[Srajan Ebaen]

For everyone hip to the music server concept, there's prolly 10 - 100 "antiquated 'philes" like yours truly who still sit on the fence. I'm grateful to Dan for providing me a Transporter for review purposes. Its feature set appeals to my particular brand of audio religion and it'll allow me to get my feet wet and learn how such a solution compares to old-fashioned transports like Zanden, AMR and Ancient Audio (running RedBook S/PDIF into the transporter) vs. running FLAC files off a hard-drive.

Then the questions on what one uses to best extract files to hard-drive (EAC, other) - what makes an audible difference and what's preferable. Then questions on capturing meta data on really obscure CDs like I listen to. How to most conveniently input them if they're not auto-grabbed. Preference for wireless or wired communication.  External solutions like the Music Vault vs. a MacBook or personal PC. Etc and so on.

For those with experience, some of this will be a very old hat. Other aspects might be fluid, with things being discovered "right now".

Anyhow, as I've done for the Red Wine Audio Signature 30.2 review where many had questions on what speakers it could drive, I'd like to invite AC members to participate in the Transporter review. Share your experiences about where you were at prior to embracing "computer server audio", what you tried out since, what you're doing at present, what you've learned, what to avoid, what the various options are, pro/cons, what you wish you'd done differently, whether you're presently doing both old-fashioned RedBook playback and file serving, how that differs sonically...

You get the picture. The more data we can generate, the more useful the review will be to everyone. When you're new to something, you often don't know what questions to ask. Those with experience can lead the way.

By the same token, if you don't have experience yet and view the whole subject with certain misgivings, spell those out as well so I can investigate, if possible, whether they hold true. Or, if you have particular requests on how I might also try out the Transporter that would answer personal questions you have, fire away too (Neal is sending me his MusicVault so that'll be part of the review already).

To benefit everyone, rather than sending me stuff directly to my e-mail, post them in this thread. I'll cut'n'paste what I can use, with full credit to your first name, last initial or AC handle, and what overlaps and repeats will be referenced with "multiple users" or "quite a majority of users"... "agree that..."

Here's to fun and sharing. Thanks in advance. 

[ted_b]

I'll start, being that I was the first one to receive the Modwright Transporter, and did some bug fixes with Dan along the way (Dan is incredible when it comes to the whole beta test/feedback/fix loop).  I am a long-time Modwright user, having owned his SLW 9.0SE, his Platinum Sony 999ES and now own his LS 36.5 pre and the Modwright Denon 3910 universal.

The Modwright TP is not my first foray into pc-based music, nor even my first Transporter.  After playing around with pc-based software players like Foobar2000, and soon realizing that hdd music playback had the potential for replacing and even outperforming cd transports, I decided I wanted to evaluate this music delivery system in my main setup.  The best way to do that, short of having a laptop in my lap (go figure) was the Slim Devices paradigm. 

Slim Devices offered a 30 day trial on their new Transporter, and you got a free Squeezebox 3 with the delivery.  What was a nice move on their part, you could download the software, Slimserver, while waiting for the units.  By the time they arrived I was Slimmed!!  I brought both units into my system and fired them up, the TP first.  I tried to like the sound, I really did.  But my system tended toward the analytical (McCormack DNA-500, Bent TAP preamp while waiting for the 36.5) and the Hubbel-like resolution of those AKM DACs just pushed it over the edge.  I heard microdetails, but didn't really care, it was too cold and unmusical.   Replacing the TP with the SB3 helped a lot.  What helped even more were the mods available to the SB3.  So I sent both units back, collected my refund, and bought a used RedWine Audio SB3 (battery-powered of course) off Audiogon.  Vinnie retrofitted it with an AC power supply (cuz I am an idiot and forget to turn off the battery, ruining three of them) and I began my love affair with redbook-meets-Michael-Dell. 

Enter the Modwright TP.  After talking with Dan for many months, we convinced him that the TP was a perfect platform for his analog tube stage magic.  It seemed a marriage that couldn't fail, and it hasn't.  The vast real estate he was given in the TP was probably 10x what his little hands (sorry Dan, I assume you have little hands...... ; enough about Dan's manhood though) are used to, and he filled that trac with a boatload.  After one hiccup (he designed the output with the digital volume turned down accidentally) we were in business.

Tips:  1) the Modwright Transporter blossoms into the beautiful streamer after about 200 hours of true break-in.  Those Modwright caps, et al are serious signal path alterations and require quite a bit of test tones/music to loosen them up.  Once done the music emanating from my TP, married to my broken-in LS 36.5 bests any redbook player I've had the luxury of using, including Dan's own vaunted Denon 3910 Signature mod (which I keep around for 2 channel SACD and multichannel DVD-A/SACD playback).  The air around instruments is especially noteworthy.
       2)  tube rolling is fun, but on the TP I've found (as has Dan so far) that his 6Np1's sound awfully good and are preferred over the 6H30's or 6CG7's I've tried.  Go figure.
       3)  in my opinion, the true balanced outputs are clearly the better option in the stock player, but in Dan's version the RCA's best them with good ic's...this is terribly subjective, and my data points are few.  I use Stealth Nanofiber RCA's, and any esoteric XLR's I've tried don't equal the "balanced" (pardon the pun) sound coming from Dan's custom RCA outputs.
      4)  the Modwright TP clearly responds to power cord upgrades.  I tried a bunch and settled on a personal favorite for all digital sources, the Black Sand Violet Special.
      5)  I can't tell any sonic differences between wired and wireless, so I go wireless right now due to placement.

