Agree with the other posters, if you are going to keep your CDs get a transport. From personal experience the Cambridge is a competent transport for the money, and in it's price range others on Audiogon have also recommended the Audiolab 6000. I moved up to the SimAudio 260 in my main system and agree with whipsaw's recommendation of it if you want even better sound and willing to pay the higher cost.
The anachronistic CD Transport? And do I really need one.
CD Transports.
This is a machine that in my early audiophile days I could not afford. I appreciated, philosophically the advantages of it. Thinking of this device in 2021 seems strange. Yet they still exist and, maybe more importantly, they are still manufactured.
Just a few years ago (I dunno...maybe 2015) I remember thinking Redbook CD sounded great with the right DAC, and underlying system of course. But today, I don’t know this to be true. It is starting to seem that the compact disc is riding in the third row of the vehicle, with vinyl and non-cd-digital vying back and forth, musically for the driver’s seat.
So, my listening habits are
Vinyl 65% of the time
Digital 40%
CD 5%
I do have a small collection of CDs. They are things that I cannot easily or actually hear on other mediums.
I have a great DAC and it made an old (2005) Rotel CD player sound pretty good. The Rotel CD player's remote is dead with no easy replacement, and it does have progressive optical reading disease--...it drops in and out with less than perfectly clean discs.
Can you please evaluate the following options for me? Or tell me to piss off!
1. Buy a Transport
2. Buy a CD player (maybe with SACD ability)
3. Dump the discs and stick with your better sounding vinyl and digital.
4. Are you insane for listing as no. 1 "Buy a Transport"? You must be old.
Fire away.
This is a machine that in my early audiophile days I could not afford. I appreciated, philosophically the advantages of it. Thinking of this device in 2021 seems strange. Yet they still exist and, maybe more importantly, they are still manufactured.
Just a few years ago (I dunno...maybe 2015) I remember thinking Redbook CD sounded great with the right DAC, and underlying system of course. But today, I don’t know this to be true. It is starting to seem that the compact disc is riding in the third row of the vehicle, with vinyl and non-cd-digital vying back and forth, musically for the driver’s seat.
So, my listening habits are
Vinyl 65% of the time
Digital 40%
CD 5%
I do have a small collection of CDs. They are things that I cannot easily or actually hear on other mediums.
I have a great DAC and it made an old (2005) Rotel CD player sound pretty good. The Rotel CD player's remote is dead with no easy replacement, and it does have progressive optical reading disease--...it drops in and out with less than perfectly clean discs.
Can you please evaluate the following options for me? Or tell me to piss off!
1. Buy a Transport
2. Buy a CD player (maybe with SACD ability)
3. Dump the discs and stick with your better sounding vinyl and digital.
4. Are you insane for listing as no. 1 "Buy a Transport"? You must be old.
Fire away.
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- 41 posts total
You say you have a great dac, the wait for the new Schiit Audio cd transport to come out, it "should" be a cracker! knowing the designers background designing all that Theta Digital was known for in the past. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/schiit-cd-transport-on-the-way-soon Cheers George |
- 41 posts total