Who needs a CD transport in 2019?

[@bizyz]

at last!a video that is for all of us audiophiles who love their cd players and their cd collections and the way cds sound.good goin' steve!

[@NickP333]

Isn’t quality music playback a true wonder of the universe in that you can get goosebumps even just thinking about music you’ve listened to? I love it! It’s the ultimate magic trick.

[@deevnn]

Nick...thank the musicians who created that sound.

[@raydm4015]

I have a Sony CDP-557ESD from the late 80's. Still one of the best transports ever made! Super durable and fast reader.

[@knightonlibrary1183]

I've just started collecting CDs because everyone is selling-off their collections at bargain prices! Not as convenient as digital but the CD isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

[@scottdavis0801]

I've been picking up some really good jazz, rock, etc. At my local thrift stores lately. So people are now getting rid of cds. Im picking up great stuff for 99 cents a piece.

[@Geerladenlad]

You can burn your CD's turning them files into Flac files.

[@Geerladenlad]

@Joe Home You mean Digital? Yeah but there are different types of digital files Flac being one of the lossless variety as apposed to lossy MP3's.

[@Geerladenlad]

@Joe Home You're talking in digital generalizations. I'm talking files and formats.

[@mag290]

Here is the unit for CD owners: Innuos Zen MK3

[@brianthompson1138]

I have two CD players. A Denon DCD-800 in the bedroom, and a Sony ES CD/SACD player in my office, which has my main listening system. I am using an Onkyo A-9310 integrated amplifier into a pair of ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers. The room has good acoustic treatment and music sounds great. I don't spend much time listening to gear, I listen to music.

[@Coneman3]

better gear=better music.

[@robfrancis8690]

CD's are as relevant as LP's, all kinds of tapes, and digital streams from the net etc... Whatever the recorded format, it ALL brings those of us who appreciate music, several methods for listening and enjoying it. Thanks for the info about the Jay's Adio CDT2 CD transport, Steve.

[@birgerolofsson2347]

I still only use CD and SACD, no streaming or other things here.

[@birgerolovsson5203]

@Robert Reuss I've riped all my CD's & SACDs (but only in CD-quality) in the wav-format so I'll still have them when my CDs becomes unreadable with age. CDs age with time as you know even if you only have them in their box all the time & never use them.

[@cwinfrey7077]

@@birgerolovsson5203 This is the first time I've heard that cds age. I suppose I'll start looking into this but how does the physically stored digital info deteriorate from/on a cd?

[@birgerolovsson5203]

@E. O. I always use CD Ripper

[@MarcusFerg21]

@@birgerolovsson5203 can you add artwork to your wav files? I can’t figure out how.

[@MarcusFerg21]

@E. O. I ripped my cds to external drive as wav files through itunes. Was that a waste of time?

[@mattgiunt]

Love to hear your respect of Zappa. Left us way too early.

[@eduardoquirino8131]

CD PLAYERS WILL REMAIN A FAVORITE OF THE SENIOR CITIZENS. ALL OVER ASIA, THE CD IS STILL LOVED.

[@jari2018]

the audiofiles made a new name of the same product.. they call it transport ,a cd transport -like if a recordplayers with a preamp would be called someting else -like recordstereoplayer

[@DaveJ6515]

@@jari2018 Transport as in "no dac included". That's why.

[@audiogman5865]

I’m gonna let everyone in on a little secret. I once was visiting an electronics repair technician named Tom that I have known for over 30 years at his shop and I noticed a rather exotic looking high end CD transport he had sitting on the counter that a customer had just dropped off to have repaired. Tom said it was a $15K unit. So I asked him was it worth the price. His response was, “You wanna know what does just as good a job or better than any high end CD transport?” So I was like of course I wanna know. He says, “A Sony PlayStation.” The main function of a CD transport is to spin the disc and read the digital information with a laser while minimizing jitter. He said play a disc in a PS2 and then while it’s playing take the player and shake it violently with both hands and try to get it to skip. So I did that when I got back home with my PS2 and he was absolutely right. I could not get it to skip. You can buy a used PS2 now for $50 or less. And it has an optical output. Imagine that. A $50 CD transport that will outperform units costing thousands. So there. I just saved everyone money that you can put towards something that really makes a difference like a better DAC or better speakers.

[@garytoth2122]

While you're shaking the PS2 , the built in memory buffer holds 20 to 30 seconds of data, till the unit becomes stables again . Just like a CD player in a car that is interrupted over bumpy roads. Same tech! You're hearing a delayed program of data in memory. The PS2 is no better then a car CD player.

[@pedrocols]

@@garytoth2122 It isn't better. However, it isn't any worse either.

[@NatMart9394]

AudioGMan I connected my Xbox straight into my Arcam solo to use its amp, as the arcam’s disc drive broke. It sounded really digital, hard edged. lots of detail but not pleasant or enjoyable. I've not tried connecting it through a stand alone dac. Has anyone had a good result?

[@pedrocols]

@@NatMart9394 I hope you realize Humans can't hear digital. In fact digital music does not exit it is just digital data.

[@NatMart9394]

pedrocols If you want to be pedantic. I hope you realise your digital data does Exit somehow. Lol As for the listening experience. I've never managed to get any digital source to sound anything like as enjoyable as it does from my analogue turntable. They're totally different listening experiences, and very easily distinguishable from one another.

[@brkly99]

I saw the Yellow Shark performed live in Utrecht earlier this year. Amazing music

[@blitzbbffl]

I own about 1100 CDs and about 40 SACDs. I'm happy listening to them on my Oppo205 using the on-board DAC. I also steam using a $15 Chromecast Audio connected via Mini-Toslink to the Oppo.

[@scottglennen2186]

A network hard drive loaded with lossless music files serving a network media player over ethernet sounds really good with a quality DAC.

[@cebruthius]

Of course, you can trust the checksummed files on your storage. A CD playback could hit error interpolation.

[@soabundantly739]

Very informative. Thank you. It is good to know the importance of a transport on the sound quality. I spent a lot on a player way back in the 90's and have recently had it serviced and upgraded and feel it was/is a very good investment. Also I enjoy picking up cd albums for 3 or 4 pounds each and feel I am missing nothing in audio quality terms.

