In the last few days my PST has become unresponsive numerous times. A few times in the middle of playing a disc. I have to toggle the unit off then back on again. On top of that, every CD I played past the first track, produced a loud hissing, scratching sound, and the music was very garbled and distorted. After toggling it off and back on again several times it seems to have straightened out, for now at least. Anyone else experience this bizarre behavior?
Yes, as part of my initial burn in. Cycling the PST resulted in it taking out my DSD DAC as well. Never got a meaningful answer as to the cause of the PST failure and why it took my DSD DAC with it. As such, I had PS Audio keep the PST. Good luck with yours.
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Gary
I got the “garbled, distorted, scratching” sound that you describe once. What I did was turn the power off, pull the hdmi cable off and reinsert into the PST and the DAC.
That seemed to solve the problem as it hasn’t happened again since (approx 12 months).
Ron
What’s weird is it didn’t do it on the first track but every track after, and not just one CD, a handful of them. At first I thought it was the CD, so I removed it and cleaned it and tried it again, same thing. Then proceeded to try several other CDs, and quickly came to the conclusion it was the transport.
I am really surprised that so many have issues with the PST. Issues were common with the DMP but not as surprising as the programming for the DMP was much more extensive as it had the touch screen and displayed cover art and track list information. The PST is very basic in features requiring allot less programing to do the functions required.
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Gary, I agree with Ron that the HDMI cable can cause the some of the issues you’ve described. A while ago I realized my HDMI cable (0.6m) was very close to a power cable so I put a sideways curve in the HDMI cable, then reinstalled it. Soon after, I experienced some very distressing noise from the PST and DAC. Reseating the HDMI cable cleared the problem.
My HDMI cable is at least 6" from any power cables. And if was the HDMI cable, why did the first track on a handful of CDs, play just fine, and all tracks after that were fubar. Sounds more like a laser tracking problem.
Agree, the ok first track thing is weird.
I have had similar issues but not a pronounced. When playing some tracks I get a couple of skips but the disk is brand new with no scratches, always happens in the same spot. This happens on other CDs as well. Of course I’ll need to try it on a different player to see if it has the same issues. Is it possible that the system (the new MK2 and PST) is so clear with very low noise you can hear all of the imperfections on the disk, is that possible?
I never had issues playing CDs or SACDs. However, when I play data DVDs, it sometimes skipped a track, and sometimes it could not read the disc at all (the same disc could be read on a different day).
When my PST has problems with redbook CDs, problems usually solve after I clean the disk, and, in rare case, I use my PC to burn a duplicate copy of the CD, the duplicate one usually plays ok.
I would contact tech support. My PST has never done that and will play a severly scratched disk that I found face down on a rough surface. I cleaned it and though it looked terrible it still plays without issue. Your unit should not be giving you any trouble.
In the year that I’ve owned my PST I have never had any problems playing any CD/SACD. Several discs were severely abused by kids over the use and were unplayable on my NAD player and the players in my cars. PST breezes through them.
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@sixpack1 @Palouse thanks guys for the vote of confidence of PSTs ability to read a scratched disk.
Would you say that it’s easier to hear actual imperfections of the recording with the MK2/PST setup. Have you guys heard any imperfections on albums? I have a Diana Krall and Dirstraights albums that have seemingly imperfections always in the same place. Just curious.
No I have not had any issues at all. In fact at this minute I am playing that CD that is so scratched up that I would think it would not play and it is playing just fine.
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I will tell you though a disk with and actual manufacturing defect or damage to the top side will play in the PWT without issue as it is an actual memory player and that disk will fail in the PST.
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I was under the impression that that the PST had a memory buffer as well, just not as long as the PWT, or maybe that was the DMP.
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Gary,
Neither the DMP or PST have a memory buffer so to speak. they instead have a Digital Lens which operates on the DATA after it has been recovered from the Disk. It does not have any way to do the reread function the way the PWT does. It plays the disk on the fly as opposed to extracting the data at a high rate of speed and holding it in a buffer prior to the handoff to the DAC.
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FWIW, I think the DMP is still a “memory player”. However, due to the implementation of some FPGA programing slight of hand and other design changes, a much smaller “buffer” is utilized:
“So I was surprised to learn that while the new DirectStream Memory Player uses the Digital Lens circuit as a “core technology,” it no longer has a big buffer: Eject a disc and the music stops almost immediately. Apparently, while the new Digital Lens includes a buffer, it’s only just large enough to stay ahead of the bitstream.”
[Source:PS Audio DirectStream Memory Player universal transport | Stereophile.com]
“After eight years of research and two years of development, PS engineering has been able to shorten the memory requirements and improve the timing of digital audio data. The new Lens takes advantage of advances in semiconductor architecture found in FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array). Using a single large scale integrated FPGA, PS chief DMP architect, Bob Stadtherr, devised a segmented structure including intelligent RAM, two-way isolated communication with the drive, and near-field output latches controlled by an ultra-low jitter fixed clock.”
[Source: Page 3 of the DMP Owner’s Annual]
Or, maybe I am mistaken and the reference to RAM in the DMP manual is not really analogous to what the PWT did at all.
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There are two important things that make the PWT a true memory player And the DMP and PST do not follow those conventions. The PWT uses a program similar to Exact Audio Copy while extracting the data and hands that data off the the large buffer this whole process is under the control of the PS Audio board. With the DMP and the PST the drive that is recovering the data from the disk is fully under the control of the manufacturers board, on the DMP it is the Oppo and in the PST the marantz board. The PS Audio board massages the data through the digital lens before handing it off to the DAC. This is the same way every other player out there plays the disk (on the fly).
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