[Rclark]

geowak: Please permit me to go a bit OT as I just wanted to address Mr. Clarke's post, if I may... 
I'll be (uncharacteristically ? ) brief.

Please...

This is the VMK-3.5-2S transport mechanism from an Esoteric K-01:



It, on it's own, weighs nearly as much as that entire "built like a tank " Emotiva and the box it rode in on.The unit it is a part of weighs in at 31 kg (just under 70 lbs., Amerikaner...) without a grain of granite going into it's construction. This transport mechanism is precision-engineered and built in-house, not some off-the-shelf Phillips or Sony plastic fantastic disc-spinner built to a price point to go into $500.00 players. Think it's going to be a better transport than that ERC-2 ? Still think the ERC-2 is" near as good as it gets "? As much as you may not want to admit it, this stuff does make a difference. This stuff does matter. Hear it for yourself and see if you still think the way you did before you heard it. Not a diss, Mr. Clark. Just sayin' that what makes up a really awesome transport ain't that simple. Scoop one for $ 500 or less? Hell no, but you said you were hard-pressed to think of what else a transport might benefit from...here's a good place to start.
Hyperbole is not your friend.

Thanks, geowak. 

D.D.

Oh totally, of course I can see that. For some reason I was thinking Cheap and Cheerful, in which case, for the money, as I said, the ERC-2 is a fabulous transport and I stand behind that. At any price? Then I defer.

[geowak]

Once again, great choices....but I have got to stay under $500. Not looking for a good DAC, just the disc spinner!
Update the Sony Xa20es is off the table, deal fell through....still looking.

[Quiet Earth]

Diamond Dog,

I wish I could express myself as eloquently as you. I agree with you so much that I believe you have read my mind and and typed my thoughts up for me. Except that your words actually make sense and I have not offended anyone this time. 

Thank you brother-man D.D. !   



Geo,

I think you are expecting too much for $500. If you are really serious, why not save up some more money? You already have a bunch of transports that sound like $500 anyway, do you really want another one?

[geowak]

Geo,

I think you are expecting too much for $500. If you are really serious, why not save up some more money? You already have a bunch of transports that sound like $500 anyway, do you really want another one?

Good point. Maybe I should rethink the disc spinner thing, and just go with a discless HQ music server. Hmm....

[Quiet Earth]

Well, I was thinking that you should save up more money and buy a high quality disc spinner. You know,,,, take it to the next level. But do whatever works best for you. Have fun!

 

[Cheeseboy]

I like the upper end of the JVC lineup Super Digifine Line.  XLZ-1010TN and the XLZ-1050TN.  Built like a truck and made to stay working for years and years.
 

[geowak]

Well the Sony XA-20ES is back into the mix. Bought one and will be using it for a transport for a Schiit Audio Bifrost with analog upgrade. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for all the recommendations.

[geowak]

Got the XA-20ES. It works well with my Schiit Bifrost performing DAC duties and the Sony running as transport. I would say compared to my Rega Apollo it sounds fuller. It seems the bass extension is better, the freq range appears to be greater and the separation of instruments is much more apparent with the Sony/Schiit combo. Sax sounds more natural. I don't like the mechanical sounds it makes when you hit a button and change to another song. Also, since this player is older now, I am concerned about the life of the laser. This CD has a fixed laser, while the transport moves the CD in a lateral fashion. More to add later....

[nicksgem10s]

Hello,

I have owned and auditioned a bunch of high end cd players and dedicated transports over the years.

I do not spin any discs in my system currently and haven't for the last several years.

First it was computer based audio and now I am big advocate of the QLS QA-550 wav player

http://www.qlshifi.com/en/wzcapi/qa550.htm

It might not look like much by the photos and the retail price.  Do yourself a favor and order one.  It is ridiculous how good it is.

They also have a new higher end version QA-660 that plays high resolution and additional file formats.  I have not heard the new version QA-660 yet.

I am running mine on a very high quality battery power supply and it is just  good. 

Good luck on your search.

-Nick

[geowak]

Hello,

I have owned and auditioned a bunch of high end cd players and dedicated transports over the years.

I do not spin any discs in my system currently and haven't for the last several years.

First it was computer based audio and now I am big advocate of the QLS QA-550 wav player

http://www.qlshifi.com/en/wzcapi/qa550.htm

It might not look like much by the photos and the retail price.  Do yourself a favor and order one.  It is ridiculous how good it is.

They also have a new higher end version QA-660 that plays high resolution and additional file formats.  I have not heard the new version QA-660 yet.

I am running mine on a very high quality battery power supply and it is just  good. 

Good luck on your search.

-Nick

Nick-
Cool device, would one load files off their computer onto to SD card and insery them into the device to play them? I have all my CDs on Mac on Itunes as lossless files (AIFF) Don't know how I would get them into a WAV file, maybe Pure music or another software program?

[jarcher]

In this months Stereophile they have a review of the new CD1 flagship cd player from Parasound. It's interesting to read about the design philosophy. They went with a humble cd rom transport because it can do 4X then address the data by putting it into memory and doing error correction. They wanted 4x so it was quick enough to reposition the laser to go back and quickly re-read if necessary, but not over 4x so as to not be too noisy. Interesting also that as they claim the transport is often the first to fail, that even if they don't have the original cd rom in stock, a replacement shouldn't be that hard to source.   The cd rom choice was not done out of cost reasons - this is a $4k + flagship piece. The money was put more into everything else downstream.

Article was also interesting because they purposefully omitted an aesbu output. First I've ever read that this is not a desirable connector for digital. According to parasound because of connector / cable impedance mis match which results in jitter and ringing - the longer the cable, the worse it is. Interesting because I had always thought that aesbu was one of the favored connectors.

Anyway - interesting read because it gives you some insight into design philosophy.

[skifasterslc]

Nick,
thanks for the link to that sd player, looks very interesting and affordable.
that may be a motivation for me to get my cd's uploaded and saved digitally
and be able to playback in a cheap and cheerful way.

Wish it had album art displayed, but then it would cost more.....

[MerlinWerks]

Article was also interesting because they purposefully omitted an aesbu output. First I've ever read that this is not a desirable connector for digital. According to parasound because of connector / cable impedance mis match which results in jitter and ringing - the longer the cable, the worse it is. Interesting because I had always thought that aesbu was one of the favored connectors.

My understanding is that it is actually somewhat worse from a jitter perspective than a regular spdif connection, but the saving grace is that where it is used most often (studios) most everything is slaved to a master clock.

[rollo]

My understanding is that it is actually somewhat worse from a jitter perspective than a regular spdif connection, but the saving grace is that where it is used most often (studios) most everything is slaved to a master clock.

   I believe it was the connector itself. It appears early in Cd that the radio stations used balanced microphone cable and CD was compromised by using such. Got me .


charles

[geowak]

I have not had any issues with the toslink out on the Sony XA20ES feeding my Schiit Audio DAC. I think the Schiit Audio DAC reclocks the signal anyway, so no big need for a coax connection out on the Sony.
The sound is better than the Rega Apollo that I am using now. The transport in the Sony is very good. Fixed lens and the CD moves, rather than a moving lens and fixed CD. I will still keep the Apollo, since when It's feeding a Benchmark DAC1 it still sounds superb in a second system.