older CD transport vs newer ones.

my cd rips played from my computer's hard drive sound better than the cds played from the transports.

Sorry that's impossible if the same transport and CD!!!! was used to do the copy with, and both were using the same dac, and exactly the same digital link up to the dac. 

CD!!!'s are not the same here is the one and only album by these guys re-released over time.
 (red compressed) (green uncompressed) 
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=Traveling+Wilburys

https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=Bruce+Springsteen&album=Born+To+Run

Cheers George
 

Don't agree with Georgehifi, tons of info on this very topic all over the place, many reasons why rip could sound better than cd played over transport. Doesn't mean it always will, but its not unusual that it does.

H snsi, can you list what you read that improves?

Because this is what doesn't:
Twice the jitter
Twice the error correction
Twice the power supply noise, (even worse than twice because the computer is a noisy SMP)
The spdif digital output circuit from a good transport is far more exacting that that of a computer sound card.
And I'm sure there even more if I think about it.

Cheers George

I definitely agree that this topic has been discussed frequently and across many different audio forums. Anecdotally it seems that owners/listeners  with access to both  say high quality CD transport beats high quality ripped files and streamers (60 to 40 or thereabouts).

Not scientific by any means and bottom line seems to be both are capable of excellent sound if the hardware is up to the task. The convenience factor of streaming and stored ripped file library is undeniably huge. There are very happy listeners in either camp.
Charles

Per Charles, yes, don't need to hijack thread, this has been discussed at length here at the 'gon' and elsewhere.
For those still using cd transports, players. I discovered very early on, footers and rack solutions have relatively large effect on players, transports, and turntables for that matter. Anyway, I played with various means of situating player, over time I migrated to ceiling mounting with hd fish line. I still fondly recall the amazing sound that ML37 mounted from ceiling provided. So, if you're adventurous, try the ceiling mount, very effective.