Transporter to... next?

[sturgl]

Hi all,

 

I've been running a Transporter as my front-end for a few years, and have pretty happily managed to avoid my usual upgrade-itis. Now I'm considering next steps. I could have the Transporter modified (probably ModWright), or I could leapfrog into something else. Problem is, I don't know what "something else" might be, as I've been blissfully ignorant of the digital landscape for the last couple years at least. I am vaguely aware for the Bryston BDP/BDA combo, and the Linn Klimax/Akurate/Majik line - but digital moves fast and I don't honestly know what else is out there.

 

My... proclivities & biases:

 

* I'm not excited about having a true server in my listening room. My server is currently in a separate part of the house, and that's how I like it. The server is on a gigabit backbone (for distributed video, audio, etc.), and I'm running ethernet to the listening room. No CAPS servers or asynchronous USB DACs for me.
* I DO really like having a client - a front-end - in the listening room. It suits my personal bias towards keeping the clients and the server separate, doing separate jobs. I'm happy with the Transporter's performance over my network in terms of UI performance, and controlling it with my phone and/or tablet is fun.
* I DO like having a front-end with excellent analog outs. Not having to throw a DAC in the mix strikes me as a win. However, I'm certainly open to it, if DACs today are vastly superior to the Transporter's.
* While I do own quite a few 24/96 albums, I can't say I'm sold on the benefits of 24/192 - so if that's the only reason to upgrade, I'd probably pass.

 

So. Any suggestions for the next (giant) step up from the Transporter? Has digital come so far that I should leapfrog the ModWright approach and shop for something shiny and new? A whole new front-end? Or "just" a DAC?

 

Oh, and let's put the budget at, say, $3,000.

 

Thanks all!

[rhmmmm]

Honestly, I share your feelings 100%. Unfortunately, for $3,000, there aren't many quality solutions out there that I have found that would beat the Transporter, EXCEPT the PS Audio PWDII with Bridge. It seems to check all the boxes - great DAC/analog outputs, control from iPad, 24/192 support, and so forth. And you can get a used one for 3K.

 

Personally, I was sold on buying one until I realized I could rip my SACD collection, so now I'm hunting for a good DAC that can do DSD decoding. There isn't one (in my price range, similar to yours) that can do DSD and is network capable.

 

So, for now I'm keeping my Modded Sonos/Electrocompaniet combo and adding a Teac UD501 DSD DAC and I'll probably use my laptop or build a silent PC and run JRIVER and use JREMOTE on my iPad to control it.

 

Paul over at PS Audio has been talking about adding DSD functionality to the PWDII, but who knows when that will come and what it will look like...

[Paul R]

Well, coming from a Transporter, the easiest step is to keep the backend the same and use a higher quality player. You are quite right that digital moves *quickly*, so there are a lot of choices. Some of the very best are over at Simple Design -

 

The Sonore Rendu Network Player

 

The Sonore Music Sever does it all, and I believe they will build custom players on this platform.

 

Small Green Computer makes some really good Vortexbox (LMS) based products too - like the SOtM sMS-1000 Audiophile Music Player.

 

And of course, the Computer Audiophile C.A.P.S. servers, which are not LMS based, but can fileshare the media from your existing server.

 

This is but a small sampling of what is available of course. I wish I were shopping for a new digital music source, it is much simpler - and less expensive! - than shopping for a new amp, preamp, or other stuff along those lines.

 

I don't think any of these solutions hit the $3K mark, though the SOtM stuff is around $2600.

 

-Paul

[Adyc]

Save the money and enjoy the music. Transporter is excellent and you got the best music server software. If your funds are allowed, I would go for Touch + Meitner MA-1 with EDO plugin. The footprint of this combination is similar to Transporter and it also can play 24/192 files.

[sturgl]

Hi all,

 

I've been running a Transporter as my front-end for a few years, and have pretty happily managed to avoid my usual upgrade-itis. Now I'm considering next steps. I could have the Transporter modified (probably ModWright), or I could leapfrog into something else. Problem is, I don't know what "something else" might be, as I've been blissfully ignorant of the digital landscape for the last couple years at least. I am vaguely aware for the Bryston BDP/BDA combo, and the Linn Klimax/Akurate/Majik line - but digital moves fast and I don't honestly know what else is out there.

