Redbook Keeps Surprising

Hi donjr,

Yes, that is correct. The thumbdrive is ported to the JB which in turn is ported to the dac. Makes a whole lot of difference! I thought the iFi USB 3.0 was good for the PC set-up but apparently not good enough.

I use JRiver to rip but others have recommended dbPoweramp. I have not compared the two directly but either way, you will be so glad you did once all the ripping is done.

Sounds like a great winter ahead for you. Enjoy!

J. :)

Should I expect much better sound quality if I connect my midfi CDP to a good quality DAC, similar to the method described above - instead of the thumb drive? I have Bluesound Node2 but not sure it takes input from a CDP. They both have optical input/output that I could try.....

Hi kalali,

Probably not as the quality of the cdp’s transport matters here. But once cd’s are ripped losslessly to the format of your choice onto a thumbdrive, all that is needed is a quality dac that sports a usb A-port.

A few other dac’s today that have usb A-ports come from Ayre, T+A, Naim, Cambridge Audio, Lumin, Aurender, Pioneer, Teac, etc. So there is a wide range of choices.

Paying a lot for a quality mechanical cd spinner today may not be money well spent. Saving transport resources for the best dac that one can afford seems to be the better way to go when music files can be easily played from a cheap thumbdrive transport.

The Bluesound Node 2 does not take input from a cdp but it does have a usb A-port for a thumbdrive.

http://www.bluesound.com/en-eu/products/node-2/?cl

As a "CD" collector, SACD as well, these discs have never disappointed.
I began my journey way back in 1987!

3000 discs strong and a-counting....