Does anybody have experience with universal transports?
I'm ideally looking for something that is very strudy/reliable and hopefully quiet to begin with (minimal rotational noise).
Format support mix should include:
- cd/cd-r/cdrw/hdcd
- mp3
- dvd-a
- dvd/DAD (96kHz/24-bit out)
- sacd (multichannel)
I've already ruled out Denon DVD-2900 as several people have commented elsewhere that their unit has disturbing rotational noise on some non-eccentric CDs and all SACDs/DVD-As.
Pioneer seems to have quiet transport mechanisms in their Elite line, according to some, but they lack HDCD support. Of course, this is more of a DAC issue (AFAIK), but I'd prefer to start with a unit that supports the aforementioned formats out of the box.
The stock audio performance doesn't have to be good.
In fact, the worse it is to begin with, the more I learn by upgrading each section myself 🙂
However, the mechanical transport is something I probably cannot really improve upon in any way (sans perhaps how it is attached to the casing). So it should be of the highest possible quality for the price.
Price is of issue though and I'd hope to spend less than $1000 USD and get as much transport mechanism quality as possible.
Any suggestions?
regards,
halcyon
PS Video performance isn't that important either.
I'm ideally looking for something that is very strudy/reliable and hopefully quiet to begin with (minimal rotational noise).
Format support mix should include:
- cd/cd-r/cdrw/hdcd
- mp3
- dvd-a
- dvd/DAD (96kHz/24-bit out)
- sacd (multichannel)
I've already ruled out Denon DVD-2900 as several people have commented elsewhere that their unit has disturbing rotational noise on some non-eccentric CDs and all SACDs/DVD-As.
Pioneer seems to have quiet transport mechanisms in their Elite line, according to some, but they lack HDCD support. Of course, this is more of a DAC issue (AFAIK), but I'd prefer to start with a unit that supports the aforementioned formats out of the box.
The stock audio performance doesn't have to be good.
In fact, the worse it is to begin with, the more I learn by upgrading each section myself 🙂
However, the mechanical transport is something I probably cannot really improve upon in any way (sans perhaps how it is attached to the casing). So it should be of the highest possible quality for the price.
Price is of issue though and I'd hope to spend less than $1000 USD and get as much transport mechanism quality as possible.
Any suggestions?
regards,
halcyon
PS Video performance isn't that important either.
Though a little more expensive than you indicated, the Denon 5900 is great. Supports everything you mention. Much better transport mechanism. Also nice that is has the firewire digital audio output. So in future days, when us DIYers are feeling particularly brave, and make a firewire input DAC, you will be ready to go with all the formats you mentioned. The only thing I know of as a negative with this players is that is supposedly does have AC coupling capacitors in the signal path.
Denon just came out with the DVD-3910 at$1300. It plays all the standard stuff too. But also supports Windows Media Audio v9 including the lossless codec. Even supports MP3s and WMAs on DVD media too. So you could put 12 to 15 albums on a standard DVD-5 blank with no loss. Almost double on dual layer DVD media. Sweet...
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