david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
We have a winner!
Transports all sound the same...
- Thread starter cooky1257
- Start date
radamel
Music Fiend
I did the same with a Cambridge CXC. Upgraded clock and SPDIF interface and the improvement was also clear to me.
And the stock CXC was an even bigger improvement over an Audiolab 8200CD used as CD transport.
radamel
Music Fiend
Hi Harry,
A better master clock, an improved SPDIF interface and better vibration control.
This was done by Qualiaphysic.
I'll pm you about the cost.
No, just sensible.
darrenyeats
pfm Member
That's my definition too, transports can be of the computer, streamer or CD variety.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
radamel
Music Fiend
Of course. It makes sense to talk about digital transports.
Restricting the definition of digital transport to one that reads CDs is clearly outdated IMO.
radamel
Music Fiend
Zzzzzzzzz
darrenyeats
pfm Member
In theory the DAC should be able to eliminate any problems from the transport. But bear in mind a DAC includes analogue circuitry, it's not just a computer. Daniel Weiss's PFM posts explain: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showpost.php?p=2334976&postcount=580 and http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showpost.php?p=2336811&postcount=682.
Note he doesn't say it's audible! Still, these effects are real in the sense of being measureable. We should follow Daniel's example of healthy skepticism (throw in some blind listening for perspective) but without wrongly over-simplifying the matter.
Note he doesn't say it's audible! Still, these effects are real in the sense of being measureable. We should follow Daniel's example of healthy skepticism (throw in some blind listening for perspective) but without wrongly over-simplifying the matter.
muzzer
Numb Nut
Zzzzz indeed.
Of course not! but my memory and hearing were good enough to notice a difference.
Robert
Tapehead
LOL, no Cesare, that's called normality
Once upon a time I found this whole topic fascinating and would be busily devising a test. These days I stay well clear because I just find this stuff amusing. Not least because many will obsess over fractions of a dB difference in a particular performance parameter when it comes to modern digital audio, which in performance terms for even the cheapest stuff is lightyears better than the old analogue gear, while happily listening to gross distortion on their classic LPs through their rather wayward and oddball audiophile systems.
A general point and no slight against Frank who is usually a very sensible chap when it comes to audio.
Except the OP was about CD transports.
A transport is something that moves physical media for the purpose or reading or writing digital data. Can be tape, CD, SACD, DVD, + others.
A computer is not a transport unless you are talking about one with an internal CD/DVD drive, which may be relevant as I purchased a refurbished IBM Thinkpad for £140 to rip CDs with dBpoweramp, and it works a treat.
How much electrical noise you get from digital sources is another matter, as is how easy it is to clean it up, reclock it, or even hear the noise. That's nothing to do with transports.
G
Guest432
Guest
What is a hard disk then?
Julf
Facts are our friends
Wikipedia: Transport (recording):
A transport is a device that handles a particular physical storage medium (such as magnetic tape, audio CD, CD-R, or other type of recordable media) itself, and extracts or records the information to and from the medium, to (and from) an outboard set of processing electronics that the transport is connected to.
A transport houses no electronics itself for encoding and decoding the information recorded to and from a certain format of media. It only extracts and records information to the media, as well as handling mechanical operations for accessing the media itself, such as playing or rewinding a tape, or accessing the tracks on a disc.
An example of a transport for a storage medium would be an audiophile-grade audio CD transport, which houses no D/A converter, unlike most ordinary audio CD players. Instead, the audio CD transport is connected to an external D/A converter via a coaxial (SPDIF) or optical (Toslink) digital audio connection to convert the digital audio information to analog for interfacing to most audio equipment.
A transport is a device that handles a particular physical storage medium (such as magnetic tape, audio CD, CD-R, or other type of recordable media) itself, and extracts or records the information to and from the medium, to (and from) an outboard set of processing electronics that the transport is connected to.
A transport houses no electronics itself for encoding and decoding the information recorded to and from a certain format of media. It only extracts and records information to the media, as well as handling mechanical operations for accessing the media itself, such as playing or rewinding a tape, or accessing the tracks on a disc.
An example of a transport for a storage medium would be an audiophile-grade audio CD transport, which houses no D/A converter, unlike most ordinary audio CD players. Instead, the audio CD transport is connected to an external D/A converter via a coaxial (SPDIF) or optical (Toslink) digital audio connection to convert the digital audio information to analog for interfacing to most audio equipment.
Dougunn
pfm Member
Can you clarify how you know this? It's been an ongoing discussion in the Roon forums.
I've tried Tidal but the bias towards certain artists/genres is tiresome and I'd love to use Qobuz instead.
D