.....couldn't agree more. I've FINALLY settled on my Anthem Integrated 225, Epos Es11's, Wiim Streamer, CEC Tl51xr cd player and a Rel t5x. Oh, I did splurge on a Sony Hap-z1es. And that unit was the best purchase ive ever made in my 25+ year audiophile journey. Compared to "systems" I've had that approached 6 figures. Now it's all about the music recording quality and enjoying the listening.
I can hear my wife now... "You want a CD player that costs five grand? Are you insane?!! What's wrong with the player you have now?" No matter what technical spin I give it, it's never going to happen. 😅
@@Matwiej19 I have some hi-end equipment but mainly in the headphone arena. Started with cheap stuff and then quietly replaced them with expensive things that looked the same. It's a gift I have.
We are forgetting to mention that rest of the system including room and it's ability to reproduce resolution and detail are an absolute key here . Such top notch transport will not show many of it's benefits in the subpar average system ... But it will make a world of difference in a highly resolving system . So before we fall into ignorance of laughing it off in sarcasms these facts must be in place .
@@Newrecordday2013 I use a Samsung BluRay from a thrift shop with spdif out for cd's , the replacement remote from ebay made up most of the under $15 I have in it and it sounds great with my dac... for vibration isolation , a soft rubber mat works great. I have some $12,000 speaker cables I'll sell you for only $10,000 if you buy them before midnight tonight.
@@kdomster9141 my amp cost 4K. There’s no way I’m spending more on a transport or player. Same way/ rule of thumb I don’t spend more on a cartridge/stylus than what the turntable cost. I will not get 5x the sound quality of a $1k player. Guaranteed
@@Holychickendestroyer I own a chord Dave hooked up to a $700 transport, honestly I couldn’t even fathom how dropping a few thousand more on a transport will make a significant difference, it’s already a godly sound.
I own an Audiolab CDT6000. It’s been a big improvement over my old Oppo BDP83, when combined with my Denafrips Ares DAC. Both items together are reasonably priced and I think good value.
I just did a quick google search for the components you mentioned, and I would still be looking down the barrel of a $1500 combo. I want to believe that there's a glaring improvement, but I honestly worry that my ears wont be able to hear it. Is there really a big improvement?
I totally respect the view that if you cannot explain what you did that makes the machine different and the sound better then you are going to have to bear a fair bit of skepticism.
What makes 99% of any of us qualified to explain differences with any scientific validity. Such explanations are mere rationalizations in almost all cases in which they are offered in these Comments.
Transports indeed sound different from one another. Way different in the upper echelons. One of the best I’ve run is the Aqua La Diva mk ii into a Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC.
YOU decribe exactly how and can a CD player sound............it's always my goal when working and adapting a CDP to get it bto a point were I am relaxed , at ease and forget about the electronics. Asthonishing results after decades of work and experiences to finaly accept listening to CD , but is fact now........ Thank you for the genuine and correct information and sharing facts .
Best value transport right now is from Teac with their latest VRDS system. If you want to improve it even more then add their dedicated clock. Together are still less than the CDT3
Agreed. Running the Teac clocked externally by an LHY OCK-2 master clock, total price $2700, sound quality a step up from streaming from a $13K Lumin P1, in my system at least.
huge difference in tracks ! wow i did not expect that loved the ethereal zenith for the vox and the big stereo effects of the track loved the cdt for the bass listened on non-audiophile headphones
I really like the detail you put into discussing...detail. You were spot on with what I'm looking for, that perfect balance of "detailed yet smooth" so that I can enjoy a wider variety of music that wasn't necessarily recorded absolutely perfectly. Not that the transport will smooth everything out enough on its own, but this information is important when trying to combine multiple components and end up with that perfect overall system balance.
Thats like saying why do we need a Lamborghini when my Tesla s is as fast? Because it’s far more complex …handling, control, breaking, …it’s not as simple as dac reclocking…that’s just marketing talk …if a dac is purely reclocking then you are limited[ …your dac becomes the weakest link…so basically your dac is downgrading the signal
Digital engineering very complex and trying to explain in few sentences is impossible. That’s why it’s best to go to a dealer and try different sources. You will hear a difference between a 5k transport vs 10k transport. No point arguing on the technology.
After many years with marantz cd player, i moved to Audiolab CDT 6000 paired with Eversolo DMP A6. The difference is significantly audible.. glad I did as enjoy again my over 300 cd collection. So transport makes a huge difference. Thank you Ron as usual for such wonderful insights... this device is way beyond my affordability.
Used a Marantz CD 63 kI signature for years, then got myself a Audiolab M DAC+ so the Marantz became a CD transport, a very good improvement that did not need careful listening to hear the improvement as it was a fair jump up, a few weeks ago I got myself a new Cyrus CD-T transport, now we are talking again an easy to judge upgrade in performance, in fact I just love the delicate smooth notes in the high range and the greater definition of bass guitar and drums, everything is easy to follow and that's because it sounds like more space around instruments. Cyrus use a slower spinning drive so only one pass of the laser is required instead of the head having to re-read the disk when errors occur, they say the head having to backtrack causes electrical motor interference, as its been What HiFi mags best buy at over a grand for the last five years I can now hear why. I also listened to other transports on a youtube, Audio Alpha podcast, it was very apparent that it sounded better than the other transports. If your motherboard or sound card can playback HD sound then a good pair of headphones will allow you to hear the difference with the podcasts they do.
As usual.. great video Ron .. I purchased a preowned Jay's Audio CDT2-MK3 Transport earlier this year. My previous disc player was a Marantz 30n Cd Player and it sounded good.. Next I used the Marantz as a transport with a Denafrips Pontus ll Dac and there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality.. Months later I connected the Pontus to the Jay's Audio Transport.. that was another nice jump in sound quality.. Yes, smooth sound with more detail. Needless to say I'm listening to more Cd's in my collection again.. I found that using a separate Cd transport was definitely worth the investment to me.. I would love to hear the CDT3 that you just reviewed in my system.. Maybe I'll have that opportunity one day..
I happen to own CD2 and marantz 30n as well, but the latter is for a desktop system. Next I want to try connecting the 30n to main system's terminator 2. I read some post in a forum saying that internal DAC sounds better than coax out to a terminator (1, perhaps)... But your experience is the opposite, so I'm quite curious about the result... I also want to try its USB input, comparing to terminator 2.
Time Stamps: 00:00 - Start 01:27 - How a CD Transport is Better 03:57 - General Information 06:27 - Listening Impressions 11:19 - Sound Clips 12:38 - Final Thoughts
I have owned all of the Jay's transports. The 3/3 is in another class. As my overall system has become more refined I find the 176.4hz toggle to be illuminating at times. This latest unit has very clearly improved my CD collection if you catch my drift.
The CDT3 is a beast of a transport but at $5k, most will question the value. The CDT2 mk3 gives you 90% of everything the CDT3 offers for $2.5k (and often on sale for $2k), for me that’s the sweet spot buy. It’s far better than any entry level player but beyond it, the gains are way smaller. Did you try the I2S connection into the May DAC? I find I2S over hdmi to be more detailed and dynamic than spdif. And I also prefer non-oversampled for some reason.
Check out the Shanling ET3. I had the Jays in my system for over a week, and for giggles grabbed the ET3 on sale for $650. I couldn’t A/B, but found the Shanling to easily match the CDT-3 using I2s. RCA or Toslink couldn’t keep up.
I love cd transports as I love turntables and love dedicated streamers and would love to own a totl r2r deck. All music formats have strengths and weaknesses which can be picked apart if you listen closely and long enough
I love how everything has to get a fancy name just to make it sound so good and worth the $5000… Transport instead of CD player, turntable instead of record player
I listened to both presentations through AirPods. Seemed my ears preferred the Zenith Sound Clip. Both were good, but the Zenith seemed a bit more "juiced", "bright", "live". Just my thoughts. Thanks Ron. Enjoyed the review.
