[megawatt]

OK you doubt its gonna sound better but have ever u heard the cec up against your set up? just curious if you ever heard the cec at all.

I will be hooking future digital to my passive preamp with a dual mono military grade pots and  Atmosphere s30mk3 amp and Zu Druid speakers, I have PS audio duet line filters.

[Double Ugly]

OK you doubt its gonna sound better but have ever u heard the cec up against your set up? just curious if you ever heard the cec at all.

Nope, that's why I said "I doubt" instead of "I know it doesn't".  I have compared it to full dCS stacks, EMM Labs-Meitner equipped systems, Ayre, Naim and a host of other high-dollar, well-reviewed equipment, and I'd take a fully-modified Bolder unit over any of 'em. 

I will be hooking future digital to my passive preamp with a dual mono military grade pots and  Atmosphere s30mk3 amp and Zu Druid speakers along with a dual mono passive preamp. I have PS audio duet line filters.

My equipment includes Butler Audio Monad monoblock amplifiers, Stealth Audio Cables Indra interconnects, SP Technology Timepiece 2.1 speakers and a modified Slim Devices Transporter.  Speaker cables are Gregg Straley's Reality cables, and power cords are Black Sand Cable Silver Reference Mk.Vs.  Everything is powered via to two (2) dedicated 20-Amp lines.

As you can see, I no longer own the Bolder SB2 and Ultimate PS.  My recommendation is based on your expressed budget and the superb quality of the Bolder modifications.  If you can find something that sounds better at anything resembling the Bolder's price point, I hope you'll let the rest of us know about it.

[GHM]

Do you have any web sites about yr usb dacs and pc...I am using an xmod from Creative 80 bucks and bettering a Creek cd player. and I am using a pro usb dac e-mu...I am waiting for a Monarchy m24 dac to come in and i might get a Trend da for usb

Sorry I haven't had a CEC in my system. But I will agree with others about the PC being EXTREMELY tough to beat. I use External My book 250 GB for my music and movies. My PC has the same HD storage,but I don't use it for this. A Trends Audio UD-10 is the USB converter with an external linear power supply(like the SB3)( I also have a battery power supply I don't use anymore).The real key to the PC playback seems to be the PCs audio driver. I use the USB-Audio ASIO as the driver.This driver seems to completely lock the windows.audio.sys out. Like others I use Foobar and SRC as the playback software. My DACs are MHDT Paradisea and Audio Sector.

My ears tell me you're going to have to come off the hip to hear a significant difference in sound using a basic transport. I honestly can't see or hear it sounding much better. The retrieval of the HDD combined with the other components leaves anything I've experienced in the dust! Total cost just under $2500 for the digital side.

Anyone here tried the USB-AUDIO ASIO driver? Man what a difference over the freeware ASIOs!!

[zybar]

OK you doubt its gonna sound better but have ever u heard the cec up against your set up? just curious if you ever heard the cec at all.

Nope, that's why I said "I doubt" instead of "I know it doesn't".  I have compared it to full dCS stacks, EMM Labs-Meitner equipped systems, Ayre, Naim and a host of other high-dollar, well-reviewed equipment, and I'd take a fully-modified Bolder unit over any of 'em. 

I will be hooking future digital to my passive preamp with a dual mono military grade pots and  Atmosphere s30mk3 amp and Zu Druid speakers along with a dual mono passive preamp. I have PS audio duet line filters.

My equipment includes Butler Audio Monad monoblock amplifiers, Stealth Audio Cables Indra interconnects, SP Technology Timepiece 2.1 speakers and a modified Slim Devices Transporter.  Speaker cables are Gregg Straley's Reality cables, and power cords are Black Sand Cable Silver Reference Mk.Vs.  Everything is powered via to two (2) dedicated 20-Amp lines.

As you can see, I no longer own the Bolder SB2 and Ultimate PS.  My recommendation is based on your expressed budget and the superb quality of the Bolder modifications.  If you can find something that sounds better at anything resembling the Bolder's price point, I hope you'll let the rest of us know about it.

I totally agree with what Jim says above.   

If you can find something that you prefer over Wayne's best for even close to the money, buy it, and tell everybody what it is!!

