Review and Measurements of Paradigm PW-Link Streamer/DAC

[batfunk]

I just ordered PW link for my system. Which would be the better connection option for me using optical out streaming Spotify and Amazon music?
I am assuming the Oppo DAC is much better than Parasound

PW Link--> Oppo Sonica DAC --> Parasound P6--> Parasound A21--> Speakers + Sub
or
PW Link--> Parasound P6--> Parasound A21--> Speakers + Sub

You have two preamp/Dac(OPPO sonica and Parasound P6), which is useless. If Oppo is the best Dac, the best way is:
PW link-->OPPO sonica-->Parasound A21->Speakers+Sub.
And the best streaming app is Spotify(I tried All main Music streaming services) with PW link, it's the only app which recognizes Play-Fi speakers and plays music Gapless with it!
Once again, Amazon Music is redundant(unless they have music you can't find on spotify but I doubt it).

 

[Vasr]

I just ordered PW link for my system. Which would be the better connection option for me using optical out streaming Spotify and Amazon music?
I am assuming the Oppo DAC is much better than Parasound

PW Link--> Oppo Sonica DAC --> Parasound P6--> Parasound A21--> Speakers + Sub
or
PW Link--> Parasound P6--> Parasound A21--> Speakers + Sub

I doubt you would hear any sonic difference between the two. The analog from Oppo into the P6 should be fairly clean pass through to the amp if you want to use the Oppo DAC and you would be able to use the single remote from the P6. You can try both and if you don't hear any difference, you can go the shorter path. The P6 has a fairly recent ESS Sabre DAC.

If you don't have any other sources and have a way to do all your operations remote with the Oppo, you can connect the Oppo directly to the A21 as suggested in the post above.

 

[Rubicon]

Thanks guys. If I remove the Parasound preamp I lose the subwoofer out and high pass filters.

 

[ankhati]

Hi lads.
I am looking for a preamp to drive my Beolab 8000 speakers.
i can probably buy this PW link for 250 money, but it seems a very flawed device and abandoned by paradigm. The low line out could also be a problem.
What do you think? is ARC worth it? Or should I look at a Yamaha WXC50 (about 250 money) or a Bluesound node 2i (499 money)
What are your thoughts?

 

[Gphoton]

Only buy it for ARC (worth it) and streaming Amazon HD in Critical Listening Mode or Spotify (only gapless service) into an external DAC

 

[Vasr]

I haven't gone through the whole thread but I got one of these and am facing a problem from sample rate switching.

I am connecting a source to it that plays CD quality 44.1khz 16bit via optical. The PW-link seems to output at 48khz as default until it sees a 44.1khz input come in and switches (after it has started playing a tiny bit) via optical. The pre-amp downstream has a small delay when the sample rate switches via optical in. The pre-amp displays the sample rates received on its display which is how I am tracking this.

So what happens is that, between songs I see the PW-link switching back to 48khz after a song ends, starting the next one still in 48khz and then suddenly switching to 44.1khz. So I hear a pause between songs, then some sound and then another pause for the sample rate switching in the pre-amp and then the song plays fine in 44.1khz. This is unusable.

If I make the source up-sample everything to 48 khz, then the above switch does not happen and so everything is smooth.

If I use it as a streamer through one of its Play-Fi channels, this problem does not occur.

Is this the way this unit is supposed to behave or is there some setting that can be changed?

 

[ripmixburn]

I own a PW Link and beyond the atrocious DTS Play-Fi the unit itself is appallingly flaky and lacking in features. I also notice silence at the beginning of tracks. I get some value from ARC but most of the time I just want to toss it off a cliff.

 

[batfunk]

Only buy it for ARC (worth it) and streaming Amazon HD in Critical Listening Mode or Spotify (only gapless service) into an external DAC

I Agree. I used it as Dac and streamer for a time but gave up Dac function because I got sometimes painful hissing when playing cd.
Arc is the most user-friendly room correction, very efficient and easy to use.
The best setup is to use it behind another dac and use Spotify app for streaming, the Only gapless app which recognize automatically Play fi speakers. Flawless since
And yeah, Play fi app sucks!

 

[bogart]

I own a PW Link and beyond the atrocious DTS Play-Fi the unit itself is appallingly flaky and lacking in features. I also notice silence at the beginning of tracks. I get some value from ARC but most of the time I just want to toss it off a cliff.

I’m so glad to hear this experience. It permanently answers the question of whether it’s worth experimenting to get ARC!

 

[Rubicon]

Anyone having issues connection to PW Link using Play-Fi after the latest iPhone iOS update? I am not able to connect even after granting Local Network access.

 

[Gphoton]

Anyone having issues connection to PW Link using Play-Fi after the latest iPhone iOS update? I am not able to connect even after granting Local Network access.

