Joined Jan 13, 2004 Posts 34,759 Likes 81. $180-$300 will get a CD-Pro2 rebuilt, there's a company who specializes in repairing these and rebuilding these due to being commonly used in jukeboxes, they're Enco Systems. The player has two digital outputs – a 75ohm BNC coaxial connector and Toslink for optical connections. So I will sure opt for Highend Computer Transport. Pflughaupt. wav -> compared to ref. Dimensions: 16. So how would they fare against each other? The winner of this match-up will solely depend on you. Sonorus, Apr 10, 2019 #201. The 5425 is a MASH machine utilizing the MN6471 DAC, which has balanced analog outputs. 1. To rip a CD you would need an internal or external optical data drive for your PC/laptop/Mac. I haven’t had problems with CD players myself, but there’s no doubt that lasers and transport mechanisms do break down. 00. You won't notice a difference as chances are you are converting from a lower or equal quality file. 30 and No. This is very useful on. This one is simply a CD transport with mains power. B. 4 x 3. DMP in comparison to the newest PS Audio transport the Perfectwave SACD Transport currently available for purchase from PS Audio. 30 to recognize that it is. If I search for CDM-9 I have to click away some popups but ultimately get to a. The $1200 D-105u, the top of Luxman's CD-player line, is novel in its twin-triode vacuum-tube amplification in the analog output stage. This place was epic in comparison to what Philadelphia had to offer and the object of my stepfather’s eye was a Compact Disc player. 31. In that mode, it delivers perfect pace, pinpoint attacks, high detail resolution, and, well, just about everything else you could wish for. DP . Type DAC/pre-amp/headphone amp. Technics SL-P1200 was a good top-loader. 99) for the January 2010 issue, I began to fantasize about how it might be packaged with other components to create a dynamite entry-level system for about $1000 (excluding cables). That doesn’t detract, though, from what Jay’s Audio has achieved with its CDT2-MK3. Reviews and Tech Articles . Delete. In this video we review the features and functionality of both the CD35 modular CD player and DD35 CD transport that may make them the perfect addition to your system. Robert J. #3. On the surface, the PWT appears to be a straightforward ‘CD transport’, but the PWT can also play WAV-format, PCM files at resolutions up to 24. The real evolution was the 24-bit upgrade. ” Either way, its performance is uncompromising. So either the UB9000 ain’t a good CD player or it is and that’s as good as it’s going to get with a cd which is unfortunate and I was told nonsense. This is not a money-saving ploy. . The PS Audio transport has the I2S and the Wyred4sound dac’s also accept the I2S input. The CDi, by all accounts, is even better. My sony sacd cheap DVD player sound ugly for cd when connected to my dac. Denon DCD-800NE. This 71-pound, $17,200 device takes the task of recovering data from a CD quite seriously, employing what is unquestionably the best built and most elaborate mechanism yet devised for CD playback (save for the mechanism in Esoteric’s $25k P-01 transport). Designed specifically to do one thing only. The ERC-3 is a far better CD player than the OPPO 103 is; and, adding the DC-1 to the OPPO will not make it perform any better as a CD player. For example the Line Magnetic 515 uses a Sony KSS 213 (discontinued) is a $14 transport. Consider this a Round Two. You'll need a standalone DAC to handle all the digital-to-analogue conversion. CD transports differ as they don’t have any analogue or digital to analogue components in them or any filters to improve the analogue sound. Pflughaupt. This starts with the improvements made to Cyrus’ recent Anniversary System CD player, which includes the latest version of the Servo Evolution firmware that controls the way the laser tracks the disc, to optimise the accuracy with which it does it. And that’s a problem. NEW Philips CD Pro 2. 6MHz high-resolution digital audio playback and does a great job with 16-bit/44. 93" wide by 3. Edit. 5" high by 13. So it seems very reasonable to conclude that the Denon DCD-755AR CD player not only applies its Alpha Processing to its analogue outputs (measured noise: -113. The Yamaha CD-S300 and Marantz CD6006 seem to be popular options, but both are essentially discontinued now, and there's no new stock left in the UK at least. C. (Image credit: Future) Music streamers are, of course, much newer tech than CD players. 