CD Transports

Thanks daj2832 for starting this thread.

I’m eagerly going to read every word on it. I’m starting with an Oppo BDP 93, and am going to work my way up The DAC ladder to a point that is. I just ordered a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 as my first DAC and an Audioquest Cinnamon coax. I plan to get a Schiit BiFrost Multibit next, followed by ? And than a Mytek Liberty and or a Schiit Gungnir Multibit.

JD

Sorry but the Jays cdt mkll cannot be beat at it's price range. You will have to spend at least twice to get better and only marginally better

I couldn't recommend an Oppo 93 as a transport.  It has high jitter.  I had one and it took me some time to figure out it was the cause of my system not sounding as good as it should.  Replaced it with the Atoll and all is good now. 

Yeah, perhaps the DAC has more influence. Say 70% DAC to 30% transport? Hard to quantify, but as bigkidz says the transport can certainly be heard.

Compare the build quality of the $10 Sanyo assembly and the out of production $20 Philips to the $105  current production, audio CD only Teac. That Tascam 200 is probably a good, low cost option. 

When you move up in price you usually will get better, more robust power supplies and filtering, vibration control and dampening, better clocks and regulation circuits, SPDIF isolation, etc.  All things that will provide a more refined sound. Audiolab 6000CDT might be another lower cost option.

@curiousjim , why order the ProJect DAC and then move to the BiFrost Multibit? They are two very different animals, which I would imagine, have very different sonics. The S2 uses a Sabre DAC chip and supports MQA. The Schiit is a NOS ladder dac using an Analog Devices dac chip, which produces an organic sonic signature.

Are you interested in MQA and DSD? I’m curious.

I assume you’ll be using the Oppo as a transport.

cavvy

+1