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CD transports; do they really matter

In my pursuit of total sonic harmony, I have been investigating whether a CD transport ( to replace my bulky and aged Luxman CD player ) would be a good option.  I had an interesting conversation with the manufacturers rep of a respected brand regarding his companies CD transport.  He basically said its all in the DAC, the transport, as long as its not a cheap component, does not make much or any difference. So, I ask does it really matter?

mdrone
renatocomes
14 posts
 

I always tried to separate components in order to free to improve step by step my beloved music system. The DAC is becoming as much as important as the Preamp: let's say that DAC is a sort of Digital Preamp: I have an Esoteric D03 with 2 different digital sources: CD (Esoteric P03) and Streamer / Internet Radio Auralic Aries 2.1.

I'm thinking to connect my PC and watch stream video files (HD monitor) and pass the digital signal to the DAC then to my preamp. How many input an integrated CD/DAC machine could have?

In my opinion it is matter of flexibility other than quality etc.

audio-union's avatar
audio-union
179 posts
 

I distribute CEC.

Jitter is going to be the lowest with a belt drive transport. The noise level will be lower with a belt drive because the motor is farther away from the noise sensitive laser head. Suspension system of the transport, you usually can not see the suspension system if there is one, are important to keep the noise down. It turns out CD playback is sensitive to vibrations. The lower the vibration sensitivity of laser head / disk turntable, the lower the noise in the data stream to a DAC.

Turns out the basic design of the transport makes a difference to the playback of a CD. Belt drives will always outperform a direct drive transport in my opinion as an engineer.

vitussl101's avatar
vitussl101
182 posts
 

Cannot believe a rep would say that about his own products.

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,887 posts
 

Why not? He was completely upfront about it and contributed to the conversation in a helpful way, offering another way of seeing things, making some good points for consideration. 

All the best,
Nonoise

cdc
1,807 posts
 
charles1dad

 

I would love to try the RS2T but think I will have to settle for the DS2T. Is there much difference?

It seems most people say digital is less affected than analog. Especially with low level signals That is why pre-amp is so sensitive vs amp. Digital cable less important than analog . It's one reason why they say digital EQ is better than analog. How you think it?

I find the transport and DAC make distinctly different contributions to the sound. Hard to express but transport is timing, solid, coherence and DAC is harmonics, texture, naturalness of sound.

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