Hi All, I have a Stellar Strata and really enjoy the sound quality I get from it. I have encountered a few problems that all seem to involve the streaming section and the effect it has on operation. Firstly when changing inputs to use USB or Phono Input or CD Transport it may have no volume and I have had to reset the amp to enable sound. Also occasionally the sound is muffled and distorted. This is most evident when using wifi but has also happened when using ethernet connection with the wifi turned off. Has anyone encountered any of these problems. I have also had the Blue logo flashing which then needs a reset, this has happened twice.
Hey Geoff,
I have not had the input changing issue except when using CD transport and USB. I have found if I use the USB input, I have to switch back and forth between CD and another input (Bridge for example) before the Strata recognizes the CD again. Not sure why this happens, but I had similar behavior on my Sprout (I upgraded from Sprout to Strata)
I have never had any distorted sound come from the Strata.
In terms of the Blue logo flashing, that seems to be related to if you encounter a track that the Strata does not “like”. I have had this experience with just a few albums and these were older classical music albums I try to play on the Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service.
Let me recommend that you try using the iEast Play app to stream your music (I use my iPhone) rather than the PS Audio app. I have found the iEast Play app to be much more stable sending streams to the Strata. It changed my whole streaming experience with the Strata and made me love the unit all the much more.
Hope this all helps.
What version of Strata do you have?
That might help compare with other Strata out in the wild.
My Strata is running firmware version 2.0.2.
OK, that’s the newest downloadable version. There are other versions floating around. You may want to call PS and see if a different version may help.
As far as the blinking goes… I remember way way back there might have been an issue during a rate change (that is, when switching from 16/44.1 to 24/192, etc.). Since then I upsample everything I send to Strata to a single format and have not had issue. Again thing for PS to probably look into.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, the firmware is version 2.0.2. I have downloaded IEast Play app and you are correct it does seem to be more stable so I will continue with that.
Thanks
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Hi, Thanks for the reply, I will contact PS Audio to check about different firmware.
@ipeverywhere what program or device do you use to up sample the stream to your Strata?
Currently using an Allo DigiOne Signature and Roon upsampling.