened with other code upgrades in the past. Try this: When upgrade is first installed, play a track you know well (something demanding would be good) and let the CD play on “repeat play” for many hours. You can mute the stereo while you do this. Then 8 to 10 hours later listen to the same track or album. Do you hear the improved sound? Keep the volume the same as before, of course, so the A/B is valid.
Enjoy!
I experienced an improvement also after about 10 hours. My impressions were that a somewhat excessive brightness in high Baroque trumpets settled down to a more natural timbre in the same recording.
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I’m curious. What would you like Paul to do? Apologize daily until you cool down? I thought his response was reasonable.
Everyone, myself included, has a had some type of product issue with things we purchase. It’s not a perfect world. Repeated blog complaints wont fix your problem. In the long run, as long as the company steps up and makes it right, that’s what make me stay a customer.
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My guess is that the code itself does not burn-in or settle, but something physical does. For example, the DS transformer needs a bit of time to settle after the firmware is upgraded. This only takes five to ten minutes, but a bit of time matters.
That’s my guess too. Maybe it was my imagination, but 2.08 just seemed to get better and better with my SACDs.
My installation of 2.08 went smoothly when I installed it on Saturday.
As for the sound, it appears to be more dynamic with with the best timbtal portrayal of acoustic instruments and voice that I’ve yet heard on my system. I’m not quite sure if it’s my imagination or a true improvement with 2.08 on the DMP coupled with RedCloud on the DS, but whatever, kudos to Mat, Ted, Paul, and all those at PS Audio for making such a musical digital system. I’ll be anxious to hear if the final version has an effect on the sound as 2.08 appears to have; at least to my ears listening to my system.
Paul - “Without imperfection, you or I would not exist.” - Stephen Hawking (RIP)
Quite a while ago on the forum Ted Smith was discussing the innards of FPGA and, if I recall correctly, the concept of different compiles and firmware and code routing through different semiconductor gates, and the rest of it, that firmware break-in is a distinct possibility. And the sound could be different with the same end-point firmware depending on the upgrade path taken to get to that firmware. All very mysterious. Lucky we have some very clever people here to explain it.
Now that is a fact. And because I am so imperfect, I must exist more than most!
I reckon you do - having the guts and drive to not play it safe all the time has led to a lot of great stuff!
Thanks, Mark. Yeah, safe has never interested me too much. Boring.