27-Feb-2015, 23:44
Had I been posting on this thread 18 months ago, I would have been close to the "bits are bits" camp:
- firstly, because what can be that tough about lifting loads of stuff equivalent to noughts and ones off a CD and sticking those noughts and ones into a DAC; and
- secondly, because Devialet (the manufacturer of allegedly the world's best piece of electronic kit between your CD and your speakers) effectively claimed that a Mac and iTunes was the perfect source for their optimal ("the best cable is no cable") AIR input. (Albeit AIR in its original form.)
I think I am still close to the "bits are bits" position, but the continued inability of Devialet to deliver AIR to all users - meaning one therefore has to use a (previously categorised) inferior USB or optical input to connect your Mac - does open up the debate - yet I think the general market stance on this has been slightly surprising.
Why? Because the list of high-end dacless streamers is dominated by those without rippers - as though the ripping process is exempt from any quality issue whereas the post-ripping process is up for grabs in a number of ways, whether HDD or SSD, internal or external power supplies, and so on. For a layman like me, it would seem tougher to get your noughts and ones from a moving CD (stage 1) to whatever we define as stage 2, than it would seem to get from stage 2 to DAC input (stage 3).
Indeed, of those dacless streamers that do rip, I can see only on the Antipodes website any advocacy of why they include a ripper and why their ripping process is configured in a certain way.
A cynical view might be that sourcing a dedicated CD transport ripper of appropriate quality (or modifying one) might be pretty expensive given that the demand for CD transports is rapidly declining.
Maybe it's just that my little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
- firstly, because what can be that tough about lifting loads of stuff equivalent to noughts and ones off a CD and sticking those noughts and ones into a DAC; and
- secondly, because Devialet (the manufacturer of allegedly the world's best piece of electronic kit between your CD and your speakers) effectively claimed that a Mac and iTunes was the perfect source for their optimal ("the best cable is no cable") AIR input. (Albeit AIR in its original form.)
I think I am still close to the "bits are bits" position, but the continued inability of Devialet to deliver AIR to all users - meaning one therefore has to use a (previously categorised) inferior USB or optical input to connect your Mac - does open up the debate - yet I think the general market stance on this has been slightly surprising.
Why? Because the list of high-end dacless streamers is dominated by those without rippers - as though the ripping process is exempt from any quality issue whereas the post-ripping process is up for grabs in a number of ways, whether HDD or SSD, internal or external power supplies, and so on. For a layman like me, it would seem tougher to get your noughts and ones from a moving CD (stage 1) to whatever we define as stage 2, than it would seem to get from stage 2 to DAC input (stage 3).
Indeed, of those dacless streamers that do rip, I can see only on the Antipodes website any advocacy of why they include a ripper and why their ripping process is configured in a certain way.
A cynical view might be that sourcing a dedicated CD transport ripper of appropriate quality (or modifying one) might be pretty expensive given that the demand for CD transports is rapidly declining.
Maybe it's just that my little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Innuos Statement 2TB SSD with Next-Gen PSU (with Roon lifetime)
MacBook Pro (with Air)
Draytek Vigor 2860v-Plus/Devialet Original d'Atelier CI Nos. 54A&B/Magico M3 pair
Shunyata cables (digital/interconnect/loudspeaker/power)/Shunyata power units (Triton/Typhon)
Dialog/Phantom Gold/Tree pair
Missing Link cables (power)
England
