smarco;326191 Wrote: > > 1. Is the $3K or $30K CD transporter better than $20 CD drive in > pulling out the digital data from a CD? Is there any $1K CD drive for > Hi-Fi ripping? (I mean $1K for the CD drive itself not for the > automated machine.) > > 2. Is the loss of data in streaming or storing really significant? > Yeah... I see some digital cables priced over $1K. If so, the shorter > paths like the option 2 and 3 are supposed to be better than the option > 1. Is it true? > > 3. What makes the $3K transpoter worth other than the minimized loss > (if so) in its circutry? >
1. No. If a CD drive gives you a bit-perfect rip, it cannot get any better than that. You do need to use ripping software that can do bit-perfect rips if you want to ensure this (e.g., EAC, Dbpoweramp). 2. If you store lossless files, then there is no loss in storing. If you stream using a network protocol like TCP/IP, as you do with SqueezeCenter, then there is no loss in streaming to the transport. In general, any digital cable that is not broken will get all the bits from the transport to the DAC. However, spdif has an inherent weakness in that the clock signal is embedded in the data, and this can result in timing variations (jitter), depending upon the specific equipment involved. This may or may not be audible, depending upon your equipment, your listening environment, and your ears. There are numerous threads here devoted to explanations of jitter. 3. A very expensive transport may have better components, better power supplies, better engineering, or it may just have a higher price. It may go to greater lengths to minimize jitter, by using a master/slave clock, by avoiding spdif altogether, etc. Whether it is worth the $3k or $30k is very subjective. I can think of better ways to spend my money. :) If it is a CD player, and has to read the physical disc every time, there is always a potential for read errors and data interpolation/extrapolation, which does constitute data loss. In this respect, an accurate rip stored in a lossless format is a better read. -- jeffmeh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ jeffmeh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3986 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=50690 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
