I had some random hangups, so I would Optrix, and sometimes Microsmooth. It helped, but when I contacted service, they had me send it in.
It hasn’t hung up since I got it back. And mine was like new also. It is a really nice transport. I don’t have a PSA DAC, so I can’t make use of the I2S output. I always seem to run a generation behind, my last transport was a PSA Lambda.
If finances allowed I would have a DMP and a Directstream.
My understanding is that the PWT does not use standard error correction. Instead, it reads each sample multiple times to insure that it gets the same data from multiple reads. The only CDs I have had a problem playing had a scratch or defect that prevented data from being read correctly. So, where even a cheep portable player could play the CD because of standard error correction, my PWT would stick or skip due to scratches.
While I appreciate that PS Audio wants to insure that a disc is read with the correct data for each sample, I would prefer that if it can’t retrieve the same data from multiple reads, that it would then use standard error correction to process the sample and then move on. Having less than perfect data samples due to disc defects would be far less annoying than having the disc refuse to play.
There have been times when my PWT gets completely stuck and won’t respond to any commands on screen or from the remote is when I leave a disc on pause or stop for an extended period of time, like not removing a disc when it is finished. I have not been able to figure out a pattern where I can reproduce this problem at will.
In my case, the CDs don’t seem to be the problem. The pwt freezes on CDs that have played on it several times without problem before. And when I do a power off and on, most of the time, it plays without problem the same CD where it froze.
By the way, I have the latest version of the software installed (1.23).
This is quite a few months after the fact, but I’ve had this same problem with my refurbished PWT. A question for those of you who have also experienced it: do you have an ethernet cable plugged into the PWT? Did you do your latest firmware update with the cable plugged in? What seems to have solved this problem for me (for now anyway) is re-installing the firmware, whichever version you like best, without the ethernet cable plugged in, then re-attach it after the initialization completes. Has worked seamlessly for me ever since (just a couple of days now, so not all that long). Not sure why this is the case, but so far so good…
I am having the exact same problem as Bill S, with NO Ethernet connection. This flaw is definitely not related to that, I’m convinced it has to do with how the PWT reads discs as previously stated.
It’s going in for repair, but I’m unsure how this will be resolved. We’ll see.
I experienced the described issue once or twice, but after PS Audio updated the firmware the problem never returned - I was told to watch for scratched or otherwise damaged CDs as well as certain CDRs, and also to make sure the unit is isolated from high a static environment and use a properly grounded via AC source.
I have a refurb transport that would freeze-up a few times a week plus was very noisy (audible grinding sound). I brought it in for repair and they replaced the power supply. So far so good…hasn’t froze once and the grinding sound is gone. Fingers crossed…
ggeers said
windowman99, what was the outcome of yours being serviced?
Not great so far: I got it back fairly quickly, it played fine for about 30 minutes and then started to do the same thing all over again. I was not happy...Jeremy was sympathetic and agreed to take it back again. I just got a notice that it was repaired and it's on the way back to me. I should get it next week. Fingers crossed for round two, will let you know how it goes.
Sorry to hear you guys are having problems with your PWTs. In the seven years I owned mine it never had any hardware problems and was the most reliable CD player I’ve ever used. Good luck with getting yours fixed.
Got my unit back last Friday. I put it on repeat overnight, and it played flawlessly over the weekend. Just listened to an entire CD today, and again no problems. The discs that were causing problems are playing fine. I’m cautiously optimistic the problem is solved. A little mystified as to what that problem was - there was NO explanation other than “warranty repair” in the paperwork.
It sounds as wonderful as always, beating out my backup Arcam DV139, which did a great job filling in during the repair.
I too have had a very reliable PWT I used it since January of 2012. At one point I had some noise when playing an HRX disk from Reference Recordings. I changed the original ASUS DVDRW that is PATA/IDE for the ASUS DVDrom that is SATA. Once I did this I started to experience unreliable performance with the unit locking up on some CD’s and the drawer closing unexpectedly. I than opened the original drive cleaned the hub reassembled it and put it back into the PWT. My noise issue was corrected and the reliability came back. My experience is the PWT is much more reliable when it uses a PATA IDE drive.
