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For the money it has to be the Emotiva ERC-2. Segmented, seperate power supplies for everything, tank like build. I think the dac might be the only weak point of the ERC-2 (and that's only in reference to uber high end gear, very expensive stuff). For a transport, I would be hard pressed to think of what else a transport might benefit from other than maybe a ...granite cabinet... For a device that is just reading a cd and transmitting that information to an external dac, the ERC-2 has to be at least near as good as it gets. Plus 5 year wattantee.
I expect when I'm done digitizing files at some point, it will be rare to spin a disc.
Sorry, forgot to read the 500.00 I would still recommend a Oppo. The 93 and 95 both have jitter that is almost non-existent. Best of all, you can still get it fixed if necessary.
I wonder at what point "enough is enough" on the transport hardware end. Sure ideally that little plastic disc could be spun on a piece of granite suspended on a bed of air in a hermetic chamber while its rotation is timed with an atomic clock......but will it make an audible difference? I guess that's why I liked the cheap(er) and cheerful alternative of a Rega Apollo that tries to address potential problems with a software approach vs a brute force hardware approach. I.e. by using the memory buffer and software to ensure the read is as accurate as possible on the fly - and if not to go back at it to try to get it right before anyone notices (i.e. the buffer "buying it time"). Seems the "brains before brawn" is the better - and more cost effective - approach. After all, I think most people these days conclude that PC based audio is the way to go for digital sound quality - and what is that for the most part than a rip of something to memory storage (whether it's a cd or back to the master). That is basically what a Rega Apollo is doing on a temporal basis - putting the data into memory, checking it, improving it, then spitting it out, though not permanently retaining it in storage. If $500 of hardware + software can do 98% of the job that 10 times as much of hardware alone can, that seems to be the answer to me.
Whatever happened to "discless"
I wonder at what point "enough is enough" on the transport hardware end. Sure ideally that little plastic disc could be spun on a piece of granite suspended on a bed of air in a hermetic chamber while its rotation is timed with an atomic clock......but will it make an audible difference?I guess that's why I liked the cheap(er) and cheerful alternative of a Rega Apollo that tries to address potential problems with a software approach vs a brute force hardware approach. I.e. by using the memory buffer and software to ensure the read is as accurate as possible on the fly - and if not to go back at it to try to get it right before anyone notices (i.e. the buffer "buying it time"). Seems the "brains before brawn" is the better - and more cost effective - approach. After all, I think most people these days conclude that PC based audio is the way to go for digital sound quality - and what is that for the most part than a rip of something to memory storage (whether it's a cd or back to the master). That is basically what a Rega Apollo is doing on a temporal basis - putting the data into memory, checking it, improving it, then spitting it out, though not permanently retaining it in storage. If $500 of hardware + software can do 98% of the job that 10 times as much of hardware alone can, that seems to be the answer to me.
