Do I need a CD player or a Transport?

[Mouse]

Do I need a CD player or a Transport?
I'm using my Oppo 205 as a CD player. Wil either a Mc CD player or a transport increase sound quality?
The pre is my MX122, and would be the MX160 replacement when it comes available.

[djwhog]

Out of the box the dacs, transport and overall the entire 205 are more than good for most. If you fall into the camp that is more leaning towards streamed files rather than disc spinning. I would stay with the 205 for most everything and when time and $$$$$ permits get a data server like Aurender etc..

My 2 cents..

Myself I have the 205 does great on CDs and really great on blu-ray and dvd audio disc. Even played it as a data streamer, but I own a K03 and that is my primary CD/SACD/DAC streamer device... Of course I use J-River on a dedicated laptop to feed the K03 with Flac files etc..

hope this helps

[Mouse]

I wanted a matching MC steamer until my MC dealer talked me out of it.
I then had my heart set on an Aurender N10, until I demoed it. I still want it, I'm having a hard time justifying the $. It's buggy and didn't work with Iphone, needed an Ipad (which I have). During peak internet times the Aurender was VERY BUGGY. I still want it, I'm hoping the app gets better and/or an N10 replacement comes out.

I A/B tested the N10 against the bluesound streamer. The A/B test wasn't perfect since I didn't have 2 of the same premium cables. My MX122 DAC is probably the bottleneck of sound quality. I could not consistently choose the N10 when blind tested except certain tracks.

[PMCH]

Mouse, I have a N10 which has never been buggy. It just works. Perhaps buggy has to do with the internet connection. I only use an IPad to control it. I have a hard enough time seeing the screen on the IPad. On my IPhone, I would be totally frustrated.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Do I need a CD player or a Transport?
I'm using my Oppo 205 as a CD player. Wil either a Mc CD player or a transport increase sound quality?
The pre is my MX122, and would be the MX160 replacement when it comes available.

Oppo punches above and beyond it’s price to performance ratio. Sure you can buy a transport or a DAC or a CD player but any of those variables will cost multiples to gain any significant increase in sound quality. DAC or a CD player will yield more of a difference as compared to a transport to answer your question.

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by Mouse

Do I need a CD player or a Transport?

I'm using my Oppo 205 as a CD player. Wil either a Mc CD player or a transport increase sound quality?

The pre is my MX122, and would be the MX160 replacement when it comes available.

You can use the Oppo as a transport if you want to and try feeding the digital signal from the Oppo to another DAC. Then you can decide which DAC you like better.

[soundslikemusic]

Aurender N10 is worth considering.. its pricey $ but well worth the cost..

[robinmtns]

I find that the current crop of servers (to my ears) outperform CD spinners. I considered Aurender but then started hearing good reports on the Melco unit. I ended up purchasing a Melco N1A as the buzz seemed to indicate it was pretty much the equal of the higher priced stuff, but at a more manageable price.

I could never demo the Melco head to head with the other contenders, but I can say it is noticeably better than my previous home brew CAPS server (from a recipe on Computer Audio's website). That and the CAPS ran with a Windows system--which I grew to really hate.

I agree with a previous poster that said servers can be buggy. Although I'm happy to say this situation has improved as the technology has matured. I am now having almost flawless performance controlling my Melco via Linn Kazoo loaded on my iPad. And when it does very occassionaly flake out on me I at least know what happened and how to get things working again.

I will say, once you go the route of having your entire music collection at your fingertips while you lay back on your couch, you wont know how you ever lived without it!

Looks like my N1A is now obsoleted my the "N1 Mk2" you can check it out here: https://www.melco-audio.com/products/n1-mk2/