CD Transports

I recently purchased an Atoll DR 200 Signature. It’s a fine unit. That may be another unit you may want to check out.

 The Atoll transport can be serviced in the U.S. and uses a Teac 5020 CD drive. I believe that drive is also used in the Tascam 200, and appears to be a decent quality unit (certainly not a $15 computer drive). The Atoll unit is built in France, and most of the subcomponents, are also manufactured there.

 I believe there is more to the transport issue rather than just jitter. Several factors come into play before the data reaches the DAC. The laser must remain in focus and track the disk. The disk must rotate at a constant angular velocity. The HF signal should be as noise free as possible. The transport should be vibration free. Errors with reading the signal and the PCM conversion are corrected on the fly, typically using a Reed-Solomon, or similar correction method. 

I believe the error correction process and method may also affect the signal. As data are transmitted “on-the fly”, no checksums are involved. There is no guarantee the data will be “bit-perfect” as compared to the source. This is true for disc or computer based systems when the data are “streamed” to the DAC. The signal could also be contaminated with noise, or altered, during transmission.

 Regardless of your choice, a CD transport with a good clocking circuit, power supply, and vibration dampening should be a priority in my view. I looked at the Sim Audio, but decided on the Atoll as a replacement CD drive may be easier to source in the future (Teac 5020 is a well-known unit). I ended up purchasing a spare drive from Atoll at a nominal cost. 

In my experience the transport can have almost as much effect DAC on the sound quality as the DAC. However, above a certain level, the transport differences may be smaller.

if you read the linked story, there are listed FOUR parts to the quality of the transport, not just ’jitter’.

Jitter and frequency are one of the main ones you can look at yourself if you have the equipment, as Lamipzator said what I sent him the Cambridge CXC is about as good as it as gets.
And for $500 new it’s a no brainer.
And most important the Sony laser/mech is readily available for less that $50, unlike some unobtainable CD transports who’s lasers are unobtainable new, and up to $500 used if you can find one.

The Atoll transport can be serviced in the U.S. and uses a Teac 5020 CD drive.

This one uses the  Sanyo SF-P101N or the SE a  VAM1202/12
Cheers George

I heard the Cambridge CXC and while it sounded nice it was far from the best transport I have used.  The Sim Audio I 5.3 CDP used as a transport sounded better.  An old Rega Apollo sounded even better.  The CEC Tl5100Z sounded even better.  The Audiomeca was better than all of them no matter what DAC we threw at them.  The transport made a difference in sound quality and listenability.  You have to hear them for your self.  To my ears the better DAC was more significant that the transport.

Happy Listening.

This Cambridge CXC transport spdif output wave form is even better with the scope loaded better.
Much faster rise time and sill no jitter to see. They said it’s only got 5 ps of jitter in the specs.
https://ibb.co/hZFzDhY

Cheers George

Thanks daj2832 for starting this thread.

I’m eagerly going to read every word on it. I’m starting with an Oppo BDP 93, and am going to work my way up The DAC ladder to a point that is. I just ordered a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 as my first DAC and an Audioquest Cinnamon coax. I plan to get a Schiit BiFrost Multibit next, followed by ? And than a Mytek Liberty and or a Schiit Gungnir Multibit.

JD