Pro-Ject CD taking a leaf from the Chinese

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It looks great doesn’t it? And I very much like the idea that former Philips folk have created a new transport as there aren’t many options left today.

It’s definitely a CD player though! ☺️
 
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manicm said:
A 'transport' CD DAC. A CD player by any other name, but it's clearly been following what Shanling, SMSL etc have been doing.

www.whathifi.com

If it's versatility you want, Pro-Ject's new CD transport has you covered

Take your pick when it comes to partner kit.
www.whathifi.com www.whathifi.com
Click to expand...
Versatility is one thing but if you already own a decent DAC, wherever it is, it seems pointless to buy a transport with a DAC built in.....
Not for me as I am still looking for a transport that will also play SACD.
However, it will obviously find a market somewhere.
Question: Don't most modern CD players have a digital out??
And as for £1800??????
 
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Al ears said:
Versatility is one thing but if you already own a decent DAC, wherever it is, it seems pointless to buy a transport with a DAC built in.....
Not for me as I am still looking for a transport that will also play SACD.
However, it will obviously find a market somewhere.
Question: Don't most modern CD players have a digital out??
And as for £1800??????
Click to expand...

Shanling, SMSL make several SACD transports - but your DAC will need to have I2S inputs. That's the norm today. DSD rarely, if at all, is capable via optical/coaxial. Which is why I say I2S should become the new norm for digital inputs. Coax/optical just don't cut it today.

As for the price, they are using a truly custom Redbook CD mechanism engineered by ex-Philips guys, an aluminium chassis, with a top-loading drive. These things alone may not fully the price, but then again look at Lumin streamer prices.
 
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.Project have offered valve outputs for many a year

Counterpoint , Cal audio labs made them in the 1980s

lampizator , audionote , Sw1dx , Audio research and many others still make them
PJRS2CDT-DAC_4_Zoom.jpg1119project.2.jpg
 
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manicm said:
Shanling, SMSL make several SACD transports - but your DAC will need to have I2S inputs. That's the norm today. DSD rarely, if at all, is capable via optical/coaxial. Which is why I say I2S should become the new norm for digital inputs. Coax/optical just don't cut it today.

As for the price, they are using a truly custom Redbook CD mechanism engineered by ex-Philips guys, an aluminium chassis, with a top-loading drive. These things alone may not fully the price, but then again look at Lumin streamer prices.
Click to expand...
I hear you and quite agree, however as a CD Transport it sort of leaves me cold.
As a CD player it appears very good.
If you want a transport then buy one. No point in paying out for an inclusive DAC if you don't need it.
I sometimes wonder where this DACs in everything is going....
 
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How are Pro-Ject taking a leaf out of the books of those other manufacturers? The non-valve version has been out since at least 2019, and the original, also 'CD Transport and DAC' they did, the CD Box RS, came before that too. I want to say 2014.
 
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IAG's transport is very hard to beat in my experience. It's quieter than most (actually pretty much silent), and will read almost anything reliably. That's all the transport needs to do - get the 1s and 0s out to the DAC with minimum fuss.
 
matthewpianist said:
IAG's transport is very hard to beat in my experience. It's quieter than most (actually pretty much silent), and will read almost anything reliably. That's all the transport needs to do - get the 1s and 0s out to the DAC with minimum fuss.
Click to expand...
Note: "high-precision CD mechanism and custom-designed servo control" tells you nothing about who actually manufactured it....
I don't know of any European CD manufacturers that design and byild their own mechanisms.
 
IAG's transport is very hard to beat in my experience. It's quieter than most (actually pretty much silent), and will read almost anything reliably. That's all the transport needs to do - get the 1s and 0s out to the DAC with minimum fuss.

Must get rid of my esoteric & buy the superior IAG
22kilos of japanese junk with the cd drawer out can only support a weight of a small child

I don't know of any European CD manufacturers that design and build their own mechanisms.

