Bogart99,
you got it right that is a load of twaddle, anybody that can't hear the difference between transports is got to have their ears examined and especially when they're using $16 transports doesn't say much about his system does it lol
New, Very Interesting CD Transport
On John Darko's website today we learn of the brand new Shanling ET3 CD Transport. And for $729 USD it looks really capable. Top loading with Philips SAA7824 drive. AES/EBU, coaxial, TOSLINK and I2S digital outputs. Plus Wifi and Bluetooth. USB to connect to a external HD and built in upsampling, too. It even will output digital to USB for connection to a DAC but not with upsampling.
Here's the skinny:
https://darko.audio/2023/06/shanlings-et3-cd-transport-comes-with-two-twists/