If I may ball up all your questions in one answer, I"m glad in all respects that I traded up from the DMP to the PST.
Before I returned the DMP in trade, I compared the two a few times. Going back to the DMP made me feel very satisfied and sure about the upgrade.
Try it. You can always send it back.
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As a beta tester and owner of the PST, I heartily recommended the unit as it satisfies the three inquiries that you posed. It is better sonically and mechanically than the DMP, though my use was relegated mostly to l2S playback only. I really like the DMP, and thought it was a final purchase, but the proof of the pudding was that I wanted to listen to my CDs over again with the PST. I was not straining to hear nuanced differences but rather the whole package just got me closer to the music. A real, obvious, component-grade improvement.
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The only way youâre going to know for sure is to try one for yourself. Luckily PS Audio offers a no risk 30 day trial period. Iâm currently evaluating one for myself now.
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Do you remember how many hours of break-in you had on the unit before it sounded itâs best?
Just did an AB comparison between the DMP and PTS, and it confirmed my impressions between the two. As of now the new transport only has around 300 hrs on it, so by no means is this my final conclusion.
The units definitely sound a little different, but one not necessarily better than the other. The PST has a rounder smoother more pleasant sound to it than the DMP, but to my ears in my system doesnât sound as neutral as the DMP. The DMP sounds more neutral and slightly more transparent and incisive, giving a more lively presentation. The bass also sounds more nimble and well defined on the DMP, while the PST sounds rounder and fuller. Again, these are my impressions listening on my system, with a unit that is probably not fully broken-in yet.
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I found 70 -80 hours.
Hi milorp
Here are my observations from an earlier post from several months ago:
⢠The transport mechanism is a huge step up over the PWT and DMP. Solid, silky smooth in operation, silent, and inspiring confidence.
⢠If I had to characterize the PSTâs presentation in one word, that word would be âimmersive.â
⢠The overall character of the PSTâs sound tips towards the âyin.â A warmer, more analog-sounding, tube-like presentation. The sound is more relaxed, open, and âjuicyâ for lack of a better term. By comparison, the DMP has more âpresence,â and the soundstage is pushed forward and is more compressed front to rear.
⢠But the PSTâs âyinâ comes with increased detail and spatial separation that allows low-level waaay back in the soundstage detail to come through.
⢠For any given instrument the PST presents less pitch and more timbre.
⢠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.
⢠The PST has a noticeably wider sound stage, especially towards the rear. As opposed to a âUâ or elliptical shape, I perceive more of a âsquareâ shaped soundstage behind the speakers with the extreme right and left rear corners of the soundstage extended and more fleshed out.
⢠The instruments/voices within the soundstage have more separation front to rear. By comparison, the DMP compresses the front-to-rear spacing. Overall the PSTâs soundstage is more âholographic.â
⢠As the result of the last two points, the ambience retrieval on well-recorded live performances is the best Iâve heard.
⢠There is less digital glare with the PST on higher-pitched (guessing ~800 â 3,000 Hz) brass instruments, upper-register electric guitar, some female vocals, etc.
⢠On loud passages with multiple instruments, there is less congestion within the soundstage. There is less collapse of the âairâ between voices/instruments.
⢠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.
⢠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.
⢠I saved the best for last. These differences in SQ between the two transports are significantly more pronounced with Redbook CDâs than with SACDâs. As a SWAG, I would say that the degree of improvement in SACD presentation is one-third to 40% that of Redbook CDâs. This transport closes the SQ gap between Redbook and SACD to a significant extent.
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@pmotz From the collective wisdom so kindly shared by other forum members, Iâm tending towards the impression thatâfinances permittingâthere is a potentially meaningful upside and not much to lose from accepting the at-home trial offer. I suspect that many of the improvements (or changes) in sound characteristics may relate to the way the unit integrates into any individualâs equipment and room acoustics, and perhaps the details of each userâs impression could well be revised by a little loudspeaker repositioning. Seems like the only way to know for sure in any case is to break the new unit in a bit and then compare it to the DMP.
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My current speakers are not tipped up on the top end or aggressive in the least, theyâre very neutral and musical, and if anything error slightly on the warm side of neutrality. The bass is punchy, tight, and very articulate, with no overhang or bloat. It could very well be that some repositioning of the speakers is needed due to the perceived increase in bass output produced by the PST. It could also be why the overall presentation of the PST in my system seems like it veers too much to the warm side of neutrality. At some point when Iâm convinced the unit is fully broken-in, Iâll make some adjustments in speaker placement.
All the experiences related here just confirm that the PSTâor anything-- needs to be listened to in your system.
My experience seems quite the opposite of what some have found with the bass, etc.
When I went back and forth, the PST just felt like it just blew clean, fresh air over the entire presentation compared to the DMP. I have no doubts that the PST added, was a net positive in all respects.
Iâll admit that I was hoping to be disappointed, send it back, not spend the money, be happy with the DMP. Nope.
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God help me, but hanging around here for a couple of years is making me think that once you factor in the trade-in allowance, the PSTâs price is affordable.
I think I may need some deprogramming. 
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I have noticed a few times that my PSTâs sound quality diminishes after a few days. I leave the power on 24/7 but put it on standby overnight. Have any other PST users noticed this?
A simple power OFF, wait 15 seconds and power ON is all thatâs needed, but I hope that wonât be a necessary frequent step for the next few years.
Iâm not terribly surprised that even a transport needs to be broken-in before sounding its best, but can someone explain in technical terms why a digital device that outputs zeros and ones improves with break-in?
Iâm approaching 450 hours on the new transport and the sound is beginning to gel and flow to where I can sit make and get lost in the music without nit picking anything, which wasnât the case initially. It was like the notes were sticking together and not flowing freely, and instruments and vocals were not clearly defined. Now the ebb and flow of the music is much more life like and images are rock solid and clearly define within the soundstage. The bass has also tightened up and is more articulate and rhythmic.
Itâs most likely the analog bits and bobs (resistors, caps, etc.) on the PCB coming of age.
Is there any possibility that (at least some portion of the) perceived improvements in sound quality during prolonged âbreak inâ periods for new equipment reflect mostly our own neuroplasticity and sensory adaptation, the learning process accelerated by the will to find improvement, and to find comfort in how much money we have spent? Any behavioral psychology Ph.D. candidates out there wanna do a study?
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Thatâs certainly a possibility, but I donât believe thatâs the case here. One thing that really cements an improvement in sound, is the lyrics are much more intelligible. Words I couldnât quite make out before are now more clearly understood. Also hearing more spacial cues and newfound low level details.
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That makes sense. Youâd think the brain would always be at its best in terms of understanding language. If previously unintelligible lyrics become clear with new equipment, that sounds like a great test for objective presumption that the equipment has caused the improvement.
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Any progress on the problem where certain HDMI cables will not work with SACDs?
I know there is a new version of code coming soon that will address DSD playback over I2S. However, Iâm not certain how much that pertains to cabling though.
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Service told me the software update would address and fix the issue with the many HDMI cables where they worked with the PWT, but now will not work with the PST