So Is It a CD Player Killer?

I'll point out a couple of things before we delve into this part of the review. First, I'd love to tell you I was using a $50,000 Pleitzkreig Zuftwaffer 6000 Esoteric Tube CD player, but I wasn't. The $1500 Denon DVD-3090CI was my reference and the goal of this experiment was to see if (in my case) Windows Media lossless music could sound as good as the 16-bit source in my 2-channel listening room. Both devices were connected using their analogue outputs (Denon was using unbalanced), level matched, and tracks were started at the same time. A-B switching was done visibly and with my full knowledge of which source was selected at all times.  :-)   My goal was to see if there were significant or even noticeable differences that were easily discernable via speakers (and later earphones) not try to conduct a double blind listening test in an effort to prove whether I could pick them apart 9 times out of 10 (I sincerely doubt I could have).

SACD: Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (CD layer)
Track 2 "Seven Years" had a nice overall range of bandwidth including a nice opening of acoustic guitar with a well-rounded bottom end. It was very "live" sounding (as is the entire album) will all-encompassing low notes and distinct finger noises. Jones' vocals were typically breathy (in the good way) and I especially liked how the guitar solo had absolutely no compression or loss of top end - even when cranked in my listening room.

I kept the ripped disc running into the next track "Cold, Cold Heart" where the intro bass line and naturally reverberant vocals showed me that when picking up the Transporter, people won't be leaving any money on the table". It appeared, so far, to be completely transparently executing the duties of a "high-end" transport.

CD: Riotous Brothers
I first heard this band two weeks ago, live, at a good friend of mine's 60th birthday party (incidentally, Bruce Hensal also happened to be the guy who mastered the album). For $10 this is the best deal I've gotten on a good CD in a long time. Bruce doesn't subscribe to the "mash it until there's nothing left" theory of mastering, so the disc still has some dynamics left in it. This UK band has Blues, Rock, Funk, and a lot of British band influences (don't know how they feel about all those labels I just threw at them of course) - all of which combine to make for one impressive band. I focused on the imaging, drums, lead guitar and impressive, up-front vocals.

Track 2 "Real Mother for Ya" is a funky tune (almost Blues Brothers meets Tower of Power but without the brass) with a nice bass groove to it. As indicated previously, I really paid attention to imaging and soundstage which remained defiantly locked in pace when I A-B'ed the two players. Imaging and soundstage remained wide without sounding artificial or over-mixed/over-panned. I could not, despite my numerous attempts, hear a difference between the Denon and the Transporter during A-B switching.

Thanks to precise snare positioning in the mix, Track 3 "Strange Face of Love" further helped to confirm that imaging and soundstage were identical on both players.

But what if the differences are so subtle that the RBH Sound speakers and my room aren't enough to allow me to hear them? Simple, we grabbed our reference Etymotic ER4 earphones and sat back for another round of listening tests (I know, it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it). Folks, this reviewer couldn't hear a lick of difference between the two players. I focused in on reverb, scrutinized the male vocals, and dissected the top and bottom ends for artificial compression, tonal shifts or alterations in the soundstage. I'd have to say that I'd ditch my CD player in a heartbeat - I mean, how 80's!

CD: Euphoria - Precious Time
So are we done? Nah, I had one more CD - and even though I was pretty certain I'd still hear the same on both sources, we pooped in Euphoria's Precious Time CD and settled in for a listen. Track 2 "Blue" featured vocals by Tina Dico - who had a nice "angry white female" style voice with good texture and timbre. I loved the vocal effects in this song and the Transporter never missed a note. This album does tend towards a "busier" mix than I typically like but there's enough varied content to make it a very interesting work. Tracy Bonham makes it onto track 7 "Precious Time" and I again compared the luscious vocals on both players. The Transporter carried through reverb decays perfectly with no hint of the DAC taking a dump or missing anything in the translation from Windows Media lossless to its pristine balanced outputs. Simply stunning - at least for 16-bit tracks. My work here was done.

Conclusions and Overall Perceptions

Slim Devices took the world by storm with its Squeezebox series of players. Now the Transporter moves it even further ahead by ramping up the quality and adding more functionality and "pizzazz". But is the CD player dead? Can we replace a digital transport with a supercharged DAC to decode our lossless CD content into our listening rooms? After a thorough review and dissection of the product, its functionality, and its ability to fit in perfectly with audiophile grade equipment, I have to say the answer is a resounding "Yes" - provided you don't mind having a networked computer on in your system. This product isn't for everyone - but before you choke on the price, realize its target market and go price yourself some high-end CD players for comparison. And they don't have this cool TransNav knob… When put into perspective, the Transporter is almost a bargain - almost!

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