[@F16CJWW]

It's not worth the money. I LOVE my CD collection. I LOVE my SACD's. I HATE streaming! I want physical , hold it my hand media. It's what works best for me and has for many, many years. I despise reviewers and others who tell me cd's need to go, they're just shills ..... to each his own....

[@clothyardshafts]

I love my CDs but I’m an all formats type of guy. If a source sounds good, I’ll use it. Mostly CDs and SACDs these days, then equal shares of vinyl and streaming stored CDs. Tidal and Primephonic sometimes sources - if I like something on the streaming sources, I’ll probably buy the CD or the vinyl.

[@Acoustic_Theory]

@H. G. Wells MQA. That is all.

[@martynflynn8368]

Couldn't agree more. I have never downloaded or streamed any piece of music ever and I never will. I love my collection of over 4k cd's and I love some of the packaging. Yeah, I know, the bog standard cd package is quite boring, a plastic case and a little booklet but when they package it like a mini vinyl, I love it. My favourite packaging cd wise is a Lemon Jelly album with awesome graphics and lovely thick card with a triple gatefold sleeve, love it. Fuck to downloads and streaming, all part of a plot to take away private possessions and be a fucking robot, bollocks to that.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

I bought a Jays CD Transport. It simply looked too cool and it was a hell of a build I must say. but after a week of listening to my CD collection again, I realized how limited my listening experience was and remembered that back when I had a CDP, I also had a stack of maybe 20 CDs that were comprised of good recordings or good production, and I would just rotate between those 20. The sheer breadth of music I have at my fingertips with streaming is unfathomable. After trading with a few friends, Ive got 10TB of music this is ridiculous, I cant listen to them in my lifetime its so many, plus Tidal and Quobuz , theres damn near everything ever produced or so it seems. If we are discussing bands and someone brings up one Ive not heard in a long tome, I can search without disturbing whats playing, find the song, drop it in the queue and forget about it. I am about the music, not the gear or the hard media. the music is the valuable part of our hobby, for Music Lovers, there is no contest. Computer based audio is light years ahead of music stored optically on plastic. The main thing is the access to the music is one hundredfold. and you dont need to stand up, just flick your finger and tap. Look, you guys can hang on to old tech with a death grip, all the power to ya. If you had a server or streamer in your rig and you were to simply try it out, you'd never go back. SACD ? Buy a better DAC and SACD is irrelevant. Again, 16/44 or 16/48 on a world class DAC is indistinguishable from SACD, and may sound better depending on the DAC architecture. So you dont need to worry about losing quality , you gain it. And you can rip your SACD collection and put it on the drive of the server anyways.. Not really sure what I'm shilling, but youre speaking to someone thats tried both.. You guys have not even tried streaming and your condemning it when its a totally superior technology. Im not saying its wrong to listen to CDs and ingnore streaming if you want to , but if you are really in your heart about the music, you'll want to stream big time... even computer illiterates does not matter any more... Dont let yourself die without trying streaming, your last years could have been filled with a much better listening experience, truly guys I'm trying to make you aware of a much more enjoyable way to listen and if you have not tried streaming then you really cant speak to this at all. If someone wants to respond that is telling the truth, that has tried streaming and gone BACK to CD then you may speak, and by all means please share the story .. Cheers and Happy Listening ! .

[@mydogskips2]

@@OCDHIFiGuy Yup, very well said. No offense to anyone here, but some guys just can't let go. I have hundreds of CDs and thought I'd never listen to that "audio streaming crap," but then I realized, trying to own everything on CD is like trying to buy the damn radio station, it's crazy and completely unnecessary if you just want to listen to great music. Frankly, I hardly listen to my CDs at all anymore, and I loved them years ago, it's just that I've heard them so many times I got tired of them. If you've got endless amounts of money, god bless you, and go for it, get every song/piece of music you want on disc, but for the rest of us, streaming audio is a much better and far more affordable alternative.

[@OCDHIFiGuy]

Quick note to the viewers to buy an extra laser with the initial purchase because the lasers, while still available from Denafrips are discontinued and not being made any longer. so if you buy a transport, buy it with an extra laser for sure.

[@TOM-C.]

I had a private dealer who allowed me to take home, and test various CD players against my trusted $150 JVC transport. As we audiophiles do, we want better sound when the funds come in, to purchase something better. I tried 2 tube transports, and several non tube players in the $1000 range. I also owned a McIntosh cd player I paid a few hundred for used. The only player that came close to the cheap, inexpensive JVC, was the McIntosh, but even that transport colored the sound in a a minor way, but it looked fantastic. This was in the mid 90's, and I was playing through an Audible Illusions M3A tube preamp with PSB Gold I's speakers. The McIntosh MC2205 was the amp, and was in pristine condition. It was a great system for a middling investment. THE CHEAP JVC OUTPLAYED THEM ALL! High dollar transports are usually, aesthetically pleasing, and had one of the players I tried equaled the JVC, it would have become part of my system because of it's appearance! lol

[@seacampal1425]

5:14 Zappa's Yellow Shark is one my reference CD recording! Peter Rundell is the conductor but Zappa conducts just one piece on this recording and it's 'G Spot Tornado'.

[@goahead3995]

I just recently upgraded from CXC to Jay's Audio CDT2-MK3. Jay's Audio blows the CXC out of the water. To me, it was night and day. The detail on Jay's is simply amazing! My DAC is Denafrips Venus II and Hermes DDC before it.

[@blackchewy8435]

I do! I love my makeshift transport run into my DAC. Great sound quality.

[@GrandTrunkWestern85]

Heck yeah man. I run my old Nakamichi CDP4 into my Schiit Modi3 and its a surprisingly good combination wish I could find a remote on eBay or something for it but I don't have one for my Legacy preamp either so the kids get to do alot of track changes and and volume adjustments 😄

[@carlitomelon4610]

Thanks for the music recommendations 😊. Yellow Shark is amazing on Spotify. I can't wait for the CD arrive so I can give it a spin with my modest transport and DAC. Music is about goosebumps!

