CD transports - do they matter?

[tfarney]

Even I, the terminally tight, recognize the wisdom in what Marco is saying. I sure couldn't give anyone a technical explanation, but basic logic, to the extent that is available to me, says that an over-engineered, highly stable transport of a spinning disc reading data is bound to be a good thing. The foolishness of the endeavor comes in when you buy one new. What does such a transport cost these days? $2,000? $4,000 (I really do have to get a pounds to dollars calculator on my desktop)?

Mac mini - $500
small lcd monitor - $150
a terabyte of HD - $250
software - free

It's really easy math. So easy, in fact, that audiophiles seem to be getting it much faster than I thought they would. They can be a stubborn lot, hell bent on justifying every dollar they've spent. But they seem to be catching on to this one very quickly. For my part, I intend to print out Marco's list of over-engineered mass market transports and keep an eye out for them. It can't hurt to have one tucked away. Are any brands better than others when it comes to stocking parts for old models?

I still think audiophiles are holding on tightly to some digital illusions that are costing them dearly, but this one seems to be fading fast. A good thing if it results in better sound for more people.

Tim

[Alan]

Hi Alan,

Can you post a link to it on Ebay?

Cheers,
Marco.

Sorry I wasn't around chaps, busy day. Yes, Marco, that's it. There is also a 227 ESD (only £10 at the moment) which also shares the DAC chip in question, although being a cheaper model the transport may not be so solid.
Oh, and to my embarrassment I do not know how to post a link yet, though it would be useful: Is there a tips section here?

[Phil Bishop]

Interested in the point I think Tim is making - why do we persist chasing expensive stable traditional CD transports when computers can potentially do the job so much better? This is the dilema I am having at the moment - continue with traditional CD (transport CDP/DAC) or go down the computer route as advocated by Rob and others. I have limited time and the computer route excites me, but also scares me a bit - it always takes time to get to know operating systems/software, etc - and also importing all those CDs! Also, computers lose their value/are updated very quickly - I hear rumours that computers with no discs (solid state flash drives) will be the norm in 2 years - to take the plunge now or not? Traditional CDPs at present seem to hold their value better, or am I wrong!

One thing for sure - I would never spend megabucks on a traditional CDP set up.....but maybe if I heard one I would!

Marco - I think you have just pushed up the prices of all those CDPs!

Phil

[Ali Tait]

Phil,you are asking the same questions as I am at the moment.The way I see it,having recently had a go with an extensively modded squeezebox (battery powered) with some rather expensive components in it,running FLAC files into my system,was that using a pc running lossless files is the way to go.We put the squeezebox up against my two cd players feeding into my Beresford DAC (Have an Audio note DAC coming next week) which while not the best transports in the world,have shown me that there is really no point in spending a lot of money on a transport nowadays.A much more cost effective way to me would be to use your pc (which you already have) as a transport and spend the money saved on buying a good DAC instead.We found that while the Squeezebox had been quite extensively modded at quite a high cost,it was no better fed directly into my amp (i.e. using the internal squeezebox dac) than the Beresford.In fact we could detect no difference in sound. (a fact that had been replicated elsewhere in a different system by the owner of the Squeezebox) Ok,all that says is that the internal DAC in the squeezebox is nothing special,but the point is,is that running the squeezebox through my Beresford was at least as good if not better than using my cd players as transport,one of which is a Pioneer PD-S505,which while not exactly high-end,is well known as being a good transport.So my take on all this would be to buy a Squeezebox or something similar,and use the large amount of money saved on buying a good transport to buy a very good DAC instead.It's what I intend to do.

Regards,Ali.

[tfarney]

Interested in the point I think Tim is making - why do we persist chasing expensive stable traditional CD transports when computers can potentially do the job so much better? This is the dilema I am having at the moment - continue with traditional CD (transport CDP/DAC) or go down the computer route as advocated by Rob and others. I have limited time and the computer route excites me, but also scares me a bit - it always takes time to get to know operating systems/software, etc - and also importing all those CDs! Also, computers lose their value/are updated very quickly - I hear rumours that computers with no discs (solid state flash drives) will be the norm in 2 years - to take the plunge now or not? Traditional CDPs at present seem to hold their value better, or am I wrong!

One thing for sure - I would never spend megabucks on a traditional CDP set up.....but maybe if I heard one I would!

Marco - I think you have just pushed up the prices of all those CDPs!

Phil

Fear not. Buy a Mac.

Seriously, OSX, with Core Audio, is the obvious choice, evidenced by the studios and editing suites full of the stuff. And the operating system, OSX is just more stable and more intuitive. Last but not least, there is iTunes. I know some people who don't like it, but I don't understand them. It is a marvelously-implemented little piece of software that is intuitive, powerful and virtually bug-free. The easiest way to do this is to go to your friendly neighborhood Apple Store and pick up a Macbook. Get the hard drives somewhere else; they'll be cheaper. And the process of ripping cds to hard drive. Well, yeah, it takes awhile. But it is kind of a cool process, because you handle every CD in your collection. Reminds you of what you have. Just set up the Macbook and hard drive in a corner somewhere and keep feeding it at commercial breaks, or between chapters, or whatever. In a few days you'll be done and all of your music will be at your fingertips and running from the most stable transport in the world -- RAM!

Then get rid of all those damn jewel boxes and put your cds in binders. The wife will love that.

Tim

[Phil Bishop]

Ali/Tim,

You are convincing me, along with others. Two really dumb questions. What is a Squeezebox and what is OSX? I can probably guess, but a bit of elaboration would be great. Tim, you seem to be advocating a Macbook, but you use a Mac mini?

Phil

[Filterlab]

Squeezebox - a network music system. Not great in standard form but can me made to be good.

OS X - The tenth (essentially) incarnation of Apple's operating system and possibly the best available operating system in the world. The 'OS' bit refers to the 'operating system' and the 'X' bit as in 'ten'. A true macophile will say 'OS 10', an amateur will say 'OS X'.

[Phil Bishop]

Thanks Rob!

[Filterlab]

Nay probs.

[lurcher]

A true macophile will say 'OS 10', an amateur will say 'OS X'.

And a professional software developer may find yet another word to use :-)