Softone Model 2 DAC and Model 3 Transport

I use the Softone transport but with a Reimyo 777 DAC. the transport is really good in terms of smoothness and it does keep the sound musical. it may not be the best in terms of resolution but for the $1300 you pay for, it has the value for even twice that.
the bass is one area where it is a bit on the weaker side though..this is in comparison with an older Classe CDT-1.. but you could also argue that the classe has a bass on the stronger side !

Cool - thanks for the feedback, Arj! Much appreciated. Was beginning to think that no one had ever heard of this outfit. Cheers.

Hens
Actually I noticed the Softone transport years ago,while I was searching the web for cd transports.I never bought it,I am not sure how easy will be to repair it if the need comes,I like to deal with more well known brands and also the Softone looks too DIY in my opinion.There is another brand from Germany along the same lines I can't remember their name at the moment.Why don't you look into Northstar audio,same Philips top of the line cd drive and reasonable price and you could resale it easier that the Softone.Sorry to Arj who owns Softone already,I don't mean to put down your system I just express my opinion.
Regards
George

Hi Yioryos,
Thanks for your view. I actually quite like that very basic, almost industrial DIY look. I shot them an email to see if they might be flexible with the DAC in terms of providing two coaxial outputs instead of one coaxial and one optical. Their reply was simply that the DAC came with one of each and no flexibility. Also, almost all of the effort for the DAC appears to have gone into their very intricate 'error measurement' with a bunch of LEDs indicating every error, etc. Perhaps more a design for the recording industry where they need to monitor the integrity of the digital conversion. So I've decided against Softone for now.

Thanks for the recommendation on the Northstar transport. Unfortunately, after reading the Lampizator website about this model, I could never part with the sort of money they're expecting.

Hi Hens
I just remembered the name of the German brand similar concept along the lines of Softone.Check www.Akustik-perfekt.de
Regards
George

Yioryos, thanks for that - interesting site. If I had any DIY talent in my genes, I'd think about giving their CD transport a crack. The main difference seems that Softone also offer their products fully assembled - not even sure if they offer them as kits. I'm now thinking that i'll put more emphasis on getting the DAC right as it will also provide conversion duties for a server based system as well as CD based. Thanks again!