PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport/DAC experiences

i would have to agree with many of comments already made. at this point in time, they perform best as a pair via high quality hdmi connection. although good individually....they really play well together.

i think one of the biggest plus's of this combo is it's ability to play high res audio and dvd audio. this along with soon to be released super server capabilities make the duo a home run imho. however...to someone looking for just cd playback....these features could indeed be unwanted extra's. maybe their funds would be better off spent else where?.

although the selection is rather limited, i've been downloading and burning alot of hi res dvd music lately (24/88. 24/96 and some 24/178 and 24/192). it's become addictive and i can't seem to stop. high res on dvd is truly an incredible digital sound. when played threw the pwt/pwd in a well set-up/matched system and room, it's as close to perfect digital as i've ever heard. background is black as black gets. sound-stage is enormous, deep and detailed. mids and highs are super crisp yet clean and smooth. incredible down low too with plenty of slam/hit. hi-res dvd is digi heaven for me

as Sgr put it, it's just really enjoyable/fun to listen to. he's also spot on regarding tweeks and set/up. good power supply and pc's along with isolation from vibration really seem to help.

i'm in the middle of comparing my Duo with and without a pre-amp. recently upgraded my amp (krell s300i integrated to levinson-432) and contemplating which way to go. the PWD Duo sounded fantastic going straight into the 432 *and* has an outstanding volume control mechanism. however, so far adding the pass aleph p sounds just as good/great?. at this point, i can tell no difference's what so ever?. not 100% sure yet but it looks like i'll be going with a pre. this mainly due to the added connectivity and control features, along with no discernible loss in audio quality (imo so far).

i can't get enough of this thing!

cheers
Lev

you're right Sgr. my Pass Aleph P pre-amp needed break-in and on day 3...it really started to sound better. it's obviously an old peice but in really pristine condition. it could have been sitting in its wooden crate for 10 years, for all i know?. didn't think a lengthy break-in would be needed but i was wrong. really like the simplicity and the sound of this pre-amp so far. think i'm gonna keep it hooked up for now and see what happens.

and yes...keeping the pwd set up to run above 50% was a small problem too. it restricted the volume i wanted for certain disc's. i do understand that very little is lost below 50% but i(we) don't like to hear the word "lost" at all when it concerns digital playback.

will play around with different pre's down the road a bit, as the budget allows. i'm done spending big chunks of money for a while. finished a big room treatment project last weekend so i'm done for now. gonna sit back and enjoy the ride on a *perfect wave* for a good long while =).

cheers
Lev

Mrtennis: two solutions for that situation imho. turn the volume way down or grab another disc =).

i had what was considered a top tier cdp back in the mid 80's as well. a carver unit that i enjoyed very much at the time. can't remember what it sounded like today but i thought it was awesome back then.

cheers
Lev

Sgr, i've been using HDtracks for the most part. plenty of classical and jazz but very limited rock(almost non-existant rock of any type). just go to the to hi-res section. most are offered in FLAC only. these need to be converted to WAV. per PS Audio...the duo will play FLAC someday but they're still working on it. truth is... they're still working on alot of upgrades for the pwt/pwd regarding the software side. we're kinda beta testers at this point with alot of stuff in the works. luckily most upgrades will be software based and easy to download/install (at least that's what they tell me?).

not sure if you're using a pc or mac but instructions have been posted on PS Audio's web site in the discussion forums section. i'm the poster for the PC instructions and someone else chimed in with a mac how-to. gotta say that it was a nightmare getting started using windows vista. i'm sure mac users aren't surprised by this lol!. main problem was the UDF 2.0 format that's required. vista has alot problems with this. took me many hours and failed attempts to get a playable dvd.

go here for my post regarding pc/vista:

http://www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/viewthread/404/

go here for a mac explaination/instruction:

http://www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/viewthread/423/

lot's of good info on their forums and most of it is directed at the perfect wave gear.

