Forums - CD transport with USB output?

Burgermeester

Seasoned Member

Posts: 207

CD transport with USB output?
03/14/22 at 13:53:32

I have a Border Patrol DAC with USB input (this DAC comes with basically one input option, you have to specify when you order). My understanding was that this was actually better since the USB data stream hands off to the DAC's clock.

I like it for streaming, but to my surprise it looks like no one makes a CD transport with USB output. There are some stale rumors of a Schiit Audio transport with USB, but when I asked them about it, I was met with the silence of the grave.

Does anyone on the forum know of a USB-output DAC?

Back to top

IP Logged

Burgermeester Seasoned Member Posts: 207	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #1 - 03/14/22 at 13:56:20 Sorry, I mean USB-output transport.
Back to top	IP Logged

CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 1669

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #2 - 03/14/22 at 14:24:46

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at transports lately and don’t recall seeing one, unfortunately. You may be able to kludge something with a computer, CD drive and the right software but IMO if you are serious about listening to CDs you should either rip them so you can play them through USB or get a DAC with transport friendly input.

Back to top

[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E
Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Senn HD-650

IP Logged

Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 23520	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #3 - 03/14/22 at 14:54:34 Would an outboard cd or dvd drive for a computer or laptop work?
Back to top	HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK2,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects, IsoPods; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1 IP Logged

CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 1669

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #4 - 03/14/22 at 15:04:14

Quote:

Posted by: Lon Posted on: Today at 14:54:34
Would an outboard cd or dvd drive for a computer or laptop work

Possibly, the trick is finding software that will play the CD but output to USB instead of e.g. the computer audio card. What would work for sure is making that a two step process: rip the CD to e.g. FLAC then play the file through USB.

Back to top

[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E
Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Senn HD-650

IP Logged

GroovySauce Seasoned Member Posts: 818	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #5 - 03/14/22 at 15:05:24 I don't know any CD transports with a USB out. I would contact Border Patrol and ask how much it would be to add the dual input: USB and SPDIF. Looks like it's a $500 option.
Back to top	Maximus NEO TT\|ViV Rigid Float TA \| Phasemation PP-200 or Hana ML \| Sutherland Little Loco MK2 \| Innuos ZENith MK3 \| LampizatOr GA TRP \| EMIA Remote Autoformer \| STL "Super Tube Rectifier" STR-1002 \| SRA Cables \| PAP Quintet 15 1.6 Voxativ \|Torus AVR15 IP Logged

JBzen Seasoned Member Posts: 1378	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #6 - 03/14/22 at 17:16:49 Try this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DLRG9VH/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_VFQ99BZEE9D7FK9JWSFV... John
Back to top	AMC CD8b>XO3>Cambridge CXN2>ZDAC>ZBOX>braided silver/occ> Zrock2>CSP2+>SE84 milflex copper 25th>9AWG silver/copper braid>lii Crystal 10 in Huijgen cabinets. Ortofon 2M Black>JVC QL-F4/Otari MX5050B2>ZP3. Isolation. AC filtering. Room treatment. IP Logged

CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 1669	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #7 - 03/14/22 at 17:48:21 The thing about external CD drives for computers is the USB output is a bitstream for a device driver on your computer. It is not the “music” bitstream like the output of your streamer or computer based music player. You can always buy a drive like the above and try it, but be prepared to send it back to Amazon.
Back to top	[FOOBAR2000 \| Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Senn HD-650 IP Logged

JBzen Seasoned Member Posts: 1378	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #8 - 03/14/22 at 17:52:52 Yea your right CAJames. I just tried it on my CXN2 and it did not recognize it. John
Back to top	AMC CD8b>XO3>Cambridge CXN2>ZDAC>ZBOX>braided silver/occ> Zrock2>CSP2+>SE84 milflex copper 25th>9AWG silver/copper braid>lii Crystal 10 in Huijgen cabinets. Ortofon 2M Black>JVC QL-F4/Otari MX5050B2>ZP3. Isolation. AC filtering. Room treatment. IP Logged

jec3504

Ex Member

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #9 - 03/14/22 at 20:01:04

I tested a External CD Drive into a Raspberry Pi 4 running Volumio. Works good ,but I had them laying around. A good external ssd filled with Flac files works well with that setup also. All goes into my dac via USB.

