Use a gDVD/CD player as transport with a good DAC?

Even better, get a cheap Sony SACD player and do the same thing. Then you can have your cake (standard CD's through the dac) and eat it too (the great SACD's through the analogue output of the Sony).

Unfortunately, that transport combination will not do any really good DAC justice. We have domonstated time and time again how a better transport in most cases makes a more siginificant difference than moving up one or two grdes in DAC's> As an example, we got better results using a $2950 transport with a $1500 DAC than we did using a $999 transport with a $5-8k DAC. We have also compared and used an inexpensive well built $999 transport in place of expensive cd players & DVD players used as transports, and always found the dedicated transport to sound better. We also have had many customers tell us the same thing. Your friend was right though, it is a cheap way to get into it and can upgrade later.

I agree completely with JC Audio! Buy the best transport you can afford.

A great deal would, in my opinion, would be a used Theta Data II or III, or EAD transport.

Richard

I agree with Tarsando. Get a used SACD player and even consider the Dan Wright (www.modwright.com) transport modifications. You get SACD playback capability as a bonus. My understanding is using a DVD player as CD a transport leads due increased jitter on the digital output from the CD clock on the DVD player being derivied from the much higher frequency DVD clock. I have used a Chord DAC 64 with great success in the past with CD, DVD and SACD players. However, the DAC 64 has an internal buffer stage that retimes the incoming signal, reducing jitter from the transport.

We have found the same problems with dvd players as transports as with cd transpots using inferior readers.Most DVD players simply have very flimsy computer type mechanics that don't really do a good job of transfer of data without a lot of artifacts.The best we have found so far are the Goldmund.Although they use OEM companies for the drive they have a very sophisticated clamping system machined by the company that mills Rolex,Paget,and Goldmund,exclusively.They currently have 2 products with the reference unit expected this summer.If,for the first time you require a DVD system and a 2 channel playback system to interlace, it can be done without compromise.Easy DVD turntable at 3095.00 or Eidos 38 at 12995.00.