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PS Audio CD Memory Transport?? Yes Or NO

I have thousands of cds and I have 4 or 5 cd players. To me they all sound pretty similar. I want to buy one that would be a step up. I have Marantz 6005, Pioneer cd recorder, California Audio Labs Mark 2 and an old Oppo dvd player. I have a Wyred 4 Sound Dac 2. LIke I said I cannot tell if any of them sound any better than the others. I think the California Audio actually sounds best to me. I have Prima Luna separates and a Luxman 505U integrated amp. The questions is, will I hear any improvement going to a transport with the hard drive to reduce jitter etc. or will it be a waste of money? Any advice or other suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks,

128x128dylanfan
19 responses Add your response
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I have a PWT and a Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 SE with the femto clock upgrade (all but vanished jitter, along with the cap upgrades over standard model, etc). This combo provides the most musical sounding CD playback I have yet heard and I connect them via the I2S interface with an Audioquest Forest HDMI cable. Also, this set up allows me to use a Macbook Pro as a server thru the W4S via USB so I make the most out of the DAC.

I am confident that if you heard the PWT through the DAC2 via I2S you would agree this is the way to go.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
stevecham mine is the basic dac2. Do you have the transport or the transport memory? Wonder if the memory transport would take the place of using the femto clock upgrade.since it puts the music on the hard drive first before playing.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
I just ordered the PS Audio Memory Transport. Can't wait to give it a try.
erik_squires
15,737 posts
 
Well, I'd say do you want it to sound better?

Do you hear better when you go into a store? Imaging, balance, voices, piano. Does any of it make you t hink you are missing something?

Have you auditioned great headphone gear to give you a reference?

USB 2.0 Asynch, properly implemented, is the bomb, but can be done really cheaply and well too.

Best,


Erik
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
The PWT is a memory transport; it plays for about 30 seconds or so if I eject the disc while in play mode. The memory component of the transport has nothing to do with eventual DAC filtering.  The memory is to make sure the DAC receives error-free data from the disc before converting. By using the I2S interface, the clock signals are kept discreet in the interconnect so as not to have to combine at the digital output of the PWT and then deconvolute at the DAC in prior to filtering.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
Out of all my CD players my favorite right now is the California Audio Lab Mark II. It is an old CD player. I have thousands of CDs and figure this will be the ladt CD player I will buy. Not a fan of the Marantz 6005. I am hoping this PS Audio transport with my Wyred 4 sound Dac will be my final source purchase. I feel like my source component is the weak link in my system. This should take care of that. Thanks for all the help.
vicweast's avatar
vicweast
150 posts
 
I am quite happy with the Ayon CD player I have. It costs several times what the PWT does, I am familiar with PS Audio gear and would probably have tried the PS Audio PWT if I had not gotten lucky and got the Ayon when I did ...and at a good price.

The idea behind the PWT is excellent and makes sense.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
Dylan fan,
Let us know your listening impressions of the PWT. 
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
I will be home this Thursday and over the Labor Day weekend and will have it up and running then. I will make comments then. Right now I am working in Oklahoma. I am definitely excited hooking it up.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
Dylan fan,
I’ve owned mine for 6 years. It is good straight out of the shipping but improves noticeably with additional hours of use. I think that it’s a wonderful CD transport. Congratulations to you!
Charles,
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
charles1dad. Thanks for the comment. What DAC are you using with yours. I have the basic Wyred 4 Sound I will be using. This quality piece will probably warrant an upgrade on my DAC next. We will see. I will keep you posted.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
I use the Yamamoto YDA 01  DAC. I've also heard the PWT with a friend's Aesthetic Pandora  and Bricasti SE DACS. It is terrific sounding with any good quality DAC in my opinion. 
erik_squires
15,737 posts
 
I'm not sure if you have USB 2.0 support or not.

If so, any streamer, or any home built PC should do a very good job feeding a USB 2.0 capable DAC that is driverless for Linux/OSX. I built my own 2TB server/streamer for around $600 to feed a Mytek Brooklyn PCM and DSD. Works great.

I will say that different DACs have different levels of source sensitivity. My ARC was much more sensitive than my Mytek via coax. It required an exceptionally well clocked source to sound great. In demo's I've heard, an Ayre was also "sensitive" like this, but the Schiit was not.

While experimenting with alternatives I did find teh Wyred4Sound Remedy reclocker. It worked great on Internet sources. If you are a die-hard CD player kind of guy, I'd suggest an alternative like this may give you the most consistent results, but not the convenience of a streamer. :)


Best,


Erik
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
138 posts
 
I got my ps audio memory transport hooked up last night from the HDMI cable to my Wyred 4 sound HDMI input. Man it sounds great. Older CDs sounds a lot better. Nothing was unlistenable like my other CDs players playing older CDs. Well mastered CDs sound amazing. I am really pleased with this. Now wondering what difference at PS audio Dac would make.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
Hello Dylan fan,
I'm happy to read that you're very pleased with the PWT although it doesn't surprise me. The  PWT is a top tier transport and an asset to any high quality audio system. Congratulations!
Charles, 
hopkinstk
5 posts
 

Charles1dad,

Hello, I recently purchased a B-stock PWT.  Out of the box it had problems with the drive:

1.  After the initialization process, it said to insert disk, during the process of loading a disk, the tray would rapidly close and it took several attempts to time the rapid opening and closing of the tray to get the disk seated.  It never stayed opened by itself.

2.  Once that event was over, the drive was vibrating so loud that you could head the vibration over 12 feet away.  This vibration continued even after I got the disk back out of the tray.  It only stopped when I powered down the unit with the rear power switch.

I contacted Jeremy and the unit is on its way back to PS Audio and the dealer is sending me another unit from his stock.

My question to you based on your experience and being pleased with your PWT is does your unit's drive make that much noise and is the drive noise a distraction to your listening environment.

Does a properly functioning unit open and close in a safe manner and can I expect noise free operation during playback on a proper unit.

I have selected all components of my system to be dead quiet during playback and hope this unit will work with my preferences for extremely quiet electronics.

Thanks for your support

TH

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,233 posts
 
Hello TH, 
 It sure seems as though you unfortunately got a defective PWT.  I have one of their earlier units and it has been excellent and trouble free for well over 6 years of nearly daily use.  I've had none of the problems described by you. Let us know your outcome with the replacement PWT. 
Charles 
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,214 posts
 
I own the newer version, the Direct Stream Memory player and couldn't be happier.

ozzy
sfseay's avatar
sfseay
495 posts
 
I too own the Directstream Memory player and also the Directstream DAC.  All I can say is sell a kidney and get the combination.  PM me to see how you can get both units at a very good discount
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