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Does the Transport make a significant difference?

Had been running a squeezebox with my Audio Note 2.1 Dac. Tried my basic Oppo dvd player as a transport and yikes what an improvement - even over my $3,000 invested Modwright Sony player (a little rough round the edges but dynamic and live-ly sounding). So wondering if the mantra of having a great source is the best place to start ... ie matching the Dac to a quality transport say CEC TL 51 or open the vaults and spring for a quality Audio Note, Esoteric, or even dcs transport will be worth the investment. How does this compare with say upgrading your amp or speakers or even cables? I know I should listen for myself but any good experience out there to draw on before I start getting crazy about checking out the used adverts?
ladavid
jeffcott
143 posts
 
YMMV and there will be others here who may not agree, but...

In my case, I have a quality transport, a CEC TL2. In My Experience, does a transport make a significant difference...Absolutely. It is still one of the most significant upgrades I have made. Note that I did not say biggest, or most dramatic. I said most significant.

I say this because it affected everything, and because it revealed so much from the digital disc.

Last week I received an email from an AG member, who had run across one of my old posts on the TL2, shortly after he had hooked up his new Transport. Want to chime in Kolledog?
tpsonic
1,092 posts
 
For the price of a good quality transport,you can get into a complete CD player with digital outs.This might also allow for comparison of its' analog outs, to the trans/dacs' output when auditioning a digital cable.
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
If the DAC is excellent at jitter rejection then it won't make a difference (one jitter immune input versus another should sound the same as it is all just bits). If the DAC is less than perfect at jitter rejection then it could matter. So your results will vary depending on how well the downstream DAC can handle whatever jitter is being thrown at it.
ladavid OP
79 posts
 
I have two cd players - one the Oppo that sounds pretty bad in my system on its own (its my dvd player for movies) unless played through the Audio Note Dac and one the Modwright Sony which is a quality stand alone player (tube rectified and seperate box tube power supply) unfortunately due to the mods I can't use it as a source for my dac and is getting its butt kicked by the oppo / dac combo. As for cables I am pretty good there too with audio note interconnects and a well regarded Atlas digital cable. Two things actually surprise me - how much better the oppo combo is than the Modwright Sony and how much better it is again than the computer / squeezebox / dac setup. Need to get my hands on a decent transport.
dgarretson
2,594 posts
 
Ladavid, Assuming the Modwright is a Sony SCD-1/777ES, I know from developing that unit that the stock transport is only fair. However extraordinary performance can be coaxed from that unit as a standalone transport through mods to Main PCB and DC regulation. I don't know what all Dan Wright did to that model, but it's likely he focused on the replacement tube analog section and outboard supply for the analog section. It's probable that what Dan did can be preserved, while significantly improving other aspects of performance in the digitial domain with aftermarket clock & other mods.
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