Pro-Ject Vienna have a interest in Blue Tiger/Suos same used in £30-£50,000 CD players from metronome , gryphon and many others

Top Loaders | SUOS-Hifi

CD-Pro8 and more
www.suos-hifi.com www.suos-hifi.com

teac-vrds-neo-trans-thread-motor_512pix.jpgesoteric-p01_vrds-neo-trans_464pix.jpg
 
I never implied the IAG/Audiolab/QUAD/LEAK transport was superior to anything else. Those Esoteric transports are beautifully engineered and if I had one I would see no point in replacing it with anything else unless it failed (unlikely). I just don't believe transports make a big difference beyond quietness and reliability, but that's an opinion based on personal experience rather than any scientific measurements.
 
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daytona600 said:
IAG's transport is very hard to beat in my experience. It's quieter than most (actually pretty much silent), and will read almost anything reliably. That's all the transport needs to do - get the 1s and 0s out to the DAC with minimum fuss.

Must get rid of my esoteric & buy the superior IAG
22kilos of japanese junk with the cd drawer out can only support a weight of a small child

I don't know of any European CD manufacturers that design and build their own mechanisms.

Pro-Ject Vienna have a interest in Blue Tiger/Suos same used in £30-£50,000 CD players from metronome , gryphon and many others

Top Loaders | SUOS-Hifi

CD-Pro8 and more
www.suos-hifi.com www.suos-hifi.com

View attachment 10617View attachment 10618
Click to expand...
That Suos looks like a serious piece of kit. Do you know of anyone else that uses it?
 
daytona600 said:
Most ultra high end machines use them. Project buy in big volumes

£37,500 Gryphon Ethos , £115.000 Metronome Kalista ,


View attachment 10626 etc

£ 37,5000 The Gryphon Ethos


View attachment 10625
Click to expand...
Ah, yes I remember the Kallista from Hifi News where they said the transport was from Denon-Marantz. I remember being surprised it ‘only’ had an ES9038Pro DAC as that’s pretty standard these days in items costing a hundredth of the price. Mind you, that unique styling must cost a fortune!

www.hifinews.com

Kalista DreamPlay XC CD/SACD Network Player

The first SACD player from French audio artisans, Kalista, is also this spin-off brand's most comprehensive digital hub to date, with wired/wireless network streaming Having emerged from French manufacturer Métronome Technologie with its inaugural model in 2003 – think Citroën spawning DS, or...
www.hifinews.com www.hifinews.com
 
HiEnd CD/SACD transports made buy only 3 OEM Suppliers

Samsung/D&M ( Denon & Marantz )
Esoteric/Teac
Google ( StreamUnlimited ) Suos

Found in most hiend Players
CH Precision , dCS , T&A , CEC , Gryphon , Metronme , Audio Research , PS Audio , Yamaha , Acuphase , Luxman etc
 
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daytona600 said:
HiEnd CD/SACD transports made buy only 3 OEM Suppliers

Samsung/D&M ( Denon & Marantz )
Esoteric/Teac
Google ( StreamUnlimited ) Suos

Found in most hiend Players
CH Precision , dCS , T&A , CEC , Gryphon , Metronme , Audio Research , PS Audio , Yamaha , Acuphase , Luxman etc
Click to expand...
Oh, so Suos are connected with Google? Nice to have a big capital behind them.

I rate the TEAC CD 5020A transport in my Tascam CD player, the more so when I realised ATC and Primare use it in their players costing ten times as much. Obviously not in the same league as those you list, although it was declared ‘perfect’ in ASR lab tests.


IMG_4050.png
 
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A 5-figure price tag for any hi-fi is, in my opinion, money down the drain, unless you like a hefty piece of physical engineering in front of you, and especially so for anything digital, including CD players. That isn't only because I'm not in that league financially; I just believe, based on listening, that the law of diminishing returns sets in dramatically a long, long way before those prices.

Project might be producing well engineered high-end transports, but I'm sorry to say, their cheaper ones are junk. Both my dad and I have had lower end models fail very early on, and that experience would put me off exploring further up the range.
 
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