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Today's Transport War: Significant Differences?

I have been reading much these days about computer/hard-drive based transports as being a whole order of magnitude superior to traditional CD transports. In my reading, the camp who believes hard-drive based transports can render major improvements has been most notably represented by Empirical Audio. The camp which suggests that traditional CD transport techonology (or atleast the best of its sort--VRDS-NEO) is still superior has been most notably represented by APL Hi-Fi.

Each of the camps mentioned above are genuine experts who have probably forgotten more about digital than many of us will ever understand. But my reading of each of their websites and comments they have made on various discussion threads (Audiogon, Audio Circle, and their own websites) suggests that they GENUINELY disagree about whether hard-drive based transportation of a digital signal really represents a categorical improvement in digital transport technology. And I am certain others on this site know a lot about this too.

I am NOT trying to set up a forum for a negative argument or an artificial either/or poll here. I want to understand the significant differences in the positions and better understand some of the technical reasons why there is such a significant difference of opinion on this. I am sincerely wondering what the crux of this difference is...the heart of the matter if you will.

I know experts in many fields and disciplines disagree with one another, and, I am not looking for resolution (well not philosophical resolution anyway) of these issues. I just want to better understand the arguments of whether hard-drive based digital transportation is a significant technical improvement over traditional CD transportation.

Respectfully,
pardales
theaudiotweak
1,793 posts
 
Is playing off the memory chip considered a transport? Ask Mark Porzelli formerly of Melos and Pipe Dreams for a demo at next week's CES show. You will be there won't you?. Tom
aplhifi
515 posts
 
Thank you Olesno! This explains it....I am sure that compared to your Sony 777 the MP is night and day better when used as a transport with the TACT.

Regards,
Alex
eclecticear
14 posts
 
RUR is not nonsense. I am pretty sure Harley would also not call it that.
Instead of getting the data off the CD in a single pass, RUR reads the disc until a predetermined level of the total data on the CD has been extracted. In the case of the MP that level is 99%. This level is adjustable, but Porzilli found that going beyond 99% does not result in better audio performance. Besides that, going above 99% is far more time consuming. If I read it correctly, the RUR technique changes the angle of the laser pick-up when it finds data that is difficult to read.
RUR is also something that some in the recording industry uses to make sure that all the data is on the CD master.
You might want to refer to the reviews on www.positive-feedback.con and www.stereotimes.com. These people give some reasonable descriptions about the inner workings of the MP.
And lastly, why not go to the Nova Physics website at
www.thememoryplayer.com
If you really want an in depth discussion about the CD, get Ken Pohlman's book "The Compact Disc Handbook" 2nd Edition. I got mine from Amazon.com in the used book section. But be prepared to be overwhelmed. I never realized just how complex and sophisticated the inner workings of the CD really are.
aplhifi
515 posts
 
01-03-07: Theaudiotweak

Is playing off the memory chip considered a transport?

Of course, most of today's DVD based players (even $70 Toshiba) take the audio data off a memory chip, not the transport.

Regards,
Alex
aplhifi
515 posts
 
RUR is not nonsense. I am pretty sure Harley would also not call it that.
Instead of getting the data off the CD in a single pass, RUR reads the disc until a predetermined level of the total data on the CD has been extracted. In the case of the MP that level is 99%. This level is adjustable, but Porzilli found that going beyond 99% does not result in better audio performance. Besides that, going above 99% is far more time consuming. If I read it correctly, the RUR technique changes the angle of the laser pick-up when it finds data that is difficult to read.

Laser pick up angle is called Tilt adjustment as found in many DVD/CD players. Note: the Tilt adjustment is NOT included in the CD servo system. It is a part of the DVD servo system. The range of the Tilt adjustment is calculated for DVD pits, not CD pits, so it makes very little to no difference while reading CDs.

Check out the “amazingly severe” error rates below (whooping 3.3 average per sector) reported while extracting a clean commercial CD (Nojima Plays Liszt, RR-25) at x10 speed.

PlexTools Professional V2.32a Q-Check C1/C2 Test
Copyright (C) 1999-2005 Plextor SA/NV

C1 :
Avg/Sec : 3.3
Max/Sec : 27.0
Total : 12012.0

C2 :
Avg/Sec : 0.0
Max/Sec : 0.0
Total : 0.0

CU :
Avg/Sec : 0.0
Max/Sec : 0.0
Total : 0.0

And this is while using a $100 Plextor CD/DVD-ROM drive.

I trust the ears of several audiophiles who reported that the MP sounded very good so there is no doubt about it, but the fact is that RUR or Laser angle adjustment have very little to nothing to do with it, IMO and supported by the error report above.

Regards,
Alex
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