That was a nice cure, and I had thought of doing that, perhaps using the second HDMI output on the DSD as well in turn, but I got help from Kevin first and now my ID is set up and it all works. Nice idea and execution NordicBob, glad you’re getting the DSD stream.
Man, the DMP is great, you’re in for a treat. I think it keeps getting better and better sounding!
lonson said That was a nice cure, and I had thought of doing that, perhaps using the second HDMI output on the DSD as well in turn, but I got help from Kevin first and now my ID is set up and it all works. Nice idea and execution NordicBob, glad you're getting the DSD stream.Man, the DMP is great, you’re in for a treat. I think it keeps getting better and better sounding!
Yes indeed, the DMP really sounds great even with only a few hours on it once that it warmed up yesterday.
I hope the team is still working on the Firmware issue of the screen control. I have 1.94 loaded and still am finding a few issues.
I’m still bugged by the first version of the manual. It’s just too lean by half.I’ve had the track pattern mode change with input from the two turn arrows button on the very bottom left of the remote – the repeat button. It didn’t make the track repeat. Well, that’s what it’s probably supposed to do but I can’t remember reading that in the manual.
Having said this I’m finding, like others, my redbook CD’s have taken on a new life. I heard a large improvement in sound quality at the start (but not as much as I expected) but with the unit cooking for a few weeks it seems to have continued to improve and oh my, how I’m revisiting my collection. The improved resonance and timbre of voice and instruments, the improved clarity of tracks, which I never thought as muddy, the spacial imaging which was already great in my system, has clicked up a notch. Thank you, thank you Bob Stadtherr
david bevin said I hope the team is still working on the Firmware issue of the screen control. I have 1.94 loaded and still am finding a few issues.David, I was one of the beta testers with a lot of the touchscreen issues you reference. On Friday I shipped my unit back to headquarters for Dennis to get an actual hands-on and try to figure it out from there...
- The time scale in a track does not always move and the time played can stay at 00.00 though the track is being played.
- The touch screen is just not as sensitive as the PWT and more jerky (why is that? – enquiring minds want to know) so the old comments about multiple touches (say 6 to advance to the 7th track and finding yourself at track 4 or 5) have improved but not dissappeared.
Rob,
I’m glad that you sent your unit in for therapy. I’m very curious to learn whether its touchscreen suffers some intrinsic malady.
I have no background working in engineering or software, but I have worked in a tall building whose elevator hosted daily seminars in the interaction of human behavior with push buttons and operational latency. (Is the Door Open Button really attached, or just a placebo? If you pulse the Door Close button frantically as your annoying colleague approaches the vestibule, do you increase your chances of escape?) That experience leads me to speculate as to whether some of the odd behaviors of touch screen navigation arise from the concurrence of a) high, modern expectations of immediate response to button pushing, b) longer than expected latency in the resulting effects, and c) limitations in the buffer capacity for translating button presses into results.
Moreover, I wonder if the DMP, consequent to the specifics of how it functions as a memory player, has greater latency than its predecessor, uncompensated by greater operational buffer capacity. Perhaps there is a greater temporal disconnect among button pushing, what one hears, what the display shows, what the disc drive is doing, and what process the shallow-buffered machine imagines itself to be undertaking. Perhaps, in exchange for greater acoustic rewards, the DMP demands glacial, transcendent patience on the part of its operator. Maybe, like my computer, it needs a little more RAM to function in the modern environment.
Nobo, I don’t think there’s any question. The quality/performance of the function is not anywhere near that of the sound.
Nobo, your speculative reasoning is the same as mine has been. One thing I do know, though, is that my DMP was still missing taps to the screen even after dramatically slowing-down their frequency. And the standard that I was holding its touchscreen to was completely informed by about 7 years with that of its predecessor, the PWT, which never showed any latency and seldom if ever missed inputs via its screen.
badbeef said Nobo, I don't think there's any question. The quality/performance of the function is not anywhere near that of the sound.
mark-d saidPaul McGowan said Backlog is big. We'll likely have a few small tweaks to the firmware over time. Nothing soon.So Paul,are you saying the DMP is ready for prime time although there are still reports of some functional issues?
Bear in mind that, for best performance, this is a two piece item, transport and DAC. And I don’t say that to accentuate the price issue - more that what you are buying into is one of the best DACs currently available (Jr. or Sr.), with a transport that allows you to connect to it via I2S and play SACD natively. The benefits to PCM formats flow from that as well. It’s rough on the bleeding edge 
Nobo,I could not agree with you more. I will hold on to my highly musical and functional PWT until PSA works out all of the bugs within the DMP’s shortcomings. Time is on my side…
Mark - I think the Stones said that a while back ; )
I too am putting off my purchase of the DMP and DS DAC until all is debugged–assuming that happens. I hope it will. I’m too anemic for a persistently rough bleeding edge, and I’d rather not squander my substance on pricier wares. But , it will probably be the msb transport and dac, which are sorta the wealthier cousins of the PSA products; or the spectral audio one-box CD player, their rich aunt. You can’t always get what you want.
…but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.
Which, in my case, is what happened. I have loved the sound of DSD ever since it came out. Having my CD collection take a crazy leap was a bonus.
badbeef said Mark - I think the Stones said that a while back ; )Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is. Time, time, time is on my side, yes it is. Time, time, time is on my side.
Nobo saidbadbeef said Nobo, I don't think there's any question. The quality/performance of the function is not anywhere near that of the sound.mark-d saidPaul McGowan said Backlog is big. We'll likely have a few small tweaks to the firmware over time. Nothing soon.So Paul,are you saying the DMP is ready for prime time although there are still reports of some functional issues?