if you need some help, just let me know. i can save you alot of suffering and pain. not sure what to do with all the bad/non-working dvd's i have. anyone need any coaster's?? =)

mrtennis: my pair was 80-90% there by 200 hour's. doubt you'll see anything too dramatic after that point. maybe the pwt/pwd is just not your cup of tea?. just goes to show you how this is all about taste and preference. interesting that you like the silver co-axial best. not sure what my buddy was using when we did some testing (i'm pretty sure it wasn't a silver co-ax line) but we really preferred the I2S-12 (ps audio silver hdmi). have you been able to compare a non-silver co-ax to your silver co-ax hook-up?.

cheers
Lev

i recently took my pair to a friends house to try some connection combo's out. he sounds alot your uncle regarding equiptement history (big esoteric fan). two days after our session, he ordered a pwt/pwd. he has since made similar comments like your uncle regarding the duo.

my exposure to top teir gear is very limited so i can't make such comments. just passing on the info for what it worth.

Audiofun: look forward to reading your thoughts. i understand the mods turn out really nice.

cheers
Lev

not sure some folks understand how inexpensive an lcd display is now-a-days. nothing "fancy" or "expensive" about them anymore when considering equipment at this price point. doubt psa spent much more if anything at all going this route. one must consider saving in other area's of production when making a piece with an lcd.

seemed to me the review was about the "new technology" more then either piece of equipment?. can see why many who are considering a purchase where disappointed. being an owner since release, i actually enjoyed the write up and learned a few things (sadly, nothing about the pwt/pwd though).

i've been strongly recommending anyone in the market to give the pair a listen. words like "enjoying", "involving" and "no fatigue" have been used often and by many owners, myself included. not very objective and detailed descriptions, i agree. i too was(still am) looking forward to a detailed, comparative and professional review. this review was definitely not it. but in the end, it really doesn't matter what any professional reviewer or equipment readout says about the pair. i'm gonna keep enjoying them and the wonderful sound they produce. digi heaven imho.

blw...lots of the gripes and/or shortcoming of the intro models have been discussed on psa's discussion forums. remote control, delayed release of bridge, network issue's, ect... . suggest looking there for many of the answers and information. call the current models beta units if you wish, but there are still lots of things in the pipeline for the pair. i'm looking very forward to it all.

cheers
Lev

forgot to comment on something Mrtennis said in an earlier post. i too have found certain sub-par recordings to sound bad using the pwt/pwd. after playing around with the filters and up-sampling rate, i discovered that much improvement could be had using these adjustments *with some* of these disc's. although 90% of my music sounds best in native mode and auto filtering, about half of the remaining 10% sound better in other modes/filter combination's.

the most obvious example for me was the psychedelic furs 1st release..."the psychedelic furs". sounded very dull with little detail up high along with muddiness down low. sounded horrible to my ears. after some experimentation, i found that using the filter 2 (MP-APOD) and upsampleing to 192 really improved things.

i could give more examples (lou reed "rock-n-roll animal" and new order "the peel sessions") but unfortunately there is no pattern and it's hit or miss via trying the various combo's. i do think it's worth a try if you have a favorite disc that is poorly recorded and sounds bad. you might be surprised with the outcome.

i got the updates via email after i asked. i'm sure they'll be posted up soon.updates are still in a beta mode but will be released soon. they say all registered owners will be contacted when they are posted up. you can get it now if you want.... just email PSA .

as a side note....the updates are not idiot proof. after i completed the updates, i put the sd card back into the the PWT. did so without removing the PWD update files. this somehow updated/turned my PWT into a PWD. both screen displayed PWD controls so i had 2 DAC's and no transport.

PSA provided a quick fix once i contacted them. great support as i was up and running within an hour.

Sgr...i've never used the blue light logo switch. forgot it was even there until you mentioned it. now i know to stay away from it lol!.

cheers
Lev

or just use the same sd and end up with 2 pwd's instead =)

seriously....you can use a single sd. just remember to remove the updated files before doing copying/loading updates for the 2nd peice.