Transport Question

@jasonbourne52 , Binary code is one thing. Getting it from one place to another is something else. The cheapest system of source, cabling and endpoint can successfully transmit data for banking purposes as long as it meets industry standards. It's just a printout and not music.

Anyone here with cable TV knows that despite all the tight and proper crimps, connections and measurements showing that it's working properly, the picture still sucks compared to a decent blu ray player. I've had techs over many a time and they hook up their meters and everything is working to spec and yet it still stinks. We all just settle for less and fill in the missing parts in our heads, ignoring the flaws.

The same goes for music. Too much goes on with all the connections and distances involved and with no general agreement on which is the better way of doing it, unless one thinks like you do. Thankfully, I don't.

All the best,
Nonoise

@jasonbourne52 - "Far from scientific!"

I think if you read my post, you will find no claims of scientific validity. I know of no suitable tests of this propositiion that are double blind and adequately account for Type I and Type II statistical error. In fact, I don’t know of any peer-reviewed, published experiments that explore differences among transports.

I would add that without people's reporting their experiences, science (if it were funded) would not know what to investigate. The ideal, after all, is to produce sound that is subjectively convincing.

If audio were entirely a scientific endeavor, no one would play LPs, and we’d understand why SACDs sound better to many, despite being hugely overspecified and having a large HF noise envelope. But they do and they do and as Nelson Pass said: "It’s entertainment, not brain surgery."

 The reason why a cable video stream is often poorer quality than from a player is the common practice of compressing (discarding data) done by the providers. They do this also to music files. That’s why I stick to physical media for music and video.

OP you'll never know until you try.I don't see how you could go wrong by searching out another brand that has a sturdier build quality.

I have a 260d and find it to be excellent in terms of design, build quality and responsiveness. Previously, I owned an Electrocompaniet EMC-1up, which was also first-rate, but as I was using its built-in DAC, and am now using an external (Denagrips Pontus II) DAC, it would be an apples to oranges comparison.

The Moon certainly sounds terrific in my system, but I have never tested it against a different transport.