What transport for Audiolab MDAC

[Longjohn]

Dear all,

I am trying to decide whether I should buy the Audiolab 8200 CDQ or the MDAC. If I buy the MDAC, I will need a CD transport.

It seems strange, but I cannot find any recommendations for a transport for the MDAC that would provide the performance of a CD player that is at least the equal of the 8200 CDQ.

The concept of using a CD transport that links to the MDAC worries me, because surely there would be losses in the connecting cable that would compromise the combined perfromance of CD transport + MDAC?

I have loads of CDs which I want to play directly, so please don't tell me I should convert them all into FLAC files and play them from a PC!

I read somewhere that Audiolab is going to produce their own CD transport. Any comments on if or when this is likely to appear and what the retail price will be?

Kind regards,

Longjohn

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi LongJohn

First, you can use any CD player or DVD or Blu-ray as a transport. Also, like any component will vary with SQ. However, unlike other components it isn't quite as essential as a integrated CDP, the sound is mainly influenced by the DAC and the CDP or DVD is purely a means of spinning a disc.

A decent s/hand CDP will suffice: Arcam CD72 or 73 or a Nad or Marantz will do a good job as pure transport.

Why Audiolab CDQ as an alternative? And what is the rest of your set-up?

Hope that helps.

 

[Longjohn]

Dear Mr. Penguin,

It's an honour to hear from you, and thank you for responding. I will most probably buy a Rotel RA 1520 and use either my existing Monitor Audio RS1 speakers, or buy something like the Rega RS3. My room is about 4 x 5.5 m and I listen mainly to classical music.

The question to me is how you would connect the CD player to the MDAC. You would need a digital connection from the CD player / transport. How many CD players actually have that connection on their front and rear panels? I thought most CD players were designed to be completely integrated without an option for an external DAC connection. It would be crazy to use an analogue connection, when you need to make a digital one to benefit from the MDAC. What cable would I use if a 'digital out' connection from the CD player or CD transport existed?

I'm concerned that the losses from making such a connection would negate the benefits of using the MDAC as opposed to the benefits of using an integrated CD player such as the 8200 CDQ. Why does nobody address this issue?

Kind regards again, L J

 

[plastic penguin]

Connect a DAC to a CDP use either a coaxial or optical cable. Most CDPs have one or the other, or in the case of the Audiolab 8200 has both.

If your concerns are fairly deep-rooted the only way negate any lingering concerns is to audition a DAC and integrated CDP and compare the two.

FWIW (I'm not a big fan of DACs) using a DAC gives you more flexibility in what you can connect or access.

 

[the record spot]

The concept of using a CD transport that links to the MDAC worries me, because surely there would be losses in the connecting cable that would compromise the combined perfromance of CD transport + MDAC?

Fret not Littlejohn, the cables will carry the stream of 1s and 0s from your transport to your DAC. If there's a break in the signal, the signal will simply stop the data transfer, and the music stops. Nothing to worry about in terms of quality - I use two optical cables - one a QED Profile at around £20 (bought for about £8 in Tesco) which is fine. The other is a Tesco own brand which cost about £6. Performance is absolutely fine. Excellent even.

 

[Longjohn]

Dear Record Spot,

I understand what you say about 0s & 1s, but surely that's not all there is to quality? People talk about having the right cable for connecting from a PC to a DAC (I paid £80 for mine), so the same must be true for the connection between the CD transport and the DAC.

How do I assure the best quality so that I'm not in the situation of buying, say, a Cyrus CD transport and an Audiolab MDAC for nearly £1300, and ending up with inferior performance to that of, say, an Audiolab 8200 DC (£750), which is said to have an inferior DAC to that of the MDAC?

I'm sorry to be so particular about this point.

A further question: are coaxial or optical cables better?

