Minimalist PMC AML:1 based setup - opinions needed

Just wanted to chime in on my experience with the SB vs Transporter

Technology for digital source is getting extremely good and differences are becoming vanishingly small. Design engineers can only spend so much on power supplies and higher quality components. Often more expensive products just have better features and are built beautifully and expensively packaged - of course they eek out a small degree of less jitter and better channel separation etc. - but differences are often small. What you report is not all that surprising although most people are naturally predisposed to rate the beautifully packaged item as sounding much better.

FWIW - I think the Transporter looks way cool! The build quality and features are awesome. It is worth if for that great look alone as well as the comfort that it is made from very high quality components. May be with headphones you can hear a slight difference?

I would go for the benchmark dac usb with inbuilt pre amp.
I use dac 1 usb myself. I would not suggest you buy anything more expenisive with these speakers as it works great with them. I has max output at 0.7 volts in. That the dac 1 supply. I would buy the pre amp version though.

There is no such thing as a jitter imune dac its complete sales BS, also there are several diffrent kinds of jitter .

Further more when the dac and data sourch issent slaved to the same Closck , all kinds of audio degrading things happens.

For pure soundkvality by all means get the Linn , the difference is not subbel compared to the slimdevices products .

But the linn userplatform is at its current stae crap compared to the slimdevices platform so if thats of big concern its proberly not the way to go (yet)

I agree that musicaly the trasnporter issent better then the sb3 infact i find the sb3 a littel more relaxed.

There is no such thing as a jitter imune dac its complete sales BS, also there are several diffrent kinds of jitter

While I agree that nothing will be completely jitter free, however, in the case of the DAC1, the sales BS is backed up by measurements using audio precision equipment - while not perfect (what is?) the measurements demonstrate what most would call excellent "immunity to jitter".

When comparing good DAC's as you have could it be possible you are hearing small differences between them in the analog output circuitry (op amps) and low pass filter design rather than differences due to jitter?

Hi shadorn

Jitter has very littel to do with what sounds good and what dossent.
There are also different kinds of ways jitter can influence the sound.
Honestly i wouldent worry to much about it.

Jitter is most heard when its absent, its like noise.

But thats not what makes the music its the implamentaion of the Dac.
And above all the skill and time that have whent into the design.

I dont think that the difference between a Linn majik ds and the transporter is small.
Bass, treble soundstage ? well yes the differenc eis small.
But musicality, seperating instruments and individual threats in the music,deep bass and none digital treble, the linn is simply a intirely different animal.

I personaly try not to get to technical about it instead i use my ears.

The transporter is a very good example why you shouldet rely to much on measurments.
Sadly many fall for the Bit-perfect sound kvality that will suppas even the most exotik disk spinner nonsence slimdevices promot the Transporter as.

And by all accounts there sales technique works.

Why the Linn ds sounds so much better i have no idea.
I know that the have a whole army of the best engeneers plus some 35+ years of experince .
Linn also seems to be on of the few companys that have a clear goal on what the gear should sound like and the use there Tune dem method designing everything.

Honestly im not to much into listning ti my music using enykind of method, but i want my music replayed with as much emotional and musicality as possibl and it just happens to be my findings that a linn source really do bring me that.