[sonance]

First review I've seen on the web for the much anticipated SlimDevices Transporter Review:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/articl...ge=8675&head=0

Ultimate sound quality was not as good as a similarly expensive CD player says the reviewer, but he still likes it enough to give it an 8/10. TR tends to not gush about everything - they're generally even handed in their reviews, IMO.

Gave it a 9/10 for features, liked the looks and abilities, didn't like the case being prone to being affected by vibrations from speakers.

If anyone knows of other mass media or blog reviews, feel free to add them, I'm still interested in this thing - I can smell the aftermarket mods coming fast and strong to beef up the analog output. I was planning to use this with an outboard DAC myself.

 

[Sleestack]

I have 2, one modded. Anything you want to know?

 

[rodentmacbeastie]

Reference Audio Mods is offering extensive mod packages at their site. Hell, judging but the internal pics, there is enough room inside the unit to put a small band, no need for mods!

 

[flecom]

im going to guess the comments on audio quality are due to the crappy opamps they used on the output... which is a real shame since the AKM AK4396 they used has had me pretty excited with its specs... and its ability to have a cap-less single-ended output... but then they crippled it with crappy opamps... sigh

 

[Jon L]

Not exactly a review focused on sound quality, is it? There's what, 2 sentences that actually describes how the thing sounds...

BTW, the Unico CD player they used for comparison is a serious $3700 audiophile CD player that used 5814 tubes for voltage gain coupled to Mosfet output buffer stage that can swing tremendous voltage. If you are into 5814 tubed CDP's, there's no way you can match the in-the-room presence and projection with typical SS players, Transporter or traditional..

 

[morphsci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack I have 2, one modded. Anything you want to know?

How does the unmodded unit sound out of its analog outputs in comparison to your other digital sources?

 

[Hirsch]

I'll go into a bit more detail at a later time, but a short response would be that the reviewer needs to get his ears cleaned. In direct A to B with Wadia 301 (Wadia transport serving as source for both, identical interconnects) on different inputs of Stax SRM-007t, the Transporter and Wadia were almost impossible to tell apart. You could switch seamlessly from one to the other, and never realize that a switch even happened. There were some small differences, some favoring the Wadia and some the Transporter, but the key word is small. As we did this in a mini-meet setting, I'll get a thread going there at some point.

The Wadia has shrugged off the Bel Canto DAC-2, Benchmark DAC1, Ack! dAck!, and a couple of others in the identical test.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

Is it possible to bypass the unit's volume control?

Here's hoping I get to try it out at some point to see how it stacks up against my DV-50.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salt Peanuts Is it possible to bypass the unit's volume control? Here's hoping I get to try it out at some point to see how it stacks up against my DV-50.

You can disable the volume control on the digital outputs, but not the analog outputs.

 

[mkozlows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch You can disable the volume control on the digital outputs, but not the analog outputs.

But it's a purely digital volume control, and if you leave it at max, it doesn't affect the signal in any way.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkozlows But it's a purely digital volume control, and if you leave it at max, it doesn't affect the signal in any way.

True, but you can still only disable it for the digital outputs.

 

[sonance]

Interesting. Could have been an impedance mis-match or volume mismatch that made the TR reviewer perceive such a large disparity between the two players.

Certainly good news for potential purchasers if the D/A output is good enough to stand up to the Wadia.

Sleestack:
What did you mod on your 2nd transporter, and what's your verdict? Did you get two for comparison or are you planning on keeping both?

 

[regal]

With this can you use digital eq or crossfeed plugins on your computer?

 

[Sleestack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonance Interesting. Could have been an impedance mis-match or volume mismatch that made the TR reviewer perceive such a large disparity between the two players. Certainly good news for potential purchasers if the D/A output is good enough to stand up to the Wadia. Sleestack: What did you mod on your 2nd transporter, and what's your verdict? Did you get two for comparison or are you planning on keeping both?

Your first point is excellent. I find it surprising that even hi-fi mags often don't understand the importnce of strict level matching when comparing components. Without doing it, you end up with useless information. I think that if people took the time to properly level mtch, many of the difference people talk about would simply disappear. People need to realize that you can't level match without an SPL and without level matching you have no idea what you are relly comparing.

I'm keeping both Transporters. The modded one is for the headphone rig b/c I want to use the analog outs. The other one is being modded too, but only the power supply and a few mods to further reduce jitter.

My verdict: When used as a digital transport, it is transparent and does not require mods. I'm modding my other one anyway, but only b/c I like having the peace of mind.

The analog section also sounds very good. Much better than the stock SB3. My modded unit does sound a bit brighter than the stock one, but I haven't had any time under the cans b/c my SDS is sold and my new Singlepower amp hasn't arrived. Personally, I think spening money on the power supply and analog out is worthwhile, however, not necessary to have a great source.

 

[Salt Peanuts]

Hirsch and/or Sleestack - Have you compared the Transporter to your other digital sources?