803x?
804d3ā¦yep!
I was not one of the beta testers, but thought Iād weigh in on this thread with my detailed impressions of this new & improved SACD spinner anyway since some folks on this thread seem to want more detail.
For those who are in the āā¦Just the facts, maāamā¦ā camp, here are my results (YMMV).
ā¢ The transport mechanism is a huge step up over the PWT and DMP. Solid, silky smooth in operation, silent, and inspiring confidence.
ā¢ If I had to characterize the PSTās presentation in one word, that word would be āimmersive.ā
ā¢ The overall character of the PSTās sound tips towards the āyin.ā A warmer, more analog-sounding, tube-like presentation. The sound is more relaxed, open, and ājuicyā for lack of a better term. By comparison, the DMP has more āpresence,ā and the soundstage is pushed forward and is more compressed front to rear.
ā¢ But the PSTās āyinā comes with increased detail and spatial separation that allows low-level waaay back in the soundstage detail to come through.
ā¢ For any given instrument the PST presents less pitch and more timbre.
ā¢ I would say the PST has more bass. At times I thought the DMP had a tighter bass but, in my room, it could be that the PST is doing a better job of exciting the room nodes. In any event, the PST provides a more palpable presentation of lower-register instruments.
ā¢ The PST has a noticeably wider sound stage, especially towards the rear. As opposed to a āUā or elliptical shape, I perceive more of a āsquareā shaped soundstage behind the speakers with the extreme right and left rear corners of the soundstage extended and more fleshed out.
ā¢ The instruments/voices within the soundstage have more separation front to rear. By comparison, the DMP compresses the front-to-rear spacing. Overall the PSTās soundstage is more āholographic.ā
ā¢ As the result of the last two points, the ambience retrieval on well-recorded live performances is the best Iāve heard.
ā¢ There is less digital glare with the PST on higher-pitched (guessing ~800 ā 3,000 Hz) brass instruments, upper-register electric guitar, some female vocals, etc.
ā¢ On loud passages with multiple instruments, there is less congestion within the soundstage. There is less collapse of the āairā between voices/instruments.
ā¢ For those who have succumbed to the Matrix and associated accoutrements for their streaming/rendering setup, the nature of the SQ improvements of the PST over the DMP will be familiar but perhaps less in magnitude.
ā¢ In my case, the Matrix et.al. moved my streaming/rendering SQ slightly ahead of the DMP. (EtherRegen > Aurender N100H > Cardas Hi-Speed USB > Matrix (powered by the Aurender) > RAL HDMI > DSD). The PST is clearly better than either of those sources.
ā¢ I saved the best for last. These differences in SQ between the two transports are significantly more pronounced with Redbook CDās than with SACDās. As a SWAG, I would say that the degree of improvement in SACD presentation is one-third to 40% that of Redbook CDās. This transport closes the SQ gap between Redbook and SACD to a significant extent.
Some hiccups to report. Like others, I experienced some initial difficulty in getting a āhandshakeā between the PST and DSD to support SACD playback using both RAL and WireWorld HDMI cables. I ultimately got both to work, but it requires a very precise and firm seating of the plug into the HDMI socket on the PST. And maybe wiggling it a bit.
Another is that when I tried a DVD +R disc that I burned, the PST was hit or miss in recognizing it. Mostly miss. When it did mount, it played without a hitch. The PS Audio software gurus are looking in to this, but I havenāt had any problems with Redbook, SACD, or CDās that I burned with J River.
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That reminds meāmy RAl hdmi cable presents the same issue
I used to have the first gen N804ās I loved those speakers! Nice system!
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I grew up a B&W fan from my dad having a pair, but there is good debate over which series is the best. The brightness has never been a complaint of mine, and certainly not with a 4-pack of RELs in the corners.
My Supra HDMI cable worked right away and is still in place. Iām not sure it will be the final solution, but Iām keeping my RAL between my Matrix and the DSD. Iām going to wait for others to chime in with their experiences before making a strong move.
Iām not sure if itās common, but has anybody experienced the PST being a titch on the quiet side? Akin perhaps to the DSD using Low Level Output (where volume can go to 106)? I am still adjusting and learning.
Not at all. Except when it should be, which should account for the increased dynamics. Itās much easier to listen to so maybe that explains the twist of the volume knob?
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Didnāt mention it earlier, but Iāve found that I can comfortably listen at somewhat higher SPLās without fatigue. I measured the dbās and at measured levels I āusedā to listen at, the PST did sound quieter - even though it wasnāt by measurement.
I would guess that perception might be due to less digital distortion and glare.
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Folks:
I got my PST last week and it totally crushes my DMP. The SQ is a huge improvement.
However, I am having problems in other areas:
The first thing that I noticed is the very tight tolerance for the tray. You can hear it rub as it opens or closes. This is especially concerning because I like to add a Herbie Audio vibration damper ring on the CD.
The next thing that I noticed was the slow response to the remote (new remote, fresh battery). Sometimes I have to press the buttons several times for any response.
The final thing that I noticed so far is that the screen goes completely blank and turns into a white screen. Nothing appears, track #, etc. Curiously, if you hit play or play a particular track it works although the screen shows nothing.
The cure for the blank screen is a hard reboot (back switch). Iāve had to resort to this several times. This is annoying because I like to leave it on all the time for best SQ.
Has anyone else experienced these problems and is there a fix?
I called PSA three days ago and talked to a very nice person in customer service, who forwarded my call to tech support. I left a message. Its been two days since I left my message. And I know that PSA will do what it can to correct the situation.
Again, I canāt express the improvement in SQ over the DMP, which is no slouch. Thanks to Paul and the PSA team.
Joe Saluzzi
Joe, Iāve had the blank screen issue a couple times on my DSD, not on my PST.
On the dac, the solution was to reboot AFTER disconnecting the HDMI cable. If I switched off and then on without disconnecting the I2S cable, the screen would come up still blank. Weird.
And I leave mine on always and just dim the screen.
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I just measured the same song, the same interval, from the same position, etc. No difference, so it must just be that I just want to turn it up. Iām thrilled and growing more thrilled.
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I want to echo the redbook comment made earlier. They sound very, very good to my ears.
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Glad to hear youāre liking it over the DMP!
I actually canāt recall people getting a white screen like this. Does there seem to be any rhyme or reason for it happening? Instead of a hard reboot with the back switch, does throwing it in and out of standby help?
I got the white screen on the dmp a few times, found it is related to the I2S cable, I.e.: unplugging it allowed function to return.
Thanks for the reply. I tried your suggestion and it led to another problem. The unit does not turn off using the standby button! Needless to say the white screen remains blank.
If you reboot, does the standby button then work, or does that button not work at all on your device?
I just rebooted using the back switch. the standby button is always on!! The blank white screen is gone.
Does it put the unit in standby though? Also, is the remote able to put the unit in standby?
Guess what? I just tried the standby button again and it turned off. Now its working. Evidently, you have to wait a while after rebooting for it to work. It seems to be working.
It still worries me that several times I got the white, blank screen. Also, what about the scraping tray?
I just rebooted using the back switch. the standby button is always on!! The blank white screen is gone.
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