Wadia ITransport

Thank you very much for your response. I agree, how can it sound better than the original source. I know from the Stereophile review, they verified, (I think in WAV) rip, that the data output was exactly bit for bit perfect, so, the question is, why the subtle difference? Might it be my interface cable? As far as better sounding than the source, Music Direct magazine states "As a result of retrieving a direct digital signal from the IPod, unadulterated, with high resolution files, better than CD quality is obtained" (note this is not an exact quote but conveys the message). As I've said, it's close to CD, but how to better it? Thanks.

the dac in the wadia is to blame. use a better dac.

Are you positive you are listing to the same mastering? You might be listing to the same song, but maybe the CD is a digital remaster and the Apple version is not...something like that.

I had this occur when listing at a dealer. He played a song that I am very familiar with, and I thought everything sounded like crap. Later, while at home, I realized I have a digital remastered version and the store was playing a downloaded crap older version...make since?

You might want to get an adaptor (Voodoo Cable) and use a first class PC instead of the stock. Made a large difference on my iTransport. I also use a first class digicable -- Kharma Grand Ref -- which also makes a huge difference. With these upgrades, I find little difference from CD to Apple Lossless songs on iPod Classic.

Neal

the dac in the wadia is to blame. use a better dac.

There is no DAC in the iTransport.

I am confused how you are using the iTransport, what do you have it connected to? Are you using the DAC in your Cambridge CDP?

It has been reported that the iTransport has a fair amount of jitter, so it is important to use a DAC that reclocks the signal. If the Cambridge does not do so, or do it well, this could be the difference.

People will argue endlessly about hearing differences in the formats, such as Apple Lossless vs, WAV, which is what CD's are; I have yet to dicern a difference, but that can simply be the way my gear does the conversion. All things being done right, I do not see why there should be a sonic difference.

As for "how can it be better than the CD", well there can be more than one reason and those smarter than I may chime in. But for one, a CD transport isn't always a stable platform and it reads once, as I understand it. A server based platform, like an iPod, "can" be more stable, plus when I copy my music to my iPod I use error correction, so it may take several reads to get it right, This may be overkill, but it doesn't take that much longer.