I've been drooling over this transport for quite some time now. I just wish I could find something comparable in the 1500 to 2000 dollar price bracket. That clip with Amir is golden.😂
Awesome video, Ron. I will admit in a second that I’m a total sucker for sexy looking gear, especially if it’s also made with high quality parts. It’s a little dopamine hit. I’m 95% a vinyl guy, but still enjoy CD’s too. My transport is a pretty basic one, and my DAC is an older Adcom from the 90’s which I have upgraded and modified both for better performance. Nothing has quite sounded the same, so it continues to be part of my rig. The Jays Audio transport is absolutely a thing of beauty. Thanks for another fantastic vid, Ron. P.S. I hope you and the family had a great thanksgiving, and I wish you guys the happiest of holidays and a merry Christmas. 🎄🎶🎅🎵🥳💜
Being honest, I couldn’t hear a difference in the sound clips. Maybe if I listened harder? But then I’m listening for the difference, and not the music.
Listening for difference is one of the best ways to test audio equipment using our ears. Any other measurements / observations are best done with precision, calibrated instruments / equipment.
Very interesting, you just described my DAC, Audial S5B. I'm an analogue guy, never cared for digital, I was recommended this DAC and this thing is so musical, it's making me rethink my analogue rig, I'll most likely go to a more Koetsu like cartridge when I replace my Cadenza Black. Seriously, I never thought I'd ever say this, but my present digital rig is more musical than my analogue rig, making this transport very interesting.
@@steven8417 Opted for 2 pair of RCAs, transformer output on one of them. So far I prefer the Cap out, but I'm happy that I have both, for certain music I prefer the more euphonic transformer, who knows, I don't believe in it, but maybe break-in is a real thing. One thing is for sure, it's a musical beast, the designer did an amazing job, bravo Pedja.
Completely agree. I have an Audial S5b Dac connected to my Roon Nucleus via USB in an otherwise all Audio Note system. Sounds fantastic. I can only imagine how good it will sound with a good CD transport.
That's too much to pay for a CD transport. I love my Audio Lab 6000 CDT . I bought the store demo for $500 and with my gustard R26 sounds amazing. You don't need to spend $5000 that's crazy.
5 grand is for the bigger wallets. I bought my gear like Audio Note Dac and Transport and Conrad Johnson amps used and it sounds amazing! Its all about finding the right balance, modify where it matters and tune with cables to finetune to your desired sound. The fun stuff is when you buy great sound for few bucks.
I played around with streaming for a while but decided I'd rather use physical media. In my case about 50:50 vinyl and CD. I got the Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk3 and really happy with it.
And if people are complaining about 5 grand for this transport, I'd imagine it would get a lot louder for a $10,000 (before tax) disc player, even with a DAC and SACD capability. Luxman is a brand I have a lot of interest in.
@cardinalfang7725 admittedly, Luxman over prices their gear for the US market. In Japan it's almost half as much. Unfortunately Japanese voltage is a little lower. You can use step down transformers and save on the Luxman gear but I'd be very careful plus resale might be rough
Playing some AAD CDs through that will obliterate any streaming or even any remasters on CD or yes even vinyl. Of course older vinyl sound still rules.
Thanks for the video. I still use CD's, Vinyl, Blurays and the like...don't really stream much. My big question is for $5000, how much difference (improvement) am I going to hear over my current players? They are the Oppo BDP-105D and the Panasonic DP-UB9000. Appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!
Are you using them as a transport? Unless you have 5,000+ in a DAC, 10-15grand into your amp and more in speakers, then I wouldn’t worry about it. There are cheaper options for a transport that will be a improvement. Their MK2 and I personally would go with a Rega
The comparison isn’t just between this CD transport and your Oppo, but also how does it compare to a server/streamer, especially when your CD collection starts to need warehousing due to its size and or the CDs themselves start to become scratched, suffer bit rot, and become unplayable. For me, I’d need a small warehouse for all my CDs which makes keeping them around unpractical. The advantage to your Oppo is you can rip SACDs as well as regular CDs. And if I were you that’s how I would use it until it dies. Rip your CD collection now, before it’s too late.
@@BrentLeVasseur he said he doesn’t stream much. lol. He spins disc and vinyl. I did the math. I can fit apr. 6,000 cds on my wall in my listening room. 😂😂 I would love a computer full of digital music and server and a Roon subscription. But now we are talking about completely different gear. Network player, switches and network isolators. I stream mostly. 95%. I use iPad USB to Dayzee DAC for Apple Music. Spin disc mainly for my 80-90s music and Floyd albums 😁 Still something about physical media adds to the experience. And sometimes I want to sit back and listen to an entire “album”. And get up to change it.
I have too many CDs, and ripped my entire collection a few years back to stream off my Aurender. But recently played with a neighbor’s Jay’s that he’s selling and got the itch. But you know what really floored me? The little Shanling ET3 for a fraction of the price (can be had for
Thank you for this review‼️ I own the CDT2mk3 since a few years and love it’s abilitys. It’s so good that it’s hard to believe it can be better. But of course, I can't get it out of my head that there is something for double the price called CDT3mk3 … Good Lord, what should I doe???
I own one of these. For a Chinese component, it is very decent... if you feed it to a high end DAC. It is definitely not what I would consider an elite class reference transport, but very decent, entry level, for the price.
$5k isn’t entry level for most people. If this is the price for entry into the hobby, then the hobby just became a Manhattan club. I don’t doubt this device brings improvement. It’s just unobtainium for most. Even Schiit Urd is considerably more obtainable.
I own 8 of these and use them as feet for my solid gold plinths under my mono blocks. It’s the only thing they’re good for really, to entry level sound for my taste as a transport imho.
@@lekmannen9990 I’ve heard you can do a tiny bit better if you place ancient biblical palimpsests under the plinth. You’ll specifically need those found in St. Katherine’s Monastery - only a couple in existence. That might elevate you out of entry level?
@@kirchgoens feels like quite the reasonable upgrade and then I can reuse the 8 crappy cd transports as feet for my box of records which I’m certain will elevate the sound to elite level.
Ron were the transport connected to the same external DAC as the innios ZENit use in the comparison? (I dont see any digital input or analog outputs on the back of the innios ZENit .)
@bartbarelds8454 so you mean that innios ZENit Play a CD and act as transport connected with USB to a external DAC. And the device under test the transport is also connected and used the same DAC. Then IF so then it is possible to compare for sonic differences between the innios ZENit used as transport and the transport in the review. But only Ron know how he did the setup?!
@ Ron is very straight about it.. They are all yessir. Yes both were connected to the same dac. I would think using the same connection and cable but he did not mention that.
The Zenith was connected to the May via USB and CDT3 was connected I2S. I ripped the CD to the Zenith and used Innuos Sense for playback. Hopefully that clears up any confusion.
This is a good video for parents to show their children so they can see what a man looks like when he is not telling the truth. Pay attention to his mouth, and around his mouth, while he speaks.
I bought my gear like Audio Note Dac and Transport and Conrad Johnson amps used and it sounds amazing! Its all about finding the right balance, modify where it matters and tune with cables to finetune to your desired sound. The fun stuff is when you buy great sound for few bucks. And you know you did right when it sounds better than systems costing 4x on a audio show 😅 But of course it takes some time....
I thought I'd give the sound clips ago, and downloaded both to my NUC running Roon. I'm surprised to say that I could tell a difference, even playing back through my 1K integrated's DAC. Not my sort of music, and I could not understand most of the words, a song about getting marmite delivered early in the morning in Georgia? I listened first to the CDT and found it quite enjoyable, nice rhythm and smooth. The zenith sounded like my system sometimes sounds, less smooth and a bit irritating. I went back to the CDT track and, yes it all got smoother and more rhythmical, the lyrics were definitely a tad clearer. Thanks Ron!
