Stellar CD-Transport

Audio Components Integrateds
1

Hi all,

I have my Stellar DAC running for a few weeks now and I´m absolutly amazed. This was a giant upgrade to my system (Apple TV 1st Gen with lossless audio files, active Manger studio loudspeakers).

Now I´m wondering what a I2S compatible CD transport would be capable of? It should be something in the price range of the Stellar DAC. I think it would be a great product to expand the Stellar product range. Any comments from the development departement?

best regards from Lübeck, Germany,

Harry

2

Thanks and glad you’re loving your Stellar. We don’t currently have plans for a CD transport but you never know what the future holds. We do have plans for a Stellar Streamer sometime in 2019 and it will have I2S.

3 Likes
3

Hi Paul,

that is interesting news: a streamer with I2S. I was thinking about building one on a raspberry PI platform and/or upgrading to a MacMini in 2018. I´ll put the MacMini on hold and wait for your streamer but maybe I´ll build the raspberry anyway, just for fun…

best regards,

Harry

4

I wondered if the I2S input is standard throughout the industry. I am going to get the Stellar dac and monos but can not yet afford your transport as well. I see another manufacturer (Nuprime) have a dac/transport/cd player with the I2S output. Also Audio Alchemy has it but with a round connector. Are these compatible (except diff connection) as far as function goes ?

5

I2S isn’t standardized: it is consistent across the PS Audio products. More detail if you want:

I2S doesn’t have a spec for connector connections, wire impedances, etc. It was only designed for point to point connections on a circuit board (or at most over a short connector in a box.)

I2S does have a spec for what each of the four connections do: bit clock, data, left/right and master clock. The number of bits in each sample aren’t constrained so technically it can be from just a few bits to, say, 64 or whatever bits. The order of the bits is specified that the top bit is the sign, the next bit down is 0.5… so that you can take just as many bits from the beginning of a sample as your device supports (e.g. 16, 24 …) and ignore the rest. The master clock is the one that’s most confusing - in the general case it can be controlled by either end and the word clock, data and l/r don’t have to be aligned with the master clock. The master clock only sets the pace for the rest of the system. Some DACs insist on providing the master clock others take a master clock and still others just ignore it entirely.