Howard Passman;430885 Wrote: > Yes, sorry, another DAC reccomandation thread. > > This week I bought a Transporter and was very much looking forward to > having it. I expected to hear a better sound stage than my DUET or SB3 > and was hoping for more natural highs and maybe a bit more warmth and > *some* bass. > > The unit had some serious issues with a high frequency pop, scrathing > sounds and stopping play. It would stream Internet Radio *almost* > flawless, but wouldn't play flac's or m4a files at all without the > before mentioned issues. > > I was going to return it for a replacement, but decided to listen to it > as much as possible (1-4 minutes at a time) to see how it sounded > compared to my favorite Revox CD player. Even without direct comparison > it was obvious that it wasn't up to the task so I did a direct > comparison to the SB3. Better? Maybe different is a better > description. The soundstage seemed about the same, bass was maybe even > less than the SB3. Highs may have been more defined, but the trade off > in warmth and bass left me liking the SB3 better or about the same. I > might pay $500 for the Transporter (love the looks), but not $2k. > > Next, I did a direct comparison to my Revox B226 Signature player. > After listening to parts of 5 or 6 songs that I am very familiar with, I > quit listening to the Transporter and spent the rest of my time > listening to CD's on the Revox. > > The Revox has a great two dimensional sound stage, nice round bass and > lots of warmth. The highs are very clean, but not un-natural. Not > sterile at all. It's not perfect, but for my tastes it was the best > player or transport I listened to at the time. > > So now you know what I like to hear when I listen. Warmth, nice two > dimensional soundstage, nicely rounded bass and natural highs. That's > my personal preferences and I'm looking for a DAC that I can run either > the DUET or the SB3 through that will lean more towards that sound. > > It doesn't make sense to me to pay for the Transporter and then not use > the DAC. Basically, it seems like your paying for all the nice outputs, > of which I'd either use the RCA or balanced. That and the DAC. The SB3 > sounds close enough to the Transporter where I think a nice DAC might > give me what I'm looking for. Something close to the Revox with the > convenience of the SB's. > > Don't blast me because I don't like the Transporter. To each is own. > I love my SB's (4 of them) and the Transporter seems like a nice box, > but the fact is (problems aside)it still isn't my cup of tea. > > Any ideas? > > Howard
I have to agree with Robin and Radish. Not flaming or being over critical, but how can you move on to a discussion about making a DAC purchase when your logic on the Transporter seems flawed? Its one thing to say that after I received the Transporter I didn't like the way it looked so I am returning it even though it sounds great. Fine, its not your style of component. Its a whole other thing to say I don't like the way it sounds or its performance when you admit that you think the unit is faulty. How could it possibly pass your expectations? More importantly, there most be a problem if you feel it doesn't better an SB3. As you said, if the Transporter wasn't better, it would just be an expensive dual display SB3. The warmth you are looking for, are you talking about Tube sound warmth? If so, the tube way is buying a DAC with a tube analog output or a Modwright Transporter or expensive tube pre-amp. Also some people don't like the better sound of a Transporter after listening to SB3 or Booms for a long time. They are used to the SB3 sound and don't give the Transporter enough time (which is why one gets 30 days). To give it an honest demo (not 2 or 3 minutes here and there), one needs to listen to it for several hours a day for a few weeks without listening to the other Slim Devices they are accustom to. Then once this new sound is part of ones live, listen to an SB3 again. Can you now live without the Transporter? Yes, return it. No, enjoy your new NMP. I was lucky I guess. I bought an SB3 to try out this new way to go digital. I wasn't going to just spend $2000 on some unknown new box even if I could return it. Before the 30 days was up on the SB3, I had already bought a Transporter! Not having built up a knowing sound of the SB3, it was easy to hear the areas that were better. Which for me were tighter more accurate sound. Better soundstage (both wider and deeper), just generally better sound reproduction, music. It is less forgiving of the recording due to drawing out more detail, which a friend labels as antiseptic or sterile. I look at it as more accurate. I am also using the balanced XLR which I think make a huge difference. But again that's my opinion, what sounds best to me for me. Getting a DAC is one way to go, but it sounds like you're going to have to spend more money then what a Transporter costs. Maybe a Bel Canto or something similar (I can tell you a Dodson DA-217 MK2-D Digital Processor sounds killer being feed by an SBR or SB3 but it should, its a $5K DAC). So why not return the TP for a refund (no telling if it was a Crutchfield return or what) and order one from Logitech. That unit will be a fresh in the box unit for sure as Slim Devices will not sell return or refurbs (yes, once a year or so if your lucky you can pick something up at the Mountain View local sale but they will not sell them on the web or over the phone, its in person only for that day or weekend). How do I know, I offered to buy every TP that was returned on the 30 day return policy. I was told that very few get returned and the ones that do are used for shows/demos or warranty exchange/replacement with any left showing up at the Local Sale (and probably good deals for employee purchases). So if it were me, I'd order from Logitech. Or return to CF, asking for a new replacement. But I would try another unit for sure is what I have been trying to say. -- iPhone *iPhone* Media Room: Transporter, VTL TL-6.5 Signature Pre-Amp, Ayre MX-R Mono's, Vandersteen Quatro, VeraStarr 6.4SE 6-channel Amp, VCC-5 Reference Center, four VSM-1 Signatures, Runco RS 900 CineWide AutoScope 2.35:1 Living Room: Duet, ADCOM GTP-870HD, Cinepro 3K6SE III Gold, Vandersteen Model 3A Signature, Two 2Wq subs, VCC-2, Two VSM-1 Kitchen: Squeezebox BOOM Bedroom: SB3, GFR-700HD, Thiel 2.3, Second Boom Home Office: SB3, NAD C370, two VSM-1 Home Gym: SB3, Parasound Vamp v.3, Thiel PowerPoint 1.2 House Portable: SB3, Audioengine A5 Thunderbird: Duet, Mac Mini Expedition: SB3, ToughBook ------------------------------------------------------------------------ iPhone's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13622 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=64335 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
