Onkyo Digital Media Transport ND-S1 alternative to Wadia 170 iTransport - Page 6

Sound is very good, and believe or not : the optical cable that comes with the ND-S1 is a very good quality cable

keez, that appears to be a very respectable mid-fi rig you now have in your sig - particularly the 325 ( ) - but are you able to give us any comparisons with a CDP plugged into the DACMagic/Rhinelander combo ? That was the most annoying thing to come out of the magazine reviews for mine - the idea that plugging one of these transports into a good DAC (like the DACMagic) wouldnt be as good as the output from an entry-level CDP from NAD/CA/Marantz etc. I have no issue with CD transports or any of those brands (I own a Marantz disc spinner..), but for those of us who dont want to juggle CDs its cold comfort indeed.

Vinnie can do much better than me, unless I am really tempted!
The problem is I don't know what the chip looks like!

[QUOTE=estreeter;

3 days ago i sold my Audiolab 8000 cdp
My collection of music is now over 110gb (Flac and Lossless)
The combination of the Dacmagic with the Rhinelander is very good, with a cdp connected with a good coaxial cable is the sound also good. But the easy way with the ND-S1 and the Dacmagic/Rhinelander is my favorite. Specialy with a good use of the Dacmagic fliters (they work very fine)

Thats great to hear keez - I guess we just need Vinnie's impressions and I will have absolutely no excuses in January.

Still patiently waiting from mine to come from Japan - hopefully will be here next week!

All the best,

Vinnie

Should have it on Thursday!

Just in time to bring to the NY headfi meet this weekend! I better add that 5V output for my Isabellina HPA so I can feed the ND-S1 at the show, along with the Wadia.

I'll post soon!

Vinnie

Assuming they were both connected to the same DAC, then the bits being the same out of both devices, the sound should be the same?

I guess the only possible variation is the output level from the transport to the DAC.

You would think , eh?

However i could hear a definate difference, i can only assume that there may be higher jitter/timing issues/error correction at play with the Onkyo (the wadia has quite high jitter)?

astroid, I believe you may be right, but I can only go on the review I read and the accompanying measurements of things like jitter from the Wadia. It was all a bit surreal, as they had just finished heaping praise on the DACMagic, complete with a set of measurements that apparently blew the tech guys mind, then spent the next couple of pages making excuses for the Wadia. Logically, I would have plugged one into the other to see if the whole was better than the sum of its parts

Thats pretty much the claim that most DAC makers stand by, fwir. Some claim that the audible impact of jitter is overstated, but thats another thread in itself.

I dont know about anyone else, but I'm hoping Vinnie will be back with his impressions very soon.

Some good DAC, like Audio Note DAC 1.1x Signature or PS Audio PerfectWave DAC, don’t reduce jitter, or not enough.

They have to be paired with a jitter killer device like Monarchy Audio DIP Classic:
“Comparison 2: A5 system as in 1 v Wadia/iPod/DIP Classic v Wadia/iPod
I must confess that I have rarely had the “Oh Wow!” reaction with most tweaks (and at such a price as the Monarchy DIP, I consider this a tweak), usually noting small incremental improvements and unconvincingly rationalizing that it was an improvement worthy of the cost of the tweak. This occasion was one of the rare and major exceptions.

Firstly, the difference between the Wadia/iPod with and without the DIP was extreme and this was clear regardless of whether the DIP was connected by XLR or RCA to the Audio Note (XLR was marginally better). Immediately obvious was the increased resolution and tightness in the bass which not only seemed faster, but also seemed to be a more coherent part of the whole. Difficult to put into words, but with the DIP in the chain, the bass now underpinned the music rather than just followed it. The treble was also a clear beneficiary. I could easily differentiate the clarity and smoothness in the highs. If there was a problem with the noise floor or any high frequency distortion which may have been detracting from the highs, the DIP appeared to vanquish it. No question about it, to my ears the DIP Classic made a dramatic improvement to the Wadia 170i through the Audio Note DAC.”
AudiogoN Forums: Review: Wadia 170i Transport Transport

or the Lens (Genesis Digital Lens or upcoming PS Audio Lens):
“Place any digital audio into the Lens and everything we worry about: jitter, clocks, timing, wave shape, etc. are thrown out and new digital audio is rebuilt on the fly ready to be placed into your DAC in a perfect, focused, form (hence the name Digital "Lens").

The Lens will allow you to take USB from your computer, or digital audio from a $29 CD player, the output of an Apple TV’s optical feed, the digital or HDMI output of your DVD or Blu-ray player with surround info on it, or any sample rate and bit depth digital audio from any source and make that digital signal about as perfect as it can be. You can then place the output of the Lens into your new PS Audio PerfectWave DAC through I2S, or your existing D to A or surround processor through either coax, balanced or optical and enjoy jitter free digital audio from any source. The performance improvements for audio and video system are stunning.”
PS Audio - High-Performance Home Audio Equipment