SACD/CD Drive Mechanism Replacement

@ghdprentice   Thank you again for the excellent run down on how the streamer works, etc!  Could I use my MacBookPro as the "remote" to run the Aurender streamer instead of an iPad? ( I'm just hoping to not have to spend money on yet another item, lol.)

I'm just in the very early stages of considering jumping into the digital side of things.  Originally, my thought was to buy a used high end SACD/CD one box unit.  Thinking that I could get better sound out of the admittedly small 100+ cd collection that I currently have and then also to start collecting SACD's.

Now, hearing that streaming with an excellent streamer can gain me access to SACD quality sound on 1000's of titles for roughly $15/mth sounds very appealing to me.  As also the added bonus of not having to worry about a laser/transport mechanism failing and having the fear of it not being able to be replaced.

So, now knowing that to get the better sound that I would desire, I should plan on budgeting equal amounts of money on both the streamer and the dac; I wonder about this the following as a possible scenario...

Instead of buying a used high end SACD/CD one box player; what if I would use my ancient Rotel 955AX cd player that uses the TDA1541A multi-bit dac that I've had for decades (which still amazingly somehow plays without skipping) as a cd transport via coax into a very nice dac (which I would still have to buy), allowing me to play my current cd's while saving up for a very nice Aurender streamer.  My hope would be that the new dac would give me a significant upgrade in sound over the internal dac of the Rotel.  Or would that not be the case because the inexpensive Rotel would not make a decent enough transport to reap the sonic gains of the new dac?

Best wishes,

Don

@jafant  My original thoughts were to buy a very nice SACD/CD one box player.  I was considering something along the lines of the EMM Labs XDS1 v2 or XDS1v3 or a Playback Designs model.  Both of which, if I recall correctly utilize Esoteric's VSOP drive mechanism.  If I am not mistaken, Esoteric will no longer sell these drives to other manufacturers or to consumers.  They will only use them in Esoteric gear.

I'm still trying to decide what will be the best route for me to follow.  Analog is my first love for the recorded medium and I will not be giving that up.  I have a lot of money invested in the analog set up and vinyl records; and to my ears it sounds amazing.  I am investigating the digital side of things as I am aware it has come a long ways over the years and I am discovering that there is a lot of great music that I am missing out on that is not available on vinyl.

Best wishes,

Don

no_regrets

You cannot go wrong with Esoteric, EMM Labs nor Playback Design for CD/SACD needs. 

Happy Listening!

Don,

You can use a phone to control your streamer if you don’t have an IPad. But, wow… not owning an iPad I can’t fathom that, we have about seven and most get hours of use a day. But that is a different story. Start with using your phone.

Getting a high end DAC as a starting place. Great idea. You can use your old transport, and for that matter you can use your MacBook as a streamer. With a really good DAC that will sound very good. It’s not going to compete with your analog rig, but it should sound very good. Lots of discussion here about using PCs because they can sound good and folks start claiming (without experiencing) you don’t need a streamer… after all there is a PC processor in it… until they experience one (or one in a good system), then jaw drop and they switch sides. I was reluctant at first (although not vocal) until I bought my first one… and that was the end of me ever using a PC.

On DACs… like analog… there are some detail scraping ones that will get you incredible detail an unnatural sound. You want a high end audio DAC that is natural and musical… if it is a high end one that is well reviewed as musical, it will have the detail. I really love my Audio Research Reference 9, very musical and natural. Used I am sure you can find at $5K

@OP Sorry to be pedantic, but the Esoteric mechanism you are referring to is the VRDS not VSOP - which is a cognac designation.

Around the time (or slightly before) when  Esoteric replaced the VRDS with the Atlas, they stopped supplying transports on an OEM basis.

I was looking at your system and you might be surprised at how an Esoteric K03-XD SE sounds compared to your Naim CD player and Linn LP12.

I could suggest what the differences might be but you should listen for yourself.