Welcome to the club! The club of frustration. There is no doubt that the transport can make a difference to the sound, because I just experienced that myself. (You'll see that others, even professional reviewers, find that the transport or file streamer influences the sound). Ideally the DAC should rectify all the bits and banish all jitter even from the digital cable, and present perfect sound but that does not seem to happen even with good quality Dacs of today.
Differences between cd transports?
Howdy,I borrowed a dedicated CD transport (Musical Fidelity) from a friend. I have found that music sounds much better with his transport than with the CD player I’ve been using to spin CDs. In both cases, I am using exactly the same DAC via the optical out connection from the transport and the CD player. So: is there any rational reason that, using the same digital to analog converter, one CD spinner should sound much better than another?Thanks!
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Hi, Guys, Well, as the original poster of this question, I was astonished to see how lively and contentious this thread became, wandering into all sorts of detours surrounding directionality in wires, censored posts, etc. Just goes to show, you never know… Anyway, what I have gleaned from this thread (the useful parts) is that the quality of the parts used in a CD transport, as pertains to accuracy of reading of the CD data and reduction of jitter, can make a difference in the quality of the reproduction of what's on the CD. I'm going to make an offer to the fellow who lent me the Musical Fidelity CD transport. It's a great sounding piece and is not stratospheric in price like some of the current, "statement" transports out there. Another advantage is that track seek times are very fast. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. It was quite an eye-opener! :-) |
I am looking for a half size CD transport under $1000 to use with my Mytek Brooklyn DAC. I am moving and the new audio cabinet will be space constrained. I am considering Pro Ject DS2 T or the Nuprime CDT 8 Pro. The Pro Ject appears to have better ergonomics and remote. The Nuprime has the ability to upsample to output different resolutions including DSD. Although the Mytek is able to decode almost any sample rate not sure if there would be any significant audible difference. Both can output AES EBU. I am currently using a Rotel 991 AE through SPDIF which sounds terrifc but I have to give it up. |
I heard my friend's new DAC from COS Engineering and it blew away my EAR Acute. Using a 1998 Pioneer DV-5 DVD player with a dual laser for the spinner, the DAC increased the enjoyment of listening by improved bass, dynamics, soundstage, imaging, resolution without adding negative characteristics. No tubes. I (and he) was shocked at the huge difference. His DAC is a few years old and my EAR Acute is 11 years old. Maybe separates are better or DACs have greatly improved. |
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I keep looking but can’t find the right size to fit his mouth.... A fist would work!!! https://freddythedaddy.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/face-punch-4e0e4c3b2acd1_hires.jpg |
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You are too modest, Elizabeth.... But, at the same time, a tad too indulgent of Mr Kait, who never manages to say anything worth hearing. He just will not answer straightforward questions about what in the real physical world could explain his pet phenomena. Belated confession: I do feel guilty for having contributed to the unfortunate highjacking of the OP onto an entirely irrelevant tangent. |
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My SR fuses are absolutely directional. As to most of my cabling, it becomes directional with use, with ICs marked on one end so that it is always inserted in the same direction. As to CD transports, I guess I'm lazy and prefer my one piece EAR Acute player with upgraded NOS tubes and superior cabling. It sounds analog like, great bass, dynamic range and smooth highs. The mids sound just like a good LP. I've always heard that the superior transports extract more information off he CD. Until I have a split system of transport and DAC, I won't know how much better CDs can sound. |
geoffkait14,247 posts03-12-2019 5:58amI never said it wasn’t physical or electrical. But that’s not what you asked. You asked what I meant by directionality. You have to know how to ask the right question. Follow? Besides this has been covered ad nauseam on many many threads. Let your fingers do the walking.really!!!! is this necessary, someone please get the muzzle out |
