If you still spin CD's their is a reference level Transport for reasonable money
@ in_shore Will do and it’s going to be a treat since I have upgraded an already spectacular SW1X DAC II reviewed a few months ago to an SW1X DAC III now, which I will have in 8 days or so that will compliment my Jay's CDT2 MK II Transport: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/sw1x-audio-design-dac-ii-absolute-top-tier-ref-nos-dac SW1X DAC III http://sw1xad.co.uk/product/sw1x-dac-iii/ Wig |
Wig , I look forward to your comments! Now I don’t know if you ever experienced this before waiting on a delivery of a new component is that linear time seems to slow down,. Mike all though my own experience comparing digital front was on a different scale I have settled with my own Rockna dac and look forward to your comparisons of your Rockna Sig and that of the Vermeer and MSB dacs . |
OK Kids, so Ive finally spent some time with the PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Red Cloud. Its what I expected for the most part. Look, its not a bad DAC, to me its run of the mill. Good. In no way great as far as I’m concerned, but realize, my reference is a Rockna Wavedream Signature Balanced .. to date I have not had a better DAC through here. Tonight Ive got a Vermeer Two which is the continuation of the French Company Audio Aero.. made some heavy hitter DACs back in the day. Its $20K so lets see how she does. I also have a MSB Analog DAC, another I’m not familiar with. So the direct stream DAC is absolutely best on I2s in fact so much so that I would ONLY consider this DAC if you plan to use it with i2s or not purchase it at all.. I know much better DAC’s for $3K (Rockna Wavelight, Exogal Comet) which is what the real street price for the PS Audio is. Its rolled off on top. Absolutely zero leading edge, therefore not present nor 3D. Mid was grainy to me, and good bass. I am being objective and fair, if it was great I would say so and apologize for talking smack. I think the Metrum Acoustics Adagio does this type of sound better, because its R2R and NOS, but smooth musical and organic. The PS did not approach "real" in terms of the sound, the good thing is it only misses the boat for me because of what it does not do, not because it does anything bad. But the firmware updates and stuff ?? To me looks like a tool to keep the client base, if it changes things so greatly then at best you have a DAC in which you can not count on its character, because its always in flux.. so you must retune the rig every update. You guys should charge PS labor, for the re tune you must do each time. So I recommend Metrum Acoustics Adagio over PS. what I really dig about Adagio is it does not play DSD, but it does have a MQA module. So now when I tell someone the weak link is the PS , I know from experience . @ Ducks2007 My opinion is polarized on pretty much all things. I’m an all or none OCD type freak that notices all the little things. I dont need credentials to make big statements, have you vetted your beloved reviewers and thier "credentials" ? Let me purge facts if thats what floats your boat. I design HiFi products, and Ive done this as a full time career for the last 15 years, Ive learned about audio from Mark Levinson, Neslon Pass, and Jeff Rowland (among others). I have owned an amplifier manufacturing company in California whose lineage went back to Altec Lansing. Ive sued a company in the industry for copyright infringement and won. Ive filed a patent for a connector that replaces both RCA and XLR as obsolete. I used to travel to other states to see the Grateful Dead, My girlfriend is Costa Rican, I drive a Volvo, I had Thai for Lunch, and I put on my underwear the same way everyone does this A.M. So I am a regular guy just doing my thing and my opinion is never worth any more than any other human. We are all equal in our right to talk smack. PS is the weak link in your rig.. get past it and new realms will open up to you.. Just sayin.. all the best gang, I’m going to disappear for a while. Find me on You Tube under "OCD HiFi Guy" I will post the videos I took of Rockna Wavedream Sig vs PS Audio Directstream DAC.. Happy Listening ! |
The one thing that gives me pause about this transport is the comment that they recommend it not be left on for any more than 24 hours at a time... I’ve never heard anything like this before. Leaving power tubes on while not playing music, sure. But a solidstate something should be able to be left on...and even sound better after 24 + hours on. I’ve recently heard the Denafrips Terminator sound better after on for days. Is there a chance that due to this fact one may never hear the transport at its best—after on for days?? And what will happen I’d on3 forgets to turn it off over night? |
Hey Guys, Srajan Ebaen, of Six Moon website, just completed his review on the transport. He came to the same conclusions that I have reported here on this thread. He was also kind enough to include my comments/viewpoints to other highly regarded transports in his extensive review. Srajan, awarded a "BLUE MOON AWARD" to this great piece. |
