CD player as transport for irDac

[peter312]

Thanks to some sound advice on this and another forum, my office set up has come on nicely. I now have a Pro-ject Debut Carbon Turntable, an Arcam A18 amp and some B&W 686 speakers.

I am now looking at how to add my Mac Mini and a CD player into the system. I currently have a V-Dac II which has been used to connect the Mac Mini to a previous Amplifier. I am seriously tempted to upgrade this to the new Arcam irDac. If I do this, my thought is that I can also use the irDac as the DAC for a CD player, meaning I don't need to spend so much on a disc spinner.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what would make a decent CD transport? I've seen a handful of Arcam CD players (CD72, CD73) for £150 or so (at least they wouldn't look too bad next to the amplifier) or perhaps I could stretch to a new Yamaha CD-S700 (as apparently they have a decent transport). I am currently using a Sony DVP-NS708H DVD player as a CD transport, which is a bit slow loading discs.

Any constructive thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I have a budget up to about £350 but less would be welcome.

Thanks for reading.

 

[manicm]

At 350 quid I'd rather get a cheap laptop and pair it with the irDac

 

[peter312]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I am not sure why I would want a laptop in addition to the Mac Mini. The reason I would like a CD transport is so that I can occassionally play a CD, if it is not copied on my Mac Mini. My understanding is that a lot of CD transports are the same (I mean physically the same not that they sound the same).

Is £350 such a low amount to pay?

 

[The_Lhc]

Is £350 such a low amount to pay?

I think he meant the complete opposite. For the time it would take to rip a CD on the Mini is it really worth it?

 

[Cypher]

This one looks nice...........

http://www.teac-audio.eu/en/products/pd-h01-92401.html

Just a suggestion

 

[James7]

The Arcam and Yamaha players you suggest would I am sure work well. You could look at a dedicated transport like the Little Dot CDP II. As with any hifi purchase, if you can demo, do so. Transports do make a difference, whether of the disc-spinning variety or hard drive-based, and the idea that as long as the DAC is good, any cheap transport will do is not true. Best of luck.

 

[kadeshuk]

I am sure that I read on one of the UK forums recently that Arcam themselves recommended that rather than upgrade a CD player the money was better spent on an IRdac.. Given that, I would spend my money on a 2nd hand Arcam cd player of some description & use it as transport only. I currently run a Marantz CD6000SE KI through an rdac, and I thought that there was a noticeable lift to the quality with this. With the opinions expressed by irdac owners, I would expect that you will get pretty good quality from this, and keeping it all Arcam will match well sonically. I have previously had a CD 72 upgraded to a 92, but I would have thought that any decent one from an alpha 7 onwards would cut the mustard. Look on Gumtree rather than the Bay, I think.