Is a transport/DAC combo better than a CD player

Thanks. Much appreciated.

Dlite

Advantages of a one box player is space savings, one less power cord and digital cable. That being said, I have tried six different transports with my Audio Logic DAC, they all added something to the sound, but the biggest difference I have heard comes more from the digital cable then the transport. Go to your local dealer and get a few digital cables to see what works with your set-up and do try a real expensive one to see what the differences are compared to ones within your budget.

Happy Listening.

I think in general a new CD player (current technology) outperforms a trans/DAC combo until you start getting into the higher priced gear, like maybe the $4K-$5K range on up. However, it may be very useful to use an existing older CD player as a transport connected to a DAC as a way to make an incremental improvment and not have to spend quite as much at one time. I guess if I had $1K or $2K to spend, I would probably look for an all in one unit, or buy just a DAC, and use my CD player as a transport, and maybe update the transport later.

I f you run a stock Sony dvd/cd player, can you use a DAC, with it through the digital coaz or do you use the analog outputs, and if you can use dig coax can you still use it for 7.1 DVD audio, and finally if you are limited in funds generally speaking how much should you plan to spend on a DAC from a fair priced vendor and should I expect a noted im provement in sound...thanks so much, chad

The answer to your question is: not necessarily.