As soon as you said you were comparing it with the Zenith instead of the cheaper Cd player you'd mentioned I thought that was a shame as most of us have the latter rather than the former. Never mind - will check it out the recordings anyway. Thanks, V
Have the CDT2 mk III at about the half the price and running through a Holo Audio May Dac using Is2 cable. Whoa….Agree…a transport is the way to go for great CD sound. I think you captured that well in your presentation……then it’s all about the Dac and supporting equipment.
I use a Sony CDP-XA20ES player which uses a stationary laser with the disk spinner doing the job of moving the disc relative to the stationary laser. It has always sounded better than players using a traditional style of transport with the sole exception of my Oppo UDP-205. It's why I still use the Sony deck as a transport, even though the DAC I currently use is a Pontus II/Hermes combo connected via I²S.
People under estimate the impact of a transport. It can clearly be as important as a DAC.. Also the network makes a huge contribution to the result of a transport. As well as the digital cable used, power filtering and so on.. Some people are missing a good piece of SQ
i never throw ANY CDs out. they do not take up much room, and who the hell knows when Apple will decide you "do not own" the music you bought in the past.
@Thrunabulax And THAT is the wisdom for the day. I still buy CDs with the intent of supporting an artist's body of content even if I don't love all of it. And that way, I actually OWN the license forever. I long ago got my fill of Amazon and the other overlords saying, "Well, you USED TO have access to that, but the catalog has changed. For a mere $9.99 per month, you can have full access...", etc. We've gotten to where we essentially rent/lease rights from those who actually OWN. For those old enough to remember Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, you know what I'm talking about...the true value is in the owning.
Totally agree with you if you have a top notch transport with your top notch DAC your will be enjoying your music even more. I love my Audiomat D1 MK2. Still love to play CD...
@@empoweryou16000 that’s a good budget one. Looking to get a used one soon. Thinking that with a with a dedicated clock would be all I’ll ever need. Cambridge has one similar price. Looks to be a good build. Would get their EVO on looks alone. Yeah for less money than MK3, mk11 would be a good improvement or even a used transport. There is also Teac, Nuprime and Primare to name a few more good options.
I still don't get how audiophiles understand digital signals. A binary "1" or +3.3V should be the same wherever part of the circuit they are. There voltage value could be +-20% but the digital data value is still the same... it's binary "1". And digital data transmission has error-correction built-in
Just bought a Cambridge audio AXC25 amp and AXC25 cd player. Just need some speakers, maybe wharfdale diamond 9.0, and I’ll be happy enough. Into metal, they’ll be ok
I have a Leak CDT, Schiit Bifrost 2/64 and Leak 230 amp. To my 67 year old ears it sounds wonderful. Not spending any more money unless something breaks.
It's interesting how separating CD transport and Dac usually improves the sound, but adding extra links to the analogue signal chain (subwoofer crossover, equaliser, pre/power amp, etc) usually degrades the sound.
. It's all about the quality of the chain, not quantity. The chain itself always requires the same number of links to perform the same task. CD Players are still a CD Transport & DAC in a single chassis. BUT you're right in that some people believe adding a link in the chain where none is needed to enhance the performance of the same task is detrimental. I'm specifically speaking of adding an Equalizer 'link' into the chain. I say "Nutz". A good EQ is quiet as a mouse & it's worth the flexibility to MyFi. One caveat, if one plans to use lots of links then patchords become really, really important. Beginning & ending this type of chain should be all XLR balanced patchcords from the git-go. So plan ahead............ Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass🔈🔉🔊
I‘m not convinced in 4 of 5 topics. Only the read quality is valid in my eyes. I use direct clocked DACs (TDA1545) for many years, completely ground isolated from the transport, the transport is just slaved from the DACs clock. Something you don‘t find in the market. What is true in my eyes: The mechanical situation of this clock is very very delicate. XOs are highly microphonic and their microphonic behavior can lead to higher non linear distortion. So no matter where the clock is situated (transport or DAC), much care is needed to calm the XO. This could be your main reason this transport sounds good.
I was actually expecting it to cost twice that much. 50 lbs IS a tank. Then I saw the "Handmade in China" on the back panel, so that lowered the price in my mind. I'd certainly like to hear it in my own system. A/B it against the players I have, but it would have to make a noticeable difference in a positive way. I like that is available in black. Maybe next "Black Friday" if they have a sale.
Right away, I preferred the CDT3. I can't say why exactly. I just did -- maybe because it "sounds silkier", or whatever. But then I compared my 320K MP3 of this track with both your samples and it was, I'd say, at least 90% as good as either. If £5500 (in UK) is what it takes to get 10% better than an MP3 track, it's a no brainer -- if one must -- to buy a much cheaper CD transport. AFAIC, Investing in a decent DDC (Singxer SU-2 at c.£400), a DAC (pre-owned Gustard R26 at c. £1250) and an external OCXO clock (c. £80) brought me an immense improvement for all MP3 and FLAC tracks. FLACs are typically around 5% or so better than 320K MP3s, and I rip them on my computer's DVD drive. So when it comes to FLACs, I'm around 95% of what the CDT3 can do, for around 30% the price. I can live with that.
Well, after listening to both tracks back and forth a few times with Grado cans and playing it through Jriver. I must say that I enjoy the Zenith more. It’s more insightful and engaging. I think it sounds just a wee bit more snappy, detailed, textured and, as you said, has better decay. Also, the small details like finger snaps sound more realistic. But I seriously doubt that I could hear these differences with the acoustics in my living room and yes, I am still drooling over the CDT3. It is stunningly beautiful inside and out.
Glad you found a unique and accurate way around the TH-cam sound demo rules. Really enjoy sound demos, it's just too hard to hear this gear otherwise and words... Well there just words. And, what did I really think of the demos? Well, to put it simply the Zenith sounded like CD. Yeah, take that comment anyway you like. The other sounded slightly dull in the highs. How is this possible? I don't know, ask for an objective opinion from Amir perhaps, after his finished his snack. 🤣
Digital audio on a CD does not work as it does on a Vinyl. There are packages of information, not a continues stream of 1's and 0's. Anything that handles digital signals uses buffers to deal with this. Jitter, package loss or similar issues would result in corrupt reading, something a deaf person could hear. In other words, the CDT3 is a very expensive EQ. Noise over a digital cable is not digital, it is simply analog noise transferred by a digital cable. If you want better sound, spend your money on room acoustics, DAC and everything analog (cables can make a change, but only if the ones you have are really fucking terrible).
So happy to see you reviewing this. I have been thinking over a transport as well. I would love to see a shoot out between it and the new TEAC VRDS-701T transport. I have a Holo May Kitsune, and an Innuos Pulsar, I wonder if the upgrade to the Pulsar might erase the transports superiority? I'd lean to the Teac for price and the front loading would fit better on a middle shelf than the Jay's top loading mechanism.
If you want to get more detail from the pits... but still retain that smooth presentation... just up-sample to 176.4! I would compare 44.1 to great analog playback... and 176.4 to great digital playback! Any way you slice it... the Jays is an end game spinner.
Even through my very modest PC speakers (carefully equalised), I could tell the CDT3 sounded better, with crisper transient attack and better defined space around instruments & voices. Thanks for the demo, though I was surprised that you preferred the 44.1 to the upsampled output. In my main system I use a Perpetual Technologies P1A interpolating upsampler feeding my MF Trivista DAC, and the improvement in subjective detail and soundstage focus is significant.
I while ago I was interested in this transport, but the top loading and blue lights turned me off and I got the Schiit Urd instead, The feet on the URD are terrible but overall I'm pretty happy especially with the sound on the USB out.
