How good of a DAC is the Logitech Transporter


I have a Squeeze Box 3 digital out to a Tri-Vista 21. I am considering upgrading to a transporter main reason to get HI-RES native 96/24 FLAC download music which the transporter supports.
My question is the transporter a great sounding stand alone DAC and will I hear a difference between 48/24 through my present up sampled Tri-Vista 21 vs. 96/24 native supported transporter.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
audiogalore

Showing 13 responses by justmember

hmmmm, thanks again Alex! learning something new every day in this amazing hobby...i haven't got a cd transport and will probably not get one (it's dying anyway in my humble opinion, at least not as essential as before), so i guess i should be happy with my Logitech Transporter and computer.
yes chesebert, i was going ask that, i have no problem using wired, well, of course wireless is always attractive because it is convenient, but i guesss i would overcome the "inconvenience" to gain performance.

thanks
raymond
thanks Nwavesailor! it seems to improve a bit by doing that, but still now 100%....maybe something is not quite right with knob, i will have to live with it i guess, and use the remote instead most of time.

cheers
raymond
i doubt i would be able to hear the difference though, i mean between wireless and wired.

i know the Transporter doesn't have USB, but how would USB compare to network or S/PDIF performance wise? as high end as the Transporter is, it's a shame Logitech/Slim Devices forgot to include something as simple as an USB, which even a dirt cheap transport/streamer would have one these days.
i am pretty sure and convinced that the Transporter is very very good at the price range and maybe one of the best, but it is a 2006 product (right?), nothing wrong with that i know, but will there be a Transporter II (or something like that) out soon? any rumours yet? or, any serious competitors (similar league, similar price...) yet?

i wish Logitech brought out cut down versions of the Transporter, e.g. Transporter without the built-in DAC, or DAC without the streamer/transport, that would have been much easier decisions for many many people, me being one of them, because i can sort of try one at a time, this would be more flexible.

from what i gather from many forums (including this great forum) and reviews about the Transporter, it seems the general consensus is that the Transporter is extremely good as a digital transport (almost peerless), but the DAC, as good as it is claimed, is at best on par with the likes of Benchmark DAC1, Bel Canto DAC3 etc., and therefore one could reasonably confidently conclude that: Gee, i wish i did not buy that standalone DAC, or, another way to put it, i really want to buy it, but $2000 just to use the transport part of it? probably not...

at least that is exactly what i am contemplating at the moment. mind you, i haven't got a DAC yet, so i might still go for it.

raymond
thanks for the tip Datsystem, yes, i was actually also thinking about that, i mean the 24/96 limit, but then again (1) how widely available is music with higher than 24/96? (2) i can always purchase another new transport/streamer to go with the Transporter's built-in DAC (via digital inputs?) when higher than 24/96 is supported, which i don't think there is yet. the very latest Squeezebox Touch that was only released late last year is only 24/96.....well, i guess there isn't such thing as completely future proof in this hobby, the best you could do is to get the best at the time and then enjoy it for as long as you can, and that is what i am planning to do :)

i went ahead and bought the Logitech Transporter from overseas, will report back once i have got it and once i have had a chance to try it in my system, which is ATC integrated SIA2-150 and ATC monitors SCM40's with Chord Epic Super Twin speaker cables and Monster 1000M RCA interconnects (i can only hope they are good synergy!)

cheers
raymond
Thanks Alex!

So are you suggesting that I should use the wireless on the Transporter if and when possible and it's always better than other types of connections?

Cheers
Raymond
Alex, your Hiface/DAC outperforms the Transporter, maybe because your DAC is simply better but not because Hiface USB-S/PDIF is better than network?

Fiface is more a convenience device instead of an enhancement, right? if i stream wirelessly (or via ethernet) from my laptop to the Transporter, then i don't think using an USB-S/PDIF would improve over network, right?
Alex, i see...

I know the Transporter is only capable of 24/96 natively, will it make it 24/192 by simply adding a Hiface interface? i mean, ultimately you will need to use the Transporter's digital out to go into your DAC, is that digital out 24/192 or 24/96? i am interested in your experiment, let us know your findings please :).

best regards
raymond
Thanks Alex!

Sorry but I am still confused at one thing.

You mentioned:

"the Transporter is limited to 96K so adding Hiface will not help. Even when used as a digital source to an external DAC, the Transporter still can't do more than 96K."

But then you also mentioned:

"What you can do is experiment with a Hiface plugged to your laptop, feeding the Transporter digital input. In this case you will have 192/24 capability."

What is point of feeding the Transporter with 192/24 if the Transporter is only capable of 96/24? I think I might be missing something here.

Regards
Raymond
beautiful! that makes sense, thanks Alex! you see, i am just a beginner here :)

regards
raymond
got my Transporter last week, have been testing it with my Denon AVR 4810 and some cheap speakers while waiting for delivery of my ATC SIA2-150 integrated amp (to go with the ATC SCM40's floor standers), so i guess i can't really comment much yet except to say that so far i found the TP built-in DAC no different to the Denon built-in DAC's when playing 2-ch music (i was hoping an improvement), but then again i am only using a dirt cheap dvd player as transport (one of those $50 chinese no name ones), so maybe no point concluding on anything yet...

however, i have a problem, the knob in the middle does not always respond to "click" (push) - it's intermittent, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, does anyone know why??

thanks in advance!

cheers
raymond