00. . Equipment List. $698. Anyhow, if I could get guidance on the 'player' vs 'transport' question, that would be great. It is very good. CD transports need outboard D/A converters as they just have the CD read mechanism inside. My specific needs are 1) AES / EBU out and also 2) as a preferred option balanced XLR out. Two years ago, Simaudio introduced the Moon Evolution 750D CD transport/DAC ($11,999), billed as "the world's first true 32-bit asynchronous DAC. DACs are getting better almost every year. But influence of the CD quality (clean and new vs. So, in order to get music off a cd you need four things -. The No. browntrout February 10, 2023, 5:58am 4. Streaming is the hot technology now so there are more streamer choices out there than. 0 | CD PLAYER – in contrast a CD player has analogue RCA Stereo connections (normally the Red/White or Red/Black plugs on the back) and sometimes has optical and coaxial inputs. . Arcam Alpha 9 CD player: $1599. 09-25-2021 at 03:00pm. And that’s a problem. It also handles music from flash drives inserted into its front-panel USB socket, which allows for significantly more storage space than optical discs. That it costs as little as it does is further reason to pay it attention. if you are willing to spend more the Cyrus cdt or the other pure transports. Aug 23, 2018. When I tested the Classe Sigma SSP on SPDIF Coax I used a 16 m long 75 Ohm cable. Leak CDT. a) There was a difference and it wasn't subtle. The differences are inside. Cheers. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $279. My transport upsamples the CD to DSD and conveys that to the DAC via either I2S or 3 BNC cables. Roksan Attessa CD Transport. The link also allows the No. Best value for the money — Rotel CD14 MkII. All blu ray players will play CD as stereo and are designed to do so. Look for something that uses the Philips professional transport mechanism, like the kind used in commercial jukeboxes. (I think it was a CDP-501. The player is reading 1s and 0s. The C 516BEE gets the full measure of NAD engineering experience with enhanced audio circuitry to maximize performance, resulting in better stereo imaging, tighter bass, and clean, accurate, distortion-free sound. Product Design: S3 Servo. 30 and No. As a £895 CD transport, it can’t really be described as a budget player – it’s a premium player but it’s not uber premium that it will be a bank account shocker. High quality audio CD transport – for detailed playback of music CDsCustom designed S3 Servo. Panasonic 55FZ950. Ever heard of heavy use cases. An CD transport only has digital outputs. Free same day shipping on all orders placed before 2:00PM MST. 5's transport mechanism is mounted on the same sprung 12-lb lead-brick assembly as in the '31. Its sole purpose is to spin up CDs to the correct and stable speed so that a laser can read the pits and lands that are encoded into the polycarbonate layer of the disc. #3. Of course some CD players have USB and other inputs allowing to use the built-in DAC with other transports. Art K Retired but not tired! Thread Starter. Will mostly use with a Space Tech Labs DAC. 2) ML 35. until the other day when I ran my LG BH200 through my Topping D50. This is a review and detailed measurements of the Cayin Mini-CD MKII CD transport and stereo player. Option 3: there is no option 3. I believe that moving from the competent Cambridge Audio transport up to the very highly regarded Pro-Ject CD BOX RS2 wound result in substantial sound quality improvement. This is not only possible when using the internal transport but even configurable for use with external sources. That said, I did try the Arcam in a head to head with the much older Musical Fidelity dedicated CD player and the Arcam was best, so technology moves on and things get better. Although at first glance the transport looks very similar to the CDT-2 Mk2 that I reviewed in December 2019, at 450mm wide x 380mm deep x 150mm tall, the CDT3-Mk3 is not only taller but also wider than the CDT-2 Mk2 and the DAC-2 Mk3. . I have a high end, newer DAC, capable of SACD (Denon DVD-3910). EUR 995. Hi all, I’m in need of some advice about CD transport to DAC vs. 5mm Rotel Link used to pair the CD11 with other Rotel devices (like the matching A11 Integrated Amp ), and an IEC-C15 power cord complete the connections. The MCD85 offers USB-B plus pairs of optical and coaxial S/PDIF ins together with fixed analogue outs on RCAs and balanced XLRs. In the case of the CD player, it is the transport whose speed is adapting to the DAC's (effective) requests for data. Marantz Super Audio CD Player. A hifi cd player sound normal then connected to same spdif dac. This is a measure of how much distortion is added to the audio signal as it passes through the CD player. 