This takes a little bit of computer skills sorry I'm more of a computer-crossover audiophile. Can be done for under $200.

Back to top

IP Logged

JBzen

Seasoned Member

Posts: 1378

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #10 - 03/15/22 at 11:02:29

Hooking the external CD drive to the CXNv2 got me curious and after a read of the owners manual there is a driver for usb audio class 2 that can be downloaded. This driver will not give the CD drive direct connection to the streamer but will bypass the windows sound driver and clock providing the best possible sound out of a computer. This driver is for the CXN only? Maybe your DAC has a driver available? Then a external/internal CD drive can be used with the windows player. Apple already has the class 2 driver installed.

John

Back to top

AMC CD8b>XO3>Cambridge CXN2>ZDAC>ZBOX>braided silver/occ> Zrock2>CSP2+>SE84 milflex copper 25th>9AWG silver/copper braid>lii Crystal 10 in Huijgen cabinets. Ortofon 2M Black>JVC QL-F4/Otari MX5050B2>ZP3. Isolation. AC filtering. Room treatment.

IP Logged

Burgermeester

Seasoned Member

Posts: 207

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #11 - 03/15/22 at 11:54:31

Lots of good information here, many thanks all.

Maybe I'm crazy to even think about CDs other than ripping them. I've read a lot of threads but have yet to hear anyone say that CD playback is any different from ripped .wav or .flac files. I'm thinking about a NUC with all the files on M.2 storage, running Linux to get away from all of this Windows fuzz. Audio PC only.

Still, I fully expect Steve or someone else to weigh in any day now about how CDs on their mark levinson transport sound "more liquid, more present" through the 25th Anniversary amp, and that this effect can ONLY be heard through the Decware amp... at 3 in the morning... the audio gods, etc. I'm serious.

Back to top

IP Logged

GroovySauce

Seasoned Member

Posts: 818

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #12 - 03/15/22 at 12:41:36

Regarding CD player vs Server.

A year ago I bought a Jay’s Audio CDT It blew my Roon + HQPlayer + MicroRendu + Teddy Pardo power supply out of the water. I was expecting it to sound a little different. This was a massive difference: the CDT smoked the Server/Streamer setup.

I was loving playing CDs except one thing, A lot of the new music I was buying was only available via digital download.

I ended up settling on an Innuos ZENith MK3 and a Snake River Audio USB cable. The SRA USB is fantastic, I like it more than cables costing almost 3x as much.

The Innuos setup is so good I ended up selling the Jay’s Audio CDT. I still wonder if I should have held onto the Jay’s, though. There is something about spinning discs that I really enjoy and the sound is fantastic too.

Note about my setup: I was running a SPDIF coax cable into an iFi SPDIF reclocker into TosLINK (optical) into my DAC.

My guess is one of the major contributing factors on why the CDT sounds so good is less noise. I tried the CDT via coax into my DAC and it also sounded superb.

Back to top

IP Logged

JBzen Seasoned Member Posts: 1378	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #13 - 03/15/22 at 12:50:19 I second the coax route. I’ve read that keeping the cable at least one meter long gives best results. John
Back to top	AMC CD8b>XO3>Cambridge CXN2>ZDAC>ZBOX>braided silver/occ> Zrock2>CSP2+>SE84 milflex copper 25th>9AWG silver/copper braid>lii Crystal 10 in Huijgen cabinets. Ortofon 2M Black>JVC QL-F4/Otari MX5050B2>ZP3. Isolation. AC filtering. Room treatment. IP Logged

