Pioneer CD & DVD as Transports

Sbank, OK, I'll put in my $.02 here.

Monster Interlink Datalink 100
Very basic. Absolutely nothing wrong with using this cable in a mediocre home theater set up but not in a 2ch audio system

WireWorld SuperNova 3+
Very good for the money. Pretty smooth highs for a cable at this price, decent midrange and OK bass(deep but not detailed). Imaging pretty good, staging a little narrow.

WireWorld SuperNova 5+
A slight improvement over 3+ in all areas. Still a very good cable for the money and I would not hesitate to recommend it or the SuperNova 3+ to anyone looking to get a digital cable in under $200 price range. Differences between this and 3+ are very subtle.

Acoustic Zen Silver Bytes
Very detailed sound. More detailed than the SuperNovas. Pretty wide soundstage but not very deep. Light on bass and a little thin on vocals. Very close to the SuperNovas, but a bit brighter.

Stereovox HDXV
Very close to AZ, but with a little bit more low end.
Top end and mids are basically same as AZ.

Synergistic Research Phase II X2
A little dull sounding even by comparison to wireworld. I preferred HDXV over it.

Synergistic Research Resolution Ref X2
Better than Phase II but still something is missing. Doesn't have the PRAT, stage is a little improved over Phase II. I again preferred HDXV.

Virtual Dynamics NiteII
Now we are talking. Smoothest highs, fullest midrange, deepest bass of all the cables I described before. Tighter bass, details in the bass are much better. Overall this cable is the smoothest and best balanced throughout the spectrum than any of the previously discussed cables. Even on bright recordings it never sounds bright or digital. Great if you need to tame the highs but still not loose the detail. There is a pretty big gap between this NiteII cable one and the cables I mentioned previously.

Virtual Dynamics Master
This is the digital cable that is at the top of the list. It is the most expensive. Sounds so good, it is scary. Superb, no, CRAZY resolution. It will get everything off the disc to the last bit. And it wasn't even fully broken in. Improvements across the board over any of the above cables(including the NiteII). Sound is detailed, very smooth. Champ in a low-level resolution as well. When you play live recordings of good quality, this cable will make you forget you're listening to a recording. This was as close to the sound of real instruments as I heard with any digital cable in my system. Very open, free sounding cable. it seems like your system has limitless potential.

Whatever I said here is based on what I heard in my system. What sounded good there may not sound good in someone else's system. People have different preferences, different tastes. My findings in my system may not necessarily coincide with how these cables will behave in your system. So the best thing to do when you get the components you want is to try different cables in your system to see which one is the best sounding and of the best value to you.

I started with CD playback back around 1992 or so with the Pioneer PD-65 player. I had to spend the nearly $500 to get any kind of musical enjoyment after being with LPs up to that time. The PD-65 continued to impress me until I finally started to work to achieve more and more enjoyment as with LPs. When this time came, the logical thing to do was try a number of DACs.

Over the course of 4-5 years I tried/owned the ARC DAC3, Counterpoint DA10, Muse 296, Electrocompaniet ECD1, VTL Ref DAC and finally Manley Ref DAC which I have been using in my music system for over 3 years now. Each of these DACs had various levels of improvements over the PD-65 as a CDP, but in pure value terms, the Counterpoint DA10 was phenomenol. I doubt much in the under $1k range could compete with the PD65/DA10 and a digital cable in the $200 range.

I did compare the PD65 transport vs the Muse 8 and Theta Basic and quite frankly could hear no differences. And when I tried the Audio Aero Capitol last year as a transport, I thought there might be a slight improvement in detail but I was not sure. When I have to strain so much to hear such a difference, and then when I go back I am not sure there was one, I stay with what I have.

When I changed from the cheapo digital cable to the MIT digital cable, things improved significantly in clarity and silence between notes. And then last year when I changed to the Marigo 5.7 cable, this was even more dramatic in the same direction. My experiences here have shown that the cable is a much bigger factor than the transport .... or is the PD65 is truly a outstanding performer as a transport? I have wanted to try the Goldmund 36, Spectral 3000, CEC TL2, MBL 1531, etc., but does it make sense to spend another $3k here for a transport? I suspect not.

I also use the Genesis Time Lens and this continues on with the benefits brought on by the cable changes. It is a pain to have the PD65, Genesis and Manley Dac and the two cables compared to the simplicity of a one-box unit. But this path has allowed for upgradeability that would have been very costly had I upgraded to another standalone player each and every time such improvements here were achieved. And the Genesis and Manley benefit significantly from power cable changes as well.

All of this shows me that a midfi product like the PD65 can easily fit well into a system that would typically have a transport that costs 5-10x as much.

John

Jafox,
You raise a really interesting point that digital cables have so much impact on overall results, and that so much commetary on various transports & dacs often mentions the cable as an afterthought.
My experiences w/analog interconnects & speakers lead me to similar conclusions. All this just makes it clearer that there is no easy solution, and it will take plenty of experimentation to get anything close to an optimal match within any target budget.

Audphile1,
Thanks for the well-written summary of the cables you've tried. For my particular situation, the Wireworlds are worthy of consideration. Right now I'm leaning towards an Ack DAC, which comes with its own digital cable, and they also sell/recommend Stereovox.
Curious to hear if any Ack users have compared their own to other ~$100 used digital cables.
Cheers,
Spencer

Spencer you're welcome. I tend to agree with Jafox. I used Sony S7700 for a transport and I am pretty sure that if you take the S7700 and a VD NiteII or Master digital cables, this combo will most likely beat a dedicated and more expensive transport not using such good digital cables. You should be able to distinguish between various cables easily. If you're looking at a cable in the price range under $200 then HDXV and WireWorld Supernova 5+ is pretty good. But if you want awesome sound, but can spend a little bit more money, there is one suggestion I got for you. e-mail me.

Thanks everyone. I just picked up a Pioneer Elite DV-45a on ebay for $150. Pretty happy with that. Still keeping my eyes open for a deal on a DAC. Ack, Audio & Scott Nixon are at the top of my list. The fact that the stock versions include battery power on the Ack seem to be keeping it leading the pack. Suggestions welcome, as long as we are talking ~$400 used/new price limit. Cheers,
Spencer