[@christinearmington]

@@carlitomelon4610 How do they compare?

[@carlitomelon4610]

@@christinearmington Predictably clearer and more dynamic on CD. Now checking out all new recordings on Qobuz instead. High Res (HR) are amazingly clear. Zappa only in CD quality, however. But that's ok. Needless to say my CD buying has slowed way down;-)

[@headwinded1948]

Yep, I still do. NAD C538, works nicely so far.

[@pf5658]

There has to be a good reason why some of the hi-end Audio manufactures still put a lot of effort into building CD players. I have a feeling it’s not going away anytime soon.

[@Coneman3]

Yes, CD players (transports and DACs) have been improving steadily over the years. Wiht a great setup it's amazing the detail on some CDs.

[@chrisharper2658]

Do you mean to tell me that the CD transport system is altering the digital data that comes out of it and goes in to your DAC to the point that you can hear the difference? How so? This is where the audiophile has always baffled me.

[@miguelbarrio]

Jitter

[@chrisharper2658]

@@miguelbarrio Hum, could you be a little more specific? Because I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to use some junky PLL clock to drive the I2S bus.

[@scottyo64]

@@miguelbarrio I thought the DAC took care of jitter. That is where I get confused.

[@miguelbarrio]

@@scottyo64 Unfortunately it is not that simple... The way the SPDIF interface works is the source determines the timing of the bits. If you have a source with a very unstable clock, the timing of those samples is going to have variations over time, sometimes faster sometimes slower - this is called “jitter” and this produces distortions in the DAC. To see how distortion is created, think of a little part of the signal going straight up. Each PCM sample is larger than the previous one by the same amount. If the time of those samples is not constant it will produce “wiggles” in the signal and timing errors. You could argue: what if I buffer on the DAC side for a long time, recover all bits, and reclock it with a good clock? The issue is your DAC buffer can never say to the source “you’re going too fast, slow down” (SPDIF does not allow this, USB does, but has other issues) so buffering always runs the risk of running out of space. I understand PS Audio does buffering like this, but it is not the norm, and they are not immune to the "run out of memory" problem. When you rip a CD, jitter is a not an issue at all because you’re just recovering the bits exactly regardless of timing. However, when you play the ripped file, jitter comes back into play of course, as the DAC always needs proper timing of PCM samples.

[@Howling-Mad-Murdock]

Miguel Barrio jitter has been a non-issue for quite some time now, unless of course you are using an old dac or maybe some non-oversampling design. It’s been a good few years since I read it but Benchmark used to have a good explanation on their website. The only independent blind test into the audibility of jitter I’ve seen was published on the JAES website and the figure was surprisingly high, way higher than you’d get from almost any digital transport.

[@benpara6478]

Great review. Always a pleasure.

[@clothyardshafts]

I’ll never stop playing my CD collection. And, I’m I2S all the way.

[@moonlight-kh6uz]

can you describe your system and connections and protocols?

[@bizyz]

@@jim9930 i like drinking bud while listening to cds.

[@legrandmaitre7112]

"Who needs a CD transport in 2019?" Me!!! There are plenty of mugs out there who that think CDs have had their day. Presumably they believe everything they're told. Some of us kept all our old LPs because we used our commonsense. History is now repeating itself, and we won't have long to wait before CDs become highly collectable. Apart from Oasis and Robbie Williams of course.

[@kirtah7]

Looks nice. I guess I don't understand how a transport can affect digital information read from a CD. Does it do signal processing?

[@stephensmith3111]

I am an unrepentant physical media kind of guy. I have an Arcam DV135 not quite universal player (no Blu-ray, otherwise it will play anything available on a chrome doughnut but only in stereo) This model dates back to when Arcam was still making all of their 'kit' in England. It's list price was $1500, but I purchased it at a model change for $800 from a nearby brick-and-mortar stereo retailer (support your locals). About 2 years ago, the transport failed (a Sanyo drive, I believe), but it had lasted for about 7 years, so I can't complain too much. I took it back to said dealer, who delivered it to his service person to see if it could be repaired at a reasonable cost. A couple of days later, I was quoted about $250 all total but that the replacement transport would need to be sent from England. I made due playing an even older Mac Book through a Dragonfly Black. Eventually it was ready for $218.72 (I found the invoice) for parts, labor, and tax. My music library includes a not inconsiderable stable of unicorns (as "The Audio Company That Must Not Be Named" likes to refer to them) and took over a select HDCD, DVD-A, and SACD to make sure that all was good. The dealer graciously indulged an old customer and plugged it into one of their demo systems (frankly better than What I have at home.). They all played fine, and even cold the staff were all suitably impressed by this approaching vintage player that they had not heard for nearly a decade and these guys are used to listening to dCS gear. So I will continue to enjoy my sweet little multi-format player (oh yeah, Wolfson WM8740 DAC chip, if you are interested) instead of your $2398 CD only transport from an obscure Chinese manufacturer (plus I would need to buy a suitable outboard DAC, even a reasonably affordable one from "T.A.C.T.M.N.B.N." ). Plus I will continue to enjoy the high resolution layers of my thoroughbred unicorns.

[@BustRadioMyths]

I just bought a Sylvania branded DVD player at Best Buy for $25 and it sounds very good.

[@kdomster9141]

Check Craigalist and buy some true audio CD player.... It will blow away mas made DVD player

[@bcccl569]

love your commentary steve, thank you!

[@petergoose8164]

Jargon and witchcraft. How does a stream of bits (which have no personality of their own until passed through a DAC) acquire space, depth and make you think differently about music?

[@RoastBeefSandwich]

Peter Goose ideally every transport would supply the same stream to the DACs 100% of the time. I’m not sure how it could be otherwise.

[@PatrickHenryLibertyorDeath]

I use an early 90s Sony ES five disc player with an optical output. 2500? It is ones and zeros. I assumed it either reads or it doesn't? Now I am curious.

[@Hare_deLune]

That Jays looks a lot like a Krell CD player I saw back in the mid 1990's. Good to see Jon Hassell and Zappa recommendations. : )

[@baddriversofcolga]

I love CDs! It's the only format of music I buy.

