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CD transports; do they really matter

In my pursuit of total sonic harmony, I have been investigating whether a CD transport ( to replace my bulky and aged Luxman CD player ) would be a good option.  I had an interesting conversation with the manufacturers rep of a respected brand regarding his companies CD transport.  He basically said its all in the DAC, the transport, as long as its not a cheap component, does not make much or any difference. So, I ask does it really matter?

mdrone
xboom
24 posts
 

Genuine question for audio-union:

 

[I distribute CEC.

Jitter is going to be the lowest with a belt drive transport. The noise level will be lower with a belt drive because the motor is farther away from the noise sensitive laser head. Suspension system of the transport, you usually can not see the suspension system if there is one, are important to keep the noise down. It turns out CD playback is sensitive to vibrations. The lower the vibration sensitivity of laser head / disk turntable, the lower the noise in the data stream to a DAC.

Turns out the basic design of the transport makes a difference to the playback of a CD. Belt drives will always outperform a direct drive transport in my opinion as an engineer.]

 

Wouldn't the wow & flutter from the belt drive mechanism introduce jitter as well?  And as age passed, wow & flutter will get worse and the belt also needs to be replaced.  How can one be sure that the tension on the belt is even throughout the chain after replacing?

 

Thanks.

pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 

of course the belt drive thing is CEC marketing. They make very good transports, but to suggest that they are inherently superior because of their drive mode is taking things a little bit in the direction of the marketing department. As you suggest belt drives introduce problems of their own that are not inherent to direct drives.

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

@pesky_wabbit

of course the belt drive thing is CEC marketing. They make very good transports, but to suggest that they are inherently superior because of their drive mode is taking things a little bit in the direction of the marketing department. As you suggest belt drives introduce problems of their own that are not inherent to direct drives.

+1

A friend had the CEC TL2N (Which I believe utilizes 2 belts?) for a number of years. He purchased a P.S.Audio Memory PWT and in his audio system both sounded very well. They provided different sonic presentations  and some listeners preferred one over the other (No surprises with that).

Point is they were highly competitive and the PWT is not belt driven. So as is often the case, there are multiple ways of "skinning the cat". Belt drive and direct drive mechanisms if executed at a high level can be very viable options. I do agree that attention paid to limiting vibration is critical for improving the sound quality of CD transports. There are numerous ways to achieve this as well.

This is one key aspect (Among others) that seperates the higher quality and better built/engineered transports from cheaper made units.

majorc
78 posts
 
I have tried many transports and can not hear a difference between an expensive transport and a cheap blu ray player from best buy - but the dacs make a huge difference. However, I know many claim that ripping and playing from a hard drive is better than any transport.....
xboom
24 posts
 

@majorc 

 

Can you tell us the brands and models of those transport you've tested?  Also did you test them on the same equipment like A/B test?

 

 

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