If the DAC is the same, how different do CD transports sound?

Mapman,

I agree with you about ripping and streaming.  I utilize a Naim UnitiCore to rip and store my CDs as WAV files (it has a built in 8tb hard drive).  Of my 5,000 CDs, only four could not be ripped because the CDs also had video content.  Like you, I have noticed that some CDs take MUCH longer to rip because they have parts that have to be read over and over for error correction.  The ripper reports the number of errors that required interpolation to fill in error gaps.  Of these 5,000 CDs, the ripper has found zero errors requiring such measures.

The ability to search for any CD by knowing the tiniest bit of information, or browsing the collection by genre is priceless, particularly with a large collection.  The convenience of not having to search for each CD and then having to re-file them when done is also great.  The fun of assembling long playlists is also not to be overlooked.

Hi all, I bought a ProJect RS2T for my Border Patrol Dac. Never had anything else to compare, as I'm more into analog and just wanted a good transport under 2.500 eur (I live in Poland) without visiting 20 dealers and here for 2.000 eur you can get a ProJect. But I tell you something, I used to have also the ProJect power supply, the RS BOX UNI 1 Way and later I sold it for very decent money. Then I decided to plug a new power cord into the Dac. I had for one year a Cardas Parsec, when I ordered from Pete a Triode Wire Labs' High Power Digital American power cord. It was night and day. I have no longer the power supply so I'm using the stock one, but anyway the sound it's much better than before, just with the new power cord. Like listening to a different Dac or amplifier. Same with analog system, when I plug Pete's power cord into my Leben CS300F the sound becomes dramatically better, more structured highs and bass, more depth, more details, voices much more present and "human". So for my personal experience cables do make a different, in the case of this power cord a terrific difference. And that's what I suggest to get the full potential from your equipment.

adversam

What does it have to do with this post subject "If the DAC is the same, how different do CD transports sound?"🙄

I dont stream , and i dont use cd transport anymore... Only a battery dac with an internal lossless files bank... Less noise and simpler... I am lucky.. 😊 I transfered all my cd from the last 25 years... I invested in music much more than in my audio system... *I could not do the two...

Interesting thread anyway...

Maybe someone someday can do a deep dive on source to dac issues and come up with some good explanations and examples of what can go wrong. I’m convinced that weird things can go wrong even though the music keeps playing. I’ve heard it myself ; strange and obvious distortion that somehow creeps into the signal chain, and it’s source is in the digital domain. A re-start usually fixes it. I’ve always experienced these anomalies when I’m feeding the digital signal in some kind of daisy chain of devices before it reaches the dac. Some things I think I understand, like when one device is set to 44.1 and another to 48 kHz. You get the playback speed varying all over the place to keep the two devices in sync. Other issues I’ve heard are high distortion, making me think a coil is rubbing. A flute sounds like a kazoo. I’ve also seen video artifacts creep in through fully HDMI connections, where I see a slight ghosting until I unplug and re-plug the HDMI cable. There’s so much processing going on between these devices that opportunities for a corrupt but playable signal can happen.