[@pf5658]

Me too. I think Jeff Bezos reached a few more billions from me buying a shitload of CDs of Amazon. 😂

[@baddriversofcolga]

@@pf5658 Haha, yeah, I used to buy a lot from Amazon as well though now I mostly buy from Discogs as the sellers there are more serious and describe the condition better.

[@pf5658]

@Bad Drivers of Columbus, Georgia - I’ve never thought of that but it’s a good idea. Where may I ask do you most buy from. eBay, Craig’s Or other?

[@baddriversofcolga]

@@pf5658 Sorry if I wasn't clear but I buy mostly from Discogs.com.

[@pf5658]

@Bad Drivers of Columbus, Georgia - That’s ok man. 😂 Very much appreciated. Never heard of before so I’ll definitely be checking them out.

[@hollowillusion4732]

CDS is the best format ever !

[@bareknuckles2u]

What he says about how products feel @0:42 is, in my opinion, spot on! I know some people will totally dismiss that point but I agree with Steve here.

[@anivegmin]

Can someone explain to me how a transport like this can sound better or more "spacial" than another reasonable quality transport? Surely a transport is not processing the data in any way, and is just outputting the stream of 0s and 1s to the dac? Does a lesser quality transport actually lose some of the data?

[@michaelb9664]

Quentin Wallace there is no audible difference, for the reasons you mention it isn’t possible to sound different. It’s audiophile BS I’m afraid.

[@anivegmin]

@@michaelb9664 That's what I thought. The money is for quality construction/feel/looks. Any perceived improvement in audio quality is the resulting placebo effect from spending two grand.

[@michaelb9664]

Quentin Wallace absolutely!

[@miguelbarrio]

Jitter

[@martinsapsitis4292]

Hey Quentin, if you get the opportunity listen to the current rega range of cd players. The auditory experience will show the truth of it. The laser may be the same in all units but the technologies in the different units will explain clearly through your ears what it's all about. Cheers

[@_Chev_Chelios]

Extracting digital data from a CD and sending it out the back is 40 year old technology that sold for $19.99 several years ago. A CNC’d case is pleasant but hardly worth over $2,000.00.

[@stephensmith3111]

And yet people still drive their '57 Chevys and deeply love them. "The old that is strong does not wither." to quote Professor Tolkien. =//=OldDudesStillRock

[@_Chev_Chelios]

Stephen Smith,totally. And, the price of Egg (12 Eggs) in China is 6.832 CNY currently. I have shoes.

[@moonlight-kh6uz]

you nailed it beautifully

[@deevnn]

@@stephensmith3111...try changing out the carburetor then you will see the very few hard core lovers of old technology.

[@stephensmith3111]

@@deevnn I haven't done that in a looong time (well, helped a friend), but I get your point. It's about passion, not necessarily efficiency.

[@mauanderuk]

Have had my CD player for 30 years have thousands of CD's still waiting for it to fail....

[@DIY-valvular]

Me too! My gorgeous JVC XL V220 with its weird Optima 2 optics! (assembled in Tierra del Fuego by Audinac Argentina)

[@sonicyouth29]

It will never fail. CDs are a great format with high quality audio

[@showstopperrob1097]

Hello steve, That transport shown in this video is the CDM9 made by Philips or did they copy it? This because Philips is the only brand that made swingarm mechanism. And to be honest swingarms are the best transportmechanisms But the original laser and above the lens was made of glass. I'm afraid this one, because you said cost only ¤ 100 is made off plastic allthough I hope it's not the case.

[@michaeljones8058]

Steve, diggin' the vids, but I can't seem to find a video of your personal system. Would love to see what you're working with.

[@markrowe8824]

just brought the 50th anniversary of the Beatles abbey road on cd, sounds great through my naim cd5, any problems with the unit and it goes back to my local dealer.

[@denniswaske]

top loader, are you sure its not a betamax?

[@ronaldsantosjapan]

The ability to hold up and show the jewel cases or record covers to talk about the recordings one of the nice things about physical media too.

[@ianjack6868]

The problem with a top loading CD player is that it must be placed at the top of your hifi stand, and if the CD player is at the top of your hifi stand then where do you locate your turntable?

[@monetize_this8330]

I'd rather get a second-hand Pioneer deck with the platter mechanism from the 1990s. M. Fremer of Stereophile still uses one.

[@janedoe8533]

Steve what happen to your DCS Rossini player ? How does it compare ? The Rossini is only fifteen thousand more. Or twenty five thousand more if you had the latest one.

[@miguelbarrio]

Steve is reviewing a dCS Bartok, which is a DAC. This transport can connect to it. I don’t think he’s reviewing a dCS Rossini player, and that would be like $30k anyway.

[@RasheedKhan-he6xx]

Two thoughts on the same subject, that being a slight suspicion / resentment / feeling of being maybe taken for a ride. 1. I don't understand why they don't just democratise good sound. Honestly, everything we know about sound we knew by the 1920s and 30s. We've had improvements in fidelity and in materials and in efficiency but the knowledge and the process of creating and reproducing good sound is essentially the same. And don't get me wrong, there is definitely such a thing as good sound. And good sound engineers and electronic engineers who know how to reproduce good sound out of ICs and transistors and resistors and capacitors should get paid. But on the other hand the vast majority of equipment these days is made using standardised components. No one is designing their own integrated circuit or casting their own capacitors. And I cannot for the life of me figure how they would put more than say $200 worth of parts into anything. Double that to include manufacturing costs, overheads etc. Double it again to pay the engineer, the IP and the entrepreneur for taking risks. And double it once more for the whole marketing, influencer, advertising shebang. You are at $1600. So why $2498 OR $7589 $21329 etc etc etc. I allowed 50% of the retail price to be marketing expenses and still didn't break $2000. 2. This concept of space and separation in sound. Honestly, all it is is a fad. People's taste in sound has changed over time. I like the sound of systems I heard as a child or young person, which was in the eighties and which was therefore less harsh and tinny in the trebles and less violent in the bass. Someone ten years younger than me bemoans that sound and finds it all muddy opaque. These days it's fashionable to want to hear every breath, every scrape, every moth that flew into the lightbulb as some form of hyper realism without recognising that you are missing the purpose of music, which is to transport you and allow you to transcend reality. And you are destroying the beauty of when four things come together; instruments, atmosphere, voice and listener, to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Its like if you came to me for a slice of cake and I gave you a plate with a raw egg, a mound of flour, a cup of milk, a bit of sugar and a small knob of butter and said "enjoy!". Sorry - I rambled there a bit. My point is - this quest for separation is a probably a fad. To the manufacturer however its a market trend and they better pay attention. So I cannot help thinking that it's highly probable there's some signal processing going on. Why does the Jay's CD transport have so much more separation than the Oppo? No one knows. "Its magic!" No it isn't. Its just a setup choice, likely no different from choosing "Cathedral" or "Stadium" DSP mode on a cheap car stereo.

