I came up through the era of LPs, and like many, was thrilled at getting rid of pops, skips, noise, cleaning, etc. For all our die-hard vinyl fans who think Rudy Van Gelder hung the moon, when CDs came out, he was quoted as saying “good riddance” to vinyl LPs. But soon, as I got more invested in detailed audio, I learned that CDs had many limitations in terms of resolution, sound character, etc. Over the years, things got much better, both from the recording side and the playback side, to take better advantage of the data on the CD. So I moved from mp3 and AAC and set “CD quality” - 16-bit, 44.1khz - as my minimum standard and 24/96 as the top of what my ears could hear. I would download higher-than-CD res if I could find it, but for CD quality, assumed I could either play the CD on a player or rip it to my computer, now to my NAS server.
Everything was cruising along fine. But now I see that for $300, about the cost of a big grocery trip to Walmart, I could get the new PMG Signature SACD Transport that claims being able to improve the sound of a CD. Really? So you mean I could go back to my shelves of CDs (the ones I didn’t give away because heck, I’d ripped them) and play those things on the transport and get better sound than the ones I’ve been ripping off (OK, I did get a good deal on many of them)? Is this one of those things that just FEELS better because I would be coming directly from the CD? I get it that a transport connecting via I2S could be quieter than a player via USB or RCA, but my NAS server goes via ethernet to my AirLens which reclocks the data and all that stuff.
I guess I do still have a lot of CDs, and I’ve bought a few over the years not available via streaming, but my standard procedure is if I want to hear something I already own, go on Qobuz and it might have been remastered at higher-than-CD-quality, or just rip it. Would the new transport offer anything more than what I’m doing?
Reminds me of when I had an Esoteric DV-60 universal player in my system (MSRP: $5,600). A visiting relative who was blissfully ignorant of all things high-end audio pointed to the Esoteric and asked me skeptically, “What’s the difference between that and a $200 DVD player at Best Buy?”
For a while there, I thought I was stupid, but this really confirms it. I guess it helps to read more than just the bottom line. I thought that was strange that a company like PS Audio would have something THAT far into the bargain basement, but I thought just maybe they were deciding to come up with a line to compete with companies like Schiit Audio.
So now that I understand more fully, I’ll ask the question a little differently: why is it that I never made enough money to be in that league of audiophiles who can tell the difference between a transport and ripping my CDs into files?
I’m kinda in the same boat - I have a very inexpensive CD player that I only occasionally use. My DAC is good but listening to CDs is not quite worth the effort vs the ripped files. If CDs were more important to me I’d certainly save for a great CD player but they just aren’t to my preference.
For me, my SACD transport is pretty much in storage right now. Even playing Hi rez 24bit or DSD64 of music I really like, I find a bit boring. Digital cleans up too much of, or missing some of the harmonics and textures and tends to make it sound towards the lean and forward side. It detracts from my fully enjoying music I really like. It doesn’t matter how much money you put into your CD player or streamer, it will not cure this digital problem entirely. But one thing I found does a pretty good job of almost making me forget I’m listening to digital, and that is pure mastered and unedited DSD256. But of course, hi end vinyl is still better in making me say WOW every time I listen to it.
Your question is something I’ve pondered for some time. I’ve formed a view that at least satisfies me but, I’ll readily admit, I haven’t put it to a determined listening test. I’m just reluctant to financially commit to it.
I believe it’s too difficult to compare the sound quality of one versus the other. As with most, if not all, things audio, I think there are too many other variables to make a meaningful comparison. One person could set up a test scenario where playing a CD via a transport will sound better than playing its ripped counterpart from a file server. Another person will demonstrate the opposite with their test scenario.
From a purely funtional perspective there should be no difference. In either set up and assuming bit-perfect transmission, the DAC will receive the identical bit stream from a file server as it would from a transport.
I’m certainly not claiming that people don’t hear a difference between the methods. Given the right test set up, I’m almost certain that people can hear a difference. What I’m trying to point out is that, if you do hear a difference, don’t automatically conclude that one is better than the other. I think it more likely that any differences in sound are a result of other variables in the test set ups.
I RIP each and every CD and save the files on my NAS. When I listen to the files I have zero complaints. Should I then drop the CD into my Gryphon Ethos the sound I hear is nicely better. There is no question my CD player sounds better than the files. It is not a subtle difference. And I appreciate having 4500+ CDs.
Reading reviews of the TEAC VRDS-701T CD Transport I believe it may be a sub $3K Transport that digs a little more from the pits. One of our members here has recently acquired one and also owns a PST. It would be interesting to hear his opinion. I fear I may buy one just to get to know it. I previously had a Jay’s Audio CDT2-MK3 transport and a PST. I never heard and SACD with my PST, just Redbook. I thought the two transports sounded very similar. Both sounded great to me. Then the Ethos arrived and both of those CD Players vanished quickly.
The day I got the Ethos I plugged the Jay’s into the Ethos and put the same CD in both. Both used the same Ethos DAC. The Jay’s sounded it usual fine, and then I switched to the Ethos. The difference was HUGE! It was stunning. It was unbelievable. I never played the Jay’s again.
I have a PWT SACD transport and the DMP transport, each as the center of a system. When I compared files to discs years ago the discs won hands down, I know I could have changed that but with many thousands of discs I’m very happy to be disc-centric and love my transports.
I guess I’m a weirdo. I love it all, CD, streaming and vinyl.
I love love vinyl; it can’t be beat.
But lately I’ve been cooking and entertaining a lot. So digital it is. And I’m very proud of the way my piddly little digital side sounds, especially for guests who listen to music on their laptops or bluetoot speaker.
But when I sit to actively listen, vinyl makess me all gooey.
OK, so now that I’ve read all the responses to my initial question, based on my stupid misconceptions that PS Audio would somehow be selling a high-end transport for $300, here is what I’ve learned: there might be a difference between playing CDs on a transport vs ripping to a server. Those who think there’s no difference make very convincing arguments, and those who think transports are better make very convincing arguments. I have decided to side with the “no difference” arguments because my ears are on a budget.
All subject to change based on winning the lottery (as though I’d buy a ticket).
Once you get a pair of higher budget ears, you will hear the differences among all digital sources so easily. So, start buying the lottery tickets because it is too late to start buying cryptos.
My previous post said I seldom compare my sources now, but that does not mean there is no difference. In fact, discs, streaming, and local files all sound different in my system. It is just that they are sounding great, so I do not have urge to seek better sound from a particular source anymore.
I agree . . . all my sources (two of them currently, a turntable and a transport in my main system) sound great, a bit different, but the gap has been closed in recent months considerably, and I engjoy listening to the silver and the black vinyl discs. Luckily I am very content, maybe even complacent, with the main system. . . as I can’t afford new components. I can play any disc I have of either format and be very happy!