30 to recognize that it is. This means that your DVD player is performing a conversion step that can potentially introduce errors or even compress the audio. The other (this is what this thread is about) is a CD Player or CD Transport. A CD player's transport is the tray you put the CD into and the mechanism that spins it and reads the information on the disc. Buying one that is better than a streamer and a DAC that are not complementary is simple. A dedicated CD player will have better parts in comparison to a cheap Blu-Ray player. Tinman. Currently, I'm using a DVD player (Toshiba SD-5000) as a CD player going S/PDIF out into my receiver, essentially acting as a CD transport. Type: CD transport; Transport Mechanism: Philips. . NAD C538 CD Player. Jay's Audio CDT3-MK3 CD transport. Comparison CDT-8 Pro . If you want small CD transport there are many other options a lot cheaper than cdt-8 so it really comes down to what you need and what you value. The main analog outputs on the ERC-4 deliver both balanced and unbalanced audio signals – for compatibility with the. 05. 5". I did have an '87 H/K that lasted a long time. For example I have listened to my current cd player azur 851c vs the cxc cd transport (which is the same as the transport of 851c) with the 851D dac (which is the same DAC section as the one found inside 851c) and I find it marginally better! Like x 2; List; Last edited: Apr 10, 2019. And this CD player is configured as a Prisma network streamer in its own right, alongside the SC15 standalone network streamer and the built-in streamer option in the I15 Prisma We opted for the DD15 and I15 without. The 6000CDT is a dedicated CD transport incorporating the same slot-loading mechanism as audiolab’s flagship CD player, the 8300CD. I have a large CD collection and a really old CD player from the 1990s. Ignoring the Google dongle, look how good. 04. First: the data encoded on your CD is NOT encoded in the same digital format used by S/PDIF. 5 m. 981i. Externally, the MCD600 is classic McIntosh. As does the Audio Mirror DAC (same as PS Audio). Chances are any CD Player capable of acting as a good transport, is already good enough that it doesn't need an external DAC. Switching to a lesser player after the CD-7 was a bit of a comedown. The CD player is a Cambridge Azur 851 with upgraded blue fuses and a Synchro-mesh reclocker which has been OK but I think I may. No need for any extra mechanism to move the disc into position. Comparing its sound using its onboard DAC might reveal more about how well, or not, DVD/CD players compare to stand alone units. WAV vs FLAC: For the D/A converter the bits are the same as FLAC will decode back to WAV before the converter gets to see the data at all. I also like the raised feet that elevate the player to help resist vibrations that might interfere with the sound playback. Today Yamaha sells a CD player that comes in any $7,000. The disc player’s sound is extremely natural, with rich detail, excellent retrieval of ambient information, deep black backgrounds, and a somewhat crisp overall presentation. Best Sale: Marantz NR1711 8K Slim 7. CD Transport. #9. Best transport-only player — Cambridge Audio CXC v2. ”. Marartz's stable mate Denon also make great CD players but yeah I've never been sold by Cambridge Audio's equipment personally. 00About the only true SACD transport which one can buy is the PS Audio Memory player. Technically it doesn't make difference, other than most CD players have only S/PDIF output but no better interfaces to DACs. Design and Features. I think PST is better sound quality- the music comes alive. ” More MechanismsFor most of its 20-year existence, C. Unlike your average CD player most of the CEC’s machines, including the TL5, don’t even have a DAC built in. Unison USB Hub. Appreciate the CD vs streaming comparisons and music recommendations. The Teac VRDS-701 CD Player and Teac VRDS-701T CD Transport. MOON 260D provides superb flexibility as a result of it being a CD Transport and a DAC ‘s sonic performance is without equal in its price category. Connect via RCA from the front left and right outputs. At the very least, most likely a more substantial transport (drawer/ loading mechanism). Secondly, their first players with slot entry (e. It plays standard Red Book audio CDs, the Red Book layer of Hybrid SACDs, and MP3 digital audio files from both CD-R and DVD-R media. The MOON 260D CD transport. A lot of older CDPs will develop problems over time. People are buying CDs again and asking me what to look for in a vintage CD player or a cheap blu ray player. 