Record guy here, I have an automatic turntable for a reason: lazy. If I'm listening to digital, I'm just listening to CD rips in FLAC, to a modified henry engineering DAC or just stream, with no need to get off the couch. I listen to analog for SQ and digital for convenience. I'm not getting up off the couch to change a CD for $5,000 lol but that's just me.
This seems like trying to apply an analogue sales pitch to CDs. Suppose the CD transport were better, you could store it's digital output in lossless format to replay it predictably anywhere. You're basically making a case for lossless "streaming" against all physical media with moving parts.
$5k for a transport? A $20 Liteon CDR would be just s good. The two files not only sound exactly the same, they have identical waveforms (difference is 0) and identical spectral information... People hear what hey want to hear....
Cope? This guy is just stating the obvious that they sound exactly the same through digital out. This video is just a long sponsorship that bozos like you think is legitimate. You would undoubtedly fail an A/B test between a $5k transport vs a $50 transport as would anyone else. How about you cope?
I dont see any reason to drop 5k on a cd transport. This is way overpriced, they are building this unit around a Phillips transport which is not the best in the business.
It's all superfluous nonsense - nowadays you can transfer all the data from a CD-ROM to a RAM memory within a minute and from there to a DAC without jitter or similar troublemakers.
Or just rip them to FLAC on a cheap PC using foobar2000 in "paranoid" mode and rely on your existing DAC to play them back. You get a 1:1 lossless copy and no more jitter than your DAC creates on its own. And before someone tries telling me that FLAC adds jitter, no it doesn't.
Well. your ears and eyes are definitely better than mine because when I load your .wav files in a DAW and blow them up really big, they kinda look identical for both cd devices. They kinda sound the same listening via studio monitors when I loop and A/B short portions of them. Again, I'm 60ish, so those 2 senses are not as reliable for me as they use to be :)
Sorry, I was all into CD and had a really expensive player (+$20,000). But I really could get a relation to the actual media, the discs. Small, uniform, boring and not interesting ”covers”. To cut a long story short, I reverted ”technologically” to vinyl and everything made sense again. I don’t mind the odd pop from the record, I really love my records and my record player.
This is a truly lovely piece and I can see pride of ownership would give value to some, though for me it would have to demonstrably best the Shanling ET3 and Audiolab 9000CDT by a margin I can't believe it is capable of (based on experience of differences between transports in general...).
I have a Shanling ET3 using I2S into a Cyan2. Subtle, but I think it has better detail and air than my older Cambridge Audio CD player with SPDIF out. That's what I'm telling myself at least!! Please don't force me to do a blind A/B test 😅
Downloaded the WAV files. 2nd audio system, since yesterday with PSVANE ART TII Series 12AT7-S x2 on my hybrid integrated (Great improvement over the stock JJ 12AT7, already two years old), KEF Q100 (new internal small improvement and Kimber Kable 8PR with cotton inside -great improvement), W11 optimized for multimedia... I can easily hear the difference. * Cdt3 - sound with more energy, dynamism, more "body", bass impact. More credible, I like it better. "More analog" sound. 10 points * Zenith - "Digital" sound. 8 points No surprise that there are differences. I have been trying for years, successfully, to minimize the JITTER generated on the PC. On the CPU: ALU internal registers I also notice differences when playing the same file from a Crucial SSD (worse), Western Red NAS HDD (excellent) or external USB drive (much worse)
I still have my Linn LP12 for my vinyl collection and want to find a nice CD transport with i2S output for my disc collection. I am currently using a 70’s era Luxman CD player but on the search to upgrade. Thank you Ron for this video plus the sound clips. I may be missing something here but which (Zenith??) CD Transport is your current reference, Ron? Ron, can I ask you to please do a deep dive on TDA1541A DAC chip. I see that there are some DYI and commercially available DAC’s with this chip and just as the Philips CD-Pro2LF tray mechanism, it is highly regarded.
I rather have a CD ripper that compares my rip to a hash file to make sure it’s digitally identical. That way I only need to worry about having a low noise streamer. I rather have a $40 cdrom drive and a $400 ifi zen stream than a $4,000 CD transport. Really the most important part of the high end streamer is high quality power supply and low noise digital transmission. For me I’d just get the streamer.
A customer of the store I work at that was known to be a bit special got pranked by one of my colleagues. He was demonstrated 4 " different " cd transports blind. After 2 hours, he was having trouble between number 2 and 4. " You can hear a wider soundstage but the trebles more harsh on 2 than 4" he said....... On and on it went......... They were all the same transport. Cognitive biases are real, regardless of what people may consciously be thinking. Our brains have not evolved to keep pace with all the technology and complication we've added to our existence. Our brains still think we are in the jungle and causes our brains to constantly want to take shortcuts and react on impulse. This is where the concept of critical thinking comes from. Checking our brains aren't tricking us.
The older I get the less expensive my audio gear needs to be.
I feel exactly the same way…..
Interesting, that's the way I have gone + the rabbit hole needs to stop at some time !
@@cruise2023 About the time the VA gave me my hearing aids. 155mm did have an effective soundstage, but it was hard to isolate the vibration.
@@lenglen9662 are we trying to find hapiness in this field ? How wise you are...
.....couldn't agree more. I've FINALLY settled on my Anthem Integrated 225, Epos Es11's, Wiim Streamer, CEC Tl51xr cd player and a Rel t5x. Oh, I did splurge on a Sony Hap-z1es. And that unit was the best purchase ive ever made in my 25+ year audiophile journey. Compared to "systems" I've had that approached 6 figures. Now it's all about the music recording quality and enjoying the listening.
I can hear my wife now... "You want a CD player that costs five grand? Are you insane?!! What's wrong with the player you have now?" No matter what technical spin I give it, it's never going to happen. 😅
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Got the same for every tech i want to buy, I mean every
Wait till you tell her, it's only a transport.
That’s why I stayed single! 😂
@@Matwiej19 I have some hi-end equipment but mainly in the headphone arena. Started with cheap stuff and then quietly replaced them with expensive things that looked the same. It's a gift I have.
I was about to go to Goodwill and find a used Sony dvd player to use as a cd player but thank god I saw this video first. At 5K I can’t say no.
That one got a chuckle. Funny.
We are forgetting to mention that rest of the system including room and it's ability to reproduce resolution and detail are an absolute key here .
Such top notch transport will not show many of it's benefits in the subpar average system ... But it will make a world of difference in a highly resolving system .
So before we fall into ignorance of laughing it off in sarcasms these facts must be in place .
@@Newrecordday2013 I use a Samsung BluRay from a thrift shop with spdif out for cd's , the replacement remote from ebay made up most of the under $15 I have in it and it sounds great with my dac... for vibration isolation , a soft rubber mat works great. I have some $12,000 speaker cables I'll sell you for only $10,000 if you buy them before midnight tonight.
@@kdomster9141 my amp cost 4K. There’s no way I’m spending more on a transport or player. Same way/ rule of thumb I don’t spend more on a cartridge/stylus than what the turntable cost. I will not get 5x the sound quality of a $1k player. Guaranteed
@@Holychickendestroyer I own a chord Dave hooked up to a $700 transport, honestly I couldn’t even fathom how dropping a few thousand more on a transport will make a significant difference, it’s already a godly sound.
I own an Audiolab CDT6000. It’s been a big improvement over my old Oppo BDP83, when combined with my Denafrips Ares DAC. Both items together are reasonably priced and I think good value.
Does it scratch your CDs?
@@stevenewtons7873no it doesn't
that could mean a less than great jitter rejection in the dac Does it reclock ?
I just did a quick google search for the components you mentioned, and I would still be looking down the barrel of a $1500 combo. I want to believe that there's a glaring improvement, but I honestly worry that my ears wont be able to hear it. Is there really a big improvement?
I totally respect the view that if you cannot explain what you did that makes the machine different and the sound better then you are going to have to bear a fair bit of skepticism.
