Going back to the OP's original question for a moment, Transporter owner here and had that exact same question. Spent quite a bit of time listening and comparing the different digital outputs from the TP, so have direct experience which hopefully is of help. :)
QUICK VERSION? Transporter Dac sounds great, but can be bettered. XLR was the best sounding to me, but only with a high end digital XLR cable. This hookup to my dac is noticably better than any other. BNC second best, again cables make a substantial difference here. RCA and optical much of a muchness, though optical with a glass (not plastic) fibre sounded better than RCA. LONG VERSION! I wanted to know I'd at least tried them all and found (to my ears) the best sounding connection, if indeed there was any difference to be heard! Have a pretty resolving system and I can hear differences between equipment. The TP run from its analogue outputs sounds extremely good, and you need a pretty good Dac to better imo it but it can be done. As a digital transport its superb, sounded noticably better than my old SB3 into the same Dac and better again than even my Touch when I directly compared them as transports playing the same 24/96 stuff. Unexpected...yup, but thats how it was. So I'd NOT advise selling your Transporter or ripping its guts out! I was looking at upgrading it (because it only does 24/96 and thought I was missing out) and took it to local Linn and Naim dealers to see what the current streamers could offer. >From its analogue outputs, the Linn and Naim players were better, particularly the higher end ones. As a digital transport though...it gets REALLY interesting... * Naim? Preferred the Transporter to the Naim players, less "hifi" and more about the music. Was only when the dealer bolted in a megabucks powersupply that the Naim got better. *Linn? Preferred the Transporter all the way up the range until I heard the Klimax player, their top of the line and costs silly money. Wow..its noticably better. I came away without spending any money and seriously impressed by what the Transporter can sound like in a really high end system. So dont sell your Transporter...its potential as a digital transport wont hold back what a really good dac can do. Best digital output to a Dac though? Tried all the digital outputs into my Dac (modded M2Tech Young with linear psu) and despite what Sean Adams had said...I found AES/XLR to be the best sounding. Yup. :) BUT (and puts on flameproof coat) this was only with a high end XLR digital cable. Started off with a good quality Bluejeans cable, didn't sound as good as the BNC output. >From recommendations on Computer Audiophile forum, I bought a couple of American cables. On to a DH Labs 110, better again but BNC still better. finally put in a Morrow Cables Digi4.. http://morrowaudio.com/audiophile-and-home-theater/digital-cables/dig4-grand- and wow, big improvement and quite a bit better than BNC, and this was using an equivalent level BNC cable. BNC was the next best sounding to me, and was only bettered when I put the Morrow digital cable in. RCA was "ok" but optical sounded a little better, but only with a glass optical cable. Just my experience, my ears my system. I really wanted to get this one right though so it didnt niggle away in the back of my mind, and happy to say I've got there. Happy to run my Transporter into my Dac as the internal dac can be improved on, and that XLR is the best digital hookup type. Invest in a Morrow digital cable, seriously, its worth every penny and shows just what the Transporter can do. Its been a bit of a cable find to be honest. A cheaper option would be the DH Labs 110 XLR cable, that sounded good, but doesn't get close to what the Morrow does. Further down the line I will retire the Transporter, mainly as at some point I will upgrade my Dac and I am curious about DSD. In particular Im looking at the PS Audio gear, which is pretty innovative in what their Directstream Dac does. Not cheap though so need to save up for a while. Happy to enjoy the Transporter in the meantime, its a helluva piece of kit. But yeah, Sean got the Transporter exactly right and it will sit happily with any upgrades to your system for a while yet. Hopefully this is of help to the OP. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gazjam's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=18604 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106519 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
