How important is the transport when using a DAC?


Hello,

I've been thinking lately, if my transport is extreme low-end, is having a nice DAC a waste of time? In other words, if I am using a $60 Sony DVD/CD player to deliver the digital signal through a coax cable to my Arcam r-Dac, is that not doing it justice? Do you recommend I upgrade my transport to better meet the quality of the DAC or does it not matter?

Thanks!
learyscott

Showing 1 response by levy03

not sure how to "demonstrate" it for you Gumby?? (without inviting you over with a cheap transport in hand). i've hooked up several cheap transports/cd players to my PWDmk2 and they all sounded obviously worse...compared to my PWT.

can't/won't make the blanket statement that a better transport will yield better sound but it absolutely did with my PSA gear. true...the PWT is a 3k transport and the question of "how much better" or "is it worth it" can still be debated. but make no mistake here...it *can* make a very noticeable difference.