What makes 99% of any of us qualified to explain differences with any scientific validity. Such explanations are mere rationalizations in almost all cases in which they are offered in these Comments.
Transports indeed sound different from one another. Way different in the upper echelons. One of the best I’ve run is the Aqua La Diva mk ii into a Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC.
YOU decribe exactly how and can a CD player sound............it's always my goal when working and adapting a CDP to get it bto a point were I am relaxed , at ease and forget about the electronics.
Asthonishing results after decades of work and experiences to finaly accept listening to CD , but is fact now........
Thank you for the genuine and correct information and sharing facts .
Best value transport right now is from Teac with their latest VRDS system. If you want to improve it even more then add their dedicated clock. Together are still less than the CDT3
Agreed. Running the Teac clocked externally by an LHY OCK-2 master clock, total price $2700, sound quality a step up from streaming from a $13K Lumin P1, in my system at least.
At $5k -- NOT "a no-brainer" for me. Maybe if I hit a 7-figure lottery... 😏
Previous version cdt2-mk3 is half the price. Can't imagine there's significant difference.
huge difference in tracks ! wow i did not expect that
loved the ethereal zenith for the vox and the big stereo effects of the track
loved the cdt for the bass
listened on non-audiophile headphones
I'm never giving up my Accuphase cd player. It has everything right going for it.
I really like the detail you put into discussing...detail. You were spot on with what I'm looking for, that perfect balance of "detailed yet smooth" so that I can enjoy a wider variety of music that wasn't necessarily recorded absolutely perfectly. Not that the transport will smooth everything out enough on its own, but this information is important when trying to combine multiple components and end up with that perfect overall system balance.
I appreciate the feedback, glad you found the detail useful.
. Why would a CD Transport need a fancy clock if, effectively, all DACs cache & reclock the incoming data anyway?
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass🔈🔉🔊
More is always better.
Correct analysis!
It dont is the awnser.
Thats like saying why do we need a Lamborghini when my Tesla s is as fast? Because it’s far more complex …handling, control, breaking, …it’s not as simple as dac reclocking…that’s just marketing talk …if a dac is purely reclocking then you are limited[ …your dac becomes the weakest link…so basically your dac is downgrading the signal
If your dac is a slave clock then your source will improve the sound quality. If your dac is the master then it’s limited to its own clock.
Digital engineering very complex and trying to explain in few sentences is impossible. That’s why it’s best to go to a dealer and try different sources. You will hear a difference between a 5k transport vs 10k transport. No point arguing on the technology.
After many years with marantz cd player, i moved to Audiolab CDT 6000 paired with Eversolo DMP A6. The difference is significantly audible.. glad I did as enjoy again my over 300 cd collection.
So transport makes a huge difference.
Thank you Ron as usual for such wonderful insights... this device is way beyond my affordability.
Used a Marantz CD 63 kI signature for years, then got myself a Audiolab M DAC+ so the Marantz became a CD transport, a very good improvement that did not need careful listening to hear the improvement as it was a fair jump up, a few weeks ago I got myself a new Cyrus CD-T transport, now we are talking again an easy to judge upgrade in performance, in fact I just love the delicate smooth notes in the high range and the greater definition of bass guitar and drums, everything is easy to follow and that's because it sounds like more space around instruments. Cyrus use a slower spinning drive so only one pass of the laser is required instead of the head having to re-read the disk when errors occur, they say the head having to backtrack causes electrical motor interference, as its been What HiFi mags best buy at over a grand for the last five years I can now hear why.
I also listened to other transports on a youtube, Audio Alpha podcast, it was very apparent that it sounded better than the other transports. If your motherboard or sound card can playback HD sound then a good pair of headphones will allow you to hear the difference with the podcasts they do.
As usual.. great video Ron .. I purchased a preowned Jay's Audio CDT2-MK3 Transport earlier this year. My previous disc player was a Marantz 30n Cd Player and it sounded good.. Next I used the Marantz as a transport with a Denafrips Pontus ll Dac and there was a noticeable improvement in sound quality.. Months later I connected the Pontus to the Jay's Audio Transport.. that was another nice jump in sound quality.. Yes, smooth sound with more detail. Needless to say I'm listening to more Cd's in my collection again.. I found that using a separate Cd transport was definitely worth the investment to me.. I would love to hear the CDT3 that you just reviewed in my system.. Maybe I'll have that opportunity one day..
I happen to own CD2 and marantz 30n as well, but the latter is for a desktop system. Next I want to try connecting the 30n to main system's terminator 2. I read some post in a forum saying that internal DAC sounds better than coax out to a terminator (1, perhaps)... But your experience is the opposite, so I'm quite curious about the result... I also want to try its USB input, comparing to terminator 2.
Time Stamps:
00:00 - Start
01:27 - How a CD Transport is Better
03:57 - General Information
06:27 - Listening Impressions
11:19 - Sound Clips
12:38 - Final Thoughts
I have owned all of the Jay's transports. The 3/3 is in another class. As my overall system has become more refined I find the 176.4hz toggle to be illuminating at times. This latest unit has very clearly improved my CD collection if you catch my drift.
Hi, I own CDT2mk3 and love it. Is the upgrade to CDT3 worth the money?
The CDT3 is a beast of a transport but at $5k, most will question the value. The CDT2 mk3 gives you 90% of everything the CDT3 offers for $2.5k (and often on sale for $2k), for me that’s the sweet spot buy. It’s far better than any entry level player but beyond it, the gains are way smaller. Did you try the I2S connection into the May DAC? I find I2S over hdmi to be more detailed and dynamic than spdif. And I also prefer non-oversampled for some reason.
Check out the Shanling ET3. I had the Jays in my system for over a week, and for giggles grabbed the ET3 on sale for $650. I couldn’t A/B, but found the Shanling to easily match the CDT-3 using I2s. RCA or Toslink couldn’t keep up.
I love cd transports as I love turntables and love dedicated streamers and would love to own a totl r2r deck. All music formats have strengths and weaknesses which can be picked apart if you listen closely and long enough
I love how everything has to get a fancy name just to make it sound so good and worth the $5000… Transport instead of CD player, turntable instead of record player
'Build like a tank' The ultimate compliment to sound quality ;)
Still using my Phillips cd 850 MK2. It's just amazing after all these years. Thank you
8:18
I listened to both presentations through AirPods. Seemed my ears preferred the Zenith Sound Clip. Both were good, but the Zenith seemed a bit more "juiced", "bright", "live". Just my thoughts. Thanks Ron. Enjoyed the review.
I've been drooling over this transport for quite some time now. I just wish I could find something comparable in the 1500 to 2000 dollar price bracket.
That clip with Amir is golden.😂
Awesome video, Ron. I will admit in a second that I’m a total sucker for sexy looking gear, especially if it’s also made with high quality parts. It’s a little dopamine hit. I’m 95% a vinyl guy, but still enjoy CD’s too. My transport is a pretty basic one, and my DAC is an older Adcom from the 90’s which I have upgraded and modified both for better performance. Nothing has quite sounded the same, so it continues to be part of my rig.
The Jays Audio transport is absolutely a thing of beauty.
Thanks for another fantastic vid, Ron.
P.S. I hope you and the family had a great thanksgiving, and I wish you guys the happiest of holidays and a merry Christmas. 🎄🎶🎅🎵🥳💜
Being honest, I couldn’t hear a difference in the sound clips. Maybe if I listened harder? But then I’m listening for the difference, and not the music.
Listening for difference is one of the best ways to test audio equipment using our ears. Any other measurements / observations are best done with precision, calibrated instruments / equipment.
Very interesting, you just described my DAC, Audial S5B. I'm an analogue guy, never cared for digital, I was recommended this DAC and this thing is so musical, it's making me rethink my analogue rig, I'll most likely go to a more Koetsu like cartridge when I replace my Cadenza Black. Seriously, I never thought I'd ever say this, but my present digital rig is more musical than my analogue rig, making this transport very interesting.
