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How does a Transport effect sound?

hi guys,

Been wondering about this: How does a CD Transport effect sound?  Isn't it just reading the disc and sending the 1s and 0s to the DAC.  Shouldn't every transport sound the same?

Thanks! 
leemaze
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Beside any philosophical issues, this breaks bit perfect playback and hence will break DSD playback, etc.

And, if I’m not mistaken, any delta-sigma only DAC will "break" bit perfect PCM playback.

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
ASRC (asynchronous sample rate conversion) is the mechanism it uses to lower jitter. I’m not a fan of that - but some like the change in the sound. My problem with ASRC is that it resamples the input with a more accurate clock - but tho the output clock may indeed have less jitter than the input, to do that it changes the data (it calculates the values needed on the output to represent the input signal including it’s jitter) - the input jitter is now encoded in the data and can never be removed downstream. Beside any philosophical issues, this breaks bit perfect playback..

Absolutely true.  I also used to believe this was an issue.  Then I discovered a really good chip and a good way to implement the circuit.  The problem in the past was the chip implementations. Not a problem anymore.

Telling the difference between a 44.1 native track and the same 44.1 track output from the Synchro-Mesh is almost impossible.  This is a very good chip.  This is the reason that my customers don't have any issue with the resampling, and the Synchro-Mesh is so popular.  The latest version is much better than the previous version BTW, so older feedbacks are likely about a different product.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

audioengr
3,282 posts
 
And, if I’m not mistaken, any delta-sigma only DAC will "break" bit perfect PCM playback.

So, is R2R the only way to get bit-perfect playback?

Almost every DAC does some kind of modification in the D/A in order to effectively filter out artifacts.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
So, is R2R the only way to get bit-perfect playback?

To my understanding, yes.

tommylion
563 posts
 
In my experience, CD Transports can make a big difference in the sound. Having said that, less expensive transports use cheaper mechanisms, which tend to sound the same. You’ll need to spend more to get one with a really good mechanism. Also, you want a dedicated CD mechanism, not a universal one.

I have a CEC TL-5, which uses their in-house belt drive system, rather than the standard direct drive. It has an analog-like ease and musical flow, that I really enjoy. I believe it is currently the least expensive way to get a CD Transport with a seriously good mechanism. The current US price is around $2800.

Another option is one that uses the long discontinued Phillips CD Pro mechanism, but that will cost you quite a bit more.
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