6000CDT is also cheaper. Not all CD players sound alike; ergo all DAC's will not sound the same. On top of that, it has a USB port on the front and the ability to play a range of files, including WAV, MP3, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, and DSD files. CDs tend to sound better on a dedicated CD player rather than a transport /DAC combination . Control is via two coaxial knobs on the front panel or with an app for Android devices. 7 Kg. Control is via two coaxial knobs on the front panel or with an app for Android devices. The Marantz CD6007 CD Player is highly recommended for its exceptional audio quality, premium design, and solid build quality, making it a standout. Some folks' bias seems to be that the best 1990s CD players can barely compete with 2000s entry-level players. gogofast. Some players will offer one set of RCA connections that passes the output of the built-in DAC, plus a digital coaxial or optical output if you want to use an external DAC. Seems like you have decided on getting a standalone CD transport then. Connecting the well-regarded Arcam irDAC 2 to a 90s era award-winning Sony CDP-561E budget CD player via optical-out (TOSlink) has not made any substantial improvement to the sound to warrant using a good quality external DAC with the CD player - it sounds pretty much the same with or without the DAC! So my only way to improve on. 05-09-2015 at 07:14am. 1-800-PSAUDIO. More than just a CD Player EC Mini is much more than just a simple CD player, under its hood it actually matches our MTouch portable players. A good aesthetic match for your CX60. 3dBA) but also to its optical digital output. Whether the DAC is in the same box or outside is irrelevant,. Like the two Nodes before it at their time of arrival in 2014 and 2018 respectively, the newest Node – introduced in the summer of 2021 – enters the. " The new Moon Evolution 650D ($7999) is physically and functionally identical to the 750D. Nevertheless, here we are in 2018 with the Cambridge Audio CXC, seemingly a unicorn in the audio world of under $500 components. made low-end turntables for the Japanese audio giants. 681 Network Player / DAC. I can certainly tell you after this long, convoluted description by concluding that you can still get very good sound from the playback of music from a CD Player that has a Coax connection. 1 inches. Most Blu-Ray players only have digital outputs (usually just HDMI). @nn_inCH Precision D1. Instead they pass on the digital audio signal straight on to a DAC or an amplifier with a DAC via digital outputs like coaxial or optical outputs. No SACD, DVD-A, Blu-Ray or other disc formats are supported and, of course, it outputs a digital stream only, no analog. Established Member. Yamaha CD-S303. CDs tend to sound better on a dedicated CD player rather than a transport /DAC combination . Aug 22, 2021. 04. E. or music (from one's own private CD collection) loaded on a network player? Using a DAC. While a lot of audiophiles still enjoy large CD collections, most of those folks use CD, DVD, Blu-ray players or computers to play CDs. Stereo RCA analogue outputs are also included and the CD has a built in Burr-Brown. The BCD-3 turns out to be a fantastic CD transport. TEAC 5-CD Carousel Changer. These culminate in the duo we have here, the £2150 CD Box RS2 T CD transport and £1750 Pre Box RS2 Digital DAC/headphone amp/preamp, available in either black or silver. Not that CEC don’t make their own DACs; indeed there will be a partnering DAC, the DA5, for this transport coming out soon at £3999. Mine never worked well but I left it too long to return it. I like it because the disc is not moved -- I place it on the spindle by hand and the door closes over it. Above the bookcase hung the mounted head of a wild poi dog, killed in self-defense in Sri Lanka with only a Phillips-head screwdriver. Magico S5 speaker, MSB Select DAC & Digital Director, MSB Select Transport, Nakamichi 700 XLE cassette deck, Taiko Audio Extreme Server & Extreme Switch, Zayin Audio Stargate Switch, Tripoint Troy Signature NG. Dedicated CD Transport. The seller of top 1 product has received honest feedback from 1,115 consumers with an average rating of 4. The weak link in any CD player is the disc drive and the drawer that usually comes with it, Rega have got around the potential issues of the latter by having a top loading drive with a manually operated lid. 00 ) More Info. This is not a money-saving ploy. So you have an old-ish CD player and a Schiit Modi. As you can imagine, the lower the number the better! 2. In my opinion if your speakers + amp + DAC are under $30k there is no need to improve transport. Copy Comment URL. 1) A method of reading the digital data form the surface of the disk (transport) 2) A method of converting the digital data to an analogue signal (DAC) 3) A method of amplifying the analogue data (AMP) About this item. Remote Controlled 6 Disc Carousel CD Player. 