The P3a is getting kind of long in the tooth

Marbles · « **on:** 30 Jul 2003, 04:11 am »

are there any replacement DACs in the wings we should know about?

If so, how soon will they come to market and what features will they have?

TIA

Greg Marberry · « **Reply #1 on:** 31 Jul 2003, 03:26 pm »

Thanks for the question, Marbles (I like your sig. line, btw). I suppose that there are always ideas floating around about new product. As far as I know now, though, there are no plans on releasing a P-3A "replacment." It is still a great DAC compared to everything else out there and the Dan W. mods have been very popular. For now, we will continue to go the course and get SOCS/RCS fully running, release the P-5 and then see what happens. That is really the best answer that I can give right now.

Thanks,

Marbles · « **Reply #2 on:** 31 Jul 2003, 03:43 pm »

Greg, thank you. Your reply was very helpful to me.

I will be trying a Steve Nugent (Empirical Audio) modded P3a and did not want to invest in it if a new model would be coming out soon.

Steve uses (makes) the Dan Wright mod, then makes many more of his own.

Jay S · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Aug 2003, 01:39 am »

Greg,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I am a bit discouraged by how development time has stretched out so long. I first started researching on dacs in early 2000, then bought a P3a in mid 2000 and was planning on getting the DanW mods and a P1a in the expectation that SOCS/RCS would be out soon. There was also talk then of the P5 being under development. Well, it seems that RCS is still being developed as is the P5.

It would be great if you could give us an idea of what's been going on and what product release schedule is planned for the next 12-18 months.

Greg Marberry · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Aug 2003, 09:45 pm »

Hi Jay,
Don't worry about offending me. I completely understand your position. I wish I could give a firm release schedule for the next 12-18 months but I simply can't. SOCS completion has been progressing. I have been seeing the results thus far. Once we have SOCS fully completed, the P-5A is should follow shortly. There should not be any delays with getting the P-5A out. Certainly not anywhere near what the delays have been for SOCS. I will most definitely let everyone know when we have the news that we are all anticipating. Hang in there with me

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks

Rocket · « **Reply #5 on:** 2 Aug 2003, 01:36 am »

hi,

i guess the basic design of the p3a is a couple of years old now.

but with the deals that your company has been offering with the units i'm sure there are a few more years left in them.

recently i saw a deal for $899us for the p3a dac, modwright level 1 and channel islands power supply combo for sale thru av123. that was excellent value imo.

my modwright level 1 is quite a bit better than the stock p3a dac. i'd like to hear the difference between a modded p3a and bel canto dac 2 i'm sure it would be very close.

when you refer to socs is there more research to complete or is your company testing the various brands of speakers for socs?

best wishes

rocket

Greg Marberry · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 Aug 2003, 06:50 pm »

Hi Rod,
I agree with you about the sale on the P-3A modwright lev 1 and VAC supply. It is a great value. As far as SOCS goes... SOCS has been "completed" once before but it had some issues (close to perfect but we want perfect) that we have been trying to work out. The way that we have gone about this is re-writing the whole code from scratch and avoiding the previous pitfalls. Writing this code takes some time as there are millions of lines to complete.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

hectic1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Aug 2003, 02:35 am »

Greg, that was a really great deal that you guys were offering on the P-3A with the modwright level 1. I'm actually glad that it is no longer on special as I was kicking around the thought of adding a second one for my HT room.

I would have been in some serious trouble from the S.O. though.

I would definitely agree that the modwright P-3A is a noticable improvement over the stock one. I'm going to send mine in for level 2 upgrade...I'm just having a hard time with the thought of not having it in my system for a couple weeks....

audiojerry · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Sep 2003, 06:04 pm »

What's a P5?

JoshK · « **Reply #9 on:** 3 Sep 2003, 06:13 pm »

would someone care to explain the expression 'long in the tooth'? I have heard it before but not familiar with what it means.

Marbles · « **Reply #10 on:** 3 Sep 2003, 06:21 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

would someone care to explain the expression 'long in the tooth'? I have heard it before but not familiar with what it means.

Getting old...

Sa-dono · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Sep 2003, 10:12 pm »

Quote from: audiojerry

What's a P5?

The P-5A is for simplicity's sake a combination of the P-1A, P-3A, and a preamp in one chassis. It will also offer upsampling to 192 kHz, be able to process (upsample and add speaker & room correction) analog sources, and include balanced outputs.

cyounkman · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Oct 2003, 09:18 pm »

Quote from: JoshK

would someone care to explain the expression 'long in the tooth'? I have heard it before but not familiar with what it means.

The phrase was first used in reference to horses, whose gums recede with age; hence 'longer teeth'...

more info on the etymology:
from Word Origins.com, with references to Brewer's and the OED
from Word Detective.com, a syndicated newspaper column for the lexicographically- ... um, enabled.

I'm thinking of starting a crossover e-zine called 'Lexicogreophile'.

cyounkman · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Oct 2003, 09:23 pm »

Quote from: Sa-dono

Quote from: audiojerry
What's a P5?

