PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport/DAC experiences

Srwooten: Are you referring to the PS Audio or the Minerva? I do not recall seeing a USB port on the Minerva. Also I submit that ANYONE using plastic Tos-link cables has no idea what Tos can sound like when implemented with a good real-glass cable (you shouldn't have to spend more than say $50 for a good glass Tos :)

FYI, my uncle has the PWT/PWD and he thinks it is the best he's owned period. It replaced the Wadia 931 processor. Before that he had the Esoteric P01VU and the D01VU with the G0-Rb (don't know if there was a VU version of the clock but if it existed - he owned it :).

He flat out told me that the PWD/PWT combo is better in every way. Before the Eoteric stuff he has the Metronome Kalista but I don't remember the dac he had teamed with it (I know he had the Vekian so it may have been that unit teamed with the Kalista). All this to say, I know someone I trust and has owned some of the best rated gear out there and he chose the PS Audio front end. Just food for thought.

Levy03 I will be doing comparisons in the coming few months of the PWD with the MSB Plat dac 3 and my modified Bidat I will be posting my findings on this site.

That was a good review, I think they liked it :)

I agree they should have talked about the sound far more than they did. I will be purchasing one in order to test its' capabilities but I really want the bridge, I wish they would put a rush on it. People complaining about the screen makes no sense to me. If you don't like it, turn it off. I seriously doubt most of the most vocal opponents were even in the market for the unit. I think PS Audio has a unique product which has caught a good number of dac manufacturers off-guard. I would not be surprised at-all if some of the more negative talk is the off-spring of other dac makers.

Ok, I just got a broken in Weiss Minerva (several hundred hours at least). It has been in my system burning in for about 18 hours (18 hours since arriving in my home, time to come to thermal equilibrium). I have done some comparative listening to the Museatex Dcc-1 (a rarely known digital preamp 19 bit dual differential type) using glass Tos on both and then glass on the DCC1 vs a very expensive (can't name it yet as the manufacturer has not released it...sorry :( ) Firewire on the Weiss. I have a Mac Mini (2007 model) 2.0 ghz Core2Duo with 4Gig of ram running Leopard (although this model can only see 3.01 gig of that (I used 4gig as the memory transfer is optimized when the mem modules are the same). I also have a 1TB NAS (all over wifi). I am of course going to reserve final judement until a bit later.

I will be comparing the Museatex Bidat with the Plus Mod later this weekend. As a teaser, I will go on record and say that honestly at this point I don't agree with the stellar reviews concerning the Weiss Minerva.

It is resolute, almost technicolor but just to give you a short glimpse of what I am hearing, I could imagine a well healed vinyl person listening to Holly Cole on vinyl and then listening to the Weiss (playing the same in CD format) and saying "this is why I will never leave vinyl". Now that may sound harsh, but this is a hobby and I don't have a dog in the race, I am just reporting my ears findings.

I listened to a few high resolution files 176.4/24 and 96/24 but what I heard was a really clear highly resolved soul-less rendition of the music. It never ever made me smile or relax into the music the way the DCC-1/Bidat or even my former (when I actually spun cd's...wow time flies) stellar Dynavox Dynastation 2 (the finest CD player I have ever heard).

In a nutshell (at this point) it just sounds like digital and that aint good in my camp because I am not forgetting about the gear and just listening to the music. I don't like syrupy or dark, I have heard plenty of players try to use that trick to sound musical. No, I look for something that is more elusive and few their be that find that magical combination when forging through the nether regions of the digital domain. I will continue listening to see if the Weiss surprises me :)

More to come...