3-inch Gold) at Amazon for $599. Accessories supplied Remote handset. Teac CD Player CD-P650-B. wav -> compared to ref. Digital: Rockna Wavedream Net streamer, Lampizator Pacific 2 dac Analog: Technics SP10 MK2, Trans Fi Audio Terminator Pro tonearm, BMC MCCI phono stage, DaVa field coil cartridge Preamp: Passive Goldpoint SA2XM-I (Timbre Audio silver cable rewired) Amp: Benchmark AHB2 monoblocks Speakers: Tempo Electric EP1(modified. Delete. I purchased my first DAC in 2010. . Very expensive though. I looked up the Teac CD P650 specs and reviews and think you have found a winner for $180. By comparison, the SCD-C555ES is a changer that plays SACDs in addition to CDs. All had distinctive sonic personalities. I’ve been looking for a compact CD transport to hook up. This function was used to route the internal transport back into the player while keeping the dac synced to pevent. With Red Book discs the slot-drive transport gets a slight nod for its more intimate and lush perspective; however, with 24-bit/96kHz material the asynchronous USB wins hands. George Graves. Those can last over 10,000 hours. 1Pro-Ject RS2 CD BOX Transport. The Teac VRDS-701 CD Player and Teac VRDS-701T CD Transport. I noticed after that a few reviewers also preferred the CXC to the 103. The above discussion brings our attention to the review here of the new Jay’s Audio CDT-3 MK3 Transport ($4,998), a Red Book-only (16/44. ' My opinions expressed here do not represent those of the AVForums or its. 1 can be made these days at the price range when it was available. It is drop-in, backward compatible with CDM-12 Industrial, CD Pro 1 and CD Pro 2, 2M and 2LF. The unit is powered by a pair of 18650 batteries that are rechargeable via the supplied outboard unit for up to 7. Signal to noise ratio. CXC is a CD transport that’s designed to work with DACs and compatible amps – like our award-winning CXA81. The differences are inside. #14. Due to the design using a shoebox shape, the output transistor had given up the ghost. The CD t is the latest addition to Cyrus’s long line of highly accomplished products. CD players without built-in DACs are called “transports. I thought transports were what spun and read the disk. Lindsay 1 Like Stu299 August 21, 2021, 8:58am 5 I did briefly try it with its own DAC versus a 272 earlier this year. Digital and streaming has been getting better and better over the last couple of decades. CD transports need outboard D/A converters as they just have the CD read mechanism inside. Think of it as a CD transport. Some of the very finest High End transports utilized the top loading drive mechanism approach. Inputs Coaxial, 2x optical, AES/EBU, HDMI, USB Type B, RCA/balanced analogue, Bluetooth. The Philips Pro2 just for the mechanism is $500. CH Precision D1. That includes separating an integrated CD player into a transport and DAC. While the previous Shanling EC3 was designed to be a sort of multifunctional CD player for a wide range of users, ET3 is a much more focused machine, designed for one clear use – Top-Quality Digital Transport for High-End DACs. The. Most CD players have a built-in DAC (digital-to-analog converter), but not all built-in DACs are the same quality. 35) which sends the inversion command to the processor. S. These are summed by one half of a 5532 dual-op-amp chip acting as a differential amplifier, and then taken to a five-pole active filter. CEC TL1-N BELT DRIVE CD Transport. To answer specifically, burning as an Audio CD will convert the files to the red book standard that most CD players rely on. A rear mounted 12V trigger, RS-232 socket, a 3. Reina | Mar 18, 2011. Best Saving: Onkyo DXC390 6 Disc CD Changer,Black. Best audiophile player — Mark Levinson No. The only issue with picking up CD’s from the bin at Goodwill are the inevitable scratches you encounter on the discs. 5" deep, it's only about half the width of its predecessor. So the VRDS-7 as a modded transport, is now a "better" and cheaper than the more expensive to buy used VRDS-T1. I preferred the Cambridge CXC over the 103 running into a Simaudio DAC. It's in the mid price category yet very well-built. Bottom line: This upgrade path is real. Obvious the bandwidth of coax is higher but in practice modern Toslink can perform better (I can do 176 kHz over Toslink) However as a CD player is 2 channel, 16 bit, 44. On the higher-end Cambridge Audio, Audiolab, Cyrus and many others are only making CD transports. CD transport vs CD player, both have their merits and weaknesses. CDT-8 Pro . Transport and DAC Where am I going to get the best Digital playback? Going with a high end CD player