 

My... proclivities & biases:

 

I'm not excited about having a true server in my listening room. My server is currently in a separate part of the house, and that's how I like it. The server is on a gigabit backbone (for distributed video, audio, etc.), and I'm running ethernet to the listening room. No CAPS servers or asynchronous USB DACs for me.

I DO really like having a client - a front-end - in the listening room. It suits my personal bias towards keeping the clients and the server separate, doing separate jobs. I'm happy with the Transporter's performance over my network in terms of UI performance, and controlling it with my phone and/or tablet is fun.

I DO like having a front-end with excellent analog outs. Not having to throw a DAC in the mix strikes me as a win. However, I'm certainly open to it, if DACs today are vastly superior to the Transporter's.

While I do own quite a few 24/96 albums, I can't say I'm sold on the benefits of 24/192 - so if that's the only reason to upgrade, I'd probably pass.

 

So. Any suggestions for the next (giant) step up from the Transporter? Has digital come so far that I should leapfrog the ModWright approach and shop for something shiny and new? A whole new front-end? Or "just" a DAC? I'd like to be somewhat informed before I go talking to the salespeople.

 

Oh, and let's put the budget at, say, $3,000.

 

Thanks all!

[Paul R]

That's odd - is this a new thread or did all the comments just disappear?

-Paul

[sturgl]

No, it's a re-post. I originally posted in Music Servers, and realized that might not be the best forum for it. Sorry for the confusion!

[AudioDoctor]

IMO the best networkable option would be the PSAudio Perfectwave DAC MK2 with the Bridge. Chris did a review of it here and really liked the MK2 version.

[Audio_ELF]

I would look at Linn and Naim devices - both have good control applications for iOS devices.

 

I've not heard (or seen) it yet, but the new Chord streamer is another option to look at. And (grudgingly) I would have to say PS Audio's PWD with Bridge is worth a look too.

[Paul R]

Yes, and you have posted again in yet another forum, putting this same thread out at least three times. Please don't do that. People will normally see any new post in any forum that interests them, and multiple posts, like this one, are very confusing.

 

Yours,

-Paul

 

 

No, it's a re-post. I originally posted in Music Servers, and realized that might not be the best forum for it. Sorry for the confusion!

[sturgl]

And (grudgingly) I would have to say PS Audio's PWD with Bridge is worth a look too.

 

Why grudgingly? Just curious...

[sturgl]

Sorry for the confusion with my cross-posts, people. I've asked Chris to merge my posts into this forum.

[Audio_ELF]

Why grudgingly? Just curious...

Sorry. I meant the rest of my suggestions were British :-)

 

I would say from my reading the network sections of Linn and Naim are superior to the PS Audio. Sound quality you need to demo and judge for yourself.

 

Eloise

[sturgl]

I'd wondered. ;-)

I read Chris' review of the PS Audio. He sure seemed impressed with the Mk. II. Unfortunately, in spite of being blessed with a number of great shops in my area, there are no PS Audio dealers around here. Same for Chord. I could go listen to the players from Linn, Naim, NAD, and Bryston (at, conveniently, 4 different shops) tonight if I were so inclined. Along with PS Audio (they'll allow an in-home audition), it sounds like Linn and Naim should comprise my shortlist so far. Or perhaps a stellar outboard DAC.

 

I gather the collective mind here is that the Transporter has been significantly surpassed - even the ModWright Transporter. Is that assessment correct? Time to do some listening, I think!

[Audio_ELF]

I'd wondered. ;-)

I read Chris' review of the PS Audio. He sure seemed impressed with the Mk. II. Unfortunately, in spite of being blessed with a number of great shops in my area, there are no PS Audio dealers around here.

My impression reading is that the PS Audio PWD is impressive, but the Bridge less so - at least in terms of controlling it.

 

I gather the collective mind here is that the Transporter has been significantly surpassed - even the ModWright Transporter. Is that assessment correct? Time to do some listening, I think!

I am not entirely sure that is the correct assessment - I think some people actually think the Transporter will hold its own...

 

Eloise

[firedog]

The standard Transporter, yes. Even DACs in the moderate price range surpass it.

 

Don't know about the sound of the Modwright version.

 

But the Transporter is limited to 96K, and the future of the SBS software platform isn't clear. Since Logitech has killed the original SB line, it remains to be seen for how many years they will continue to support the SBS software in addition to their new platform (cloud based).