I've had my eyes on the S5B as well. Did you opt for the transformer out?
Still trying to decide myself. Cheers!
@@steven8417 Opted for 2 pair of RCAs, transformer output on one of them. So far I prefer the Cap out, but I'm happy that I have both, for certain music I prefer the more euphonic transformer, who knows, I don't believe in it, but maybe break-in is a real thing. One thing is for sure, it's a musical beast, the designer did an amazing job, bravo Pedja.
Completely agree. I have an Audial S5b Dac connected to my Roon Nucleus via USB in an otherwise all Audio Note system. Sounds fantastic. I can only imagine how good it will sound with a good CD transport.
Switch to a Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC as I have and you won’t go back to analog.
@@a.s.2426 That sure looks like a nice piece of Hi-fi, I hear nothing but good things on it, but NO WAY can it be better than analogue...
That's a heck of a transport. A bit out of my budget (a bit lol) but a great looking and sounding piece of gear. Kudos.
That's too much to pay for a CD transport. I love my Audio Lab 6000 CDT . I bought the store demo for $500 and with my gustard R26 sounds amazing. You don't need to spend $5000 that's crazy.
AL CDT 9000 here into McIntosh C49 . totally satisfied.
5 grand is for the bigger wallets. I bought my gear like Audio Note Dac and Transport and Conrad Johnson amps used and it sounds amazing!
Its all about finding the right balance, modify where it matters and tune with cables to finetune to your desired sound.
The fun stuff is when you buy great sound for few bucks.
I played around with streaming for a while but decided I'd rather use physical media. In my case about 50:50 vinyl and CD. I got the Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk3 and really happy with it.
I just bought a Luxman D-07x HUGE game changer
D-03X here, agree 100%
And if people are complaining about 5 grand for this transport, I'd imagine it would get a lot louder for a $10,000 (before tax) disc player, even with a DAC and SACD capability. Luxman is a brand I have a lot of interest in.
@@jamesderby4522 At $4200 this may be a good option to consider.
@cardinalfang7725 admittedly, Luxman over prices their gear for the US market. In Japan it's almost half as much. Unfortunately Japanese voltage is a little lower. You can use step down transformers and save on the Luxman gear but I'd be very careful plus resale might be rough
The D-10X price jumped from 10K to 17K since I last checked....
Playing some AAD CDs through that will obliterate any streaming or even any remasters on CD or yes even vinyl. Of course older vinyl sound still rules.
I found a micromega cd transport during a house clearence, is it worth keeping please?
I use a Sony xa7ES as a transport its doing a descent job, but to see this beautifull compenent this will maby be a gamechanger for my
Thanks for the video. I still use CD's, Vinyl, Blurays and the like...don't really stream much. My big question is for $5000, how much difference (improvement) am I going to hear over my current players? They are the Oppo BDP-105D and the Panasonic DP-UB9000. Appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks!
Are you using them as a transport?
Unless you have 5,000+ in a DAC, 10-15grand into your amp and more in speakers, then I wouldn’t worry about it. There are cheaper options for a transport that will be a improvement. Their MK2 and I personally would go with a Rega
The comparison isn’t just between this CD transport and your Oppo, but also how does it compare to a server/streamer, especially when your CD collection starts to need warehousing due to its size and or the CDs themselves start to become scratched, suffer bit rot, and become unplayable. For me, I’d need a small warehouse for all my CDs which makes keeping them around unpractical. The advantage to your Oppo is you can rip SACDs as well as regular CDs. And if I were you that’s how I would use it until it dies. Rip your CD collection now, before it’s too late.
thanks for what? for encourage others to buy CDs, so you ending to pay more for? I prefer say "THANKS FOR NOTHING!"
@@BrentLeVasseur he said he doesn’t stream much. lol. He spins disc and vinyl. I did the math. I can fit apr. 6,000 cds on my wall in my listening room. 😂😂
I would love a computer full of digital music and server and a Roon subscription. But now we are talking about completely different gear. Network player, switches and network isolators.
I stream mostly. 95%. I use iPad USB to Dayzee DAC for Apple Music.
Spin disc mainly for my 80-90s music and Floyd albums 😁
Still something about physical media adds to the experience. And sometimes I want to sit back and listen to an entire “album”. And get up to change it.
@@JohnSmith-zl8rz what wrong John?
Trying to keep all the CDs to yourself?
😂😂😂
I have too many CDs, and ripped my entire collection a few years back to stream off my Aurender. But recently played with a neighbor’s Jay’s that he’s selling and got the itch. But you know what really floored me? The little Shanling ET3 for a fraction of the price (can be had for
Thank you for this review‼️
I own the CDT2mk3 since a few years and love it’s abilitys. It’s so good that it’s hard to believe it can be better. But of course, I can't get it out of my head that there is something for double the price called CDT3mk3 …
Good Lord, what should I doe???
I own one of these. For a Chinese component, it is very decent... if you feed it to a high end DAC. It is definitely not what I would consider an elite class reference transport, but very decent, entry level, for the price.
$5k isn’t entry level for most people. If this is the price for entry into the hobby, then the hobby just became a Manhattan club.
I don’t doubt this device brings improvement. It’s just unobtainium for most. Even Schiit Urd is considerably more obtainable.
I own 8 of these and use them as feet for my solid gold plinths under my mono blocks. It’s the only thing they’re good for really, to entry level sound for my taste as a transport imho.
@@lekmannen9990 A good old Cambridge CXC v2 may be more stable for the propose as its top is flat.
@@lekmannen9990 I’ve heard you can do a tiny bit better if you place ancient biblical palimpsests under the plinth. You’ll specifically need those found in St. Katherine’s Monastery - only a couple in existence. That might elevate you out of entry level?
@@kirchgoens feels like quite the reasonable upgrade and then I can reuse the 8 crappy cd transports as feet for my box of records which I’m certain will elevate the sound to elite level.
I transport my CD's in a milk crate, this thing would take forever, I can only transport 1 at a time in it.
I still spin the discs
Always will.
Ron were the transport connected to the same external DAC as the innios ZENit use in the comparison?
(I dont see any digital input or analog outputs on the back of the innios ZENit .)
The innuos zenith has a usb out…
@bartbarelds8454 so you mean that innios ZENit Play a CD and act as transport connected with USB to a external DAC.
And the device under test the transport is also connected and used the same DAC.
Then IF so then it is possible to compare for sonic differences between the innios ZENit used as transport and the transport in the review.
But only Ron know how he did the setup?!
@ Ron is very straight about it.. They are all yessir. Yes both were connected to the same dac. I would think using the same connection and cable but he did not mention that.
The Zenith was connected to the May via USB and CDT3 was connected I2S. I ripped the CD to the Zenith and used Innuos Sense for playback.
Hopefully that clears up any confusion.
This is a good video for parents to show their children so they can see what a man looks like when he is not telling the truth. Pay attention to his mouth, and around his mouth, while he speaks.
@@mr.brent-nw Maybe, then again, he's probably nervous and not looking forward to the comments section on this one.
@@toddholen2762 Yes, his expressions show that he is nervous. This is what people look like when they are not telling the truth.
I bought my gear like Audio Note Dac and Transport and Conrad Johnson amps used and it sounds amazing!
Its all about finding the right balance, modify where it matters and tune with cables to finetune to your desired sound.
The fun stuff is when you buy great sound for few bucks. And you know you did right when it sounds better than systems costing 4x on a audio show 😅
But of course it takes some time....
Yes.
I thought I'd give the sound clips ago, and downloaded both to my NUC running Roon. I'm surprised to say that I could tell a difference, even playing back through my 1K integrated's DAC. Not my sort of music, and I could not understand most of the words, a song about getting marmite delivered early in the morning in Georgia? I listened first to the CDT and found it quite enjoyable, nice rhythm and smooth. The zenith sounded like my system sometimes sounds, less smooth and a bit irritating. I went back to the CDT track and, yes it all got smoother and more rhythmical, the lyrics were definitely a tad clearer. Thanks Ron!