@aolmrd1241 , Srajan has that gift of gab, but he knows his stuff. There's a lot of word play going on with his style of writing and yes, sometimes my eyes cross but then it all comes together in the end. 👍 He's one of the few reviewers out there that has plenty of gear to try and he'll do just about every combination he can with what he has to determine what will, or won't, work with a given piece of equipment. All the best, Nonoise |
Srajan states in the review that the photo of the rubidium clock is of the models Jays has and not that it's the CD2. He just wanted to show the differences in the models. He even mentions the CDP-3 with the onboard Soekris R2R converter. The purpose of his review was to compare a CDT to his reference iMac setup, both fed to the same DAC with similar cabling, and the Jay's Audio CD2 acquitted itself in flying colors compared to a PC set up. He said that the CDT was like having zero NFB whilst the iMac seemed to have about 10db NFB, making it drier and tighter. The CDT was more elastic, fluid and airy, and that was what he was trying to suss out. More press would be nice but the current craze is for PC and I don't see many review mags and sites running to try this one out. Their loss, and ours and others who don't/won't know better. All the best, Nonoise |
It was a nice introduction from a technical viewpoint but Terry did more of a review on the sound quality of the Jay’s Transport compared to other models he owned/reviewed in his system but a very good transport, indeed. Just so everyone knows, the internal images listed on 6 Moons are not the CD2 MK II, which does not have the rubidium clock. Hoping to see more press and user reviews. Thanks, Wig |
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I haven't but wish I could. Space considerations preclude me from doing so. And this review doesn't help much either with my dilemma; http://6moons.com/audioreviews2/jaysaudio/1.html All the best, Nonoise |
@mikepowellaudio - I find your comments about PS Audio curious, since you’ve never "had it (the Direct Stream whatever) in your rig." You’re but another guy with an big opinion on the inter-webs....BUT I’d be interested in why you’ve come to the conclusion AND what your credentials are to make such statements. Do you have an engineering degree? What makes your opinion any better than mine. You like to type, so prey tell, give us an answer based on facts, and not opinions. There a whole bunch of people who might disagree with you. |
Today I got one of my clients to drop off a PS Audio Direct whatever DAC so I can finally talk about this thing which I dont like but never speak to that because Ive never had it in my rig. I am fully anticipating to be able to talk smack about PS Audio after my tests and Im hoping to drive my feeling home that PS Audio is Mid Fi at best. How neutral and open-minded of you, Mike! Seriously, if you really want to hear what the PS Audio DirectStream DAC is capable of, you need to make sure it has the latest "Redcloud" OS installed. You will also want to change out the stock fuse for a quality after-market fuse, which is a PITA, but well worth it. You also need to use the DAC's I2S input, which sounds worlds better than its USB input (if you do not have a source with an I2S output, try a Matrix X-SPDIF 2 D-to-D converter, which is what I use). Finally, this goes without saying, but you should level-match the PS Audio DAC with whatever you are shooting it out against, as the PS DAC's output voltage is a good bit lower than standard. If you do all of the above and go into the experiment with an open mind, you just might be surprised at what you're hearing. |
Hey Snopro, i2s on transport comparing AES vs i2s will happen this weekend and will report findings. CDT 3/ AES vs Wavenet /I2s was indistinguishable. CDT3 teamed with Stello D700 comparing wordclock in and out gave me hope for outboard wordclock as it was audibly more pleasing with it in. @T.J. always amazes me how many people will speak like they know something when they have never personally heard both items. Today I got one of my clients to drop off a PS Audio Direct whatever DAC so I can finally talk about this thing which I dont like but never speak to that because Ive never had it in my rig. I am fully anticipating to be able to talk smack about PS Audio after my tests and Im hoping to drive my feeling home that PS Audio is Mid Fi at best. For some reason these PS users love to fight. They spout off at the mouth any chance they get using words like "best" ..lol so I want fuel for battle. I simply think they have not heard anything better. Now I just stuck my neck out and If I deserve schooling and a slap for that little rant I will honor truth and give it to you guys with an apology.. Sheesh.. @DavidTen Signature Rockna is at least 30% better sounding than the regular. In fact I declined Rockna based on the "edition" model. Sig Balanced in 20 seconds had me rationalizing its purchase which was totally beyond my normal limit for a DAC. It has something that no other DAC to this day has had for me which is a level of realism, lucidity and presence that is utterly chilling. Its paradoxical because its seemingly a small difference in imaging. But that small difference bumps it into a level that disqualifies everything under $20K. Id really love to know where it goes from here. I know for a fact they could have taken this unit farther, because I sensed it then I asked the