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Confused About Relative Sonic Impact of DAC VS. Transport

I've borrowed a Heed DT Transport to use in place of my Jollida JD100 CDP and am confused by what I'm hearing. 
My DAC is R2R ladder/non-oversampling Aqua La Voce. With Jolida in system, the sound is on the warm side of neutral without verging into tube-like, euphonics. With the Heed transport, all I seem to notice are the liabilities of every CD I play. 

If the Heed is more efficient at reading data from the CD than the Jolida, does this mean I am hearing the effect of the DAC more clearly, or am I hearing the effect of more information from the disc?

At first, I enjoyed the increased resolution, but with further listening, the sound, overall, strikes me as "thin" (as though lacking lower mids) and the highs verge on fatiguing. 

Switching out footers has some effect, as does tweaking my Schitt Loki EQ, but I'm still not very happy.

Excuse my French, but WTF is going on, here ?

BTW, John Darko, when reviewing the Aqua, recommended it as a particularly good choice for harsh-sounding CDs. 





stuartk
stuartk OP
2,988 posts
 
. . . not that I favor harsh-sounding CDs. The point is, as many undoubtedly know, R2R ladder DACs are not renowned for being overly "clinical/analytical". 
stuartk OP
2,988 posts
 
elizabeth: thanks for your suggestions. 

1) Heed transport is used and very well broken-in
2) AC power happens to be very clean
3) You could, however, be onto something with the cable-- I'm using a cheap Blue Jeans coax. I will try another cable.


millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Trying to figure out "why" or "what" is going on will only drive you crazy. Ultimately, does it even matter? Really? How? How does it matter? Right. Only thing that matters is how it sounds. Why and how and what is going on, these are questions for designers. Are you gonna buy something that sounds bad because you like how it works? Really? So forget all that, go with what engages and satisfies you musically. All else is noise.
stuartk OP
2,988 posts
 
millercarbon; I think perhaps you misunderstand me. I'm not pursuing an existential question, here; I'm trying to ascertain which component(s)  is/are responsible for the change in my system's sound, so I can make adjustments. 

If I don't know how each component is affecting the overall sound, the process of making adjustments is very difficult. . . akin to tossing (insert food item of your choice) against a wall to see which one will stick. 

Is the increased resolution of the Heed transport uncovering unappealing aspects of CDs that the Jolida did not reveal?

Did the Jolida disguise to some degree the inherent character of the DAC in a way that the Heed is not?

My goal is to replace the aging Jolida with a transport and maintain the sound I've been enjoying; I belive this is consistent with going with "what engages and satisfies (me) musically", to borrow your terminology! 




melm
1,082 posts
 
The best transport is no transport.  Rip your disks and let your DAC play at its best.
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