From reading the posts here that “if” is the huge fly in the ointment since apparently there’s no off the shelf solution that does it right and the many real world variables degrading the signal seem to only have theoretical cures beyond reasonable setup requirements. You should try some quality transports they actually exist
, before proclaiming certainty of their inferiority. Of course comparative listening parameters need be identified first otherwise we all might be listening to and arguing about different things.
david
Unfortunately there are always "if"s in high end audio because "conditions" are the key to achieve the best possible sound. I do not believe that you think that all transports (good ones as per your words, which I have tried many over the last 20 years) sound the "same" especially if they are not set up properly (proper rack, proper cables, proper ac filtering, proper grounding etc.). And yet, from your words I get the idea that you excuse them and accept them as the only "correct" digital source (maybe I misunderstood).
If you meet the proper conditions and if they use the same reading mechanism (very unlikely in our days) they should sound very similar (otherwise one would be correct and the other not). I have done this test with the Forsell transport and the Theta Digital Data Basic II. They used the same Philips CDM9Pro (to my ears the most "musical" mechanism ever made, some years ago, more than I care to remember) and after proper tweeking of the cheaper transport (a lot, mechanical and electronic) and a lot of effort in the set up (at the time I tried most of the anti-vibration tricks available) they sounded pretty darn close in character (tone, resolution, stereo image) for such different machines (especially in price).
From my experience as a reviewer (and I mention that only to show you that I have had the chance to test many of them through the years), all transports sound different (in some degree or another) and then you end up with the same "problem" that you get in computer audio, which is which one is the "best" or for that matter the right one? I guess the only "right" one is the one that
you like most in
your system, and that is with the equipment that you have in the room that you have (change the amp or the speakers, or the room and you will probably like something else)... The same applies to a computer based source. But in computer audio the more you "take care of things" the better the SQ, and the advantage of this fact is that you can do a lot of things about it, as long as you have the knack for it (some do, some don't). And more times than someone would think is possible, computer audio sounds way better than any CD or SACD based audio, and most of the time it is cheaper too (there are always exceptions). And to my knowledge, there are of the self solutions (look at all the servers out there) that actually do a great job, and lots of "accessories" that can improve them even more (like the anti-jitter devices that used to flood the market some time ago, and which by the way I used 17(!) of them since they did improve the sound of my CD based source at the time). Its a trial and error procedure, like everything else in audio. And that is a big part of the fun about it (or the fact that we get bored easily, but we are only human
), correct?
thanasis