Thanks very much,

LJ

 

[shafesk]

Hi John, well I can see that you've been receiving good help from knowledgable forumers, well I'll still throw in my experience. I haven't heard differences from CD player transports, I use a Marantz 5004 cd player into my dacmagic but I might as well use my dvd player. The only things I've heard that makes a difference is that I get very few skips on the Marantz in comparison to others so that is a good things if you have ageing cds. I would suggest looking at a second hand version of my cdp, failing that you could try ex dem equipment from CA as well. These two I have used and they are fairly reliable, they haven't given me any problems in the last 2 year. If you want to go on the fancy side, Cyrus has a dedicated transport, but I would rather spend this sort of money on the dac or a dedicated cd player.

 

[Longjohn]

Dear Shafesk,

It's very kind of you to reply and your comment is reassuring. What cable would you recommend? Coaxial or optical?

I'm really surprised that no-one has written on the connection between CD transports and DACs. I can find no really useful references anywhere.

Does anyone know of some good articles or forums that would help in addition to this one?

Best regards,

LJ

 

[plastic penguin]

Dear Shafesk,

It's very kind of you to reply and your comment is reassuring. What cable would you recommend? Coaxial or optical?

I'm really surprised that no-one has written on the connection between CD transports and DACs. I can find no really useful references anywhere.

Does anyone know of some good articles or forums that would help in addition to this one?

Best regards,

LJ

My fairly brief experience with DACs and CDPs I used cheapo coaxial.

As mentioned in my previous you really need to listen to a couple of combos which will exorcise any DAC/cable/CDP demons.

This is the only hi-fi forum I use, not much help there.

This may give you a little more insight: http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/best-budget-cdsacd-transport

Or type in 'Search' (top right hand corner of page "CD transport" Should give you various threads from numerous users.

 

[shafesk]

Dear Shafesk,

It's very kind of you to reply and your comment is reassuring. What cable would you recommend? Coaxial or optical?

I'm really surprised that no-one has written on the connection between CD transports and DACs. I can find no really useful references anywhere.

Does anyone know of some good articles or forums that would help in addition to this one?

Best regards,

LJ

Always glad to be of service LJ, well I would recommend coaxial over optical simply because the only coaxial cable I've ever bought lasted me till now (9 years). Optical cables on the other hand are less reliable. However, some transports do not have coaxial and optical may be your only option. I did not hear any improvements through coaxial though, they sounded the same in my setup.

I will have a look around and see if I can find any articles for you but I don't remember seeing one on this topic

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lonjohn,

I would personally always favour coaxial cables over optical as many inputs to DAC's etc, the coaxial frequency range is greater, ie supports HD music @ 192Khz, optical generally to date is limited to 96Khz, with so much more HD music @24bit/192Khz being released it's a possible oppurtunity to stay a head of the game for once !!.

Jelly

 

[Longjohn]

Dear Jelly and all you other guys,

Thanks very much for the advice on using a coaxial connection. I have been reviewing the responses above and looking on other sites such as pink fish media. This latter website has some interesting comments. See, for example, the following:

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=119055&highlight=mdac+transport

Example of Cyrus CD6SE plus Audiolab MDAC being inferior to Audiolab 8200cdq:

http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=112125&page=31

This highlights my concern, namely that if I buy a MDAC on the grounds of its DAC being of slightly better performance than that of the 8200cdq, I will find that the sound quality from the CD transport plus MDAC will be inferior to that obtained from the 8200cdq alone.

My point also is that when you build an integrated CD transport + DAC (i.e., a CD player) such as the 8200cdq, then there will be direct internal hardwired PCB links, filtering, noise reduction, ground planes, etc., to optimise the performance. In the case of a direct cable connection between a CD transport and a DAC you would not have that fortuitous on-board optimisation.

I gather that John Westlake, the designer of the MDAC and 8200cdq, has been talking about producing an Audiolab CD transport. The only reason he would do this is to provide a more optimised CD transport / MDAC system.

I hope I have stirred up a little hornet's nest!

Best regards, LJ

 

[plastic penguin]

No hornets nest, just experiencing the joys of hi-fi. It is such a subjective hobby we can only advise on our findings, likes/dislikes - regardless of the forum.

The only way of knowing for sure is to hear for yourself the CDQ and a dac fed into a cdp and see which one stacks the best.