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CD Transports

Since CD transports just spin the discs, would I be justified in spending a lot of money on one, or buy a reasonably priced one (both units being well respected), and put the extra money into a more expensive DAC?
daj2832
bigkidz
3,404 posts
 

To me it all comes down to how something sounds in your own system.  Specs, measurements do mean something but I doubt my old Audiomeca measures as good as the Cambridge but in direct comparison, the Meca walks allover the Cambridge for pure musical enjoyment and sound reproduction.  The Lampy does have comments on the Meca on his website where he was modifying CDPs for transports and in the stock form he really liked the Audiomeca and also a Krell in stock form.  I bet neither of them measure like the Cambridge.  Go figure.


Happy Listening.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,917 posts
 
Hi lowrider57,

 I’m hoping to A/B the Box and the Bifrost at the same time for that very reason. I like the Oppo because it plays hdcd and SACD, and I also have a Sony spinner ( can’t remember Model ) that will enter the mix.

JD
instlouis's avatar
instlouis
91 posts
 
daj2832

Since you're using a PSA DAC, I would go with the PSA Transport and take advantage of the I2S connection between them .  That is what I upgraded to and have never looked back ! 

Happy listening ! 
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
+1 @curiousjim.

@instlouis, in addition to the excellent SQ produced using I2S, the PSA memory transport reads the disc, then uses a buffer (FPGA) to clock and error correct  the data before outputting the signal. The result is very low jitter and noise being transferred to the DAC.


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
My portable CD player, a Walkman, employs a buffer. But buffering, it can be demonstrated, doesn’t neutralize the deleterious effects of stray laser light getting into the photodetector. You won’t know it’s a problem until it’s no longer there. Perfect Sound Forever. Yeah, right.
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