[zybar]

Looky what showed up today in my music room!!!



Sounds great already, and it's about 1 hour old.  I think I'm S/N #0003.   

I bet it does...

Keep us posted Ted.

George

[truckfighters]

OMG!

Germany calling! I really am looking forward to get my transporter modded! Though I am little afraid of sending it to the states right now because of winter. Will the components suffer from the cold (caps and stuff) or do you people think that ain't an issue?

TED_B

how long did you have your transporter before and yes please since you hopefully knew the sound before - how does it sound now compared to original? detail, dynamic everything still there?

is there a switch at the back of TP to completely unpower the unit (especially the tube section) ?

thanks!!

[bpape]

That pic needs to go in the Audio Porn folder...

Bryan

[ted_b]

Erik,
There is a switch Dan put in on back that powers down the tube stage, and the power button in front and on the remote that powers down the Transporter into standby mode (with screensaver, etc.).   

I did have a Transporter a number of months ago but returned it to Slim Devices as part of their 30 day program.  I liked the AKM dacs but in my system they were too in-my-face and not subtle at all.  I liked the warmer sound of my slightly modded SB3, though clearly (pun intended) not as detailed.  When Dan said he'd mod the Transporter product I jumped in with both feet, knowing the Modwright sound as I do.  It would exactly what was needed to take those incredible AKM DACs and add significant magic too them, and I had a small part in convincing Dan to take the plunge.  (Plus, since it has a digital in, I get my Modwright Dac that I've been hounding him about.)  So, I simply ordered a Transporter from a West Coast dealer and drop shipped to Dan.  Therefore, I cannot be trusted to say what it sounds like vs a stock unit cuz it's been months....plus, it's still breaking in (24-48 hrs so far).

[riffer]

OMG!
....
 Will the components suffer from the cold (caps and stuff) or do you people think that ain't an issue?

....
thanks!!

Well, if it goes to -40C, you may have a problem with the caps 

[modwright]

Glad you guys like the look .  I thought it turned out pretty cool too.  MORE importantly however is the sound.  I do look forward to Ted's impressions once it has broken in, but I am very pleased with the sound.  People were floored at how good our digital was at RMAF and I am personally sold on this medium as the WAY OF THE FUTURE for digital.

The Slim Devices Transporter was the first product that I found sensible for us to mod to the extent that I wanted.  It offers both RCA and balanced outs, and can be fed via RCA, toslink, AES/EBU, ethernet and wireless.  It has its own volume control and I feel that the AKM DAC, Jung Super voltage regulators for DAC and precision clock circuit make this an ideal piece for this digital medium.

A number of companies are now producing 'music servers', most of which retail for $12K - $20K+.  With the modified Transporter, a person only needs a computer and some hard-drive space.

I am still trying to digest the reason why 'computer' digital sounds better than from a CDP, but I believe it has to do with the error correction, buffering and clocking methods that virtually eliminate jitter.

I am very excited about this direction for ModWright digital and I believe you are only seeing the tip of the iceburg.

RE shipping a transporter in winter, I really don't know.  I really can't imagine that with int'l air shipping, that the gear would be exposed to any temperatures extreme enough to cause any problems, but I don't know what the weather is like in Germany right now though either .

Thanks guys,

Dan W.

[zybar]

Any updates or comments Ted?

George

[ted_b]

Not yet.  Dan and I working out some kinks in my system.  Stay tuned.  The preliminary impressions were quite impressive.

[Double Ugly]

It's too bad you don't have the Revs yet. 

[modwright]

Ted and I DID find a kink with his unit and it has been resolved.  Ted was hearing some distortion or over-loading at max volume from the Transporter.  I had him overnight the unit to us yesterday on our FedEx account and we received it today.  I found a discrepency in the tube circuit bias design that was causing some overload at max output from the DAC.  The problem has been resolved and the unit will be overnighted back to Ted tomorrow.

You are REALLY gonna like what you year now Ted .

Thanks,

Dan

[ted_b]

Ted and I DID find a kink with his unit and it has been resolved.  Ted was hearing some distortion or over-loading at max volume from the Transporter.  I had him overnight the unit to us yesterday on our FedEx account and we received it today.  I found a discrepency in the tube circuit bias design that was causing some overload at max output from the DAC.  The problem has been resolved and the unit will be overnighted back to Ted tomorrow.

