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Does the Transport make a significant difference?

Had been running a squeezebox with my Audio Note 2.1 Dac. Tried my basic Oppo dvd player as a transport and yikes what an improvement - even over my $3,000 invested Modwright Sony player (a little rough round the edges but dynamic and live-ly sounding). So wondering if the mantra of having a great source is the best place to start ... ie matching the Dac to a quality transport say CEC TL 51 or open the vaults and spring for a quality Audio Note, Esoteric, or even dcs transport will be worth the investment. How does this compare with say upgrading your amp or speakers or even cables? I know I should listen for myself but any good experience out there to draw on before I start getting crazy about checking out the used adverts?
ladavid

Showing 4 responses by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
If the DAC is excellent at jitter rejection then it won't make a difference (one jitter immune input versus another should sound the same as it is all just bits). If the DAC is less than perfect at jitter rejection then it could matter. So your results will vary depending on how well the downstream DAC can handle whatever jitter is being thrown at it.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Shadorne, you are wrong in regards to your Jitter reduction theory, If the DAC is excellent at jitter rejection then it won't make a difference (one jitter immune input versus another should sound the same as it is all just bits). "

Doug,

If you re-read my statement then you will realize that I cannot be wrong. If a device rejects all incoming jitter entirely then there is no incoming jitter left (just the jitter from the clock in the device itself). Therefore a device which is said or demonstrated to be immune to jitter cannot possibly sound different with different amounts of jitter on the inputs - something else would need to cause the difference. A nasty ground loop on the Coax input creating circuit noise somewhere that is eliminated when using Toslink, for example. I am sure that many explanations can be imagined but it won't be interface jitter if said device is jitter immune and demonstrated to be so. It is simple logic really.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
He claims that the only way to get real piano sound is to use headphones because crossover does similar thing.

You can use active speakers to eliminate that issue, which John Siau should be aware of. One of his customers bought 7 Benchmark DAC1's for his studio and uses them with active type speakers.

FWIW: I agree with Doug that the sound of a given transport with built in DAC may be preferred to a jitter immune DAC (and vice versa) - but that is not what I meant. Sorry but I may not have ben clear enough.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Shadorne - I was under impression that we discuss sonic differences of different transports with the same DAC and not comparing DAC with stand alone CDP.

That was the way I understood it too. It doesn't matter anyway as I am quite happy if we all understand each other in the end - and I think ultimately we do. My english/spelling is not great and I rarely double check my quickly written posts. I think in equations/math more easily which is why I am quite comfortable with listening to digital and more interested in the technical rather than aesthetic side of this hobby ;-)
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