CDP or Transport and DAC? Recomendations?

@walstib There was a recent thread here on the Pro-Ject CD Box RS2 transport.

Were I currently in the market for such a thing (and I may be in the foreseeable future - I have a Rega Saturn CDP. Its gud) it would be a far superior option than another premium CDP I reckon, and together with a a good DAC (I’ve noticed the recent Gustard X18 receiving enthusiastic compliments elsewhere, for example - just sayin’) comfortably within budget Just.

@btscott

Yes I sometimes see where people rip everything to hard drive. What are the advantages of doing this (other than archive)? I seem to remember reading something that it eliminates jitter in playback, but then I also understand that this issue has been mostly "solved" over the years with any decent CD player, the Rega Apollo being one.

I suppose I could google - this topic has probably been discussed somewhere in some universe. But in the meantime I appreciate your pointers, thankyou.

@rudyb  In that price range I bet most players will have a good DAC built in.

This is quite right - however what is at issue is the transport.  For this you really need something dedicated, and that is the tricky bit.  This is the next logical step up the ladder.  Perhaps a few steps up.

With transports it is a 100% technical thing.  Which one reads the data on the disc the best, and whatever accompanies that rather functional task.  Traditional CD players have many other functions to perform, of course, and design compromises are made that are not an issue with a transport.

The OP was not asking about streamers.

FWIW...I too have a few thousand CDs. I ripped all to an SSD drive and use one of my PCs as a media server. I connect an NAD C658 through wifi and play everything through my Rogue M-180s and Focal Kanta 2s.

How does the sound compare to a dedicated transport direct to DAC with preferably balanced technology?