Airport Express compared to High End Transport.


I would love to hear from people who have compared the results of:

(1) Streaming music from a computer via Airport Express to a high end DAC via the optical output on an Airport Express.

(2) High end transport connected to the same DAC.

What were the sonic differences between the two? I suspect the high end transport was better, but thats just a supposition.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts on this.

All the best,
Neville
njp

Showing 1 response by mcmanus

The AE uses mini-optical. My unit came with an optical cable and an adapter. I kept the adapter and use it on a VH Optocoupler. Keep in mind that the AE only has an optical jack so if your DAC does not have an optical input, you will need to get the AE modified or use a converter -- I use the Monarchy Upsampler which converts the signal to coax.

I am just getting started on comparing the AE signal to my RA Opus 21. So far the differences are evasive. As you might expect, there are huge differences between file formats with Lossless being head and shoulders above the others.

FYI Keyspan has a new remote control integrated with the AE and iTunes. A bargain at $40 on Amazon.