2. digital
  3. 1153339041

Transport for Bel Canto DAC2

First, my system:
Green Mountain Audio Continuum 1.5 Speaker
Rogue Audio Tempest Magnum Tube amp
w/JP Cables Maximum AC Gold Power cord
Bel Canto Design DAC2 DA converter
Bolder digital cable Interconnect
Silver Audio Hyacinth Interconnect
Zu Wax Speaker cable

I listen to a variety of music including jazz, rock, pop, electronic, etc. I currently use a Toshiba DVD player as the transport, but I hear too many digital artifacts, and I wonder if it is the culprit. Any suggestions? I'm hoping to spend under $400.
eeerie1
eeerie1 OP
43 posts
 
Hi Jamesw20,

The hard drive based system sounds very intriguing, but it is out of my price range at the moment. Are they able to keep the hard drive quiet?
eeerie1 OP
43 posts
 
Hi Gmood1. I'm not familiar with those devices. What do they do, and how would they help clean up the signal from the transport?
philnyc
162 posts
 
Eeerie,

There is a pretty good (IMHO) explanation of why digital cable length makes a difference here (assuming you are using coax instead of optical):

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm

If the article is too technical to understand, the gist of it is that a 1.5m digital cable is able to hold the entire length of a square wave's "rise-edge" based on spdif specifications, and that shorter cables can cause jitter-related problems because of mismatched impedences and the resulting signal reflection inside the cable.

The other important factor is to make sure the digital cable you use is truly 75ohms.

If a hard drive solution is interesting to you, also check out the Squeezebox by Slim Devices (http://www.slimdevices.com). It's only $250-$300 and works with iTunes...
clio09
3,360 posts
 
Go to www.empiriclaudio.com or www.vhaudio.com. Both sites have information on the reasoning behind using a 1.5m digital cable. Steve Nugent at Empirical Audio wrote a white paper on this and I believe it was published in PF. You should be able to locate the article on his site. He is also known here on Audiogon as Audioengr. Like you, I was using a 0.5m digital IC and upon moving to a 1.5m length noticed a difference. Then again it could just as easily been the cable upgrade.
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Hi Eeerie1,
Well if your transport is adequate enough to put out a clean digital signal. The devices will take that signal and produce a more refined reclocked signal for your Dac. It will also increase the digital signal from 6 to 10 times depending on which model you use. These devices work very well! The difference will be very apparent from the moment you turn on your equipment. Only someone with a VERY expensive transport may not notice the difference. Good thing about a device like this .You can use it as you change transports and sources ..while still enjoying the benefits.

As Phil suggests you can also use a 1.5 m or 5 ft cable from your transport. Or if using one of these devices use the .5 meter from the transport to the Upsampler. Then use the 1.5 m cable to your Dac from the Upsampler.Adding the 1.5 m cable to your transport will not give you the difference in sound adding a DIP will. But it can't hurt having the cable in the mix..I use a 1.5 m cable also.

You can get a 5 ft digital cable from Blue Jean cable. Cost... you're looking at $18.00 total with shipping. This is a very solid cable.
More to discover