Doug Seasoned Member Posts: 274	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #14 - 03/15/22 at 18:13:41 I still feel some guilt for snatching that Jays CDT away from Groovy before he had a chance to rethink his position. The Jays transport feeding my Denafrips DAC via pure silver coax is absolutely spectacular!
Back to top	Jay’s CD2T-Mk3 Denafrips Pontus II ZROCK2 25th Mods CSP3 25th & Custom Mods PAP Quintets with Voxativ 1.6 First Watt J2 or Cary 300SEI driving Voxativs—no crossover LFD NCSE driving 15” Woofers IP Logged

CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 1669

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #15 - 03/16/22 at 16:04:08

Quote:

Posted by: Burgermeester Posted on: Yesterday at 11:54:31
....I've read a lot of threads but have yet to hear anyone say that CD playback is any different from ripped .wav or .flac files. I'm thinking about a NUC with all the files on M.2 storage, running Linux to get away from all of this Windows fuzz. Audio PC only.

Ok, I'll say it: playing files on your computer is different than playing CDs on a transport. That seems pretty obvious starting with the interface to your DAC, USB vs toslink, S/PDIF or AES/EBU. But the question is what differences actually matter.

I'll give you my experience, as briefly as I can. I have thousands of CDs and dozens of SACDs and kept looking for my "endgame" one box CD/SACD player (because I didn't want to deal with DACs and cables, and at the time the only realistic way to play SACDs was with a SACD player) but after replacing several lasers on two different pretty high end SACD players, and starting to get into hirez downloads I decided I needed a different plan. I ripped all my SACDs and got a cheap Windows laptop running foobar2000 to play them and my small but growing library of downloads. And I got an Audiolab 6000CDT transport for the CDs and a Denefrips Terminator 2 DAC and I was really happy. Really really happy. I quickly bought an upgraded USB cable (Tabulus Argentus) and a linear power supply for the computer and it was becoming clear that rips of CDs sounded (a little) better played on the computer than they did played on the transport. There was no way I was going to rip my entire CD collection so the only thing I could do was get a better transport, the Jay's Audio CDT3 and connect it with AES/EBU. And it made a big improvement to spinning CDs, so that they are comparable with playing files now. And I'm done (with both my digital upgrades and this story).

So here's the bottom line, but keep in mind this is JMO/FWIW/YMMV. For me it was cheaper to get really highend digital sound from a computer than playing CDs with a transport, and if you have computer skills and manageable collection of CDs I'd encourage you to rip them and go that route. But if you're like me and at least one other well known poster on this site and have too many CDs to rip and/or no interest in computer based play back you can do really well with a transport too, you just need a really good one.

P.S. I'm no fan of Windows and have been using Linux since I was downloading the 0.95 kernel on 5 1/4" floppies and running it on a 386, but Linux isn't DSD friendly so I use foobar on Windows. I've tweaked the OS to turn off a bunch of services I don't care about, including the network and I sneaker net an external disk between my desktop computer where I rip/download and the laptop where I play them.

Good luck, HTH.

Back to top

[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Maple-tree Phono 3E
Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Senn HD-650

IP Logged

Burgermeester

Seasoned Member

Posts: 207

Re: CD transport with USB output?
Reply #16 - 03/17/22 at 06:36:35

This is great advice. I get it. I used to have 1200 or so CDs, ripped all but about 100 keepers (superstitious) and sold the rest.

I was thinking about buying more CDs and the Jay's Audio CDT seems consistently very highly-rated. I may be at the point where gear acquisition fatigue is setting in, though.

Still, I'm in Tokyo and have been thinking about a visit to one of the high-end used audio shops, walls of Accuphase and Luxman CD players.

Back to top

IP Logged

Skyblue Verified Member Posts: 20	Re: CD transport with USB output? Reply #17 - 02/28/24 at 21:29:07 Hi everyone I’m still into my cds but looking for cdp replacement and I’m thinking Electrocompaniet EMC1 M or Balance audio Technology VK D5SE Have anyone ever heard of them and wish one would you recommend. Appreciate your advice Colin
Back to top	IP Logged