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looking for the best cd transport only, without dac

I have a Hegel H160 with inbuilt DAC and I'm looking for cd transport recommendation for $1000 or so. I have Harbeth SHL5 + and like an open and transparent sound. I've considered PS Audio PWT and other used options. I'm currently using my $75 Sony bluray player for transport and surprised how good it sounds. I've auditioned transports like Marantz and Cambridge. Options like Primare and Audionote I have't been able to listen to, the latter ones used to get closer to price point. There is also the Oppo 203, but wonder about quality of sound sacrifices in jack of all trades box? When I have compared the few transports I've tried the sound quality differences were quite subtle. So have people here done some serious comparisons of sound quality of just transports and have any great recommendations? Thanks
ckharbeth
audioengr
3,282 posts
 
Transports don't have a sound of their own. They produce bit perfect digital output and bitperfect is bitperfect. You just want a quiet and sturdy one, and that is all

Not true.  The difference in transports is the jitter, which includes the Master Clock quality, the associated circuitry and power delivery, and the output driver speed and accuracy.

Yes, no mechanism by which transports could affect sonic quality and character of an audio system has been identified.

Jitter has been identified, and decades ago.

It would seem to me that the transport *shouldn't* matter because the myriads of high end dacs out there do their own jitter correction and clock management.

That would be nice in an ideal world, but that is not the world we live in.  99% of DACs are not perfect at rejecting jitter.

All that really matters is the jitter at the end of the S/PDIF cable from the Transport, nothing else.  Unless you want something pretty to brag about that is.

So why spend big bux on a transport, when you can have world-class jitter (20 psec) with an OPPO driving a Synchro-Mesh reclocker with a Reference BNC cable?

Synchro-Mesh - $599

Reference BNC cable - $499

Used OPPO BDP105 - $900

This will kick the butt of any transport on the market at any price.  Money back guarantee.

See these jitter plots:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154408.0

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
- are there any transports that lack a buffer??

Yes, 99% of them do not have a buffer.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
@audioengr

Hi Steve.

Your quoting @willemj and @randy-11 from posts back on 11/1 of last year. In any case, I happen to agree with them.

You already know the respect I have for your work in this subject, and by no means am I stating that you are wrong about the effects of jitter.

However, lets be real/practical. DACs now-a-days (such as, but not limited to, a Schiit Yggdrasil) essentially cleans up whatever "mess" in the way of jitter is sent to it.

Interesting enough that I posted in the absolute best dac thread that realistically speaking this is something the "best" DAC should do. that post was glossed over and no one responded.

Bottom line is yes, a transport matters, however, the "right" DAC renders the transport a moot point. The Yggdrasil goes as far as can indicate the source signal is crap, if it is, *and even then* purportedly cleans it up.

EDIT:

And the same (cleanup once signal is inside DAC) also holds true for cabling, IMO. Yes cables matter, however, the cable is part of the overall signal delivery from the transport to DAC, and its resulting "jitter laden signal" (if present) can be properly, thoroughly and effectively "cleansed" once handled by the (quality) DAC.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

gdhal - can you hear any difference when you use different S/PDIF coax cables?

If so, then the transport jitter still matters.  It does with most DACs.

The very few DAC's where it doesn't have any effect are not very good sounding IMO, because of the reclocking inside.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
gdhal - can you hear any difference when you use different S/PDIF coax cables?

If you mean differences between optical, AES/EBU and RCA coax, yes, I can hear a difference. Within those, to be perfectly honest I haven’t tried different types of optical cable, AES/EBU or RCA coax.

If so, then the transport jitter still matters. It does with most DACs.

How do you know that it matters with most DACs? The URLs you’ve provided (that I’ve seen) to your measurement data (again, outstanding work on your part) are *before* the DAC. Are you stating there is measurement data available *after* the DAC (via SE or XLR output) and therefore already converted to analog that indicates (never mind proves) there is better analog, as a result of less incoming digital jitter?

The very few DAC’s where it doesn’t have any effect are not very good sounding IMO, because of the reclocking inside.

So are you saying that DACs that are immune to incoming jitter are not good sounding? And further, the reason they are not good sounding is because of the DACs reclocking? At face value and in my mind this wouldn’t make sense because seemingly all of the quality DACs do some kind of reclocking (or at a minimum "re" something or other with the incoming digital).
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