2. digital
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If the DAC is the same, how different do CD transports sound?

One interesting topic of discussion here is how audible the differences are between CD players when they are used as transports only — or when they are only transports to begin with.

In other words, in a comparison which keeps the DAC the same, how much difference can be heard between CD transports?

This recent video by Harley Lovegrove of Pearl Acoustics provides one test of this question. It may not be the ultimate test, but he does describe the experimental conditions and informations about the qualifications of the listeners.

He comes to the main conclusion here: https://youtu.be/TAOLGsS27R0?t=1079

The whole video is worth watching, I think.

128x128hilde45

Showing 2 responses by yage

yage
400 posts
 

I liked this video and the comparison. The players were level matched using a voltmeter and the listening panel seemed to be skilled. These and other details show that there was some thought and care that went into this experiment.

 

The conclusion drawn about all the transports playing through the same DAC isn’t surprising, just common sense.

 

@zlone

Is a transport + DAC equivalent to streaming? Pretty much. Either way, the digital data is being transmitted from point A to point B in a real-time fashion.

yage
400 posts
 

@hilde45

It’s interesting that the listening panel could detect differences between the players but couldn’t do so when they were connected to the same DAC via SPDIF. Personally, I wouldn’t mind having the same listening panel try to determine if there are differences between transports, but it seems to me that Mr. Lovegrove found it somewhat obvious that there aren’t and I agree with his conclusion.

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