Cd transport

[aversaurus]

Whats the benefits of going from cd player to cd transport ?.
Will I notice the difference ?.
What transports do you have and how much do you love them?

 

[Al ears]

You probably will notice no difference. Depending on the DAC you already own it might be a worthwhile exercise. The benefits of a transport only set-up is you can use a pre existing or a changeable DAC, and it is here the differences will be apparent.
Also, these days, it could mean you use the DAC that is incorporated into your amp, no point in paying for two.....

 

[Gray]

Can't you use your CDP as a transport - by using optical or coaxial output?

 

[Al ears]

Can't you use your CDP as a transport - by using optical or coaxial output?

that completely defeats the object of a CDP..... It's a bit like adding a stereo power amp to an integrated amp and only using the pre amp section of the integrated..... A total waste of money

 

[aversaurus]

I could use the optical out but why use that when you have a excuse to upgrade .I never buy new and have a friend who works in a auction house .
Most of the stuff they get in is rubbish.but they have a linn karik mark 1 in and I'm tempted

 

[Gray]

that completely defeats the object of a CDP..... It's a bit like adding a stereo power amp to an integrated amp and only using the pre amp section of the integrated..... A total waste of money

I thought he already had the CDP - so no money wasted (I never knowingly encourage money wasting).

 

[aversaurus]

I do think there's a difference between digital out on a cd player and a transport out

 

[nopiano]

I do think there's a difference between digital out on a cd player and a transport out

In what way? They essentially do the same thing. The CD player would only be using part of its capability, naturally.

 

[nopiano]

Most of the stuff they get in is rubbish.but they have a linn karik mark 1 in and I'm tempted

I believe Linn don’t support or repair them any more, but if it’s working and cheap…
I doubt an auction house have connected a DAC to test it though!

 

[Al ears]

I thought he already had the CDP - so no money wasted (I never knowingly encourage money wasting).

ignore what I said if I misread the OP and he already has a CDP......

 

[manicm]

On the higher-end Cambridge Audio, Audiolab, Cyrus and many others are only making CD transports.

This can be advantageous as more resources can be allocated to the laser and CD reading mechanism in general, as well as more robust casing, all to reduce jitter. More SACD capable players also go this route,

On the other hand a CDP can also be improved by hooking to a better external DAC.

These are options, but up to the listener to decide what makes sense and what does not.

One maker who has bucked the trend however is Marantz.

 

[TenTonTarantula]

Indeed i've just hooked my Marantz CD-63 MkII KI Signature to an external DAC to give it a new lease of life.

 

[aversaurus]

I already have my cd player linked up to a DAC but I'm forever chopping and changing and I have always just had a CDP so thought I would give a transport a go .

 

[Tinman1952]

I already have my cd player linked up to a DAC but I'm forever chopping and changing and I have always just had a CDP so thought I would give a transport a go .

I understand the attraction. Having spent years ripping CDs to a NAS and direct storage and saying I didn’t need a CD player…..I was recently tempted by excellent reviews of the Cambridge CXC and the Audiolab 6000CDT. Of the two I went for the Audiolab as I’d heard about problems with the CXC reading discs and it uses a cheap Sanyo disc transport with flimsy tray. The Audiolab however uses a slot transport devised by JVC for Audiolab I believe. If you believe the marketing blurb it uses high precision clocks and buffers the data off the disc before sending to a ’custom’ SPDIF transmitter. Whether you think that makes a difference or not, I will say it’s a VERY solid build and most important to me…. It’s totally quiet in operation…I mean silent! 👍

 

[Al ears]

I understand the attraction. Having spent years ripping CDs to a NAS and direct storage and saying I didn’t need a CD player…..I was recently tempted by excellent reviews of the Cambridge CXC and the Audiolab 6000CDT. Of the two I went for the Audiolab as I’d heard about problems with the CXC reading discs and it uses a cheap Sanyo disc transport with flimsy tray. The Audiolab however uses a slot transport devised by JVC for Audiolab I believe. If you believe the marketing blurb it uses high precision clocks and buffers the data off the disc before sending to a ’custom’ SPDIF transmitter. Whether you think that makes a difference or not, I will say it’s a VERY solid build and most important to me…. It’s totally quiet in operation…I mean silent! 👍

and a bit of a bargain, was comptemplating getting one myself.

 

[Tinman1952]

and a bit of a bargain, was comptemplating getting one myself.

You won’t be disappointed. I was very impressed when I unboxed it….looks much more expensive. 👍

 

[aversaurus]

What's the performance of the audiolab 6000 CDT like .
Can you tell the difference from the device it's replacing ?

 

[Tinman1952]

What's the performance of the audiolab 6000 CDT like .
Can you tell the difference from the device it's replacing ?

Well I haven‘t had a CD player for many years before this. I was using Audirvana on a mac mini over USB, a Yamaha WXC50 via optical and Amazon Music over coax into the SMSL M400 DAC. The biggest compliment is I cannot hear any difference between Audirvana and the Audiolab. This surprised me…. It’s surprisingly nice to go back to playing a CD disc after all these years. Perhaps it‘s just nostalgia….😁

 

[bigfish786]

I read the reviews of the Audiolab transport a while back, the reviewer was gushing over it!
Having bought the Marantz SA14S1SE a few years ago, I’ve barely ever used the transport, probably less than 24 hours. I tend to use the front USB port with a 64gb memory stick in there with MP3 files at 320 and they sound great. It’s more for convenience, but there’s not much difference in the file or the disc. They still sound excellent. I do believe that the great K.I had his hands on this to make digital sound as good as it could.