Down here in the less than stratospheric digital front end world, experience says the front end that’s best at reduce jitter and electrical noise wins, regardless of whether it’s a streamer, CD/SACD player or computer. I don’t think the conversation is best served as a CD vs streamer one. The better disc transports have super quiet output stages and often buffer data to reclock it, just like a good streamer.
Hegel Mohican sounds kick-arse, for example, but it’s more about Hegel being a terrific company than the inherent superiority of CD transports.
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I would not say CD Transports are inherently superior.
Some are, most not so much.
Yep, sorry I was unclear. I don’t think CD transports are inherently superior at all. I should’ve said, “Hegel are terrific, which is why the Mohican sounds great, not because CD transports are somehow inherently superior to streamers”.
Cheers
Mick
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Yep, sorry I was unclear. I don’t think CD transports are inherently superior at all. I should’ve said, “Hegel are terrific, which is why the Mohican sounds great, not because CD transports are somehow inherently superior to streamers”.
Cheers
Mick
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Innuos will upgrade a Zen to Zenith. It costs about the same as the difference in price of the two units.
Without a lot of first-hand, super high-end empirical data to draw on, I would have to agree, just from a philosophical stance. Nothing I’ve read or heard makes me think there’s a consistent, across-the-board advantage to either method.
I don’t think audio lends itself well to absolutes. This is just another facet of the old format arguments over which is “better.” Whether it’s a discussion of digital vs analog, or CD vs SACD, or spinning vs streaming, I’ll just say that I have samples of each that outperform samples of the others, and I suspect it will always remain so.
It seems to me the best anyone can say is that, based on sound (no pun intended) physics and engineering principles, “format A” has the potential to be better than “format B.” There are just far, far too many variables in the recording and reproduction chain (including ourselves and our rooms) for any statement more definitive than that.
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Craig, once again a well-stated bit of wisdom. Thanks and kudos.
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Have u tried NDX 2 ? It has digital out too. I use it with Direct Stream Senior. Amazing sound quality whether u r streaming form Quboz or from local NAS.
Regards,
Sourav
I’m streaming Tidal and Qobuz to DSD Jr through an Ethernet connection with 200 Mbs connection from Xfinity. I have no reason to unpack hundreds of CDs from a move over two years ago. If I did, the transport would be an Oppo BDP 105D.
Change my mind.
So this evening was listening to some music that was ripped
from the little silver disc to a thumb drive.
Thumb drive plugged into Oppo 205 feeding my stock DS dac
by way of DH Labs Silver Sonic 750 rca digital cable…
My speakers not quite the Kanta level…are the Aria 948s.
The 3D sound stage created and rendered from these “old
redbook” silver discs was very very imersive and impressive.
The music was from the GRP Jazz Sampler Volume 1 …Don Gruisin
stuff. It had been a long time since listening to this album…
What I heard this evening was for me in a word…amazing!!!
While having enjoyed playing this album many times in the past
never heard it like this evening…
So while my system is sans streaming services as of yet…
one thing comes to mind …those little ole silver discs contain
a wealth of musical richness and delights waiting to be heard.
Just had to share a little of my enthusiasm …
Best wishes and happy listening y’all
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And isn’t that just the best part of the journey and our hobby? I’m glad to hear your experience is so positive and I think you have a great set up too!
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I’ll take a shot…
Unpack those discs and rip them to a hard drive.
“Stream” them from the hard drive to your DS Jr. via its internal Bridge.
I have upgraded to a second-hand DMP transport from PSA and stream Qobuz and Tidal via Roon. I also have the ability to play my ripped files via Roon or JRiver Media Center.
To my ears, with some exceptions of given recordings (there are no absolutes), the best performance and overall sound of good recordings is, in descending order:
- Ripped and downloaded files via JRMC.
- CDs and SACDs via the DMP.
- Roon playing my ripped and downloaded files.
- Roon playing content from Qobuz and Tidal
Granted, sometimes (depending on the recording) the differences are subtle among the perceived performance levels, and sometimes there are exceptions. But, generally speaking, the magic of the content on the CDs and data discs is best extracted via my in-house network.
So, I guess, I mostly agree with you. Don’t unpack your CDs just to spin them up via your OPPO. But do consider unpacking and ripping them.
What else ya’ gonna do with your next rainy weekend afternoon? Plop down at your computer and play some music while transferring your collection to the hard drive of your choice. It will be worth your while to re-explore some of your favorite discs in this manner.
Earlier I thought I read you may be looking to upgrade to DS
dac and keep your M700s…
My thinking i that your Kanta 2s really need better amplification.
When I traded up my former Parasound A21 for my JC5 the
impact of the JC5 on sound quality was all and more than I
had hoped for…while everything else remained the same.
My Arias were hungry for more and the JC5 delivers. You have
amazing speakers that have far more to give you by stepping up
to a better amp.
Sorry if I went off topic…
Best wishes
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I haven’t and although I like the form factor and snazzy screen the fact that half of the price of admission includes a redundant DAC I’m consider a DAC free streamer.
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Nope, I was literally wishing and hoping I could stream CD like quality as I’ve been thrilled with services like Tidal and Qobuz bringing new and undiscovered gems to my listening experience. I hadn’t even thought of changing my amps till now, damn, do I have to do that too?!? This forum hasn’t saved me a single penny.
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I’ve got a friend that picked up an iFi Zen Stream a couple of weeks ago and loves it. He was able to use it with an upgraded LPS that he already owned which made it even a better deal at $399. He ordered it from Music Direct so he would have a 60 day trial.
Yeah, I don’t think it works that way.
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This forum turned out to be a very expensive site for me to visit. But the good news is that at least I’m spending on the right upgrades. 
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While this forum challenges the status quo of our systems;
the thoughts, experiences of our peers helps steer our thinking
to better our $$$$ management budget and steer us to better
attainable gear.
The main thing to be observed is to deny the fomo …rather
practice patience…
Best wishes and happy journeying everyone!!!
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Good advice.
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