I’m beginning to feel kinda jerky for beating the same drum, but I’m experiencing major cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, an obviously musically extraordinary piece of groundbreaking equipment brought to market by a company of the greatest integrity, and an ethic of remarkable involvement of its consumer patrons; and on the other, a seeming reluctance or inability to consummate the promise of the product by refining its functional characteristics. And at $6000. Do I live in an alternative reality? Who spends that kind of money for any electronic device that seems to guarantee a lifetime of love and hate? I’m pulling my hair out. One could spend a little more and get an msb transport, which presumably will work flawlessly and probably at least as well. But what a shame not to patronize a more appealing company such as PSA.
Are there a few remaining quirks when it comes to data discs and USB sticks? Certainly. Is the display perfect? No, but it’s awfully close.
I don’t think you live in an alternate reality, I just think you’ve been too immersed in all the negatives that it’s made you skittish. And I cannot blame you. But I do think you’re cheating yourself by not being able to put what you’ve read aside and have a go at it.
I am willing to bet you’ll fall in love with DMP as I and others who have had the privilege of using it have. Why not wait a bit and see how it shakes out - or better still, take us up on our offer to let you take a set home - or perhaps just the DMP - and play with it for a month? We cover all expenses involved and there’s absolutely zero risk - other than that of falling in love.
I have played with DMP in its final version for days on end now and simply cannot make it hiccup or do anything unwelcome. Nothing! I am guessing most who receive it will have exactly the same experience.
Let me just quote from a reviewer posted a few minutes ago on the reviewer thread. This from a new user that just received his, hooked it up and enjoyed what to be enjoyed and without over thinking or worrying about functionality.
So where to begin. I got my new player this past Friday and let it play on repeat for the last 36 hours. my reaction is this: WHOLLY GUACAMOLE.
This unit is a serious and wonderful upgrade from the already amazing PWT. I would say that the difference is almost as great as when i switched from the Marantz Black Pearl player (a fantastic stand alone unit i might add) to the PWT. One of my favorite demo cds is So by Peter Gabriel. it is both well recorded and yet very frustrating because of an overly bright/sizzly top end. the PWT does a great job with it, but the DMP allows more power and oomp to come through. plus the top end, while still bright, is a lot less sizzly and a lot less congested. I think the strength of the DMP is its incredible ability to resolve inner detail without adding brightness. So the music is both more detailed, more powerful, and less congested. I think that Paul and his great team have a masterpiece on their hands. I have said this before with regard to other gear, but i cannot imagine how this beast can be improved on. But knowing Paul, and his team, it will be for sure. THANKS GUYS.
That's what I am talking about.
Paul,
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Imagine that you are now being hugged by a grateful new customer.
You are an awesome, righteous dude!
Suddenly I have the urge to read the Carbon Wars, and to invite Brooke to dinner.
I think the nature of the beta test procedure is that one runs it through paces and frets over the details. If you are the sort of person who cannot imagine that a device does not do everything you ask of it (realistic expectations or no) you may have issues. If you simply put stuff in and play it, you won’t have issues.
As one of the later beta receivers I missed the earliest problems but read the earlier blogs. The unit has amazed most of us with the improvement and quality of sound but has disappointed many with the functional control of the DMP. I emailed Paul on the functions of the unit independent of the problems and think that at the $6k mark this unit should perform better. I don’t mean flawlessly, which should be a given at this cost, but in its options. At the price of the PWT I can take a few peculiarities but at $6k, though I will be keeping this wonderfully sounding unit, I would expect more user considerations. I quietly hope that this will be the last PS Audio unit to use this touch screen. Though I agree with Badbeef; if, like me, you start a disc at the beginning and wait until it stops, this will be a very pleasing, albeit getting expensive, transport.
I returned my DMP a few weeks ago because I felt that is was far too unreliable from a functional perspective, and I strongly believe that such a high degree of functional unreliability should not exist in a product that costs $6,000.
I thought that I was the only beta tester that harbored that opinion, but I recently noted that at least two other forum members have expressed the same opinion.
Note that Nobo stated-: “I’m beginning to feel kinda jerky for beating the same drum, but I’m experiencing major cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, an obviously musically extraordinary piece of groundbreaking equipment brought to market by a company of the greatest integrity, and an ethic of remarkable involvement of its consumer patrons; and on the other, a seeming reluctance or inability to consummate the promise of the product by refining its functional characteristics. And at $6000. Do I live in an alternative reality? Who spends that kind of money for any electronic device that seems to guarantee a lifetime of love and hate? I’m pulling my hair out. One could spend a little more and get an msb transport, which presumably will work flawlessly and probably at least as well. But what a shame not to patronize a more appealing company such as PSA.” Note that Nobo’s bold-highlighted statements closely echo my personal opinion.
Then Mark-D stated-: “Nobo,I could not agree with you more. I will hold on to my highly musical and functional PWT until PSA works out all of the bugs within the DMP’s shortcomings. Time is on my side…” I can readily understand why Mark-D is reluctant to purchase a functionally unreliable DMP at the present time. I personally think that PS Audio is not taking this problem of “functional unreliability” seriously enough, and I have noted that Paul happily posts emotional emojis reflecting glee when DMP owners praise the “sound quality” of the DMP, but I have also noted that he doesn’t ever seriously address any complaints regarding the DMP’s major problem of “functional unreliability”. That’s a great pity because PS Audio is losing potential customers (like me) who would love to own a CD-transport device that can produce better sound quality than a PWT if that transport device could also be functionally fast and functionally reliable. The DMP cannot (even after firmware 1.94) be deemed to be functionally fast and functionally reliable, and I wonder if it will ever achieve those two necessary requirements.
Jeff.