I went to play an SACD this evening and discovered the display of my PST was dark. Hmm, maybe it didn’t wake up with the other components when I turned on the system this morning. Tapped the blue button and nothing. Tried the remote to awaken it, nothing. I turned the power off, waited a few seconds, then turned on. The PST woke up, so I loaded the disc and hit play. It started playing, but no sound. Noticed the DS had a red rectangle in the lower left corner of the screen, wasn’t making a connection with the PST. I fiddled a little to no effect, so I shut the DS off, waited a few seconds, and turned it back on. It played fine for the first SACD. Played a second SACD and it got to the second track and mid track I heard a click, then no sound, and noticed the display was dark. When I got next to the PST, I could hear the disc still spinning but otherwise it was dark and non-responsive. I shut it off and back on and restarted the SACD. Same issue as before, no sound, the DS was not making a connection and had to restart the DS again. Started the SACD again and it played for a few seconds and shut down again. Grrr. So, I shut it off and played something through the Bridge.
I thought about it and thought maybe there was an issue with the I2S cable. Initially I had used the PST for a couple of months on top of the DMP while I evaluated the pair and had used a 1 M I2S cable for both transports that had plenty of flexibility. Since I decided to sell the DMP I rearranged the rack and put the PST one shelf closer to the DS so I could use the PS Audio 0.5 M “freebie” that came with the DMP, it was a perfect length for my rack. The only problem is I had to twist the connector to align it with the socket on the PST. This cable had worked fine for a couple of weeks, but maybe there was still some residual stress? I replaced that cable with one of the 1M cables and it worked fine for an entire SACD. So, did I fix it? I dunno. Time will tell. Has anyone else experienced this?
Somewhat similar to the experience I had with my new PST feeding my DSD DAC via HDMI I2S. Multiple resets would not restore any form of playback. Cycling the PST ended up taking out my DSD. Both went back to PSA tech support who informed me the PST was scrambled, and the DSD display failed. This was in early January of this year. As a result the PST was returned to PSA, and the DSD has been “gifted” to a friend.
Hopefully yours was a minor glitch resolved by replacing the HDMI cable. I was using a WWPS7 HDMI, and had a RAL on hand but never used. The PST was not functional long enough for me to have an opportunity to try the RAL.
Now on the hunt for a new digital solution. Getting by with an Innuos Zenith Mk3 into a Metrum Onyx.
Reliability doesn’t seem to be a real strength of several PSA products (not valid for the DS usually) from my impression reading here for years. But for many the service (at least inside the US) seems to compensate it. Just a subjective and non-validated impression from someone who never had any issue with any other gear since decades. Regarding Innuos you might be interested in the second to last Darren/Duncan podcast where Darren told about a clearly better streamer/server he found than the Zenith. I think it was the Aurender N200.
Well, so much for my memory … I didn’t recall anyone else mentioning this, but now that you gave me a good nudge I do recall your issue. Taking out the DS would be a real issue for me, I use it on a daily basis. The PST is only used a few times a week, so I could survive. If it does happen again I will probably have to seek professional guidance.
With respect to Jazznut’s comment, it appears software is a lot harder to do than I would have thought. Though, this doesn’t seem like a software issue …
Thanks for the mention of the Aurender podcast with D&D. As I already have an Innuos I’m set. Recently I heard the Aurender N30, or at least that’s what I recall its marker. At $24k it is a bit rich for me, but the sound was exceptional. I have yet to audition a Grimm MU1, which ears we trust in these parts have given high marks as well.
I can’t speak to PS Audio’s overall quality control, reliability or Technical Support other than to say my experience was less than satisfactory. For me a company and its service arm defines itself in these areas. PS Audio left me disappointed. Those curious about the details mat PM me for specifics, as many have to date.
Remember, this is the mute button for the DAC. The tiny green/red dot within the input rectangle is what tells you whether or not there is a handshake with the player.
Thank you, James, you are indeed correct! I use the BHK Pre mute so was not used to seeing that. I just checked it and it wasn’t present when listening to the Bridge but is there for I2S. Still, isn’t it odd the PST shutting down/freezing triggered the DS mute?
Edit: Have you heard anything from the service folks on why this shutting down/freezing might happen? Bad I2S cable?
Mmm, I wonder if there’s a way to test if the transport is actually causing the DAC to mute. I’m not certain it’s possible. Then again, we ran into a situation back in the day where a P600 was causing the DSD to mute. Not sure if our old director of eng. was ever able to come up with a reason for why.
I wonder if its the freezing that happens when the transport is left on for a while. Barry is still trying to make this happen less which he’s done a great job with as each FW release reduces the frequency of the even 10 fold.
Assuming your premise is correct, we will have to get some guidance on how often the PST should be shut off (and presumably back on) to prevent any problems. In this case it had been powered on continuously 10 days. As you may recall, I was out of town recently, and I always shut the system down when I’m gone for more than two days. Previous to this trip I think it was on for a month or so continuously, though I may have had to power cycle it at some point(s).
Because it’s such a random occurrence, I’m not sure a scheduled reboot is necessary. One of those things that when it does happen, reboot it and you’re set. Some folks don’t have it happen for 2 months, where others say it happened in the same week.
I guess I meant overall quality control as others experience may be different. In my case they missed the mark, and it was not for one item, but three. The comment is not odd, the level of service provided may have missed the mark in my case.
From what I have seen and read in my six years as a member of this forum there is without a doubt an issue with continuity on a sample to sample basis within certain product lines with the DMP and PST being the primary offenders. Also as I found out is the case with the BHK preamp in terms of noise issues with various types of tubes and SE vs balanced amps.
As an amusing aside, I have been going to this thread via links in e-mail. I just saw this thread in my unread list and it said 236 unread posts! No idea where that came from as there were 16 posts total!?
This might be the third or fourth time I found my PST unresponsive in the morning. Yesterday morning the PST would not wake up from standby mode, and had to resuscitate by turning off and back on the power switch. After doing so I proceeded to start listening to music, but after 15 minutes or so I became unsatisfied with the sound of my system and shut it down. I was baffled at first as to why it didn’t sound anywhere as good as usual, but then it occurred to me that it was probably because the transport had been off for some time now, and no longer warmed up. Listening this morning things were back to sounding exceptional again. Not sure what causes the transport to shut itself down even though the power switch remained on, but it does mean the unit needs to reach it’s optimal running temperature again before it sounds it’s best.
I have a similar problem with my PST. I had experienced PST not responding several times whenever there is power outage. My house has a solar system that powers the house when the power grid goes down and the audio system remains powered on in most of case. However, I have to turn off and turn on the PST manually to wake it up every time this happens. No problem with BHK pre or DSD but only PST behaves in this way. I suspect the electronic system within PST is sensitive to voltage drop even for a split second and remains off.
Similar to the problems I had with mine. Rebooting it took out my DSD as well. Needless to say the PST is long gone, and the DSD, following PSA repair, is on loan to a friend. Pleased with the Jays CDT that replaced the PST.
If it does happen again I will probably have to seek professional guidance.
and I always shut the system down when I’m gone for more than two days. Previous to this trip I think it was on for a month or so continuously, though I may have had to power cycle it at some point(s).