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would the Sony SCD 5400 Ex make a good transport?

I recently acquired a Sony SCD 5400 hoping it would be an upgrade from my Rega Apollo. While there is much to admire in terms of resolution and PRAT I find the sound has a lot of the digital glare/hardness; strings are quite steely which is tiring. Was wondering if this could be corrected with a (better?)DAC using the Sony as a transport. Or is it better to look for another player. The Sony costs as much as I want to pay for a CD player
rrm

Showing 1 response by mahler123

mahler123
3,502 posts
 

I use my 5400 as a transport mainly for SACD.  My Bryston DAC 3 has 4 HDMI inputs and I have 2 of them connected to the Sony and an Oppo 105.  Both machines export DSD over HDMI.  I primarily use the Oppo for this since I lost the Sony remote but every now and then throw a disc in the Sony just to keep it going.  
  Sonically they sound similar.  The Sony used to reside in a surround system that has become exclusively video.  I had replaced it and the previous Blue Ray player with an Oppo 203 to reduce the box count in that surround system and the Sony moved into the 2 channel as an unwanted orphan.

  Btw couldn’t disagree more with the OPs assessment of the sound of the Sony.  If anything using its native DAC.  I thought it was soft, a sonic deep pillow.  As a transport playing DSD it’s just fine

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