It's not a matter of believing. There will be a video. Now, of course you don't care. You never let facts get in a way of a good story. But I assure you, the measurements will be the same, they have to be. I only have a nice $500 Fluke multimeter at home, so I know you'll claim it's not accurate enough. I'll save my energy until I can checkout the GOM out of the lab on Thursday. Ohm meters don't get much more accurate than that. I really don't care if you believe or not. I'm not trying to change your "mind" or whatever is left of it running a particle accelerator in your condo. |
geoff kait chides me: "I never said it [i.e. directionality] wasn’t physical or electrical. But that’s not what you asked. You asked what I meant by directionality. You have to know how to ask the right question." Ok, geoff kait, I'll try again to get to the point that you seem to want to evade forever: If the directionality of a cable is the property of its sounding better, then what electronic, i.e. physical, property explains that? What electronic, i.e. physical, property grounds the "sounding better"? Surely, that question is apt and answerable. So........? |
And lest we forget, it's extremely likely that none of the wires inside any of your gear was assembled with any thought of wire or PC trace "directionality," and although I follow the little arrows on ICs or labelling of "speaker" or "amp" on my speaker cables (hey, it's because it's there, and I don't want whoever put the little arrows on 'em to have their feelings hurt), even the wires inside your speakers, especially board traces and any other tiny wires, are utterly random relative to alleged "directionality." Facts...nothing like facts, ya know? |
I take your point, mapman. However, after working my way through the longgggg Stereophile exchange between Mr Kait and his critic/commentators, I am none the wiser about what his actual claim about "directionality" is. "Sounds better" is not a physical property. What one wants from him is: 1. An actual physical description of what directionality is, and 2. Given that, an actual physical explanation of how that physical phenomenon occurs in wires and cables.... You know, physics "all the way down." It does not seem to be forthcoming, however. Alas.... |
Zimmerma rather than more useless and redendant posts on wire directionality from Don Quixote, ie Mr. Kait, polluting this thread and the Audiogon site in general, here is a reference that explains his position, not that it really matters: https://www.stereophile.com/content/wire-directionality-how-bad-it Nothing new to report ......the story remains the same. That same horse has been beaten solo by Mr. Kait here 100s, maybe thousands of times. I guess when you are in the business and have little to offer of value beside Teleportation Tweaks, Clever Clocks, Brilliant Pebbles, and Dark Matter, any publicity is good publicity. |
" I mean that all wire and cable will *sound better* in one direction than the other direction." Rather than expensive hifis with all those wires (not to mention all the other integrated electrical components some lazy engineer stuck in there haphazardly with consequences unknown), a true purist might consider dumping all that and listening to two tin cans with a single wire connecting them to have an very good chance of getting it all right. I’m sure rebbi is grateful for all relevant advice regarding CD transport differences including Geoffkait’s wire warnings and is considering it all appropriately for what it is worth while rolling his eyes and maybe even heading for saner turf elsewhere. |
zimmerma45 posts03-10-2019 6:01pmgeoffkait: Please explain precisely what you mean when you say that audio wire is "directional." >>>>>I mean that all wire and cable will *sound better* in one direction than the other direction. This is true whether the wire or cable is in a DC circuit 🔚 or an AC circuit. 🔛 The more wire and cables that are in the correct direction the better the system will sound. What wires and cables am I referring to? Speaker cables, digital cable, interconnects, transformer wire, internal wiring of electronics and speakers, fuses, capacitors, power cords, HDMI cables. All wire and cables. |
The drive circuit board may be proprietary as is the Cambridge CXC drive circuit board, but it sure looks like it has the Sanyo SF65 laser and mech in it. SIMAUDIO MOON 260D-PCM1793-Sanyo SF-HD65 Can be ordered with or without dac section Never found Vassili’s list to be wrong yet. http://vasiltech.narod.ru/CD-Player-DAC-Transport.htm https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Replacement-for-SIMAUDIO-MOON-230D-260D-CD-5-CD-1-Radio-CD-... Laser and Mech The 4 point rubber suspension grommets on each corner. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Optical-Laser-Len-For-simaudio-moon-Neo-260D-CD-Mechanism/328848... Again Sanyo fits 230 and 260 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lasereinheit-fur-SIMAUDIO-MOON-230D-SIMAUDIO-MOON-260D-/311300000468 https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-New-SF-HD65-for-SANYO-DVD-Optical-Laser-Pickup-SFHD65-SF-HD... Cheers George |