[sturgl]

The standard Transporter, yes. Even DACs in the moderate price range surpass it.

 

Don't know about the sound of the Modwright version.

 

But the Transporter is limited to 96K, and the future of the SBS software platform isn't clear. Since Logitech has killed the original SB line, it remains to be seen for how many years they will continue to support the SBS software in addition to their new platform (cloud based).

Thanks Firedog. I'm not too concerned about the 96k sample-rate limitation on the Transporter. The jury's very much out as to whether there's audible benefit to 192. So long as I can play 24-bit files, I'm a happy camper on that front, I think. The latter part of your comment does concern me though. While there's a pretty substantial developer community around SBS, I sure don't expect Logitech to continue supporting it for much longer. Does that really matter? It almost certainly will one day, when I upgrade OSes on my media server. OTH, I've yet to observe what I'd regard as a well-sorted UPnP implementation. UPnP/DLNA have the advantages of being known standards (and that's a very big deal IMO) - but implementation is complicated. You've a server, a renderer, a controlpoint, and a UI. It seems that most have concentrated on the renderer - the physical audio component in the mix. Makes sense. They variously seem to fall down at the server, controlpoint and/or UI though. PSA isn't there yet on the server or UI fronts (though following an email exchange with Paul McGowan, I will say it appears they are working very hard on both these fronts), Linn appears to be close but no cigar yet, and I can't say I've explored others in much depth. Point is, SBS is a mature technology - even if it's no longer supported. So long as you've sweated the details around tagging, it pretty much "just works". Implementation of UPnP, though, seems (to me) to be very much a work in progress. I'd argue it is the future of networked audio, however, while servers that do not adhere to industry standards (such as SBS) will be the past in a few years time.

 

I've been on the bleeding edge for a long time. I built my first media server exactly eight years ago. Back then it was a mess: overscan on the TV, terrible audio quality until ASIO and a pro-audio soundcard, too much noise from the HTPC. Then it was a Roku Soundbridge to DAC, in a separate room from the server. ...and the HTPC was properly cooled, silenced, and housed in a credenza of my own design. Audio came off the HTPC via s/pdif to a Niro virtual surround system. The entire library was organized, viewable and searchable on a 50" plasma via remote control and the 10-foot UI that is Media Center. Much better - especially the Roku to my Totems. ...until of course I (gasp) upgraded the router firmware and blew up the Roku. God forbid. A rollback, accompanied by much wailing and gnashing of teeth solved that problem. Then there's of course the various Microsoft patches that blew up their own product (Windows Media Center). Wailing, gnashing of teeth, and constant upgrades. HTPCs and computer audio had become a hobby in its own right. Then came the Transporter. It was a... breathtaking upgrade. I'd finally gone from a system that was equivalent in sound quality to my CD players to something that was substantially better. That meant new speakers - my Totem Acoustic monitors couldn't do it justice. A dedicated, treated listening room. Room correction to tame that last mode. Hand-built speaker cables. Very (very) specific speaker & equipment placement. ...and here I've sat for years now - blissfully ignorant of whatever "the next great thing" might be, able to simply sit back and enjoy the music. Until now. Here's the difference today: I don't want to be on the bleeding edge. I don't want to be constantly fixing/fiddling with things (I'm a fiddler by nature (a "sharpener" if that Stereophile column from a few years ago appealed to you): I regard being able to sit back, relax and simply enjoy something a giant step forward in my personal evolution). The point? I just want to listen to music today. To that end, I should regard the maturity of SBS as an asset, and the bleeding edge status of UPnP implementations in audiophiledom a detriment. Right?

 

So perhaps a DAC upgrade is the way to go for me, while I wait for the new generation to network streaming technology to mature. I'm even kicking around the NAD M2 (which I had not considered at all - and back to the bleeding edge!), keeping the Transporter, selling my little Creek integrated, and calling it done. For now.

[sturgl]

Well. After much thinking/reading/talking/listening, I've come to the realization that many of the "problems" I'm now trying to solve are more closely related to my amplifier than they are my source. So after all that, while I've learned aplenty about the current state of digital audio, I'm now looking at upgrading my amp first. That's just a little ironic since I bought my Paradigms after finding them to have better synergy with my little Creek than the other speakers I liked. (I know, I know - speakers first, then amp - but at the time I wanted to upgrade my speakers only). Thanks all for your input and advice.

 

Down the rabbit hole I go!