2. digital
  3. 191570-8843

Dedicated CD Transport vs DAC

Greetings,

Just some honest questions...

In your opinion, based on what you have actually experienced....

1)  Which accounts for the most sonic improvement?  A quality dedicated CD Transport or a Quality DAC?

2)  If a person could assign a percentage... by what % did your cd transport improve your sound?  By what % did your new dac improve your sound?

3)  If you honestly gained an improvement in sound... was it like, " Oh my God, I can't believe how great this improvement is " or is it more like, " I can hear an improvement but no wheres nearly commensurate with the increase in price it cost me."

Coming from being highly invested in vinyl playback for the last 50 years... I'm struggling trying to decide how to improve the cd playback side of my system.

Up to this point in time, I've usually found cd playback to oftentimes sound hard, glaring, sterile, two dimensional, etc.

Which in your mind, helps to eliminate the above sound qualities that I dislike?  A new dedicated cd transport or a new dac?

Thanks much for taking the time to reply and help me better understand!

Best wishes,

Don

 

no_regrets
no_regrets OP
543 posts
 

@oddiofyl 
Thank you for your reply!

I think I have read that using an external clock can really step up the sound of the Teac; not that the Teac is bad sounding on its own.  In fact, I have been given the impression that most transports will benefit from using an external clock. 
 

The only transport that I have read about, so far, that hasn’t shown an improvement by using an external clock, is the Jay’s CDT3Mk3. It appears that the internal clock is of reference quality already.  But, that transport costs $5000.  
 

Thank you for sharing your experiences with me!

Best wishes,

Don

aolmrd1241
1,042 posts
 

I recently purchased the CDT3 MKIII you speak of…it has been burning in…and worth every penny!!! 

no_regrets OP
543 posts
 

@aolmrd1241 

Hello!  
Congratulation's on the new CDT3Mk3. 

How do you think it sounds compared to other transports you may have had?

Which dac are you using with it?

Which digital output are you using?

Im excited for you and hoping to hear more from you about it!

Best wishes to you,

Don

 

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,962 posts
 

Judging by the quality of Jays subsidiary LHY  Network switch and OCK 2 clock I would say the Jays is a safe bet.   Those two products are built like a tank.  Fully CNC billet case.   Really high quality connectors.  Definitely changed my mind about what some of these Chinese brands are capable of.  

aolmrd1241
1,042 posts
 
Hi Don.
The Jays simply sounds like music... It really does not have a sound signature per-se... I can say without question it is the most naturally organic tonally pleasing sounding transport I have ever heard!
 
The way it lets the music flow in a most quiet and black soundscape without obscuring the details within the fabric of the music is astounding. 
Fresh out of the box it sounds nice... but patience is needed for it to really shine as intended after some burn-in time...It really took the horse by the reigns at about the 500 hour mark. Patience will pay off big time!
 
I believe that my Jorma AES/EBU cable feeding the Gryphon Diablo 300 dac module also contributes to the musicality of what I am hearing from the Jays... As a front end I can highly recommend the CDT3 MK3 to any music lover!!!
 
Mark
 
More to discover