How important is transport when using a DAC? And CDP advice.

[Sanddancer]

Sorry if this has been asked loads, but the search doesn't seem to work for me.

Well, the head-fi assault on my wallet continues. I now have my RS-1s and my Mapletree Ear Purist to amplify it so it's time to see about a better source. I'm looking at replacing my CD player, but really am trying not to spend too much. I'm hoping to limit myself to around £250.

At the moment I have a crappy old Kenwood player (can't remember the model number).

I've been considering three options:

Get a new CD player - Cambridge Audio 640C V2 seems to be the obvious choice for my budget.

Get an older used Cd player from Ebay - Something like an Arcam Diva CD72, an Alpha 8 or maybe a Rotel of some description.

Get a DAC to use with my existing player.

I've only just started to consider the last option and am looking for info on DACs. I was wondering whether a decent DAC for my budget would be ok with my player being used as the transport or whether a decent transport is still required. My first thought would be that the transport shouldn't make a big difference, but surely that's too easy on the wallet to be true.

Which route would you suggest and which makes/models in particular?

 

[Garbz]

If you have a great current player then go the DAC option, but within reason. An integrated DAC always has the potential to sound better then an external one by design, so if you have a crappy CDplayer I'd look at spending the entire budget on a new or used one. However given a good source (and I use this term loosely as anything that reads CDs and produces a reasonably fine digital output like most >100pound players, a DAC may give you slightly better performance.

Disclaimer: as usual try before you buy and see for yourself.

 

[Tachikoma]

If you want an external DAC and a cheap but decent transport, check out the old NEC multispin drives =P

 

[bifcake]

A good transport is fairly important for an external dac. In your case, I would recommend looking on the used market for the better CD Players. You may want to look at Rega Planet 2000 (not the original planet), Rotel 971, Adcom (don't remember the model number, I think it's 551) and the Arcam player you listed. You might also want to take a look at Musical Fidelity A3.2 or A3 player. All of these are very good options and are leaps and bounds beyond what you have now.

 

[Alu]

I asked something related in here:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170128

 

[fjf]

Any cheap DVD player with a decent 44.1 KHz digital out will sound good if you connect it to a good dac. This way, you can just throw it away when it dies and get another. No more repairs of readers!.

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjf Any cheap DVD player with a decent 44.1 KHz digital out will sound good if you connect it to a good dac. This way, you can just throw it away when it dies and get another. No more repairs of readers!.

I've had the Toshiba SD-3960 paired with the Dialogue II for about a week now, and it's certainly a nice source to feed my Millet. I'm still planning on getting some power supply mods done to the Toshiba, but I'm in no hurry since hell...it sounds damn good

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thaddy I've had the Toshiba SD-3960 paired with the Dialogue II for about a week now, and it's certainly a nice source to feed my Millet. I'm still planning on getting some power supply mods done to the Toshiba, but I'm in no hurry since hell...it sounds damn good

My old Toshiba SD 1800 sounded pretty good hooked to my DAC-AH as well, until the drive mechanism started an annoying clicking sound. I'm now using a SONY DVD player as the transport and it sounds excellent. I'd personally put the money in the DAC.

A_Sr.

 

[drp]

It seems that DACS like the Benchmark DAC1 and Apogee Mini-DAC changed how important, or unimportant, the source was in that their dual-stage clocks remove much of the source-derived jitter, providing extremely low jitter at their output. I'm using a Sony PCDP with optical out into my Mini-DAC and this configuration, with a Mapletree Ear+ HD to PS-1s provides near perfect synergy and awesome sound.

If your old Kenwood has optical or coax digital out, then finding a used dual-stage DAC is a pretty good bet, but maybe a little out of your current price range. Keep saving if this is your preferred route and keep an eye out for one of the above, used. I believe the Lavry Black DA10 also has dual (or maybe triple) clocks. They are all good DACs from companies with great histories in the audio biz. I like the Mini-DAC in that the Headphone out pairs great with the RS-1, expecially if your want something partially transportable. Batteries and a portable CD player give amazing sound just about anywhere. I found the DAC1's HP out too bright for Grados.

I don't think the CA 640 C too bad a choice, based on the reviews. If I had 5-600 to spend, I'd give it a very close listen. On that note, don't buy anything that you can't audition first. But, would you soon be looking to upgrade that as well, given the awesome down-stream components you have now in the RS-1s and Ear+? For used CD players, Bifcake's listing are great choices.

My personal upward progression has been mid-priced CD players, to a CD player/DAC combo, with my next step up being a Meridian (dreams of G07 or G08) or similar higher end player.

Hope this helps somewhat…

Dave

 

[BennyBoy]

It's important but not the most important!

If you've got a cheap transport and cheap D2A. Changing the D2A would make more of a difference than changing the transport.

If your on a budget you can look for an old Plextor cd-rom with a digital out
and you'll have a good transport.

 

[bifcake]

I once did a comparison with different transports using my friend's Mark Levinson 30.5 DAC. I used his Theta transport, my Rega Planet 2000 as a transport and my Pioneer DV-414 DVD player as a transport. Here are the results:

Theta - smooth, detailed, a bit confined.

Rega - more open more detailed, but grittier than Theta

Pioneer - Horrible! Unlistenable. I wanted to die.

Conclusion: A transport makes a difference. More so than I realized before doing the test.

Hope this helps. I think you're better off with a CD player at this price range rather than a DAC/transport combo.

 

[RogerWilco]

I have always found transports to make a difference.

pioneer DV-606D-is pretty good but a bit on the lean and bright side

samsung dvd-hd931 modded as transport by reference mods--sounds just right--

Had the eastsound e-5 that i was using as transport,but the modded samsung sounded better so i sold it.

Save you money and use a good dvd player as transport and buy a Zhaolu for your reference sound dac

 

[$qwuzzy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco Save you money and use a good dvd player as transport and buy a Zhaolu for your reference sound dac

this is what i planned to do.... was looking at grabbing the Pioneer 686A - any other candidates?

 

[Sanddancer]

Okay, thanks guys. So I guess for my current budget I'd be best forgetting about the DAC and looking for a CD player. (I checked and the current player is a Kenwood 2030).

The problem is I'm in the UK and ebay doesn't have quite as much choice as US ebay. And with my budget I've ruled out international purchases. So things like the Rega Planet 2000 and Adcom and even the Rotel would be very hard to come by.

I think it's going to come down to the 640C V2 and the Arcam CD72.

 

[bifcake]

Rega is a British company as is Musical Fidelity. You should have no problems finding one used in the UK.