or a transport and DAC? Also, what's the difference between a transport and a cd player. It's not about SNR or bit levels, to me it sounds like is a temporal smearing of the high frequency end. NAD C 546BEE. Those can last over 10,000 hours. dirty and old surface) will be higher than influence of transport. While doing research on the best price, I came across a site that had done a review on modifications done to the 25. Enthusiast. The unit comes with a good looking and feeling metal case. There are two optical, two coaxial, and – probably of most interest – a USB-B computer connection that will accept files at up to 384kHz/32-bit and DSD256/11. Leak CDT. For this review, we use a Chord Hugo digital-to-analogue converter to do the number-crunching. An old skool cd player has literally no cpu and therefore less noise and better sound than pretty much any computer source. Streaming is the hot technology now so there are more streamer choices out there than. Report Comment. In fact, if the external DAC is really good, always bypass the CD player's DAC. Those can be used as a CD. CD transports differ as they don’t have any analogue or digital to analogue components in them or any filters. Best Convenient: Cambridge Audio AXC35 Single-Disc CD Player with High Performance Wolfson. Connections. Outputs Twin analogue, optical and coaxial. It’s ideal for those who already have a hi-fi separates system, and simply want to. High-end players will also offer. Have just about given up on my dreams of the Lector Digidrive TL cdp transport or the CDP-7T-MKIII tube cd player because of budget. 01/06/22 - New firmware available for Attessa CD Transport V3. While buying a good streamer and DAC will set you up for the rest of your life. CD players were generally hard to come by, but I had a friend who worked for Sony, and he came over with his new toy: Sony's next-to-top-of-the-line CD player. . Like the BDA-3, the BCD-3 uses as its DAC chip the AK4490 from Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM)—two per channel, in differential mode. The suspension, cover and turntable platter are made of 100% real carbon fibre. A&B Jukebox Repair also repairs CD-Pro2 and some other Philips mechanisms. Remember, we’re talking about a CD transport so it’s 16-bit/44. I'm currently using a Cambridge Audio 540c as a transport which sounds great, but have seen it mentioned by a few people of the benefits using DVD players for the function. It's best to consider these hook-ups as no more than a 'get started' measure. Stereophile 's March 2023 issue includes two follow-up reviews of high-performance digital playback products: the Benchmark DAC3 B D/A processor; and the. For testing, I connected the unbalanced outputs using ERC-3 using Monster Cable ULT I600-8 THX Ultra Cables. Edit: formatting. The actual discs (and there weren’t many of them out at the time but they were very sought after) cost a hefty $25-plus per album, which is over $60. Instead, its rear-panel S/DPIF digital outputs – coaxial or AES/EBU – can be used to connect a third-party DAC to handle D/A conversion. The arrival of these new components shows just how diversified the Box Design range has become. Teac PD-301DAB-X. Report Comment. Also known as S/N ratio. It was early 1984, and Compact Discs were simply the shit. Yamaha CD-S303. Good CD player vs. Old ideas die. And now there's a new kick ass CDT mechanism called TigerServo (made by former philip engineers) that's being utilised by Pro-Ject, Aqua, and Gryphon which is the new king of the hill. 2 Channel Ultra HD AV Receiver (2020 Model) – Wi-Fi. the advantage of a cd player, especially if it is tube-based is the possibility of finding applications for non-6 volt tubes. It uses the Philips CDM4/19 laser assembly and data are FIFO buffered and reclocked via an internal FEMTO clock. No need for a Mark Levinson CD transport, just find a $100 cheapie with SPDIF output and only your pocketbook will know the difference. Therefore, the original CD Player becomes, and functions as a CD Transport. A Sony PS1 will compete with a £300 CD player, so I doubt the 7030 will let you down. 1 Khz. Onkyo 6-Disc CD Player. In theory, it shouldn't matter. laptop to DAC. I'm just into the first part of the video. The Cambridge CXC is a real sign of the times in the world of hi-fi. jameswei. In that mode, it delivers perfect pace, pinpoint attacks, high detail resolution, and, well, just about everything else you could wish for. You are simply using the Denon in that situation as a transport. This is a serious high-end device, and built accordingly. Cheers George. It may have been the best CD transport (no SACD though like SCD-1) I ever had. .