[@christinearmington]

I think your conclus ion in #2 makes the opposite point. The ingredients (which themselves separate into organic, factory farmed, etc.) may even have a similar cost. But their incorporation and mixing whether by grandma 👵 or a chef 👩‍🍳 makes all the difference. Add in the ambience, setting, artistic appeal, or ease of use, well that’s also part of the tasty quotient.

[@davide.s.9880]

As much as I want it it's $2000 over what I'm willing to pay for something like this.

[@mydogskips2]

Yeah, I want it, but I don't want it THAT much. : )

[@davide.s.9880]

I just re-watched this video and got to where he said that the laser will crap out some day. So now after spending $2400 I would also buy a couple of the $400 laser replacements for future longevity . So now I will have replacements and not being stuck not being able to find it in the future. So now I'm spending $3200 for a " high- end " CD player. I will never buy this even if I came into some stupid money.

[@billwillard9410]

A side note about the other CD players mentioned - the CXC won’t read the SACD level on a disc, whereas the Oppo will. Does the Jay’s transport play SACD’s?

[@miguelbarrio]

The Jay does NOT play ANYTHING other than redbook

[@billwillard9410]

I picked up a Cambridge Audio CXC and I really noticed an increase in soundstage and detail over my Oppo, which surprised me; most times when I upgrade, I really don’t hear such a substantial difference.

[@miguelbarrio]

Bill Willard Great!

[@johnnysmile01]

It’s kinda very expensive I still got my old Sony ES CD player and a Philips and so far I am satisfied with them and they are from the 90s or late 80s

[@Andersljungberg]

How old is it? for an equivalent today sounds guaranteed better than one that is 5 years old

[@Andersljungberg]

A CD player from 1992 sounds significantly better than a CD player from 1990 my own experience. the development at that time went at a furious pace especially when it came to DA converters in the players

[@Chris.from.1950]

This is a very sexy device! Now, please, add a review of something that will provide 80% of the goodness for 20% of the price! And, one more step, 70% of functionality for 10% of the money 💰😎 All the best! Carry on!

[@RumblestripDotNet]

That will be the Cambridge Audio CXC amzn.to/2n1hbqG

[@johnraven5093]

Audiolab 6000CDT

[@kwicke5636]

Have you had a chance to check out the Marantz CD5400? Might be a good budget option...

[@johnaiello1838]

Ordering one on Monday. I have a Denafrips Venus. Anxious to pair them together.

[@huskydogg7536]

I have a Venus II on order. What has been your experience with it?

[@johnaiello1838]

@@huskydogg7536 The Venus I have is a great DAC. I have owned it for about 18 months now. There are better DACs out there for big dollars. For $3K I think this thing is terrific. I would think you need to spend three times the price to get a slightly better DAC. Don't know your musical tastes or the rest of your system but I think you will be extremely pleased with this purchase.

[@huskydogg7536]

@@johnaiello1838 I'm into classical/jazz and system is mint Quad ESL63 electrostatics with an Ayon integrated tube amp. Intend to use my Rega Saturn as the transport. Very excited as I've never had a DAC in my system before. Thanks for your thoughts!

[@williamevans9426]

Sorry but I'm confused. If this is purely a CD transport I can appreciate that it might be better than others at error correction etc., but how can a transport have a signature "sound"? Surely, the transport simply sends a binary stream to a DAC that then produces an analog signal to be fed to an amp and on to speakers. Thus, isn't the DAC/amp/speaker combination, rather than the CD transport, responsible for the 'sonic signature'?

[@Velvet_Torpedo]

Hey Steve, thanks for doing this review!! It's so hard to find great CD transports nowadays. I have been wondering for a while now if a transport makes any difference, or if it's all in the DAC.

[@newdeep19]

Its all in the transport even the regular old 1 bit dlc dacs will shine with a good transport google why the ps1 sounds good and you'll see

[@user-pl8eh9iw8g]

@@newdeep19 can help me a bit sir.. i have old ps1, what else do i need to connect to my amps? im a begginer and sorry my english

[@rd264]

Steve, what about the Jays CDP? Is the player good value?

[@psi3845]

Hi Steve!!! You need to make a new review!!! The new Jay's audio CDT2-MKIII is sooo good!!! A big upgrade on MKII. The sound is much more in focus and bigger soundstage!!!

[@WoodstockG54]

I’m confused, no surprise there. Isn’t it the Dac which the transport is hooked up to that creates the nuances of what you are listening to?

[@ememe1412]

Audiophile's turn of the century. 1989 = Who needs turntables? 1999 = Turntables are really just for djs and hipsters. 2009 = I'm going to buy a turntable after 20yrs+ of CDs. WTF did I sell all my vinyl from the 80s? 2019 = Who needs a CD transport? 2029 = CD, SACD, DVD-A makes a comeback resurgence. 2039 = I'm going to buy a Transport after 20+yrs of hard drive streaming. WTF did I sell all my discs in the noughties? 😁

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

CDs never will back! and I'm so glad, of that way prices on CDs don't up like hipsters do with vinyl. Hipsters destroy everything.