There was a Play-fi update to firmware pushed a few days ago. I had to update firmware before it would play.

 

[fungd]

I only run Play-Fi to get firmware updates, and I got the most recent one last week. The iOS app hung while doing the update (not sure at what stage, but it warned me to keep the app open to finish the update). I killed the app, then opened it again and it resumed the update process. Everything is now fine, but this is the first time the update process had a hitch for me.

Note that firmware updates are automatic for me when running iOS Play-fi; it does the update before allowing you access to the usual functions.

BTW, based on recent posts on this thread, I should say that I use the Link in pure digital mode with ARC via the Spotify app, and I never have clipping, don't have gaps in playback, and do not have pops/clicks. With my Raspberry Pi Squeezebox streamer, I do get pops/clicks between tracks although they are not very bothersome.

 

[Vasr]

I’m so glad to hear this experience. It permanently answers the question of whether it’s worth experimenting to get ARC!

It is definitely worth it for ARC for the price especially if one has never had room eq for two channel listening. There is nothing even close.

But it does have some quirks.

I don't think it is that bad for the price if you only use the optical in and optical out.

Used as a streaming device from DTS Play-fi, the phone/tablet client is the worst part. But if you just listen to one source through it (don't need to use the UI for selecting songs, etc) and put it in a preset, it becomes a non-issue. If you use the optical out, then you can leave it at a fixed volume and use the downstream DAC/pre-amp to control volume.

The other issue is the WiFi connectivity. It can be a bit flaky depending on your WifFi router (many devices including Apple devices can be flaky that way). I found it much more stable if I didn't have a hidden SSID (created a separate isolated network for this as I do with all IoT devies for security) and use a lower speed band without getting fancy with router settings for performance. This is not a high-bandwidth hog. I haven't had problems since then.

The power button is a bit flaky and refuses to come on if I totally turn it off until I press a couple of times. This is solved by never turning it off (it has a standby mode) or using an external power switch.

I am also using it as a roomEQ box for a PC source via optical in and this works fine except for the sample rate change. The PC has to up-sample and output at 48khz, otherwise the box keeps changing to 48khz in between songs and back to 44.1 for the content which creates a pause and a burst of noise at incorrect sample rate before it corrects.

YMMV may vary on whether the above is worth the hassle. But if it works with the above constraints, I don't think there is anything anywhere close to this price range to get a well-resepcted room EQ for 2-channel listening.

 

[Vasr]

Anyone having issues connection to PW Link using Play-Fi after the latest iPhone iOS update? I am not able to connect even after granting Local Network access.

Have had no problems with the latest iOS updates. Always run PlayFi to check if there are any updates to the firmware after any update to PlayFi.

 

[Rubicon]

Yes, I had the latest update run 2-3 weeks back. Reinstalling Play-Fi app fixed the issue.

 

[Worth Davis]

Circling back I bought 2 of the AMP? version for bedroom/tertiary systems and they are fine. Play-fi is a total abomination, I bought a $22 bluetooth adapter off amazon and it goes bluetooth - RCA input on the AMP now and ignore play fi completely.

 

[rexxe]

Hello,

Everyone here seems to have the PW Link, is there a reason to get that over the Martin Logan Unison which as AirPlay? Does Paradigm update their firmware more regularly or offer better support?

Thanks!

 

[Vasr]

Hello,

Everyone here seems to have the PW Link, is there a reason to get that over the Martin Logan Unison which as AirPlay? Does Paradigm update their firmware more regularly or offer better support?

Thanks!

Paradigm have been selling their version for much cheaper making it more of a "worth trying just for the heck of it" than seriously consider either as something to depend on for the centerpiece. Cheapest way to try out ARC for 2-channel.

While its is not discontinued, I am not sure Paradigm considers this a current product with continuing development. Play-Fi provides its own firmware related to Play-Fi once in a while. Once I had ARC genesis update its firmware on the PW. Other than that there have been no updates from Paradigm.

 

[rexxe]

Paradigm have been selling their version for much cheaper making it more of a "worth trying just for the heck of it" than seriously consider either as something to depend on for the centerpiece. Cheapest way to try out ARC for 2-channel.

While its is not discontinued, I am not sure Paradigm considers this a current product with continuing development. Play-Fi provides its own firmware related to Play-Fi once in a while. Once I had ARC genesis update its firmware on the PW. Other than that there have been no updates from Paradigm.

Awesome, thanks for the info! It looks like they're currently the same price if you purchase via their direct websites.

 

[ripmixburn]

Seeing as a big benefit of ARC is bass management, and this unit has no dedicated subwoofer output, does anyone have any tips for ARC Genesis? To complicate matters, I'm running with some smaller satellites that I cannot high-pass filter (integrated amp, single fixed sub out).