The All Purpose Advice Thread

Currently use Gungnir Multibit and Ragnarok and I'm looking for a CD player/transport to add to my system. I like the emotiva ERC-3 but I feel like it might be better to get a dedicated transport instead since it will be fed to Gungnir Multibit anyway. Any recommendations? I don't mind buying used if I can get something higher quality that way.

 

I recommend used, especially since you will be feeding to gungnir. I was in a very similar position as you not long ago. Here is my story:

All the current options are expensive and frankly more than I need. I was curious about used, since I have heard (and know believe) that some of the original CD transports of the 80s and 90s were very well designed / built. I sifted through local craigslist for a few weeks to get an idea of what good old gear was on the market locally, then looked up reviews of what was available, with any eye towards transports from the 80s and 90s with decent to excellent on-board dacs, and coax digital out. I looked specifically for those things for a couple of reasons. First, transports with good dacs typically had good everything else. This was before the watershed of D/S dacs, and multi-bit cost money; no point building around a sweet multi-bit converter if the rest of the reader is an unreliable piece of shit (generally). Second, I also use a gungnir, and I find coax in is better than USB and optical.

Anyway, once I saw a few good options pop up, and I asked for specific opinions from people here (and gone) and made a purchase. My current transport is a Denon DCD-3000. I think I paid $120 for it, which was pretty solid. I have been very pleased, especially for the price.

 

I too am sort of interested in transports. My chain goes Clementine (ALSA playback) > USB 4490 M2U > Vali 2/M-Audio BX5 D2. I don't have amazing headphones - DT990 Pro's for now. HD600's coming soon, though.

Would I benefit from also running a CD transport to the toslink or coax on the M2U? This is appealing to me because of the easy switching between listening to my harddisk collection and my CD collection. It would be cool to have a reason to listen to the actual CD's again. Bonus points if it sounds better... ...but cool as long as it doesn't sound worse.

Mostly what I am curious about is...
A: how a Cheepo Depot® transport's SPDIF output fares against my linux setup's USB;
B: How the M2U's SPDIF implementation compares to its USB in this instance.

Basically, is it worth the cost/trouble/real-estate just to feed my curiosity and sentimentality towards CD's? Or...

It's worth mentioning that my mobo seems to have "crapified" USB. I think the M2U sounds absolutely phenomenal with USB, but at least once a week, the audio will cut out with a jagged "pop" and switch over to my TV's HDMI. It will do the same thing if I touch the cable the wrong way. Any cable - any OS.

Don't really want to bother sifting through used listings or anything. What I would like to know is if there are any good options new for ~$150-$200.

Or should I just get a Wyrd and forget about CD transports for now?

 

Hey guys, how are we? So my current set up is Dacport Slim to the Fostex THX-00 and some other efficient earbuds, IEMs like Shozy Cygnus, Aurisonics Rockets. I'm thinking of getting a desk amp unit with pre-amp. There is a local deal for the Matrix M-Stage HPA2 DAC/AMP unit which I don't think I need the DAC part as I will be feeding the amp with my DACport. Should I sell the Dacport and buy the M-stage or keep it and get an amp like the Magni 2 Uber? Given the price for the M-stage and Magni 2 Uber is pretty much the same in this case, thank you in advance for reading my noob question.

 

Need help in choosing an amp/dac.

My current choices is:
Mojo
Element
Magni2u and Modi2u

I'll be using it for he400i and Flipears Aisha(Local ciem).

 

I would go with the Schiit combo unless you also need portable use.

 

So schiit stack is better than mojo in terms of sq?

 

No, Mojo will be better SQ I'd think - I find it an improvement over the GOV2 which Marv places above the Bifrost in the Dac Chart. Then Mojo is 3x the price of the Magni2/Modi2 stack.

 

Schiit would probably cost around 400$ if I import it so the price difference is not that huge. If the sq is really better I'll probably just get mojo since it's also portable that will justify the price for me

 

Where are you based? Is Mojo available there?

 

Philippines. Yes, it's available here for 600-650$.

 

I'd go that way in a heartbeat.