I use EAC to rip, and have been doing less and less FLAC compression (80% of my library is FLAC, down from 95%) lately, as storage is too cheap to even deal with it.  Personal issue.  My biggest mistake in pc-based music:  I rip everything to album-sized files and associated cue sheets, rather than per track.  That file structure can be problematic with album art, etc. but I've found solutions.

I gotta go so I'll end these comments with this:  Dan's mods require patience during break-in, then require patience as you want to go tell everyone to go buy them!!      The Transporter ups this ante considerably.  And I've yet to really scratch the surface evaluating it as a 24/96 tube DAC.

Srajan, thanks for the opportunity to have AC members give his/her feedback.  What a nice proposition.

[montana girl]

I am in the process of buying a dac for computer music and am considering the Transporter, among other dacs.  If I buy it, I will have it modded by either Dan or Alex of APL, a hard choice as they are both well respected in their area of expertise. I am actually having a hard time making a decision about which dac to buy as there are so many choices. The Transporter is at the top of my list though, and I will be very interested in your review. Thank you.

[Stercom]

Wow, great thread idea and I applaud 6moons for putting it up here. I'm a skeptic of the whole digital streamer, music server phenom that is going on. I owned a SB which I streamed from a computer for a while and I certainly understand the convenience of having your music collection at your fingertips. However, I'm an Audiophile not a Technophile so it is the music that matters most. What I heard was a lack of soundstage both in depth and width, overly hyped leading edge notes with very little natural decay and a general washing-out of the lower midrange/upper bass which took the "soul" out of the music. I have not given up, I am currently waiting delivery on a modified Olive Musica which I've been told has excellent audio performance. I've been in this hobby for a long time and it seems we have been down this road before when we were originally introduced to digital audio.  As compared to vinyl, the CD was more convenient, supposedly had better sonics, had better specs, the display showed us the length of the CD/the number of tracks and there was very little or no maintenance! The vocal minority who said "...but vinyl sounds better" was ignored by many or labeled idiots who simply didn't understand the new technology and the "obvious" advantages of CD. Today, it seems the same thing is happening all over again with many people placing 1000s of songs on harddrives and streaming music through computers, Wi-Fi and USB connections - all in the name of convenience. It is very had for me to believe that digital noise such as RF, EMI, jitter and even just plain old electrical crosstalk are not being added to the signal. I know that harddrives output the digits with less jitter than a normal CD player or transport but that is the only sonic "advantage" which seems to be documented. I would hope 6moons would look not only at this "new" technology based on the obvious convenience aspect but explain how the technology is sonically better and why. I was at RMAF and heard a lot of streamed digital music from all kinds of companies - let's just say it was a relief when I went into a room that was spinning vinyl. Dan Wright is one of the best guys in audio in my opinion and he had an excellent vinyl rig sitting right next to his new tubed transport. I don't think you need to ask which I preferred. 

[Srajan Ebaen]

A great beginning, thanks already. This is  exactly what I was after - the good, the bad, the ugly as it were 

Keep it coming, would ya?

On a side note, if anyone knows what other consumer audio machines use this AKM DAC (the Gryphon Mikado seems to use 4), I'm trying to compile a list. The new Esoteric D-05 uses the 4397 32-bit AKM as does Alex with his over-the-top endlessly paralleled NWO units.

[mateo]

Stello uses AKM DACs in a lot of their products.

Wish I could contribute more, but I'm still working up to ordering a Modwright Transporter.

[Big Red Machine]

Doesn't Alex use the same DAC chips in his mod?

[AB]

Question:

So Srajan, will you be writing a bit of a Server/HDD source "primer" as well as a review the MW TP?

It would be great to have one written  - if you're so inclined.

The whole business seems a bit overwhelming to me as there are so many ways to implement a system. I get lost.

Convenience I understand but SQ seems dependent on a million factors.

[mdconnelly]

Here's the thing with me... I've got two SB3s and have listened to a stock Transporter in my system awhile back.   I *love* the convenience factor of this technology and have ripped all 700+ CDs I own.  Over the holidays, my Squeezebox was playing albums I've ripped or music via Internet music stations almost continuously.

But, compared to the CD players I've owned since my first Squeezebox, the Squeezebox has never been able to engage me as well under critical listening.   Even when I listened to the Transporter - while better than the SB3 - it still left something behind and didn't warrant the additional cost IMHO.

