Reclocker... interesting, I already myself have too much power cord cost, and cable cost to add more in between.. I am not so sure you can't get a transport with a upgraded clock or better one in the first place to fore'go the excess cables and conversions adding a third unit to the digital chain, but I have not had these issues so maybe it is a good path.
Transport - does it matter to the sound at all?
I wanted to start this thread, to gain some insight into peoples experiences on this subject.
My view: From the outset of CD and digital media, we were force fed the view that 'its digital so always sounds the same whatever' ideology. Remember the jam on the cd, and it doesn't skip. Since these naive beginning we quickly found out it did matter, and the quality of components, interconnects (its wire isn't it so doesn't affect the sound?) and design DID affect the sound. So I firmly believe that a transport does affect the signal quality and final sound output in a big way. There are transformers, capacitors, boards, wires, all the components that have such a bearing on quality output on all the other components in a system. And the motor, the bearings, the transport mechanism, jitter correction, noise, damping, vibration from itself and speaker interaction ALL will affect the sound.
My question, what are the views on this balance between cost on a DAC and the transport. Are many of us getting it wrong bolting on Sony DVD players to high quality DACs? And are many of the 'quality transports" out there just re-boxed philips units. It does appear very few manufactures build their own transports aka Meridain, Linn and Naim to mention a few.
It would be great to see a high quality transport kit out there, which would allow a full transport and kit DIY project, with mods and part upgrades available at an affordable price.
I haven't the money at present to upgrade my DAC, which is an upgraded Audio Note DAC 1.1 and Zero transport, but I am very happy it at the moment as it was a huge jump over oversampling units I had owned previously.
My view: From the outset of CD and digital media, we were force fed the view that 'its digital so always sounds the same whatever' ideology. Remember the jam on the cd, and it doesn't skip. Since these naive beginning we quickly found out it did matter, and the quality of components, interconnects (its wire isn't it so doesn't affect the sound?) and design DID affect the sound. So I firmly believe that a transport does affect the signal quality and final sound output in a big way. There are transformers, capacitors, boards, wires, all the components that have such a bearing on quality output on all the other components in a system. And the motor, the bearings, the transport mechanism, jitter correction, noise, damping, vibration from itself and speaker interaction ALL will affect the sound.
My question, what are the views on this balance between cost on a DAC and the transport. Are many of us getting it wrong bolting on Sony DVD players to high quality DACs? And are many of the 'quality transports" out there just re-boxed philips units. It does appear very few manufactures build their own transports aka Meridain, Linn and Naim to mention a few.
It would be great to see a high quality transport kit out there, which would allow a full transport and kit DIY project, with mods and part upgrades available at an affordable price.
I haven't the money at present to upgrade my DAC, which is an upgraded Audio Note DAC 1.1 and Zero transport, but I am very happy it at the moment as it was a huge jump over oversampling units I had owned previously.
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- 37 posts total
Jitter is the difference in both Transports and digital cables. Jitter is also a problem with commercial CD disks. Rewriting a disk with a low-jitter writer can be equivalent to $1200 in mods to the transport or a $600 digital cable. See these articles on the subject: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/spdif.htm http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue22/nugent.htm As you can glean from the articles, changing transports is not really the road to low jitter, computer audio is. Steve N. Empirical Audio Manufacturer |
I believe in very expensive transport and cheap DAC. I have a Forsell Air Reference transport hooked to an EAD 7000 III DAC I dont believe in the "Reconstruction Theory", jitter is all that matters, so the Transport can send any crap to the DAC and the DAC will "Reconstruct" the signal with a good clock!!! I just dont buy it!!! |
Seantaylor is right on the money with the reclocker and NON OS DACs. The difference in sound for the better when using a reclocker with these units is undeniable. Astrostar59 ..you should try one just for fun. The Monarchy DIP, Digital Lens, GW Labs and a few others will make a significant difference with the old school Dacs. I'm going to jump on this Computer transport trail soon and hear what it's all about. I'm thinking a media center type computer like the SYS MediaMax, could put me where I want to be. This will eliminate using a basic transport,cd player,DVD player and DVR player all by giving you the ability to run the entire system with one remote or keyboard..which is exactly what I want to do. My thinking is..I'd rather go this route than spend thousands on a Slim Device Transporter or dedicatd transport with no where near the features or expandability. |
Very interesting on the NON OS DAC's and insuating that the Transport is not a huge factor in reproduction of sound. In my past experience and present, the transport makes a HUGE difference. I currently use an Electrocompaniet ECD-1 (which is NOT a NON OS DAC) and you can tell a huge difference from transport to transport as I have tried several combinations and digital cables for that matter. Very interesting post.. Chris |
- 37 posts total