 

I need a portable amp for my modded T50RP's, as they simply dont get loud enough. I only have around 100$ max, id prefer more around 50$. Im not sure whats best, most recomendations around this range are for Fiio garbage, but is there anything better?

 

Last question first: you will probably benefit from a wyrd anyway, or consider putting your digital library into a dedicated r.pi, with an SPDIF hat. That is my next step at this point, largely because of the last paragraph below.

As for dedicated transport... its more about how you enjoy music. I have a large old CD collection, and all of it is digitized, but I find having a CD transport makes me dip into complete albums more. I enjoy the "album experience" and I usually acquire new music via CD (instead of downloading) and having the transport lets me experience the full album right away. This is important since I do always get around to ripping new purchases for a few days (or weeks). I also really like being able to swap from computer (USB) to CD (coax) without having to unplug anything, but that is more a creature comfort. Regardless, since getting the transport I find that I am listening more, which is nice.

As for usb v SPDIF, I can't speak for the M2U, but the general consensus is that Schiit dacs (and many others) while excellent with USB have even better SPDIF inputs. In large part, I think that is a consequence of inconsistent USB implementation on the computer side (especially with regards to power), and more rigorously standardized coax implementations.

 

JDS Labs Cmoy, beats most everything near its price. You really do have to spend quite a bit more to get power and great sound. Plus you get to roll opamps

 

1. I will let you know how a cheap transport compares to usb later today. I get my M2U 4490 back from loan to jexby.
2. I doubt the Spdif alone is better or worse than the usb. I feel the SPDIF source to be much more important than the mere fact that you feed a spdif input vs a usb input.

As for computer vs great cd transport. I gave that up more than a decade ago because the $1200 Opera Droplet with fancy ass clock running spdif out to a Lavry dac got beat by a lowly Macbook and toslink then usb at the time.

As for the Wyrd, I can find a lot better use of $100 than it. Like decent analog and USB cables for one.

EDIT: @robot zombie - Did the test today with Pioneer DV-333 dvd player optical out into m2u4490 as well as coax. It did not sound as good as USB from my laptop. In fact the 24 bit 96k dac in the dvd player via analog out sounded almost as good as the modi via spdif.

The USB on the laptop was superior.

For all the folks who are not happy with a Windows pc via USB with the modi, maybe it is the driver or the quality of usb ports. I have a pretty expensive laptop that may be using a bit better parts and of course it does nothing but audio, no surfing, etc. I think Macs are so much more trouble free with Schiit via usb.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

Ok, so the rechargable model should have enough power then?
Not too bad of a price, $70.

 

Hi Guys,

I have a question about headphone 'scaling'

I had a Benchmark DAC1 - HD650 chain which I found a bit too laid back and boring.

My chain has now improved to a Bifrost Multibit - Mjolnir 2 - ZMF Blackwood.(Balanced)

I sold the HD650 but now I'm wondering whether it will surpass the Blackwood if I run it balanced out of my improved chain?

Will the HD650's 'scale' past the Blackwood? I'm willing to try HD650 mods as well.

I like a warm but detailed sound signature with nice punchy bass.

Thanks!

 

That's looking like the more sensible route.

See, that's where I'm at with my CD's. I've always been an album guy. If I particularly like one song off an album, I will often listen to the whole album. I grew up listening to music like that, so there's a huge nostalgia factor to just popping in a CD and tuning-out.

That's been my thinking as well, but now I'm not so sure.

It does. Thank you. Not what I wanted to hear, but it looks like I will have to weigh my options a little more, here. Seems aufmerksam's experience differs. Maybe it's the player's SPDIF... ...hard to say from this, but it's something I'll keep in mind. If I buy anything, it'll just have to be returnable, I suppose.

I'm not at all dissatisfied with the sound of the USB on my Linux machine. The USB ports seem kinda finicky, but when they work, they work well and the compatibility with Linux Mint is flawless. They both completely get out of the way to my ears. I notice a definite decline when using Windows.

My USB problems are definitely due to the mobo/power supply, both of which are very old and were both old and dirt cheap when I bought them new. It's an old budget build. I keep telling myself I should do a new build. Maybe I'll focus on that instead...