Logitech Transporter discontinued

I figured this would happen sooner or later after Logitech took over.  They aren't really a company suited to audiophile stuff, just mass-manufacturered plastic products using cheap electronics. 

Wow, too bad.

 

It's a very nice product, though not at nominal MSRP of $2000.

With its high price it was always going to face stiff competition from a cheap Squeezbox and a dedicated DAC or from the cheaper Sonos. No matter how good they made it many "audiophiles" just won't believe that Logitech can make great sounding gear because they make computer peripherals. That's probably why Logitech gave up.

 

It should still get the same support as the other Squeezeboxes because they use the same server software. If I remember correctly it's open source so there is nothing to stop users adding new features.

Mostly true although the Touch is a nifty little gadget in the right setups.

I hope iPeng continues development and support for their iPod app.  I was hoping for an iPad version in the future.

There was never a dedicated Transporter forum, Transporter questions were always handled in the Audiophiles forum:

 

http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7

 

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=29792

 

Edited by pfink - 8/12/10 at 12:49pm

X2

First and for all, let me admit I never had the pleasure to listen to a Transporter.

I'm convinved it was a landmark in its day, but over here it sells for €1900,-

The touch costs €300,- (and seems to have a very good coax dig out) leaving €1600,- for the DAC (you pay for a cable but gain the versality of being able to upgrade player and DAC seperately in the future). I paid 2/3 for my Audio-GD ref5 and am ver impressed by it. Again, I've not compared but when I bought a squeezebox (regrettably not the touch but the classic) and my DAC I considered the Transporter and decided I better invest my money in a seperate player and DAC, and my point is, reading from the above I'm not the only one.

The transporter simply does not seem to be strong competitor nowadays, and, like Currawong reasons, for a company like Logitech it therefore is not a profitable product. I cannot judge if this is justified or not but that is not the point.

For current owners, I think Stoin is right there and slimdevices will continu to support the Transport for a long time.
Edited by dura - 8/12/10 at 1:14pm

I've had the opportunity to listen to the Transporter and thought it was great, but faced stiff competition at the $2000 price point.  However in the past 2 years or so, you could find the Transporter for much less, and there was a time you could even get it for less than $1000 off the Logitech website with coupons.  I regret not buying it at that time.  But speaking with older audiophiles, they never saw computer audio or streaming as very "high end" and would not consider it.  I think after being bought out by Logitech, SlimDevices lost some of its niche and was lost in the large company.  Unfortunately, they would have marketed it much more than they did and make it a real successful audio source with its digital inputs and streaming capabilities.  I do hope they keep on supporting it as I will consider purchasing one comes up at the right price.

When you mentioned competition... I've talked to someone who has listened to both Transporter and one of Linn's devices and he said the Transporter is crap compared to Linn and they are both in the same price segment.

I bought one of the Linn DS players - not the Sneaky. They do sound better than the Transporter and to my ear the Naim Uniti. I went for a DS-I which is isn't quite comparable, but I did listen to some of the other Linn DS's. What sold it to me was mixture of very high quality built-in amplification, uPnP support (no Squeezecenter) and, on the DS-I, a lot of digital and analogue inputs. The Sneaky is a lot closer to the Transporter in price and overall sound quality (the Linn still wins) but comes with a built-in amp and network control so you hide it away in a cupboard. The only thing in the Transporter's favour is that it had wireless but I use wired ethernet so for me that isn't much of a feature. 

Well, I'm sure we should be on the look out for 'clearance' Transporters? The Logitech UK site had cheapish 'refurb' models on sale recently...not that I was looking out for one. Haha.

 

@curra: The squeezebox is a fantastic bit of kit whether or not you think it's mass manufactured plastic. The original company, Slim Devices, possibly manufactured out of USA before shifting production to China. But we know the Chinese can make good product (iPad, iPhones, Audio G-D), so not a real issue.

I had a SB2 that is still going strong after 4 years. Two other SB3s are going strong after 3 years.

I've owned a transporter for some time now - the sound quality takes the pants off Linn, the brands mystique notwithstanding. To my ears, the only better sound was a benchmark DAC. 

So sorry to see that these have been discontinued.  I have two -- one attached to my Bryston/WP7 system and one attached to my Headroom Max Balanced amp.  I haven't listened to a ton of DACs, but in side-by-side comparison, it beat the DAC in my Bryston 26DA preamp (and, not surprisingly, the one in my circa 2006 Headroom Desktop amp, too).  Really my absolute favorite piece of source gear.  I think the Transporter and the Squeezebox Boom really demonstrate the engineering genius of the original Slimdevices team.

 

I'll be hanging on to my Transporters for a while!

Edited by muski - 11/11/10 at 10:39pm