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Is it the transport or DAC that enables HDCD/Red?

Good morning all,
I am new to transports and seperate DAC's. I recently purchased a Parasound CBD 2000 Belt Drive Transport and am looking to buy a DAC.

However, I am not sure what signal the transport is to provide in order for me to play HDCD as well as Redbook CD's. Should I expect the transport to provide the HDCD and Redbook signal or does the DAC do all the work?

Does balanced in/outputs produce a better sound than does regular RCA in/outputs?

Right now I am looking for a compact DAC (the smaller the better) that offers good to excellent sound for not a lot of money. I listen to classical (choral/orchestral) and jazz music. I love the human voice and large scale orchestral and choral works.

What shoud I be looking for since this is all a mystery to me at this point. I am just being honest. I really don't know what's happening in this area. By the way, I would be pleased if you would offer some of your choices please.

Finally, I am reading more so that I can learn more. Thanks so much for your understanding and input. Have a great and wonderful day and weekend.
rbwinterlink

Showing 2 responses by rbwinterlink

rbwinterlink OP
72 posts
 
I want to thank each of your for your generous response here. As you can see I am not very familiar with this technology. However, I have been doing some research and of course I have learned much from reading your comments here.

I do understand that there are other than HDCD or Redbook CD's available. I have also read something about DVD-A disks. I guess my question should have been ... Can my newly acquired Parasound 2000 transport and basic DAC be expected to decode other than Redbook CD's?

It could very well be that there are some Redbook CD's that are just as sound worthy as HDCD's. As stated earlier I have many Redbook CD's but have never heard them played on a really good system that includes a good CD transport and DAC. Here are the primary specs for the DAC: AD1853 for digital/analog conversion and can support up to 192KHz/24 bit sampling. Digital input signal sampling: 32K to 96K PCM format.

At any rate what I will look for is a list of "Redbook CD's To Live For" (smile). I am sure there are some really great sounding Redbook CD's tht I have not been exposed to yet. I just want to experience the best sound I can get from the many CD's I have as well as add other formats that can be decoded on my transport and DAC. Thanks again everyone.
rbwinterlink OP
72 posts
 
My Friends,
Thanks for you gracious comments and advice. I am most appreciative. As you can see, most of this is new to me. I had no idea what a DAC was until I was forced to start doing research after the purchase of the Parasound 2000 transport.

My basic knowledge told me that a belt drive transport should provide sound similar to a turntable with this same feature. Of course I was then forced to look at how to get the sound from the transport to the pre-amp, power amp and then speakers. It was then that the term DAC came up.

Since my last post I've purchased the "Lite Audio DAC-AM Modified" by Pacific Valve Company. This looks like it will work OK for me, however, I undertand there are better on the market but I am just getting my feet wet. Also, I understand this DAC can be further upgraded. Initially I was thinking about the purchase of a used DAC but I thought I would have to have that modded in order to bring it up to todays tech standards.

Is anyone here familiar with the Lite Audio DAC-AM? And can you give me some info on it? Will it reproduce 2 channel (stereo) music OK? I am not interested in TV, movies, etc. My primary listening will be to vocal and instrumental jazz, small and large scale classical works with a focus on choral music. Thanks for all assistance and your response.
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