Digital Drive Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Digital Drive ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Yes and No (Looooong)

Posted by valvesonly (A) on March 16, 2007 at 14:26:56

In Reply to: Is there an end in sight for expensive CD players? posted by Stingray1972 on March 16, 2007 at 04:27:15:

I ran a similar test recently
I have a squeezebox 3 setup using ethernet instead of wireless to improve speed and I tested this by itself, through a Theta Cobalt DAC, (not too fancy but nice sound), added in a first generation audio alchemy transport,(the one with controller and transport separate), no Jitter device and in view of the posts below on the Toshiba 3990 I used a Sony DVD player DVP-NS725P.

Speakers are ARD Concorde and pre/power amplifiers are Steinhart (really nice tubes). Casual audience not audiophiles but exposed to good mid fi systems.

First off the Squeeze box is so convenient and sounds good. I play straight internet radio as background music and ITunes playlists via slimserver but can choose any CD I have ripped or create playlist on the fly.

The music.

The short is a very old Audio Alchemy transport through the Theta DAC was a clear winner. A new Theta Compli/ Gen VIII must thus be dramatically better but look at the opposition. Squeezebox $300 or Toshiba 3990 $50 to Theta $10,000. However winning system used at current Audiogon prices of $250 was definitely worth the improvement.

The long.

Good as the Squeezebox is with a burr brown chip the sound noticeably became smoother and richer through the Theta DAC. Maybe my ears like the Theta sound or are just too used to analog. Quality was acceptable with the benefit of Squeezebox functionality which once tried is addictive. Sound was described as airy and detailed but light on bass (thru Theta)

Bad news the Sony DVD by itself seemed to casual listeners to improve on the squeezebox. I felt personaly Sony was slightly coloured and without an jitter reduction device the Squeezebox was at a disadvantage. The casual audience felt better instrument isolation and bass (yes they wanted bass) had been found. Interesting however the Sony plugged thru the Theta Cobalt was voted an improvement although the bass reduced as did the colour but a more airy sound was described. More room around the instruments and less colouration was maybe the result of the DAC.

A note on the Toshiba 3990 vs the Sony. I have not compared these in detail but while the Toshiba sound is good the X2 price Sony had PRAT, The Toshiba is closer in sound to the winning combination but the Sony strength was Bass and PRAT. The Theta removed ear fatigue noted when Sony played by itself. I will decide which to keep as a backup CD player this weekend.

When the Audio Alchemy was pluged in via the Theta DAC even the casual audience who had voted for the PRAT and bass of the Sony DVD swung to this system. Even at old technology, the quality of delivery, and materially improved soundstage, altho less bass, won everybody over with sweetness of sound. The system sounds warm without colouration and without the often perceived ear fatigue of cheaper digital sound.

Clear winner was the old style stand alone hifi transport but the cheapness of new technology CD/DVD players is such they had to put in place as a backup or in playroom systems. Absolutely wiped a older Sony 5 CD carousal. Squeezebox held its own for functionality not sound. With a Audio Alchemy DTI in place it might shine but we did not have one available at the time. A full hi-end Transport DAC would probably be another leveltotally but this is all measured at the price level of the equipment tested. I do not think the soundstage ever came close to say a $1500 vinyl frontend for instrument placement but the sound was sweet and pleasant on the cheap Toshiba 3990.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---