The CD players I've actually compared to my Squeezebox have been a GNSC modded Wadia, a Cambridge Audio 840c and, most recently, an Oracle transport.   When I choose to just sit and listen critically, I do so with either my CD player or my turntable.  Not only do they clearly sound better to me -- more resolving, more engaging -- there is something about the act of selecting a CD or LP and placing it on the player that I really enjoy... part of a ritual that I've been doing all my life and hard to give up (after all, I am a 55 year old dinosaur

I don't doubt in the least that music sourced from a hard-disk or the Internet will eventually match & exceed even the best CD players of today and I'll certainly be in line to upgrade to it as quality improves.   I suspect Dan has already taken a giant step in that direction with his modded Transporter.   But just as I was never willing to relinquish my turntable, I suspect I'll always want to keep a CD player as well.   

Mike

[Gordy]

Mike,

I'm curious, doesn't the SB3 have a digital out and the 840C a digital in?   Ever give that combo a try?

Thanks!

[mdconnelly]

I'm curious, doesn't the SB3 have a digital out and the 840C a digital in?   Ever give that combo a try?

Yes, it does and yes I did.   I've also got a Tact pre so ultimately didn't need the digital input of the 840c for that reason but if I was running the CDP to an analog preamp, running the Squeezebox digital out into the 840c digital input would sound far better than using the analog outs of the SB3.

Mike

[Gordy]

Thank you Mike and sorry for the OT questions Srajan! 

[ted_b]

Folks like Robert Levi and Wayne Donnelly have heard hundreds more cd transports/players than I will ever have, and they both think the Modwright Denon 3910 is a redbook player of the highest regard.   The Modwright Transporter outdoes it very so slightly.  The organic palpability is scary sometimes; feels like the musician is invisible but in my midst.  The difference between a creaky sound on a recording vs your house actually creaking...you can tell every time, there's a change in the air, everything.  That's what the Modwright TP (and 3910 to a slightly lesser extent) bring across, IMHO.  I'm not saying other cd players can't do that; maybe they can (never heard one that did, and I've had quite a few of them); I'm just saying that if your TP/SB isn't getting to that level of realism and recreation of acoustical space then you haven't heard it in its glory.   My $.02

[AliG]

If ModWright offers 30 day trial.. I would order it NOW!!!!!!

Otherwise, $3.6k is too much for me just for "trying out"..

[bhobba]

I am in the process of buying a dac for computer music and am considering the Transporter, among other dacs.  If I buy it, I will have it modded by either Dan or Alex of APL, a hard choice as they are both well respected in their area of expertise. I am actually having a hard time making a decision about which dac to buy as there are so many choices.

Same here.  I was almost going to get a modded 740C.  But after thinking about it the built in volume control of the transporter means I don't need to get a pre amp (it is for a new system I am putting together) so it wins out.  I have a dislike of tubes - to me they are fragile old tech - but that is just me.  This means the APL modded transporter appeals more.  But feed-back on Dan's modded machine will still be very interesting.  As an interim measure until all this stuff is fully sorted out I may need to get a panny 55.  How it compares to the real deal audiophile stuff will in itself be interesting.  We live in interesting times.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

Doesn't Alex use the same DAC chips in his mod?

He upgrades it to the 32 bit version.  I am waiting on access to his forum to ask a few questions like does he upsample it, and if after the mods it is still 240V compatible for here in Aus.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

If ModWright offers 30 day trial.. I would order it NOW!!!!!! Otherwise, $3.6k is too much for me just for "trying out"..

That's where guys like Ted are doing us all a big favour.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

Folks like Robert Levi and Wayne Donnelly have heard hundreds more cd transports/players than I will ever have, and they both think the Modwright Denon 3910 is a redbook player of the highest regard.   The Modwright Transporter outdoes it very so slightly. 

There is a reason for that Ted - check out
http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=pcaudio&n=23893&highlight=John+Swenson&r=&session

Cost is no object transports MAY outperform a computer - but that cost would be quite high - probably insanely high.

Thanks
Bill

[Big Red Machine]

I'm using a PS Audio DLIII Dac right now in stock form with stock SB and Dusty's PS and it is excellent.  But I can have the DAC modded for about $700 or I could buy a stock TP and have Alex mod it for $1200.  If I did that I'd sell off 2 preamps and end up with money in my pocket.  My nervousness is I have never had much luck with modified units and then trying to sell them means bath time (IMO).  So it is interesting to read the excitement about these modified units and then have to make a decision!

[bhobba]

My nervousness is I have never had much luck with modified units and then trying to sell them means bath time (IMO).  So it is interesting to read the excitement about these modified units and then have to make a decision!

Being an early adopter is fun - but can be costly.  At the moment I have a few money problems, so the cost of being an early adopter does not appeal.  Guys that are, like Ted, in posting their experiences, are doing all of us a big favour.  In a few years when I get my super and my money problems abate I hope to join the ranks of early adopters and their fun - and help others in the process.

Thanks
Bill