PS Audio PWT software bugs


I purchased a PS Audio PWT about a year ago and have had some strange transport/software bugs since new.

If I put in a CD and then let it sit for more than about 10 minutes, the transport will refuse to play the disc when "play" is entered. The Icons on the front panel will change as if the disc is playing but no output. I am using the AES/EBU digital output to a Brystom BDA-1. The unit will freeze and I can "skip" to the next track but still no output. Often I cannot even eject the disk. I have to do a hard power shut down and cycle. After power up, it recognizes the disc and plays normally.

Same thing happens if I start a track, then stop it and go away for more than about ten minutes. When I try to resume the mode changes to icons showining "play" but no sound and the track will be frozen. Almost no response from any input after that.

When I contacted PS Audio (Marcus Iezzi), he replied in an email:
"There is a bug in the firmware that is causing this issue and our software team is working on fixing it."

Has anyone else had this problem and do you know if a firmware version has been released to fix the issue?
dhl93449
WARNING: The PS Audio PWT Memory Player has serious bugs in the logic. Mine malfunctioned brand new out of the box with all sorts of weird behavior like freezing up so it doesn't respond to the remote or manual input if you leave a CD sitting in it for any significant length of time. It doesn't matter if it's on Stop or Pause, and it even freezes up if you just put a CD in and don't push any buttons. Come back an hour later and it won't do anything unless you cycle the power. Mine also spooled the CD when turned off (on Standby)!

The service department was not at all accommodating or helpful. They didn't offer to pay shipping back to the factory despite the obviously defective unit out of the box. They did not answer email in a timely fashion - I eventually had to contact the President of the company to get a wholly inadequate and unsatisfying response. When they sent it back they kept the SD card so I had to chase after that, too.

The last straw was when they told me that they have no timeline for a fix of the logic bugs in this unit. That is inexcusable for a $4000 transport. Shame on PS Audio! I will never buy another of their products.
I had a similar problem very recetnly - mine malfunctioned brand new out of the box with all sorts of weird behavior like freezing up so it doesn't respond to the remote or manual input if you leave a CD sitting in it for any significant length of time whether it's on Stop or Pause. It even freezes up if you insert a CD push no buttons. Come back an hour later and it won't do anything unless you cycle the power. Mine also noisily spooled the CD endlessly when turned off (on Standby)!

The service department was not at all accommodating or helpful. They didn't offer to pay shipping back to the factory despite the obviously defective unit out of the box. They did not answer email in a timely fashion - I eventually had to contact the President of the company to get a wholly inadequate and unsatisfying response. When they sent it back they kept the SD card so I had to chase after that, too.

The last straw was when they told me that they have no timeline for a fix of the logic bugs in this unit. That is inexcusable for a $4000 transport with known defects. Shame on PS Audio! I will never buy another of their products.
The issue, as I am most certain all are aware of, is that the transport stops in the middle of a disc, although sometimes it stops earlier on certain discs – more than not. When it decides to run through an entire disc, the audio quality is superb. Adding insult to injury, it will not initialize on certain discs. My personal experience has been that the latest firmware update v.1.24 does nothing to stop the problem. Others have reportedly tried different laser drives including converting from IDE to SATA with the same end result. I have also read that their later products have a similar firmware glitch. The “word on the street” is the opinion that PS Audio has no interest in getting involved.

However, as it turns out, during a conversation with Paul McGowen, via eMail, he revealed that they will not be able to address the problem as they outsourced the firm-ware programming to a company in Romania and that option is no longer available.  Paul did volunteer the source code should an audiophile/programmer be able to figure it out.  That level of computer science is way outside my level of competence so I passed on the offer.
I will try other "fixes" (what choice so I have?) and should I come up with something worthwhile I will share it -- otherwise I have cool looking "boat anchor."