The Yamahagawd asked me if I had the capability to run a little transport A/B to see if there was a difference, I do have the capability and made a couple copies of disks and sat down in front of the chickmagnets.

I have the Yamaha CDX 2020 and a Marantz CD-67SE, There is no comparison in weight, The Yammi weighs atleast 50lbs, to the marantz at around 15lbs, Im not kidding when I say atleast 50, its a heavy sumbitch.

I made a copy of some steely dan, I am very familiar with the subtle nuances of their music, plugged them in to the cd players, fired up ;the Zhaulou, and sat down for a bit.

Hands down the Yammi is the winner, not only because its purty, but there actually is a difference, I was skeptical going in, as I have heard dingus's transports and the differences were so small that it was hard to even hear any difference.

in this case the differences were clarity, separation between all the insruments, the marantz did well, but the music seemed a bit cluttered not as clear. with the yammi it just sounded more balanced, maybe a bit smoother and with depth. there was definetely clearer mids.

The differences were not stark by any means but they are there. and yes I am biased, but I got ears too.

elroy

you'll have to bring the CDX 2020 over and see how the Wadia compares.

Scott, what's your other transport besides the Wadia?

And Elroy, how about pics of that 50lb Yammie?

go here

http://www.sound-thinking.org/index.php?showtopic=998&st=60

there are some picts on photobucket

i dont have another one at the moment ...

used to have Luxman and Denon cdp's that went elsewhere and a Kenwood dvd player that sounded really good but it quit reading disks.

Elroy's ABX test results corroborate the testing Dingus & I did a couple of years ago comparing his Denon DCD-1500 and my Yamaha CDX-10000 as transports through an external DAC (EAD DSP-1000). Does anyone still doubt that transport quality affects sound quality?

The CDX-2020 may feel like it weighs 50lbs but IIRC the weight is about 35lbs.

I think 45lbs then,

Are you trying to say that if I went with a DAC my Shanling would sound better?

I never have no doubts about it.
IMO, when using an outboard dac the "only" things that makes a difference are:
- the cdp mechanism, the cdp power supply and of course the chassis and weight - the mass - of the unit. Those are in fact the most important factors in a cdp when using an outboard dac in comparison with another digital source. Don't you think?

Even on a computer setup system the quality of the transport is most relevant. The past week i'd bought the LG - GGC-H20L, HD DVD & BlueRay reader and the differences i'd notice to the Plextor PX-800A - which btw is a great transport - are not subtle. It's funny because i'd noticed the same Elroy's notice between the Marantz and the Yamaha.

i very much believe you about the CDX-2020's S.Q. my PD-3000 is similar; onion-like layers of sonic detail, in clear, sharp relief, that ends up all smashed together with other sonic components on every other CDP i listen to. even CDPs that i thought sounded DAMN GOOD, sounded DAMN BAD in comparison to the PD-3000. i can imagine that the CDX-2020 is at least as impressive. truly, vintage TOTL reference CDPs seem to be in a class all their own, perhaps equaled only by modern TOTL examples...

I still think it would be hard pressed to improve the sound of the Shanling.

I think it would depend on the DAC also, I have a fairly inexpensive Chinese DAC, that is supposed to be very good, a lot of people snub their noses at chinese made electronics, but I am very impressed with the build, and sound quality. for twice as much money you can get a non chinese brand DAC, and get great sound also.

I now have the opinion that bypassing all the electronics on the cd player and going straight thru the dac might have cleaner 1's and 0's.

on a side note/contradiction maybe, I would love to find out if the sound difference isnt the DAC, but having a transport of such size and weight, and the stability of that heavy yamaha is what made the difference in sound between the yammi, and the marantz. the marantz isnt as heavy and stable imo.

elroy

I wish I had more time to mess with my various DACs, cables, jitter reducers, and transports, but then again I should be pleased I'm so busy with other things.

I will say I noticed something of an aside with the older transports.

The sheer weight, construction and attention to detail is something to crow about.

While newer players may have a leg up on DAC and analogue stages, you need to drop some coin to get it comparable to some stuff made even a facade and a half ago- due to some of the quality invested in the older gear.

Just ask any Pioneer Elite transport/CDP owner, with gobs of copper lining the units, or thick hockey puck platters spinning inside to stabilize the disc, or vacuume locking transport front-ends.

Another place these shine is in regards to how quiet many of these operate. Even some $650 CDPs I've heard, well, I've HEARD, as in, heard the disc, if less than flat and ideal, spinning inside the unit, thus producing noise.

There's adequate damping in the older transport it seems- a quiet operation that I don't hear- which I like.


Lastly, not one to overly concern myself with wiring in my system nor claiming ability to typically hear major changes in voicing via cables (NOTE- I do run quality cabling, as I believe it makes a difference at least in RFI rejection and durability), a recent re-configuration of my system has led me to wonder if indeed this recent swap of my digital coaxial out cables and my digital out cables has had a more profound effect on my system's presentation.


???

do you have the equipment to try a little test between your shandling and a DAC?

elroy

I don't have a DAC. I have analog outputs and digital on it. I run the analog.