My equipment consists of the following gear:

Vandersteen 5A speakers
Moscode 401HR amp with Siemens gray plate CCA's from the 1950's
SB2 with all analog mods (including gold bybees) + Ultimate II PS
Gregg Straley's Reality Speaker Cables
BlackSand's Silver Max MK V power cords on the Vandy 5A's, Moscode, RSA Haley, and Ultimate II PS
Running Springs Audio Haley (for digital only)
RealTraps Room Treatments (4 Tri Corner Traps, 3 Diffusors, 2 Mondo Traps, 8 Mini Traps)
Boston Audio Design Tuneblock SE's under the Moscode and Ultimate II PS

George

[Big Red Machine]

Do you have any web sites about yr usb dacs and pc...I am using an xmod from Creative 80 bucks and bettering a Creek cd player. and I am using a pro usb dac e-mu...I am waiting for a Monarchy m24 dac to come in and i might get a Trend da for usb

Let me know how that M24 works out via PM please.  I have been very tempted.

On topic, I think any cheapo transport with the right DAC should be the ticket.  I am going to try a crappy Sony DVD player I have through a Paradesea this weekend.  The Paradesea almost sounds as good as my Raysonic and sounds the same as my Red Wine modded SB3.  So the "cheapest" transport I can lay my hands on is the Sony for this experiment.

Pete

[WEEZ]

megawatt,

It seems as though you are torn between using a computer vs. a CEC transport if I read you correctly. IMO, it really depends on which you will find easier to use in your system. If having your music "stored" on a hard drive is appealing, then your mind should be made up already.

If you are looking to use a conventional cd playback approach, you will not be disappointed with CEC.

FWIW, I use a TL-51XR. It's not for sale. Will I go the SB3 route in the future? Maybe. Will it replace the CEC? No.

WEEZ

[Marbles]

The trouble with asking the same question on two boards is following two threads....I'm the one who told him about Emperical Audio.

In your pricerange, I agree that Bolder modded gear would be his best choice for sound and convienence.

[The_KiD]

It is really interesting to see everyone's views on this. My Electrocompaniet DAC has multiple inputs as most DAC's do so why not own both? I would say I listen to my SB3 75% of of the time just do to the ease of access to my computer music collection. However, when I want to do some serious listening, I will feed my CEC disc by disc and enjoy it. My transport just seems to have a little more air and a more vivid 3-D quality to it. The CEC is also connected via a XLR Digital Cable and my SB3 is connected via SPDIF digital cable.

I am considering getting my SB3 modified and probably will do so in the next 6 months. I am sure this will close the gap on the difference between the two formats.

What is everyone using for a Digital Cable on their SB-3?

Cheers,

KiD

[zybar]

It is really interesting to see everyone's views on this. My Electrocompaniet DAC has multiple inputs as most DAC's do so why not own both? I would say I listen to my SB3 75% of of the time just do to the ease of access to my computer music collection. However, when I want to do some serious listening, I will feed my CEC disc by disc and enjoy it. My transport just seems to have a little more air and a more vivid 3-D quality to it. The CEC is also connected via a XLR Digital Cable and my SB3 is connected via SPDIF digital cable.

I am considering getting my SB3 modified and probably will do so in the next 6 months. I am sure this will close the gap on the difference between the two formats.

What is everyone using for a Digital Cable on their SB-3?

Cheers,

KiD

It will more than close the gap...it will reverse it!

When I used my SB2 with Bolder digital mods, I used a VH Audio Pulsar with Silver Nextgen connectors.

George

[bpape]

Or check out Wayne's cables from Boulder.  Don't get me wrong, I like Chris' cables quite a bit.  Wayne's are developed and designed with the SB3 in mind and using it during development.  Hard to beat that kind of synergy.

Also, don't forget the power supply.  It's simply amazing how much difference even going to a basic linear power supply will make with the SB.  Going with Wayne's ultimate is a whole 'nother level after that.

Bryan

[Double Ugly]

Also, don't forget the power supply.  It's simply amazing how much difference even going to a basic linear power supply will make with the SB.  Going with Wayne's ultimate is a whole 'nother level after that.

What he said. 

[zybar]

Also, don't forget the power supply.  It's simply amazing how much difference even going to a basic linear power supply will make with the SB.  Going with Wayne's ultimate is a whole 'nother level after that.

What he said. 

I have had each level of PS that Wayne has made (from the modified Elpac to Ultimate II) and ALL of them improve the sound whether having Wayne's digital or analog mods.

Buy the best PS you can afford!

George

[megawatt]

The trouble with asking the same question on two boards is following two threads....I'm the one who told him about Emperical Audio.

In your pricerange, I agree that Bolder modded gear would be his best choice for sound and convienence.

Thanks for clearing that up Marble