[Mass. Wine Guy]

I have an Arcam CD-72 CD player which sounds pretty good to me by itself, though I'm going to hook it to a Van Alstine Omega Star DAC. This got me thinking about the benefits of a dedicated CD transport. Are these really better than an all in one player?

Any suggestions for a transport that's reasonably cheap and cheerful?

Thanks.

[eclein]

When I first got my DAC I was using a PS3 as a transport taking the digital toslink output to my DAC and playing CD's that way. I had the equipment already so it was just a matter of making the connections and it worked great and sounded good. My only concern with that setup was wearing out my PS3 which I use for Blu-ray, Netflix, Gaming etc.. so I decided I would look for a good dedicated CD player with high ratings but low cost that gave me the option of using it as a transport only or as a standalone CD player. When I got my Virtue Piano M1 CD Player it immediately became apparent through listening to it various ways that by itself as a CD player with its internal DAC it was superior to using it as a transport only.
 I think you really have to experiment with what you currently own-listen to it via its digital output to your new DAC or as a standalone player and then decide what sounds better. Both options have benefits, play around listen, play around some more and listen...my .02

[sanjaygolf]

Have you thought about something like the Squeezebox touch?

[rollo]

Not in the cheap and cheerfull realm of the world. Any DVD player with a Phillips orSony laser should be fine.


charles

[JLM]

Yes, the ground rules here state that the total system cost is to stay below $1,000 USD, so its hard to imagine a viable system with a separate DAC (one that couldn't be beat on playback sonics) versus one integrated DAC (CDP, Logitech variant, etc.).

[dublin78]

I recently did a bit of research on this subject.

I looked at Philips cd723, Marantz CD5000, or 4000. I ended up buying a used Cambridge Audio Cd500se for £30 ($50). All of these have good quality transport mechanisms and Spdif coax digital outputs.

[S Clark]

I recently did a bit of research on this subject.

I looked at Philips cd723, Marantz CD5000, or 4000. I ended up buying a used Cambridge Audio Cd500se for £30 ($50). All of these have good quality transport mechanisms and Spdif coax digital outputs.

+1  Add to that rklein's modded Zhaolu dac for $115 and you've got a pretty nice sounding source for a sub $1K system.  I have a Marantz 5400 and a Monica II dac that competes very nicely with either my Virtue piano cd or my Cambridge 640C. 

[kku]

Unless you are planning to spend a small fortune on CD transport, flash memory(USB/SD card) or even a hard drive based transport will perform better than most CD spinning transports.

[JLM]

In anything close to a "cheap and cheerful" context the real value of adding a DAC would be to "pump" up the performance of a lesser CDP (or PC).