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In Reply to: RE: 6moons PerfectWave Review. posted by howard on December 12, 2009 at 21:43:16
I've been checking the 6moons website for weeks, usually twice a day, because I was hoping to get a really good description of how the PWT and PWD sound. 6moons is supposedly an audiophile webzine, so it would not be unreasonable to expect a fairly detailed description of the sound, right? Apparently a very wrong expectation. Very, very disappointed in the quality of the review.
Follow Ups:
I couldn't agree more. Very poorly done/written review. The first 3/4 of the review was nothing more than regurgitation of PS Audio's marketing material. You would have thought that Srajan would have been the one reviewing such a break through product. Then again, he would surely mentioned every product that advertises on his site in the review.
Reinforces my basic opinion of the site -- not enough time spent editing. Sometimes -- perhaps often -- the reviews could stand to have things taken out. Other times -- and this is a good example -- reviews could stand to have more information put in (and less of the manufacturer's info. about "how it works.")
The product sounds like it deserved a better and more thorough treatment . . . and some would disagree with PS Audio's self-serving statement (on its website) that SACD is "dead."
Perhaps the bigger question that should be asked is this: is digital audio, as delivered on a physical product (i.e. a disc) dead? If it is, then the $3000 transport doesn't have much of a future, if people are going to store their digital audio on a big hard drive or have it streaming from the Internet. They can certainly use Exact Audio Copy to copy their CDs, bit-perfect, on to the hard drive.
So, an outboard DAC that runs off of the available computer outputs (USB, firewire) would seem to be the more future-oriented product. The PS Audio DAC and its unreviewed "network bridge" seem more interesting to me, since they have that purpose.
I am at work, and do not have the issue in front of me, but I think it is John Ambercrombie who discusses this issue in the current Downbeat. CD is not dead, although its sales have diminished. My belief is that CD will be alive and well among people who grew up with CD, and are probably too old, or uninterested, like me, in music via their computers. I am not about to hire a secretary to help me with computer issues at home. I already pay for one at work.
CDs will probably die when we leave the planet, and those growing up now will want their music over the net because that is how they are accustomed to getting their music. CDs will be dead when new material is not available in that medium, and I think that day is far into the future.
Hi James,
Great post! I totally agree. The last thing I want to do when I come home from work and want to relax with my hi-fi is screw around with another computer. As we have seen with vinyl, once an individual invests a lot of time any money on a medium they will stick with it until it breaks or they are forced to switch. For example; as good as blu-ray is, I don't think DVD's will die any time soon either.
I agree too and yes, the prospect of messing around with a PC for music is unnecessary and abhorrent to me. However, despite my age (just picking up my pension), I accept that hard drive audio (as opposed to computer audio) has benefits. There is potentially a better sound quality and, more significantly, there is the convenience of having hundreds of CDs stored on a hard drive and instantly available from a remote control with search facilities and a screen to show the CD artwork and track details.
If I dare to mention this on the PC Audio forum I get a dozen nerdy computer anoraks saying that a PC or Mac is the way to go. I hate the notion of computers for music, in the same way I wouldn't use a computer to watch TV, but I recently put all my CDs onto a hard drive device and I'm delighted with the ease of access and the complete absence of a computer and its associated hardware "junk" and that really nasty stuff - software.
I use a device called a RipNAS. Its essentially a hard drive with a CD reader built in, connected to your home network and a Sonos (or one of its rivals) to control the system and extract the music and deliver it to a DAC. It needs no computer, monitor or anything else, and it has built-in software so it works right out of the box. The ripping process is so simple - you post each CD into the slot, wait for 4-5 minutes, then put in the next one. During this time, RipNAS identifies the CD, looks up it on the internet and stores the track details, artwork and precise bit count that should be on the CD. It reads the CD multiple times if necessary to record a bit-perfect copy that it saves on the hard drive. You can set it up for WAV or FLAC lossless files, or use grotty MP3.
To play back your music, the Sonos controller is a hand-held device with a touch screen that can be used to select or search for music by composer, genre, artist, etc. It shows you the CD cover artwork as it plays, together with track details. It's really rather brilliant, dead easy, even for use geriatric computer-haters like myself and it sounds excellent, with a serious potential upgrade path using a new product that does the jobs of the Sonos and a DAC, but very much better.
I still buy CDs (I’ve never downloaded music) and will continue to do so, but I rip them straight to RipNAS and put them back in their jewel cases to use possibly in my car, or to loan to children.
Peter
Peter
Hi Peter,
The RipNas looks very interesting. I've never heard of this product before. Seven terabytes of available hard drive storage is heck of a lot. I will look into it. By the way, I agree with your criticisms of the 6moons PS Audio PWT review. I'm a little surprised that the review was released as is.
Eric
Hi Bruce,
A lot of people including myself are a little critical of 6moons. IMHO, Srajan's writing style has a lot "fluff". He often goes too far with his comparisons and descriptions. Sometimes I think he does this to constantly include/mention advertisers in reviews. Although, I think he has gotten better over the years. On the positive note,6moons is free, has excellent photos and reviews esoteric gear not reviewed elsewhere.
A buddy of mine has the PS Audio PWT combo. As a cd-player it sounds excellent. Another webzine named Dagogo (sp?) did a much better job in reviewing the PSA Audio combo. I think Peter made some good points in his post about the 6moons review. Specifically, the review did not mention or talk about the variable output (preamp) feature, the inadequate remote, the lack of a touch screen remote, and the usefulness of the expensive front panel that is very hard to see at a distance. These were all issues at my buddy's house who owns the PS Audio PWT combo.
Is digital audio, as delivered on a physical product (i.e. a disc) dead? I don't think so. Heck, vinyl's still not dead. I think a certain segment of audiophiles will gravitate to storing their digital audio on a big hard drive or have it streaming from the Internet, but many including myself will not. Some of us think that CD's played on great system can sound very good and satisfying. I don't think anything created nowadays can be entirely future-proof. You'd have to have a very good crystal ball for that.
nt
Yes, I was wrong it was actually reviewed by stereomojo, Who can keep track track of all these webzines. Thy seem to be perpetually popping-up like cable companies.
M&H are holding on to the review loaners until the Bridge is released. At that time they plan to focus on the DAC's performance now that the first part of the review has painted the necessary background to understand a memory player's different approach to the conventional read-once-in-real-time scheme of standard players.
Re: comparisons, readers ask for them so we do them based on what each reviewer has on hand - which at times is a good match on price and features, at other times not. But that's the breaks if you don't own an audio store.
The ad angle is complete crap as usual. I happen to have bought multiples of everything specifically to conduct comparisons and to have instant access to something at different price points and technologies. If the makers of some of those pieces happen to also be advertisers, that's completely irrelevant to the data such comparisons generate to establish broader context for the reader.
So, this was part 1 of the review and not an all-encompassing final review. That was not made clear in the review and a rather curious omission. Why does 6moons have to wait for the bridge to arrive to comment on the variable output (preamp) feature, the inadequate supplied remote, the lack of a touch screen remote, and the usefulness of the expensive front panel that is impossible to see at a distance? The review already talked about the DAC's performance.
The 6moons PS Audio PWT review was poorly done. If you don’t want to be criticized you’re going to have to put out a much better product. Years ago, I thought 6moons was on to something with their attempt to find lower-priced alternatives. As far as I’m concerned, 6moons has gone downhill over the last several years. I suspect being a nomad has taken its toll.
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