owner. This puppy is at the starting line of a different level. Clearly someone understood this level to place this DAC just inside it. and for $13,500 its admission into Uber DAC level. By the way Rockna developed the i2s for PS Audio.. As far as transport, I dont normally use transports to compare transport only, I can treport however one night things were sounding forward and aggressive to the point, I went to transport for relief. I used AES to Rockna DAC. I was instantly slammed with density of tonality to a point that clearly defined those words to me. It was like sonic thickened up. She became zaftig and fertile from bony and stark. It was a heavy shift. I will try to recreate it because it was defining in nature, it was so noticeable. I’ll say this one time and any other statement in opposition to this is just wrong or uninformed, or naive in my opinion. Music will sound its best in its native recorded format PERIOD. Its why I own Reel to Reel tape players, so I can listen to Floyd on TAPE. Hendrix, Zeppelin, my faves.. Native format If you cant do the tape then do the original transfer rate or the digitally recorded master rate. Anything else is a stroke job to get you to buy something. 16/44.1 sounds so good in my rig, I am not even aware that another format exists and my rig plays them all indiscriminately whenever it comes across them in the library. so DSD and high bitrate PCM come in and out during listening without my knowledge. I found myself digging for my old DAC/s and so my Wadia 16/44 DAC with AT&T Glass optical input and my TEAC VRDS 20 Transport will be brought into the mix along with my old MBL DAC.. lets really vet some of the old dogs.. I’ll net they are not as bad as we all thought gotta sleep .. goodnight ! |
Hi Wig, Honestly, I'm not sure what the jitter level is for either transport. I'm assuming it's low for both transports. I do no measuring for my reviews, but base my conclusions on extensive listening of the review piece with a comparison to other pieces of gear that I have experience with. In this case I have had highly regraded transports that range in cost from around 3K up to 30K in my system. Yet, the Jay's audio CDT-2 MKII based on performance is the transport I now use in my reference system because it out performed these other highly regarded pieces. It's beautifully built and is a bargain at around 2K. |
Hi audiolabyrinth, Thanks for calling me a gentleman and respecting me. However, your statement that for me to say, based on actual listening experience, that it is "silly" that a transport that just delivers standard Red book cannot sound better then a transport that up samples red book to DSD raises the question that higher sampling rates are superior sonicly to red book sampling rate. My reference DAC only does Red book using NOS chips and I find it's presentation much more musical then DSD based DACS. |
Hi aolmrd1241, I have the latest fpga up date on the ps audio direct stream memory dac and matching transport, also the latest new transport with the new firm ware 3.06, the fpga is 0.02,,, I just got a brand new transport after sending the other one back, just now got 200 hrs on the transport, the other one stopped working because the firm ware would not work with new up dated transport in the transport , I ignore silly comments like teajjay said, Although I respect the gentleman, an example of what I'm saying here, It is silly to believe a red book only transport will sound better than a transport that up samples all red book to dsd, hope you believe that as well, cheers 🎼🎶🎵 |
With an extensive collection of RedBook classical CDs, over the last three years i've tried several brands of CD players, and transport /DAC combinations Finally found my answer, FWIW http://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/cd-player-reviews/bryston-bcd-3-cd-player/ Just a thought. |
teajay said... "Hey audiolabyrinth,I totally agree that you can speculate on which transport would sound better. However, I have heard the latest generation of the PS Audio DS transport and I prefer what the Jay’s Audio CDT-2 MK-2 does in my system with my DAC." The DMP’s latest FPGA OS update takes the sound quality of the transport to a much higher playback level.. Cleaning up the loose ends in the old code has turned the DMP into a formidable contenter of being one of the best sounding transports available today...Paired with the DS dac[via hdmi]...the music is sublime. Also..more updates yet to come...8) |
Hey Guys, A preview on the CDT-2 MKII has just gone up on Six Moons website. Srajan Ebaen was kind enough to use my comments in his preview overview. By the way he explains some of the major points of interest regarding build quality vs cost and his pictures are much more revealing then what's on Vinshine Audio's website. If you still spin CD's, I do, you really want to take a look at this transport for many superlative reasons. |
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@jriggy Not sure. I can't even find out what the hell this thing actually transports. ?? Redbook only? SACD? DVD-A? tacos??? I sent an email to Jay's distributor with this question, no response. I looked up the reviews on this Transport, they do not say what Resolution it transports. ?? Anyone? Tacos? :) |