[@ememe1412]

@@JohnSmith-zl8rz hipsters didnt do anything with vinyl. Theres enough new and vintage TTs to find a suitable budget for. By the time charity shops and flea markets jumped on the bandwagon, vintage 2nd hand gems have already been picked over for the last 30yrs so dont matter. (Last gem I picked up was an original Carol King album in pristine condition for £3 3yrs ago. Price up from the £1 i used to pay for years in charity shops. Im not crying.) On top theyre pressing fresh vinyl for the price of CDs in the 90s. Collectibles will always be collected by all sorts driving certain prices up. There are millions of CDs in storage now after their owners ripped them. 10+ yrs ago. They wont stay in storage forever. Vinyl and tape didnt....

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

@@ememe1412 Good for you (because you like in Europe or USA) but I only can buy online, so there's £3 records online, everything online overpriced, you can find tons of cds per £1, but later scalpers and resellers take that £1 to online to me! for £10 + shipping. So sadly buying online sucks.

[@JeromeMcClendon_jmc]

I have a collection of around 200 SACDs and I love them all, especially multi-channel discs. I use Sony UBP-X1000ES to play SACDs and regular CDs. The unit only cost about $500 and it sounds great! It would be interesting to hear the difference between the Sony ES and Jay's. I'm thinking since Sony invented the CD and SACD they might have an advantage. Let us know what you think.

[@miguelbarrio]

The Jay ONLY plays redbook CDs - no SACDs, no mp3 CDs or any other data disc.

[@michaelgrant5258]

You could have spent less than $300 and picked up a PS3 to play SACDS or spent less than $100 and pick up a bluray/dvd player that is capable with firmware update. Sony is a rip off and nothing to right home about!

[@miguelbarrio]

@@michaelgrant5258 I disagree... In most cases, SACD sound quality will be limited by the quality of the DAC being used inside the player. To play SACDs with high quality, there are three options to my knowledge: 1- A high end CD/SACD player (the Jay will not play SACDs at all) 2- Rip SACDs to DSD files using a PS3 or similar, then play to a high end DAC 3- Use an intermediate bridge that can make the DSD HDMI out signal into a DoP signal that a high end DAC can then decode

[@BobStCyr]

But you could burn all the CDs to a hard drive and play back from there. some folks have even suggested that flac files played back through a good digital streamer sounds better than the CD (lack of moving parts? I don't know) - Steve have you checked that out? is there possibly any truth to it?

[@christinearmington]

Important question 🙋‍♀️

[@newdeep19]

Yes its true the main issue is the jitter and in a bad system to my experience and ears this could be transferred to your CD rips and encodings even streaming is a very subtle annoying distortion that it won't go away no matter if you have $$$$ equipment or speakers and btw a DAC has nothing to do with it if is jitter free the sound is so right that every dac will sound just fine you wouldn't miss vinyl or analog.

[@billwillard9410]

As I mentioned elsewhere - is it really beneficial to try to have really good equipment in every available format, or does it makes more sense to go full in only one format? Just a thinking point.

[@cybergod77]

Thks Steve but how much does a transport affect SQ? Wouldn't it be better to put more of the budget towards a good dac?

[@ujean56]

I bought a Rotel RCD-970BX CD player way back in 198?. It served me really well for several years. I put it in storage for almost 10 years. When I got it out again, about 5 years ago, I took it to my TV repair guy and he replaced the transport, the lazer, and the loading drawer. I plugged the coaxial digital out into an SMSL DAC and now it sounds better than it ever has. I'm sure a more expensive transport would bump performance but hey - my Rotel isn't dead yet by any stretch.

[@georgealbertina1498]

Steve, You have to review the CD transport from Denafrips . It looks very much like the Jay's Audio. Are they the same?

[@brighidclaire]

This machine is a beast. I like how it sounds so much, I ordered a replacement drive "module" (with laser) so it would last a LONG time. Better than my CEC and various modified CD players (Musichall CD25.*). I2S via HDMI connection with my Holo Audio and Terminator is the best I have heard.

[@einarbk885]

good luck picking out a transport in a blindtest. a descent dac will remove any minor differences

[@BigPoppa-t3z]

True

[@kdomster9141]

I heard this for last 20years + Transports sound different , better or worse.... and make significant upgrade to sound resolution over just some coax output from average CD players....

[@miguelbarrio]

I think you really need to give it a try in a high end system...

[@Natemasterflex]

Agreed to a level. But I guess if you already have a fantastic setup and need a CD player than you might spend this much.

[@tjp444]

Nice review. I've been buying CDs since they came out in the 80's. However, I was hoping you would have also compared the Jays transport to a network transport from a 44.1/16kHz flac file. That would have been an interesting comparison.

[@patrickthunnus]

I've ripped most of my CDs to FLAC on microSD; no moving parts and a huge improvement in every way.

[@cebruthius]

News flash: The emperor runs around naked.

[@dapster]

Is over 3000 CDs considered "large"? Oct 24th will be 30 years since I bought my first one - "Full Moon Fever" by Tom Petty - which I still have.

[@e5m956]

My first CD was Metallica And Justice For All and I still have it! However I only have about 400 cds..

[@r423fplip]

Got to love Jeff lynne.

[@onefatstratcat]

I had to sell may auto transport to buy my Jay's CD transport :)

[@rhubarb99999]

$2400 is reasonable? A $10 CD-ROM drive can read a CD with bit perfect accuracy.

[@michaelgrant5258]

It probably has the same CD-ROM drive produced in the same factory. They just put it in an aluminum chassis and called it high end.

[@miguelbarrio]

“Offfline” meaning not playing in realtime, yes, you are correct. Playing a CD in realtime is different, most notably due to jitter. Will a ripped CD played to the same DAC by a high quality piece of software sound as good as the Jay? I think it would, but I have not tried the Jay myself.

[@gregolsen4048]

Yeah this was the last straw for me. I just unsubscribe d.

[@billwillard9410]

rhubarb99999 You know, after a few videos where components cost multiple thousands of dollars and you hear the reviewer say “Is that all?” Then I start getting the feeling that they’re talking to someone else and not me. The prices they so casually throw around at audio shows is astounding to me.

[@mydogskips2]

He did say very, very reasonable, by high-end standards. ; ) I guess most of us average folk aren't going by high-end standards though.