As soon as you said you were comparing it with the Zenith instead of the cheaper Cd player you'd mentioned I thought that was a shame as most of us have the latter rather than the former. Never mind - will check it out the recordings anyway.
Thanks,
V
Have the CDT2 mk III at about the half the price and running through a Holo Audio May Dac using Is2 cable. Whoa….Agree…a transport is the way to go for great CD sound. I think you captured that well in your presentation……then it’s all about the Dac and supporting equipment.
Welcome to the jungle Ron! 😀
Your still crushing it!
Glad to hear from you. Thanks for watching.
Ok.. I know I'm a schlub but why no optical output on most good CD transports?
Nice editing, btw
Much appreciated
I use a Sony CDP-XA20ES player which uses a stationary laser with the disk spinner doing the job of moving the disc relative to the stationary laser. It has always sounded better than players using a traditional style of transport with the sole exception of my Oppo UDP-205. It's why I still use the Sony deck as a transport, even though the DAC I currently use is a Pontus II/Hermes combo connected via I²S.
People under estimate the impact of a transport. It can clearly be as important as a DAC.. Also the network makes a huge contribution to the result of a transport. As well as the digital cable used, power filtering and so on.. Some people are missing a good piece of SQ
i never throw ANY CDs out. they do not take up much room, and who the hell knows when Apple will decide you "do not own" the music you bought in the past.
@Thrunabulax And THAT is the wisdom for the day. I still buy CDs with the intent of supporting an artist's body of content even if I don't love all of it. And that way, I actually OWN the license forever. I long ago got my fill of Amazon and the other overlords saying, "Well, you USED TO have access to that, but the catalog has changed. For a mere $9.99 per month, you can have full access...", etc.
We've gotten to where we essentially rent/lease rights from those who actually OWN. For those old enough to remember Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street, you know what I'm talking about...the true value is in the owning.
I use a Meridian 500 CDT with a Musical Fidelity DAC. Absolutely lovely combination.
Totally agree with you if you have a top notch transport with your top notch DAC your will be enjoying your music even more. I love my Audiomat D1 MK2. Still love to play CD...
$ 5 grand worth of subtleties. (That's the cost of a replacement dental bridge these days.)
Yep, completely out of my budget. My transport is simple but effective Audiolab 6000CDT connected to a Schiit Gungnir DAC.
@@empoweryou16000 that’s a good budget one. Looking to get a used one soon. Thinking that with a with a dedicated clock would be all I’ll ever need.
Cambridge has one similar price. Looks to be a good build. Would get their EVO on looks alone.
Yeah for less money than MK3, mk11 would be a good improvement or even a used transport.
There is also Teac, Nuprime and Primare to name a few more good options.
@@Pok-001 I've talked with many who speak highly of the Cambridge and Nuprime offerings.
I still don't get how audiophiles understand digital signals. A binary "1" or +3.3V should be the same wherever part of the circuit they are. There voltage value could be +-20% but the digital data value is still the same... it's binary "1". And digital data transmission has error-correction built-in
For example, how can vibration affect digital signals? I'm totally at lost.
Just bought a Cambridge audio AXC25 amp and AXC25 cd player. Just need some speakers, maybe wharfdale diamond 9.0, and I’ll be happy enough. Into metal, they’ll be ok
Imagine spending 5k on a transport when a $500 dollar rug that will absorb reflections is really what 90% of people need
Ron said it's good, so I need to buy one!
I'll figure out why later.
Was that Andrew Jones clip from The Newport Show back in 2015? I remember that Elac Debut…debut like it was yesterday…good times.
Yup!
I have a Leak CDT, Schiit Bifrost 2/64 and Leak 230 amp. To my 67 year old ears it sounds wonderful. Not spending any more money unless something breaks.
going on thirty years for my ML31. solid.
It's interesting how separating CD transport and Dac usually improves the sound, but adding extra links to the analogue signal chain (subwoofer crossover, equaliser, pre/power amp, etc) usually degrades the sound.
. It's all about the quality of the chain, not quantity. The chain itself always requires the same number of links to perform the same task. CD Players are still a CD Transport & DAC in a single chassis.
BUT you're right in that some people believe adding a link in the chain where none is needed to enhance the performance of the same task is detrimental. I'm specifically speaking of adding an Equalizer 'link' into the chain. I say "Nutz". A good EQ is quiet as a mouse & it's worth the flexibility to MyFi.
One caveat, if one plans to use lots of links then patchords become really, really important. Beginning & ending this type of chain should be all XLR balanced patchcords from the git-go. So plan ahead............
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass🔈🔉🔊
preamps dont degrade sound
@@intothevoid9831 Preamps don't but the extra analogue to the power amp(s) do.
@@intothevoid9831 Preamps don't but the analogue output cables they necessitate to the power amps, do.
Analogue lossy, digital is not.
I‘m not convinced in 4 of 5 topics. Only the read quality is valid in my eyes. I use direct clocked DACs (TDA1545) for many years, completely ground isolated from the transport, the transport is just slaved from the DACs clock. Something you don‘t find in the market.
What is true in my eyes: The mechanical situation of this clock is very very delicate. XOs are highly microphonic and their microphonic behavior can lead to higher non linear distortion. So no matter where the clock is situated (transport or DAC), much care is needed to calm the XO. This could be your main reason this transport sounds good.
I was actually expecting it to cost twice that much. 50 lbs IS a tank. Then I saw the "Handmade in China" on the back panel, so that lowered the price in my mind. I'd certainly like to hear it in my own system. A/B it against the players I have, but it would have to make a noticeable difference in a positive way. I like that is available in black. Maybe next "Black Friday" if they have a sale.
Right away, I preferred the CDT3. I can't say why exactly. I just did -- maybe because it "sounds silkier", or whatever. But then I compared my 320K MP3 of this track with both your samples and it was, I'd say, at least 90% as good as either. If £5500 (in UK) is what it takes to get 10% better than an MP3 track, it's a no brainer -- if one must -- to buy a much cheaper CD transport.
AFAIC, Investing in a decent DDC (Singxer SU-2 at c.£400), a DAC (pre-owned Gustard R26 at c. £1250) and an external OCXO clock (c. £80) brought me an immense improvement for all MP3 and FLAC tracks. FLACs are typically around 5% or so better than 320K MP3s, and I rip them on my computer's DVD drive.
So when it comes to FLACs, I'm around 95% of what the CDT3 can do, for around 30% the price. I can live with that.
My personal benchmark is how does a cd compare to a vinyl album. So far, so good✌️🇦🇺
Great to hear from you @markielinhart
This guy could have sold seltzer to the guests on the Titanic! 😂
@@jeffmpvd7689 ha! Funny.
Well, after listening to both tracks back and forth a few times with Grado cans and playing it through Jriver. I must say that I enjoy the Zenith more. It’s more insightful and engaging. I think it sounds just a wee bit more snappy, detailed, textured and, as you said, has better decay. Also, the small details like finger snaps sound more realistic. But I seriously doubt that I could hear these differences with the acoustics in my living room and yes, I am still drooling over the CDT3. It is stunningly beautiful inside and out.
If you want the absolute best
.. what a machine
Glad you found a unique and accurate way around the TH-cam sound demo rules.
Really enjoy sound demos, it's just too hard to hear this gear otherwise and words... Well there just words.
And, what did I really think of the demos?
Well, to put it simply the Zenith sounded like CD. Yeah, take that comment anyway you like.
The other sounded slightly dull in the highs. How is this possible?
I don't know, ask for an objective opinion from Amir perhaps, after his finished his snack.
