Transport - will it really make an improvement

By the way Audionote does make a very good dedicated transport for $999 retail since I notice SFSOUNDS was looking for something in that price range.

For anyone reading this thread JC Audio,s statement about Sanibel being a sub of HiFi Farm is 100% not true.They are 2 completly different corporations with totally different ownership.It is true however that I am affiliated with both companies.So far Sanibel has managed to garner a lot of praise for providing new and important products which truly have something new and important to offer the audiophile.Aloia with inductive power supply,Audiomeca with it's own reader and the first application of Anagrams digital technology,Piega with their own truly unique ribbon diaphram,and soon to come more "new" technology to enhance the aural experience.By the way the external supply converts 12 volt elminating rf potential.
Best Regards,
Stephen A. Davis president owner HiFiFarm
22 years service to the audiophile
Stephen A.Davis director Sanibel Sound
Americas most important distributor for the future of hi-end

If I can add to the question above with some of my own:

What can one expect out of a high-end transport? Or, what do you listen for once you get above a certain threshold for jitter?

I imagine that it isn't all about controlling jitter, but I don't understand what is beyond the 1's and 0's and the "spacing" of them. I'm wondering what the advantages and differences are once you hit a certain point (wherever that may be) of controlling jitter.

Also, do jitter-control boxes do as good a job as having a good transport to begin with? What about "locking" the clock between a transport and DAC of the same brand?

Finally, is there a sound difference between using RCA coaxial and AES/EBU digital outputs? Thanks for the help y'all.

A good transport does do a better job of controling jitter although some of that jitter control is being handled at the DAC now on some machines. A good transport IMHO will allow you to hear more of what's on a cd. We actually hear things we didn't know was on the disc as we move up in transports. Again this will depend on the equipment used! On the equipment we have tried we prefer the RCA outputs.
To be honest I haven't felt a desire to try the jitter reduction devices as the digital we get is so awesome as it is I have felt no longing. Maybe someone else who uses a high quality transport and DAC can answer that one for you.
Finally a good quality transport should work equally well with most DAC's. Many people who are using cd players etc. as transports probably have not heard their DAC's at their best. We have sent even a $999 dedicated transport to people who were using VERY expensive cd players as transports and all have noticed a big improvement. Even at this modest price point. Hope his helps some.

This question about transports is very critical to me also these days. I've spent much time wrestling, internally with it. I keep wondering should I get a real kick-ass megabucks transport or a megabuck DAC or CD player? But in the end some experiences showed me the way to go. Currently I have an MSB Link Dac (fed by a Proceed PDT3 transport, no slouch). I really like it in fact, I mean I like its basic sonic character: dynamic, harmnonically rich and detailed also. Ok sure, maybe it's not a Mark Levinson, but also, maybe the sonic character of a Mark Lev would not appeal to me for whatever reason.
So my point is, liking the basic sound of the Link Dac, how do I proceed to improve it? I currently use a Audio Alchemy DTI jitter box. It DOES help a lot. Much more insight into the harmonic structure, much more "interesting" sound that is more like real music, BUT it still sounds like the Link Dac. I tried once the Perpetual Tech P1a, which performs the same function as the AA DTI pro, but it's funny that the P1a actually totally changed the sound of the Link -- much more refined, more detailed, etc., etc.. Although I found some things to dislike about the P1a, what I did discover is that WHEN FED A VERY LOW JITTER SIGNAL, the Link was capable of incredibly upgraded performance. So this is a function that COULD be served by a megabuck transport, OR by a jitter box such as DTI Pro or maybe the Genesis Digital Lens. So answer: if you LIKE the basic sonic sound of the your DAC, but want just a bit more depth, musicality, detail from it, then the anti-jitter boxes may be a possible solution; some can be obtained used for quite decent prices. The amount of difference the jitter device is unknown until you try, but most reviews state that it almost always makes some improvement except for the best (most expensive) transport/Dac combos.