CD/SACD-проигрыватели и транспорты — PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport

The PerfectWave SACD Transport, often shortened to PST, is a disc transport from PS Audio of Boulder, Colorado, released in 2021 as the successor to the original PerfectWave Transport, which had been built around an OPPO laser mechanism. Conversion to analogue is left entirely to an outboard DAC, since the unit outputs only a digital stream. PS Audio listed it at USD 6,999 in its final form, offered it in black or silver, and discontinued it from new production in 2025.

Key specs that matter

The tray accepts SACD, CD, CD-R and CD-RW, plus DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+R/+RW discs carrying audio data files. A front USB-A input plays stored files - MP3, WMA and AAC up to about 48 kHz, WAV, FLAC and AIFF up to 192 kHz at 24 bit, ALAC up to 96 kHz and DSD up to 5.6 MHz. Outputs comprise one I2S port on an HDMI connector, two balanced XLR sockets, two BNC coaxial sockets and one RCA coaxial socket. The chassis measures 36 x 43 x 10 cm, weighs about 10 kg and draws 30 W from a 100, 120 or 230 V supply.

Engineering and use context

The loader is a Japanese D&M SACD/CD drive of the type used by Marantz. Data read from the disc is buffered and reclocked by an FPGA running PS Audio's Digital Lens, so the transport behaves more like a memory player than a real-time reader. The output stage is galvanically isolated - the signal crosses an air gap as a focused short-wavelength radio beam rather than along wires, which keeps noise and ground contamination from the drive side away from the output. Two independent power supplies feed the noisy mechanical and control circuits and the isolated output section separately. Wi-Fi and Ethernet are built in for firmware updates. The front panel carries a control ring with a load, eject and menu button beside a display smaller than the one on the first PerfectWave Transport, and a 47-button universal remote handset is supplied.

Pairing

Only the I2S link can carry the raw DSD layer of an SACD, so a PS Audio DAC or another converter with a compatible I2S input on HDMI is needed to play that layer natively. Through the XLR or BNC pairs the transport can also deliver double-rate DSD128 as DoP, provided the DAC accepts dual AES or dual coaxial input used in tandem. Any DAC with a standard coaxial or AES/EBU input will handle CD and PCM playback.

Alternatives

The PS Audio PMG Signature SACD Transport is the later disc transport from the same maker, weighing 13.7 kg and carrying the founder's signature on the product.