🤣
Digital audio on a CD does not work as it does on a Vinyl. There are packages of information, not a continues stream of 1's and 0's. Anything that handles digital signals uses buffers to deal with this. Jitter, package loss or similar issues would result in corrupt reading, something a deaf person could hear. In other words, the CDT3 is a very expensive EQ. Noise over a digital cable is not digital, it is simply analog noise transferred by a digital cable.
If you want better sound, spend your money on room acoustics, DAC and everything analog (cables can make a change, but only if the ones you have are really fucking terrible).
This comment should be a sticky.
So happy to see you reviewing this. I have been thinking over a transport as well. I would love to see a shoot out between it and the new TEAC VRDS-701T transport. I have a Holo May Kitsune, and an Innuos Pulsar, I wonder if the upgrade to the Pulsar might erase the transports superiority? I'd lean to the Teac for price and the front loading would fit better on a middle shelf than the Jay's top loading mechanism.
If you want to get more detail from the pits... but still retain that smooth presentation... just up-sample to 176.4! I would compare 44.1 to great analog playback... and 176.4 to great digital playback! Any way you slice it... the Jays is an end game spinner.
5k and not even SACD ? and why is it silky and smooth ? shouldn't it be dead neutral ? anyway thanks for the video
Even through my very modest PC speakers (carefully equalised), I could tell the CDT3 sounded better, with crisper transient attack and better defined space around instruments & voices. Thanks for the demo, though I was surprised that you preferred the 44.1 to the upsampled output. In my main system I use a Perpetual Technologies P1A interpolating upsampler feeding my MF Trivista DAC, and the improvement in subjective detail and soundstage focus is significant.
52 yeards old, just good amplifier, good cd player, good speakers. No streamer or dacs. Old 400 cd-s colection.
Unreal price......😵💫
I while ago I was interested in this transport, but the top loading and blue lights turned me off and I got the Schiit Urd instead, The feet on the URD are terrible but overall I'm pretty happy especially with the sound on the USB out.
The Urd is as far as I would go
I like the StreamUnlimited metal tray-loading Redbook CD mechanism
I like two USB in and the USB out
Record guy here, I have an automatic turntable for a reason: lazy. If I'm listening to digital, I'm just listening to CD rips in FLAC, to a modified henry engineering DAC or just stream, with no need to get off the couch. I listen to analog for SQ and digital for convenience. I'm not getting up off the couch to change a CD for $5,000 lol but that's just me.
This seems like trying to apply an analogue sales pitch to CDs. Suppose the CD transport were better, you could store it's digital output in lossless format to replay it predictably anywhere. You're basically making a case for lossless "streaming" against all physical media with moving parts.
correction, Hole of Audio should be "Sink Hole of Audio.
$5k for a transport? A $20 Liteon CDR would be just s good. The two files not only sound exactly the same, they have identical waveforms (difference is 0) and identical spectral information... People hear what hey want to hear....
cope
Cope? This guy is just stating the obvious that they sound exactly the same through digital out. This video is just a long sponsorship that bozos like you think is legitimate. You would undoubtedly fail an A/B test between a $5k transport vs a $50 transport as would anyone else. How about you cope?
@@bankruptfilly More cope.
I dont see any reason to drop 5k on a cd transport. This is way overpriced, they are building this unit around a Phillips transport which is not the best in the business.
It's all superfluous nonsense - nowadays you can transfer all the data from a CD-ROM to a RAM memory within a minute and from there to a DAC without jitter or similar troublemakers.
. Yup, it's true. And why bother dating a human when Ai robots are here!
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass🔈🔉🔊
Jitter has nothing to do or both to do with CD or RAM as a source. It’s the time-related noise in the clock switching.
@@favorit601Yes, much more complicated.
I have a very nice Lumin streamer going into a tube DAC and my cd player still sounds better
100% correcr Rudolf
Or just rip them to FLAC on a cheap PC using foobar2000 in "paranoid" mode and rely on your existing DAC to play them back. You get a 1:1 lossless copy and no more jitter than your DAC creates on its own. And before someone tries telling me that FLAC adds jitter, no it doesn't.
BuT iTs CoMpReSsEd AnD sOuNdS wOrSe ThAn WaV
CORRECT!
Which Zenith is he using?
@@stijnvanderlooy5311 mk3
Well. your ears and eyes are definitely better than mine because when I load your .wav files in a DAW and blow them up really big, they kinda look identical for both cd devices. They kinda sound the same listening via studio monitors when I loop and A/B short portions of them. Again, I'm 60ish, so those 2 senses are not as reliable for me as they use to be :)
Great intro!
I'm glad you like it
Sorry, I was all into CD and had a really expensive player (+$20,000). But I really could get a relation to the actual media, the discs. Small, uniform, boring and not interesting ”covers”. To cut a long story short, I reverted ”technologically” to vinyl and everything made sense again. I don’t mind the odd pop from the record, I really love my records and my record player.
This is a truly lovely piece and I can see pride of ownership would give value to some, though for me it would have to demonstrably best the Shanling ET3 and Audiolab 9000CDT by a margin I can't believe it is capable of (based on experience of differences between transports in general...).
I found a Lector CD transport was noticeably better than a Jays Audio cdt3 mk2. More natural and more detail.
I have a Shanling ET3 using I2S into a Cyan2. Subtle, but I think it has better detail and air than my older Cambridge Audio CD player with SPDIF out. That's what I'm telling myself at least!! Please don't force me to do a blind A/B test 😅
This smoothness is a great sign of low level of jitter
Downloaded the WAV files. 2nd audio system, since yesterday with PSVANE ART TII Series 12AT7-S x2 on my hybrid integrated (Great improvement over the stock JJ 12AT7, already two years old), KEF Q100 (new internal small improvement and Kimber Kable 8PR with cotton inside -great improvement), W11 optimized for multimedia... I can easily hear the difference.
* Cdt3 - sound with more energy, dynamism, more "body", bass impact. More credible, I like it better. "More analog" sound. 10 points
* Zenith - "Digital" sound. 8 points
No surprise that there are differences. I have been trying for years, successfully, to minimize the JITTER generated on the PC. On the CPU: ALU internal registers
I also notice differences when playing the same file from a Crucial SSD (worse), Western Red NAS HDD (excellent) or external USB drive (much worse)
With some of these high end CD systems I can hear the transients snap off as they decay. Am I the only one?
I still have my Linn LP12 for my vinyl collection and want to find a nice CD transport with i2S output for my disc collection. I am currently using a 70’s era Luxman CD player but on the search to upgrade.
Thank you Ron for this video plus the sound clips. I may be missing something here but which (Zenith??) CD Transport is your current reference, Ron?
Ron, can I ask you to please do a deep dive on TDA1541A DAC chip. I see that there are some DYI and commercially available DAC’s with this chip and just as the Philips CD-Pro2LF tray mechanism, it is highly regarded.
Almost 100K ... maybe before newyears!!
I rather have a CD ripper that compares my rip to a hash file to make sure it’s digitally identical. That way I only need to worry about having a low noise streamer. I rather have a $40 cdrom drive and a $400 ifi zen stream than a $4,000 CD transport. Really the most important part of the high end streamer is high quality power supply and low noise digital transmission. For me I’d just get the streamer.
A customer of the store I work at that was known to be a bit special got pranked by one of my colleagues. He was demonstrated 4 " different " cd transports blind. After 2 hours, he was having trouble between number 2 and 4. " You can hear a wider soundstage but the trebles more harsh on 2 than 4" he said....... On and on it went......... They were all the same transport. Cognitive biases are real, regardless of what people may consciously be thinking. Our brains have not evolved to keep pace with all the technology and complication we've added to our existence. Our brains still think we are in the jungle and causes our brains to constantly want to take shortcuts and react on impulse. This is where the concept of critical thinking comes from. Checking our brains aren't tricking us.