I had been using an Oppo-93 SPDIF out to my Yggdrasil Analog
2 with a Jorma Digital cable (RCA at Oppo, BNC at the Yggdrasil). I was never quite satisfied with the
sound. It seemed to be somewhat
mechanical, bleached, or lacking tonal densities, with the mid-bass sucked out,
and an emphasis on the treble. From
memory, I seemed to recall getting better overall quality sound when I was
using a CAL Delta transport with a lesser DAC (CIA VDA-2) and cabling.
The Atoll DR200 Signature gave me a fuller tone, with better
timing (PRAT), and fluidity. The images
are more defined and fuller bodied. The
soundstage widened and deepened. The mid-bass is back. The sound is more relaxed, non-fatiguing, but
still with good drive.
So, basically everything improved.
There’s a review
by Edouard Hendrix for AV2D (in Dutch, but can be translated), that pretty much
spells out what I’m hearing. If you
search for “Atoll factory” (Son-Video blog) , you can find some
interesting photos and story of the
factory in the Normandy area of
France. The Atoll is a fine unit. I’m sure some of the other units mentioned
here are also quite good, too.
But, I
suspect once you get to the level of the Sim Audio or Atoll ($2K-ish units),
any additional refinements are going to be smaller, and at a significantly
greater cost. Atoll also has a higher
end, top loading unit ($4k-ish?), but that was more than I wanted to spend.
Yeah, the Primare CD-35 looks to include a DAC.
The Atoll CD transport was a significant upgrade to my
system. But, that could also be because
the Oppo 93 was so bad as a transport. I
don’t know how good your Jolida works as a transport.
If you have access to some other CD or DVD
players to try as transports, you may want swap them around and see what you
hear. That will give you an idea of the sensitivity. I’m pretty sure with your gear the sound
quality will improve with a better transport.
How much? Hard to say, but I’m pretty
sure you will hear it.
