I bought a CD5XS for this use case albeit with different downstream kit. Very satisfied.
It is rather good, isnât itâŚ.and itâs a thirty(?) year old bit of kit! I had ours running into the nDAC before Xmas, while the CD3.5 was back inât shop for a new laser.
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Google for âMr Tech Guyâ, near Huntingdon. Yeah, itâs a silly name, but Russell is an ex-Meridian service engineer. Heâll be able to advise.
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Thanks. Iâll give him a call.
1990 called they want their Transports backâŚ
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âDoes it really matter?â
yes - without one âcannot spin those TWO compact discs!â
Others have suggested foregoing CD âinvestmentâ and simply going streaming
My experience here is that a CD player I spent 80$ on (several in fact), more than twenty years ago, FLOG!, just about every âmodernâ transport I can find (for budget coin outlay).
Does it really matter? (part 2)
Sure there are ânuancedâ improvements that comes from a less âguessed atâ stream of digital. better transients and spacing and imaging and ârealityâ.
Ten times more cost into a transport wonât net GREATLY more sound quality (vs investing that same â10xâ amount of money, well, into the rest of the system).
I play with transports (a lot).
Sorting out a decent DAC first, and, with EVERYTHING else sorted (including cables and power), rotating transports can make (subtle) audible differencesâŚ
When I have the freedom to rotate through ten plus transports, it is fairly quick to realise that âtransport quality alters sound playbackâ (ABSOLUTELY!!)
as to how much it alters the sound?! most wouldnât know or care- many more MIGHT hear a difference, but still not know which is the better rendering (etc)âŚ
This is subtle stuff.
Sure a decent transport can open up the âbestâ of any given DACs capabilities.
Doesnât make sense to âchokeâ a DAC from being âits bestâ; not does it make sense to bypass better DACs chasing onesâ tail on a âhigh quality transportâ (for TWO media parts)âŚ
The best advise given thus far, for the OP, Iâd back;
buy an âentry levelâ Rotel or branded well built âbudgetâ transport, and compare vs whichever ancient Bluray player (or DVD player) is in the house.
Even mid tier UHD players are very poor(as a digital transport) vs âfairly budgetâ earlier generation units (such as HD-DVD/Bluray/DVD-A/SACD/DVD/LD and CD spinners).
Iâd find the biggest/heaviest âancientâ player (in the garage or at a neighbours garage sale), and compare itsâ digital output vs âthe < 400$ UHD/4K spinnerâ.
If you can hear obvious changes in the sound heard through your DAC, comparing a mid tier âbudgetâ option from twenty-thrity years ago (vs a modern UHD player), then you WILL notice improvements by lowering jitter with a better (modern) transport.
When I look inside the casework on various CD tranports I quickly realise that Iâd have to spend three-four times the cost of an entry level spinner to buy something that equates to 90s/2000s half decent second hand stuff that floods the marktet.
With the right transport, a DAC can certainly âshine moreâ
Spoken as someone using an R2R DAC, whose topology eases jitter ârejectionâ, and who uses Non Oversampling on classic 44khz 16bit âredbookâ format music files- transport quality, even with my âbudgetâ R2R, makes a HUGE difference to sound quality- to my trained ears, listening to familiar tracks⌠changing a speaker position in my room would make a HUGE audio difference that EVERYONE MIGHT NOTICE, vs, changing a transport equalling a change that some MAY notice. (more so with appropriate ear training and âknowing what to look forâ). The difference in Sound Quality from a mid tier to a high end transport is then âheld backâ by the absolute capabilities of the DAC.
Buying expensive CD transports really should be for those who have large libraries/prefer CD as a format/seek out âgold discsâ and better pressings. (really pull away from âstreamingâ file quality with great CDs ie gold picture discs burned under a full moon after midnightâŚ)
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[quote=âsimon, post:25, topic:33305, full:trueâ]
If you werenât aware:
SACD players do not output DSD (the SACD signal) via their digital outputs (some exceptions to that). If a SACD player has a digital out it will most likely be converted to PCM. This is most likely how your Blu Ray player works with your AV amp.
I have a universal player and it will only output via RCA and not digital, as I understand it , this is Sony flexing their muscles .
It means I cannot use the DAC in my Naim Uniti Qute for SACD
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[quote=âangelface, post:29, topic:33305, full:trueâ]
Yes transports can make a big difference. I have over 300 CDs and love my Cyrus CDXTSE2.
I recently heard a demo of Cyrus CDXR as a transport and I was frightened to hear difference between a 200 pound and a 1000 pound digital coaxial cable between transport and preamp with a good DAC in it.