You are REALLY gonna like what you year now Ted .

Thanks,

Dan

THAT, my friends, is customer service!!!    (Oh, and my hearing is relieved.  It thought it was going bad.....)
Thanks Dan.   

Even more a Modwright loyalist.....
Ted

[truckfighters]

can please somebody bring along a stock transporter over to dan and do a direct A/B with his modded one and share the thoughts and impressions here in this forum?

that'll be really cool and helping me with my decission since I don't live in the states...

cheers,
truckfighters

[modwright]

I have a stock one, but no modified units on hand.  When the next unit is modified, I will compare myself and share, as objectively as possible, my impressions.  I am sure that someone will be able to compare a stock to a modified unit with one of our customers soon also.

Thanks,

Dan

[ted_b]

The Modwright Transporter is the best source I've ever heard, even besting the Modwright 3910 and 999ES Signature mods.  It also brings the incredible flexibility and comfort features that are part of the streaming solution.  Oh, and with the digital input you have a warm, lush and glorious Modwright 24/96 tube DAC for free!!

Much more details to follow of course, but some wanted my first impressions (now that the newer caps are broken in, and my cabling has settled in to a nice match).  I'm listening to Squeezecenter V7, Firmware 33, via wireless and use both FLAC and WAV files.  The 24/96 Linn and Hideftapetransfer files sound glorious.

[Double Ugly]

Congratulations, Ted.  I know it must be something special for you to say what you did.

And congratulations to you, too, Dan.  Considering the growing market for first-rate digital playback options, I'm sure the rate at which your business is going will soon experience an increase. 

Now if I can only convince you to stick a 300B on that output stage...

It was great visiting with you in Denver, Dan, and I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Regards to all...

-Jim

[Philistine]

My modded TP arrived just before Christmas, and I've had a lot of fun playing with it and giving feedback to Dan.  I'll post more feedback later when I have my main system fired up again, in the meantime I see from the Slimdevices forum that, in a couple of weeks, they intend to roll out a firmware update for the TP that will support 88.2kHz, as the TP already supports 96kHz this will cover the HiRez download options from Linn and MusicGiants.

I've compared the sampled 44.1kHz download track with the same track at 96kHz and, as expected, it's the same comparison as Redbook CD's compared with SACD/DVD-A (but even better).  The 96k file has greater clarity and sounds more 'live' and natural.  Link below:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/node/84

All I have to do is figure out how to get my SACD's and DVD-A onto a hard drive, any ideas?

     

[ted_b]

For SACD's we're out of luck.  On DVD-A's you have a couple of options.  There are some DVD-A authoring/ripping tools (it's slightly painful) that I'm sure others will chime in on.  For me the real discovery is that although we were told that MLP proprietary PPCM is protected and doesn't show up on digital outputs, many of us are finding it be not true.  My Oppo 980, for example, sends up to 192k of MLP decoded into regular ole' pcm out the digital outs (no, it's not Dolby Digital or some other lossy mistake, or a downmix either).  I tested it with MLP-only discs like Steely Dan's Everything Must Go or Beck's Sea Change and found that I could send 24/96 to the Modwright Transporter's 24/96 DAC and be in hog heaven.  Although I have a Modwright Denon 3910 that plays all these natively (even SACD) for those that don't the Transporter's 24/96 digital inputs can come in real handy.

I'm not sure why some of these Universals send true hirez 2 channel out digitally (feels illegal) but it's our gain.

[Philistine]

Thanks Ted, I have an Oppo 980 so I'll give it a try.
Should the digital output be RAW or PCM?

[ted_b]

RAW.  And LPCM set for 96k.  Problem is, as I've begun discovering this monring, shortly after posting, I'm still investigating whether the Oppo always upconverts/ipsamples.  The Beck Sea Change album, for example, is natively 88.2k, a resolution that the TP can't handle yet; however, the Tp plays it fine cuz it's listed as 96k (as read by my Onkyo 885).  Net/net, not really sure it's true hirez we're getting, or some upsampled something.

Updated update:  Argh.  Well Sean Adams (Logitech Slim Devices CEo) just emailed me back and said the TP can today read 88.2k from external digital source, just not SlimServer....and an AVS Forum member says Onkyo/Integra reads 88.2 files as "96k",  so maybe we're fine!!  ??     I wish there wasd a way to read what resolution and sample rate the TP was reading.