I completely sold out to digital in 1989 and as time progressed, so did the quality of the CD playback I bought. Sometime in the late '90s I was listening to three pieces of digital separates (Rega transport, Genesis Time Lens, Muse Model 2 DAC) and about three or four years ago I took another plunge and bought a Maranzt SA10. This is the best CD playback I have owned yet, and depending upon the quality of the disc I am playing pack, I am highly satisfied.
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