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Why upgrade transport???

My front end is a Pioneer PD65 used as a transport via illuminati D60 to an Assemblage D2D-1 jitter reducer/upsampler, via I2Se cable to an Assemblage DAC 3.0, which has upgrades including the Burr Brown DF1704 24/96 filter and OPA 627 op amps. The rest of my system is run balanced out of the 3.0.

My question is, since the D2D-1 does both reclocking and upsampling to 24/96, would there be any benefit to a transport upgrade, and what could I expect? I was looking at a moderate upgrade such as to the Sonic Frontiers SFT, or maybe a Meridian. The setup will be used only for CD music, and not for SACD or DVD.

As a second option, are there relatively simple mods to the PD65, which would provide a sonically better front end, such as disconecting the D/A portion of the circuitry, improving the power cord, sound coat, or others?

As always, thanks for your comments and help,

Tim
mitch2

Showing 1 response by gs5556

gs5556
1,241 posts
 
A transport does not send out "1's and 0's" -- what it does is take the digital information off a CD and convert it into an electrical signal that is REPRESENTATIVE of the digital stream of "1's and 0's". This signal is then routed to the DAC in a manner just like any other audio electrical signal.

Therefore, the quality of the transport is dependent on the same thing as other components, namely the quality of the power supply, filtering caps, voltage regulators, signal path resistors, caps etc. And of course, the higher the design and build quality, the more expensive.

Yes, the transport affects sound quality and upgrading a transport can have more than a subjective benefit. I also agree it is the most important component of a digital front end.
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