[@timbathras2660]

I only have a CD player so when friends come over, they can bring CDs to play. I love my CXC transport, but I do have it run into a DirectStream DAC, so that helps for sure.

[@lynnpoole7830]

Wow, that's a killer DAC. I bet it sounds great.

[@timbathras2660]

@@lynnpoole7830 It is pretty amazing, I absolutely love it.

[@kdomster9141]

What if you run average CD player's Coax into PS Audio DAC , how big difference Cambridge Audio Transport makes?

[@timbathras2660]

k domster I don’t have any other CD players to test with. I bought the CXC because it got good reviews, measures well, and has only the features I need.

[@kdomster9141]

Thank you ..i have their Discmagic1 it is 25yrs old and still goes strong and sounds better than any coax from CD player

[@JasonDominus]

IDK Steve. The OPPO 203's DAC measures at - 113db SNR which is very clean. Especially considering the price. As far as space, what filter setting did you using? Sharp roll-off will give you the biggest sense of space with the super slow roll-off the least. The slow roll-off is in the middle and I find it has the best tonality. It's the only filter that I get real sweetness from instruments though the transients are ever so slightly smeared compared to short delay slow.

[@classicrecordings]

What about the Jay’s Audio DAC?

[@Coneman3]

It’s superb but I never heard a player near its price point. Reviews are very good though.

[@maxpower78-15]

Recently found your channel, and ive been binge watching. You convinced me to save up for a good multi channel amp.

[@christinearmington]

What did you get?

[@maxpower78-15]

Got the Marantz

[@tomhohum4275]

Shelly Mann and friends - superb album - wish I had the version you showed in the video!!

[@MINXC3]

The Mk3 version of the Jay's arrived at my door this morning. It's warming up right now.

[@ap06476]

It's nice that they offer replacement lasers for cheap and as user replaceable units but it's not the replacement method that I worry about when considering a CD transport or CDP purchase. The real problem is - how long are these laser units going to be available for? Can the manufacturer ensure they have them in stock for say - 10 years? I've had all sorts of problems with the Meridian CDPs for that reason. Fantastic CD players for the time, but once the laser went out - I had an expensive paperweight.

[@sabinoruiz2080]

Great video and fantastic information

[@lynnpoole7830]

I love my Cambridge CXC transport and Modi 3. But only 400 CD's (and counting). I bet your friend that asked you about the Cambridge was in one of your KZbin vids.

[@motorradmike]

Lynn Poole, I’m liking my CXC a LOT compared to my OPPO 203 BluRay I had been using as a transport. It was a eye opening experience playing my modest 600 or so collection in several ways. Firstly, really good recordings sounded truly fantastic! Secondly, poor recordings sounded just plain awful. Lastly, my CXC requires scrupulously clean discs. I recently purchased a couple of brand new CDs recommended by Steve, and the machine wouldn’t read them and displayed “error”. This and the fact the CXC was still having a difficult time reading so many of my carefully handled CDs, I decided that perhaps the laser lens may have had some dust on it causing these problems. I probably voided the warranty, but I removed the cover and ever so gently brushed off the the lens with the finest Camel hair artist’s brush I had. After reinstalling the cover, voila’, the CXC now played the CDs it once refused perfectly. Bear in mind the CXC was only a week or two old when I did this. Dust from manufacturing the unit? I don’t know. I have since been culling CDs that I can no longer listen to because of their god awful SQ. They will be given to the thrift store or used CD shop. It is not in the cards for me to own a $2,500 CD. Until then, you and I can still enjoy 90% of what the Jays transport provides. My DAC is a Project Pre Box S2 Digital. Cheers!

[@michaelbolger8731]

Hey Steve and in comparison to PS Audio?

[@caseyodonnell6621]

Thanks for sharing music recommendations Steve. Always looking for good recordings!

[@vincemason2]

Steve, could you please review the DENAFRIPS GAIA and speak to how it incorporates into the Jay's Audio CDT2 Mk2 CD transport and a stand alone DAC, such as any of the DENAFRIPS?

[@ciejaygear]

Why does Paul at PS audio say that the CD transport price is irrelevant? He says you can go to a major department store and get a $50 one as long as you have a good DAC and amp and the speakers Etc to put it through. I have around 400 CDs so I'm kind of right on that cusp and using a middle shelf sony player through PS Audio mono blocks and gain cell dac.

[@mglasow6340]

I’ve heard him say the exact opposite. They make the perfect wave memory player which is a trans port and it costs more than $50 and more than the Jays. Good transport is a substantial upgrade to system performance

[@kdomster9141]

It is not true.... ears never lie.

[@miguelbarrio]

I was very much looking forward to this review. Thx Steve.

[@joemehalic4069]

I understand that the Jay's Audio transport does not play SACD's, but does it have the ability to read other higher resolution CD's such as K2HD and XRCD and XRCD24a FIM pure analog 32 bit 192 kHz 24K gold CD? I think one of Steve's sample discs was a XRCD or K2HD disk. Or can it read those disks but it's at 44.1? I am confused over this . . .

[@miguelbarrio]

@@joemehalic4069 The Jay only plays redbook CDs - ie 16bit/44.1KHz. XRCD, SHM-CD, Blu-Spec, Gold, are all redbook. The only way I am aware of encoding a little more bit depth in CD is HDCD (~20bit). I don't think there is any other format (other than SACD, or DVD-Audio, or data disks) that would use the redbook format and encode anything else other than 16/44.1. So in summary, all CD redbook formats will play, and CD-Rs recorded in redbook format will also play. SACDs will not. Data disks with any type of file will not. DVD-Audio of course will not.