[/quote]
You often get wot you pay for.
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After many decades of inadequate CD PLAYERS, I was first introduced to CD Transports early 2023, late to that party as per usual. Iâve had the Cambridge Audio CXC, the Audiolab 6000CDT and even the Jayâs Audio CDT2-MK3. I liked them all. Recently, Iâve sold them all and purchased the new Shanling ET3 Transport.
I find it sounds nearly as good as the Jayâs Audio but at 1/3rd the price.
Getting into transports for CD listening had me digging out my 800 CDs out of storage and repurposing some old record storage to make way for CDs again. I learned quickly that I did not want to revisit all my CDs and after culling the 800 I had, I was left with ~250 that I have added to my racks. The rest were reboxed in the attic.
Of course, all 800 CDs were ripped into FLAC files on a small SSD drive years ago, but I prefer the physical media.
The Shanling ET3 is outputting via S/PDIF to my Chord Hugo TT2 DAC and from there to my SN3 intetragted. It sounds very good to me. Perhaps slightly better than streaming Qobuz via Roon. Itâs hard to say for sure, but is fun to play with.
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If you were a 780nm laser beam trying not to miss thousands of 100x500nm wide pits passing in front of you at 1.5 mt./sec, and it was a matter of life or death because the same pit is not going to pass in front of you again, youâd think differently.
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about the cost of a naim repair I think ?
Ive just upgraded my Roksan Caspian M2 CD Player used in Transport Mode for a Moon 260DT Transport.
Every thing else in the hifi system is exactly the same and the Moon sound quality is much better than the old transport.
The bass sounds considerably better and overall the sound is clearer and has more detail.
So it is my experience that a better transport gives better sound quality.
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Buying any old cd player or transport is really just a ticking time bomb as itâs going to fail at some point, and then you have little chance in fixing it or a big bill.
I would certainly look at only new or secondhand unitâs that are only a few years old only.
Then as far as do transports matter, then 100% yes. But as always this is system dependent, and your own ears.
A high resolving system should show you difference between them, like it does with anything like this, one thatâs letâs say probably wonât.
There are certainly some great new transports around at less than ÂŁ500. But go up a little more to around ÂŁ1000, and then something like the schitt urd, with itâs great metal CD tray and mechanism from StreamUnlimited used by many at the moment as itâs that good.
Or the other favourite at the moment the moon 260D at just under ÂŁ2000.
I think once you get to this level then the difference between them starts to fade as far as transport only goes, and then gains only start to make sense if you are pairing up items like say for myself being a dCS dac owner, then a dCS transport gives me a lot more, but the cost for that is massive, and would only be worth it if cd/sacd was your main go to, and you had 1000âs off them.
Thatâs my take on the hole CD thing at the moment, and i donât have any way to play a CD right now, ripp them yes, and all my CDâs are ripped. But even though i probably wouldnât use a CD much at all, i would still give one rack space, strange lol.
Cheers dunc
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Hi. For your consideration, I have sent my Meridian 500 (series 3) transport to Mr Tech Guy for servicing plus a new laser head. He is pretty good. Thanks.
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I have this one. I could hear the motor from across the room. Unacceptable
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I have been in contact with Russ and will likely be sending off my Meridian shortly. A really good tip from the forum. Appreciated.
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My my, we have certainly come full circle. My audiophilia disease / awakening came at the tail end of the cassette tape & the first decade of the CD era.
- Mechanical isolation matters
- jitter is a big thing (better clock, after market clock etc)
- lasers will fail one day (not many companies make laser mech nowadays). Best to try to look for something that has spares (not easy nowadays)
- streaming / file as source s*cks ! (There, I said it)
Post Script : item 4 for dramatic effect. Streaming is not bad. In fact, it can be rather good but still cannot beat CD (in my system).
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I rather like streaming âŚâŚ
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As a slight correction:
The Moon 260DT is currently ÂŁ2900 in the UK. I use a 260D with the DAC option (used as a transport only though). Itâs an excellent transport, that is virtually silent when the disc is spinning. I did compare it against a Chord Blu (3-4 times the price). The Chord did show some improvement, but negligible bordering on the âfooling myselfâ level.
Thereâs no doubt transports make an impact on the performance of a system, whether a CD transport or a bridge. As ever, it will be system and priority dependent, with value being for the buyer to judgeâŚ
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A good decision the Chord is no longer made due to the Phillips mechanisms having run out. Your Moon has its own proprietary mechanismđ