Separate Transport & DAC: Why not?

In addition to real estate and cost of a digital cable, there are also potential jitter problems. Some solve that with a dejitterer ;-) but now you've got 3 boxes and 2 digital cables. I know that I tried that route and eventually went back to a one-box.

The power supply and space to do it right are advantages of separate DAC. It can also be battery-powered. Tough to do this with a player. Also, a DAC is an easy transition to computer-driven audio, which can be superior to ANY player and actually more convenient.

i had a separate transport and dac the plus side it sounds better. the down side mor cables both power and rca digital coaxs .i had trouble with ground loops etc. but when i finally set it up right it sounded better. i used a marantz as a transport a dip umpsampler for anti jitter and a msb dac and power supply the setup with cables cost about 1400. anothe plus side is if any single component breaks it is cheaper to replace. right now i have a modified pioneer because i listen to cds, sacds, audio dvds and movies. but i rather have this pioneer and the transport and dac for cds only

I'm a believer in separates, tried CDPs and separates from the same brand and found that even though the DAC section is the same, there is a marked improvement in detail retrieval and resolution when going separate.

Now with the so reasonably priced Benchmark DAC1, I see no reason for anyone to go separate if you've got a half decent budget. Just get a half decent transport(DVDP), even one that outputs high resolution 24/96 in digital if possible, and you should get pretty good sound.

I use a separate dac and transport because it sounds better. My soundstage shrinks in depth and width and my speakers reappear with my standard redbook play on my Sony scd-1. I use a theta genVa for my redbook.

I auditioned the pass labs d1, while auditioning for my system. The disadvantage of the d1 as a preamp it will only allow you digital inputs. The pass labs d1 is great sounding and very musical. A very noticeable improvement over Wayne Colburn’s adcom reference cd player.

An old review of the pass labs D1
http://calab.kaist.ac.kr/~cgkim/audio/amp/zen/www.passlabs.com/d1_ua.htm

my system, Thiel 2.3’s, pass labs x-350, x-2, Sony SCD-1, theta gen va

Enjoy
dave