The P-5A is for simplicity's sake a combination of the P-1A, P-3A, and a preamp in one chassis. It will also offer upsampling to 192 kHz, be able to process (upsample and add speaker & room correction) analog sources, and include balanced outputs.

back on topic...

Interesting. Any word on price range? Do we know if any of the usual suspects will be modding it? Is it a passive or active linestage?

How does one 'upsample' an analog source?

Sa-dono · « **Reply #14 on:** 7 Oct 2003, 05:07 am »

Quote from: cyounkman

Interesting. Any word on price range? Do we know if any of the usual suspects will be modding it? Is it a passive or active linestage?

How does one 'upsample' an analog source?

I believe it will do a A>D>A conversion. I can't recall on pricing or what type of linestage. And I'm not sure why the usual suspects wouldn't modify it (meaning I'm sure they will if you have the unit and ask). Hopefully the AV123 guys can chime in and provide more info.

cab · « **Reply #15 on:** 7 Oct 2003, 11:31 am »

Quote from: Marbles

Quote from: JoshK
would someone care to explain the expression 'long in the tooth'? I have heard it before but not familiar with what it means.

Getting old...

Let me start out by saying that I have owned a P3 and P1 for what seems like 3 years or maybe a bit more. I have had all the Modwright mods done to the P3, and am basically happy with it. I have had several hardware/software issues with each unit, and have had to send them back to the factory for repair/modification on more than one occasion. PT has always taken care of the problems in an exemplary fashion....That's the good news.

The bad news? Vaporware. I originally purchased the P1-P3 combo as a result of the marketing hype that promised room and speaker correction in what was made to sound like a just around the corner, immediate future. While I hear the speaker correction has been available for a limitied number of speakers, by and large, as far as the P1 is concerned, the delays, broken promises, hype, etc., are nearly criminal. I honestly wouldn't believe a single word or promise out of the mouth of PT at this point. The P1 was sold under false pretenses-that it would be able to do all these fantastic things in just a short while, just a little more code, a few more tests, etc.. ad nauseum...If I would have known then what I know now, I never would have paid what I did for what appears to be, for all intents and purposes, a major scam. They ought to offer everyone who bought the P1 a 50% rebate as it only does half of what it was hyped to do.

Well, three years is a long time to wait, and at this point I have given up any hope that my P1 will ever live up to the hype...How can anyone ask PT about their future products, timetables, etc., and expect any sort of believable reply in light of their history and the incredible credibilty gap their marketing campaign engendered? I was fooled once; I would never buy another product from PT...

Greg Marberry · « **Reply #16 on:** 8 Oct 2003, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: cab

Let me start out by saying that I have owned a P3 and P1 for what seems like 3 years or maybe a bit more. I have had all the Modwright mods done to the P3, and am basically happy with it. I have had several hardware/software issues with each unit, and have had to send them back to the factory for repair/modification on more than one occasion. PT has always taken care of the problems in an exemplary fashion....That's the good news.

The bad news? Vaporware. I originally purchased the P1-P3 combo as a resul ...

Hello Cab,

I must say that I understand your frustration. Your anger toward us right now is legitimate. I know I've been saying the same thing for a while so I won't repeat it but I do hope that we can soon prove that we are not scamming and have not attempted to scam anyone. We are legitimately still working on the project. I'm here if you have any questions.

Thanks,

TheeeChosenOne · « **Reply #17 on:** 8 Oct 2003, 05:56 pm »

Quote from: cyounkman

The phrase was first used in reference to horses, whose gums recede with age; hence 'longer teeth'...

more info on the etymology:
from Word Origins.com, with references to Brewer's and the OED
from Word Detective.com, a syndicated newspaper column for the lexicographically- ... um, enabled.

I'm thinking of starting a crossover e-zine called 'Lexicogreophile'.

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth".............A related saying as gift horses are generally old and their mouth (receding gum line) tells their age.

gary · « **Reply #18 on:** 8 Oct 2003, 07:03 pm »

Quote from: TheeeChosenOne

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth".............A related saying as gift horses are generally old and their mouth (receding gum line) tells their age.

interesting. i always thought that expression had something to do with the trojan horse, and should have therefore been: always look a gift horse in the mouth. now it makes a lot more sense.

-gary

TimS · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Oct 2003, 07:56 pm »

Quote from: cab

The bad news? Vaporware. I originally purchased the P1-P3 combo as a result of the marketing hype that promised room and speaker correction in what was made to sound like a just around the corner, immediate future. While I hear the speaker correction has been available for a limitied number of speakers, by and large, as far as the P1 is concerned, the delays, broken promises, hype, etc., are nearly criminal. I honestly wouldn't believe a single word or promise out of the mouth of PT at this point. The P1 was sold under false pretenses-that it would be able to do all these fantastic things in just a short while, just a little more code, a few more tests, etc.. ad nauseum...
...

Cab

I'm afraid I can't agree with you. I think the P1/P3 combo are excellent value for money as they stand. Although it is frustrating to wait for the speaker correction software etc and the P5 to be released, I commend the PT team for obviously working very hard to get it right first time and have every confidence they will deliver the goods.

Tim