How good of a DAC is the Logitech Transporter

The Touch is fine, but it is no match for the Transporter, not really even close. Also, things get even better still, when using the Transporter balanced outputs...

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

When the Transporter was released, 'miracle' DAC chip maker AKM already had a better DAC chip available.

If hi-rez playback is a concern, the Transporter is limited to 24/96. There is no indication that Logitech will upgrade it or release a derivative product in the future.

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

(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

Yes, but the wireless transmission in the Transporter is asynchronous so the master clock jitter the AKM DAC see is very low, unlike the S/PDIF input where the master clock comes from the digital receiver and can be 100 times more, at least.

Since I believe AKM DACs are really special (and I use them in all of my products), there is no doubt that the AK4396 DAC in the Transporter is nice (although inferior to the latest 32 bit AKM top-line DACs, IMHO!). Of course, it is all implementation, so "everything matters". And we can't really blame AKM for introducing much better 32 bit DAC solutions after the Transporter was released.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Alex Peychev
www.aplhifi.com