[mikel51]

Hi,
I have been using my modwright transporter with great pleasure for years now.  I am pretty resigned to this platform becoming a dead end.  What have other Modwrighters been using to play music from their computers as they evolved?  I did lots of experimentation to settle on the transporter, and that finally allowed me to give up my CD transport and separate DAC, but I haven't been experimenting with new equipment for the last few years.

My rig is:
Modwright Transporter with Tung Sol 6SN7
BAT VK31SE Preamp
Modwright KVA150 Signature Edition Amp
Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversary speakers

[dminches]

While the Squeezebox line is no longer being manufactured, why do you feel the need to replace it?  I have a MWTP and 2 touches.  I plan on using them for the foreseeable future.  Everything should work fine for years to come.

Having said that, how is your music stored?

One solution is a piece like the Pioneer N-50.  You can stream music to it from any source on your network.  It has a very nice DAC, but you can also connect an external DAC.  In fact, you could connect it to the digital input of your MWTP.

[AB]

I have a MW Transporter and have used it exclusively as my source for years. I then moved house and have only used it on and off for the past 12 months or so. I still think it's a fantastic source.

All my music is on a NAS running LMS out to either the MWT or a Touch. I just added an iFi iDac and iUSB to the Touch and this combo is an enormous improvement over the stock Touch with the Touch Toolbox installed. But I still have no intention of replacing the MWT yet.

My next step will be to audition the AMR DP-777 and the Meitner MA-1. From what I've read I suspect one or the other will work for me. I plan on running the Touch into the new Dac and then later experimenting a bit with a dedicated DIY server.

I expect to be running LMS into a Touch or the MWT in the future and see no reason to abandon the SB ecosystem. Will my main system run LMS? Maybe. I want to experiment a bit but if a new server system fails to add value, I'll be happy with an  LMS set up.

[audiogoober]

(quote)

My next step will be to audition the AMR DP-777 and the Meitner MA-1. From what I've read I suspect one or the other will work for me. I plan on running the Touch into the new Dac and then later experimenting a bit with a dedicated DIY server.



I've been using a SB Touch for years and have owned both DAC's you mention. In my opinion, the MA-1 is a much better sounding DAC for redbook and hi-res, along with DSD capability for when you find yourself ready for an even better format. The MA-1 is now what I use with joy and it's not going anywhere. I also know a lot of people who have had their DP-777's repaired once (or twice - including me) due to product malfunction. It's a decent DAC, but it ranks very low on the reliability scale if you ask me.

[mikel51]

Wow, lots of activity here.  Since I stopped experimenting with new equipment a couple of years ago, I haven't been active.  So no, I don't need to shelve my transporter.  Like dminches, in addition to my transporter, I have several other squeezebox devices: a radio, a squeezeboom and a duet.  I love using the squeezeserver to feed music throughout the house, but the recent introduction of the smart radio and lack of compatability between its server and older squeezeboxes leads me to question Logitech's ongoing support.

In my experimentation with computer based audio from ~1995-2008, it never sounded as good as my stand alone CD player. That changed when I acquired my Modwright Transporter.  I (perhaps out of ignorance) attributed this to not using my sound card (I settled on a Lynx 2) or USB output to a DAC (and I tried several), but to using an ethernet connection feeding the file to the transporter.  I have been a JRiver user for over 15 years.  Whenever I used USB or the Lynx soundcard, something seemed to get lost in the timing and coherency of the music relative to  Transporter or my CD player output to the same DAC as the computer. 

Now I am wondering if there have been advances in using digital interfaces such as USB that can transcend and also position for the future (although I guess digital is advancing so fast that trying to future proof is a futile effort). 

Perusing AudioCircle and some other info sources, the AMR DP-777 and the Meitnik MA-1 both sound interesting.  Of course they would use either the USB output or the Lynx output (either spdif or balanced), and I am a bit worried about the loss of coherency that I always observed with previous computer --> DAC interfaces.  The PS Audio PerfectWave DAC does offer a network interface, but I suspect that it won't have the lovely tone quality that I've managed to build with the Modwright Transporter, especially after tube rolling.

I do notice that many of the folks who were active in the transporter tube rolling thread have moved on....presumably to something they liked better.  Thats what I am curious about, because 2-3 years ago, we had similar tastes.

[AB]

I've been using a SB Touch for years and have owned both DAC's you mention. In my opinion, the MA-1 is a much better sounding DAC for redbook and hi-res, along with DSD capability for when you find yourself ready for an even better format. The MA-1 is now what I use with joy and it's not going anywhere. I also know a lot of people who have had their DP-777's repaired once (or twice - including me) due to product malfunction. It's a decent DAC, but it ranks very low on the reliability scale if you ask me.

Thanks for the info. I expected as much re the SQ differences between the 777 and the MA-1 especially considering their price difference but I hadn't considered reliability at all.

And to the OP, I've heard the PS Audio PW dac a number of times and have found it to be very good. It's worth auditioning.

[funkmonkey]

Still running my Transporter (almost)everyday.  My guess is that many have moved on just to keep changing something.  There may be better options out there now, but I have no time, desire, nor a big enough wallet to continuously experiment.  I did hear that Logitech abandon the Squeeze line and am somewhat concerned, but everything is still working fine and sounding sweet...   

[JerryH]

I had a MWTP for a few years and really loved it. When I bought the Oppo 95, I used the Oppo primarily for movies and SACD's. While the TP beat out the Oppo in natural musical presentation,  and stomped on it in terms of convenience, I felt the Oppo had a level of detail and delicacy the TP couldn't match. I couldn't justify both modded sources so had to make the decision to sell the TP to finance the Oppo.
I still miss that convenience and coolness, and navigating to music files on the attached HD is really clumsy. But sonically I much prefer the modded Oppo.

[Jerrym303]

Still using and enjoying the MWTP.  I don't see a reason to change it until it dies and then for $400 I will be able to buy a USB DAC better than those available today for $2000.  When I bought my MWTP I sold my CD transport/DAC combo to fund it.  I would have lost a lot of value in that gear as well.  I don't see the value in changing high quality sources too frequently given the rapid obsolescence.

[matt.w]

Moved to a Resolution Cantata driven by a Mac mini and controlled by its phone app via network, but not due to the MWTP platform being discontinued. I could never get Squeezecenter to integrate with iTunes exactly the way I needed to meet my wife's needs- she's a big user a smart playlists, Genius mixes, and other advanced iTunes stuff, and so we required an iTunes-driven front end. The native Squeezecenter plugins to do these sorts of things were a joke, and iTunes <> Squeezecenter communication was never quite reliable. Also, the built-in analog volume control of the Cantata (something you could actually use and not chop bits) sealed the deal.