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PS Audio CD Memory Transport?? Yes Or NO

I have thousands of cds and I have 4 or 5 cd players. To me they all sound pretty similar. I want to buy one that would be a step up. I have Marantz 6005, Pioneer cd recorder, California Audio Labs Mark 2 and an old Oppo dvd player. I have a Wyred 4 Sound Dac 2. LIke I said I cannot tell if any of them sound any better than the others. I think the California Audio actually sounds best to me. I have Prima Luna separates and a Luxman 505U integrated amp. The questions is, will I hear any improvement going to a transport with the hard drive to reduce jitter etc. or will it be a waste of money? Any advice or other suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks,

128x128dylanfan
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I have a PWT and a Wyred 4 Sound DAC2 SE with the femto clock upgrade (all but vanished jitter, along with the cap upgrades over standard model, etc). This combo provides the most musical sounding CD playback I have yet heard and I connect them via the I2S interface with an Audioquest Forest HDMI cable. Also, this set up allows me to use a Macbook Pro as a server thru the W4S via USB so I make the most out of the DAC.

I am confident that if you heard the PWT through the DAC2 via I2S you would agree this is the way to go.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
stevecham mine is the basic dac2. Do you have the transport or the transport memory? Wonder if the memory transport would take the place of using the femto clock upgrade.since it puts the music on the hard drive first before playing.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
I just ordered the PS Audio Memory Transport. Can't wait to give it a try.
erik_squires
16,123 posts
 
Well, I'd say do you want it to sound better?

Do you hear better when you go into a store? Imaging, balance, voices, piano. Does any of it make you t hink you are missing something?

Have you auditioned great headphone gear to give you a reference?

USB 2.0 Asynch, properly implemented, is the bomb, but can be done really cheaply and well too.

Best,


Erik
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
The PWT is a memory transport; it plays for about 30 seconds or so if I eject the disc while in play mode. The memory component of the transport has nothing to do with eventual DAC filtering.  The memory is to make sure the DAC receives error-free data from the disc before converting. By using the I2S interface, the clock signals are kept discreet in the interconnect so as not to have to combine at the digital output of the PWT and then deconvolute at the DAC in prior to filtering.
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