Just received the April 2007 issue of Hi-Fi News and they are reviewing the Slim Devices Transporter this month.
They give it a rating of 17 out of 20. Five stars for features, three stars for sound quality, five stars for build quality and four stars for value for money. The overall verdict is as follows: "A breath of fresh air in the world of network audio players and a brave step for Slim Devices, which clearly beleives that a new generation of audiophiles can be persuaded to take computer audio delivery seriously, even if hi-fi traditionalists cannot. In so many ways it is admirable but, crucially, it fails the acid test of providing comparable sound quality to the best disc based players. Review system breakdown: Amplifier: DACT stepped attenuator passive pre-amp. Exposure XVIII Mono power amplifiers. Speakers: B&W 805S They used a Townshend TA565 Universal Player to compare the Transporter with a CD player. They tested it straming uncompressed PCM files ripped from CD (including apparently some 24/96 material too). Via the Townshend player, music was crucially better resolved and the enjoyment factor significantly enhanced. Performance had an infectious vitality that the Transporter only hinted at. You could hear the difference in a split second, even on the raindrops and rolling thunder at the opening of Black Sabbath. Hi-Fi News also thought that there was no question that the Transporter sounded better via S/PDIF feed than via the wired network connection used for streaming audio from the computer. In Stand Alone DAC mode the Transporter sounded crisper and musically more insightful and involving, where as via the network connection leading edges were fudged, tempos dragged and the sound became altogether less gripping. As was the shortfall between the Transporter, even in DAC mode, and a top flight player like the Townshend Audio TA565. However, they do mention that the Transporter is the first audiophile network music player to support file resolutions and sampling rates up to 24/96. All in all a bit of a disappointing review. Any Transporter owners wish to comment? I currently own a SB1 (which I have had for almost 3 years and have been very happy with). I actually find that my SB1 compares very favourably with my Arcam Diva CD72, and in fact since buying my SB1 I have hardly ever used my Arcam CD player!!!! But then obviously my Arcam CD player cannot be compared to the apparently faultless Townshend TA565 Universal Player!!!! My amplifier is an Arcam Diva A85 (2001) and my speakers are B&W CDM1NT (2003). I have been thinking about upgrading from my SB1 to a Transporter. -- norderney ------------------------------------------------------------------------ norderney's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=378 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=33276 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
