@rumblestrip Thanks for the advice! I figured it must be power/electronic noise that is bottlenecking the performance.
My SACD Transport feeds so much better signal to my DAC compared with streaming end...
I mostly use Roon to stream my 2000+ album digital collection with Bluesound Node + Ideon 3R Master Time reclocker + Ideon Ayazi MKII DAC. Recently I got a used PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport to rediscover my CD collection from years ago that my parents brought back to me from their home, which I have not touched for a very long time. I thought the 3R reclocker would clean up much of the signal from the Bluesound to the extent that streaming will not sound much worse than CD -- Indeed, I have been satisfied with its performance. I was wrong. The CD playback experience totally blew me away. Much darker background, much better soundstage and depth, lots of details, and better dynamics with great authority... I guess you really need a good streamer to catch disc playback! At any rate, I plan to upgrade my front end to one that works with the SACD Transport's I2S output so that I can enjoy my SACDs as well...
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Yes, once you get a great sounding player, you not only re-discover your cds and sacds, you might find yourself buying used CDs and used SACDs. That’s what happened to me after I took advice here and got a Sony xa5400es SACD player. lasers weaken with use, so if buying used, especially something as old as mine, try to ascertain how much use, and see if replacement lasers are stilll available.
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@elliottbnewcombjr You are right... I can see this happening... And thanks for the advice on laser age. I think mine is fine as the original owner used it for ~3 years, but one thing worrisome is that Marantz, which supplies SACD drives for PS Audio transport unites, ceased their SACD drive production. I think PS Audio stated that they have good inventory for repair and replacement though. |
Or you can get a good streamer and DAC and have millions of albums at your finger tips that sound the same or better than the physical media. Bluesound is very good sounding for the money but is in the bottom tier of the budget streamers. I own one. CD Players and SACDs are physical transports, streaming the signal to an internal DAC. The quality of the output of the box is dependent on the performance of its internal components. Good quality streamers cashe the bits coming in from the network, isolate from noise and pass on to a DAC. Which ever of these are of better quality will sound better. My CD, stored files, and vinyl all sound the same (outstanding), and I have access to millions of albums. So, it is worth the effort to put together a streamer and DAC that sounds as good or better than a physical media player. Saves money and storage space. I got rid of all my CDs. |
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