PS Audio PWT software bugs

Need to clarify my original post. Problem occurs if disc is playing and you "PLAY/pause" (not STOP) to hold your place in the track being played. This happens while I'm listening and the phone rings, for example. If its in pause for more than a few minutes, the player will lock up and when you try to resume nothing responds. No remote commands work and you have to do a hard power cycle to unlock the unit. Reminds me of a Windows 3.0 computer.

I just spoke with Marcus Iezzi (CS Manager PS Audio) and he tells me this is still not fixed. So you can't have a firmware version where this does not happen. Its a known PS Audio bug. What upsets me is they still have no fix and no date when it will be. NO mention of this behavior in the users manual or literature. If its such a minor issue, then publish it and see if buyers still buy this product. My $50 Sony DVD player can be left in pause indefinitely and will always recover.

IMHO releasing a product with this bug is inexcusable, as is refusing to fix it years after the product has been released.

Knghifi:
Yes its a known bug and if PSA doesn't want to fix it, then the company (PSA) finds it acceptable by default. So why not mention it in a FAQ or the manual. According to Marcus the phenomena is repeatable but the actual delay causing the lockup is hardware (CDROM drive) dependent. Has something to do with limiting the time the drive spins in the pause mode, which may default to different times depending on the particular CDROM drive being used. I would doubt if just replacing firmware would fix this, as more extensive programming will probably be required.

BTW, my firmware version is 1.22.

Looks like this problem may be individual hardware dependent, although PS Audio tech support never suggested I return the unit so that they could swap drives and see if the problem persists. They just told me its a known issue and I have to live with it. Well, maybe I will and maybe I won't.

If you use the "stop" control the problem does not exist. But then you cannot go back to where you were when you were interrupted.

I have no quibble with the sound quality. But I recently acquired a Bryston BDP-1 and A/B'd the Bryston vs the PWT and I could not hear a difference. That was with a ripped .wav file using IMGburn and a Plextor drive, so the rip was not technically a perfect rip like you may get with dBpoweramp. I used the identical CD for both the rip and playback in the PWT. And when you pause the Bryston, you can replay without a hitch.

Although there is a bit of a learning curve to use the Bryston and you have to spend time ripping your music, sonically they are extremely close. If you are going to listen to single CDs, then you can rip a CD and put it on a USB drive in minutes and be listening almost as fast as loading the PWT. Plus, if you want to put together an afternoon of listening with three or four albums, the Bryston can do that easily and the PWT cannot.

Perhaps for some the sonic edge may go back to the PWT if you use the PS Audio DAC. I am using the Bryston BDA-1.

Knghifi:

Timely suggestion. Got a Bryston BDP-1 and ripped some CDs with dbpoweramp to FLAC. Loaded the file in the BDP-1 and the identical CD in the PWT. Compared to the two A/B both feeding my Bryston BDA-1 and was blown away by the FLAC ripped source. Absolutely amazing, even compared to the extremely good sound of the PWT. Not ever going back to real time CD replay, even in a memory player. Bit perfect lossless ripping really makes a difference. Burst ripping via Win MP to wav sounded about the same as the PWT.

BUT, you have to be a network administrator and part time software geek to get the Bryston functioning from anything but the useless front panel. And their manuals are so out of date it is not funny with respect to the browser/software that works for control. Had to spend for a wireless laptop PC for control (lot cheaper than any tablet), router, ethernet cables. Luckily Bryston tech support is exemplary and getting things working is a matter of time.

And now I can PAUSE a track and come back, it plays!