[@joemehalic4069]

Miquel,I appreciate your description, but I am still somewhat confused as to how the Jay's Audio, or any other "Redbook only" CD transport or player can play these higher resolution files. I thought that by definition, Redbook was a 16 bit/44.1kHz format. If that is the case, how can it read say my Linda Ronstadt FIM pure analog 32 bit 192 kHz 24K gold CD? Or my 24 bit 100 KHz K2HD AM Records Joan Baez Greatest hits CD?So you are saying it CAN read higher resolution discs such as I mentioned above, but it cannot read what is considered a proprietary format such as SACD or Blu-Ray.So, a Red Book player can then read and pass along these higher resolution files and it is then up to the DAC to have ability to process those higher resolution files, correct?Knowing now that a laser mechanism can fail, I was considering a separate transport and DAC combination. I don't have a lot of SACDs but some of my favorite music is on SACD. I have been recently picking up more of the higher resolution JVV and other discs. It is good to know that a standard red book player can handle those if that is the case. I have a Oppo 105 and it plays SACD and Blu-day discs too. Would I be able to pass that from the Oppo into a DAC? That was the other thing I don't understand . . . I thought that on a hybrid SACD, one layer was Red Book stereo and the other was DSD, which was synonymous with SACD. I think that only passes through on HMDI, so why can't you use the Oppo as a transport playing the SACD (DSD layer) and pass the that via HDMI to a DAC?It used to be so easy . . . . fire up the turn table and put on the record. original pressing, no special recording needed, just put down the "needle" and ENJOY! These days, it's which of the 10 versions of the album I love to I buy of CD? Red Book, SACD, Blu-ray, K2HD, K2HD24, 32 bit 192 kHz 24K gold CD, Sony. FIM, JVC, or maybe MQA, or a HD download? It is starting to take the fun out of listing for me. :(

[@miguelbarrio]

Joe Mehalic There is NO such thing as a CD player that can play 24/192. Maybe the CD you’re talking about was mastered this way, but ultimately it is downsampled and recorded to CD at 16/44. It is IMPOSSIBLE to encode any more information in a CD format. There’s HDCD but that’s a bit of a creative encoding/decoding trick using 16/44 still - it is not really high res. The only other formats that exist on disk are: SACD, BluRay, DVD-Audio, and data files. All of these can be of higher resolution than 16/44 - but NONE will play on the Jay. Clear?

[@joemehalic4069]

@@miguelbarrio Getting clearer. LOL! So for example, XRCD'S can be played on a red book cd but are recorded at higher bit rates but ultimately are only 44.1? I guess I am having a hard time as to why all these higher resolution cd's would sound better on a regular CD player.

[@cdunphy457]

um how do you know it wasnt the 12000 $ bartock that you were hearing instead of jays audio?

[@johnholmes912]

i was considering the audiolab 6000CDT pretty good price £400 ....and many reviewers put it on a par with transports costing 4 figures...thoughts?

[@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120]

Steve really thinking about pulling the trigger on this one! The cdm4 isvery reliable !

[@charlesnr]

There are three other transports available besides the Cambridge- Project, NuPrime, and Audiolab. We need a review on just the transports using your high end D/A . I am still using my NuForce CD player as a transport to my Benchmark D/A 3.

[@joshuafox2199]

Yellow Shark is so good. Zappa rules. Music is the best.

[@salmonline]

I use a $30 Cyber-Home DVD player from Target from the 1990s. I use the coax output to push the RAW files to my FX Audio DAC (plastic remote tho)

[@Smokej620]

salmonline hi, it’s funny, I had the same DVD player and used a digital cable out to my DAC. I also added some internal damping and a few other tweaks. I was unsuccessful to buy a CEC transport used so I bought a Cambridge Audio transport CXC is was like wow.. what a huge difference!

[@Smokej620]

Jim Mitchell yes, it was pretty ok but once switched to a proper transport the sound opened up quite a lot. It was a big difference and in a different league .

[@ecstasy5317]

Lol, Cyber Home got me out of some jams plenty of times, it was able to read CDs that my other players just refused to decode due to the various encoding schemes my friends were using. Also some of the Cyber Home models had 5.1 analog outputs with the Dolby Digital decoder built-in and still came with a remote.

[@juliaset751]

I would have liked a comparison between the CD transport and a 16/44.1 flac file off of a PC just to get your opinion.

[@jmn1234]

What am I missing? Isn't the digital code output from a cheap cd player digital output the same as the code out of more expensive ones?

[@spacejaime]

Jerry - In the 1990's I had 5 different transports and all sounded with different strengths and quirks in the sound presentations. Theta/ Counterpoint/EAD/ Meridian and PS Audio, add to that 8 different 75 Ohm digital cables, and it was the epitome of never being satisfied as to which I liked better. Cheers.

[@fredyoung9922]

This question pops up, is the air I breathe in a crowded city supposed to be the same as that on a no man's island?

[@moagnor]

You are so right. All this he says is utter bullshit. You can hear differences in the different DACs, but as long as the transport spins at a consistent speed and delivers the same digital stream to the DAC, a cheap one and a expensive one will deliver the same bitstream, and will not influence the sound at all.

[@spacejaime]

@@moagnor - you are entitled to your opinion. Be my guest, you are going against the grain of all high end audio reviewers, transport designers, and the audiophiles that can clearly hear the differences. Interesting but completely flawed conclusion.

[@moagnor]

@@spacejaime I invite anyone to a A/B comparison blind test (different transports, same DAC) who says they can hear the difference. Let's go!

[@zipperunamused9009]

You could rip all the CDs and then use a high quality network DAC. I reckon you get better sound via that approach.

[@ericdaniel323]

Ripping still involves getting info off of the disc, though, and that is what a high-end transport supposedly does better. Admittedly, my ears aren't golden enough to tell the difference.

[@cebruthius]

@@ericdaniel323 AccurateRip. Problem solved.

[@mostirreverent]

Is it the transport, or the fact that your are using dedicated DAC (and adding quite a bit of cost over things like the Oppo)?

[@Nephilim-81]

Well done. Absolutely great video. Encompasses so much as to why I love my CDs along with my Cyrus CD I transport, which I favor greatly over my OPPO BDP 83 for cd playback. :)

[@dhruvmeena96]

CD transport connected to DAC doesn't apply bit lane stream compression compared to CD reader connected to DAC. this happens because CD reader apply compression to decompress on OS like windows and Linux.... but on DAC, the compression remains. Spending a lot of money on transport, just check the lane, bit, frequency rate and transfer rate. after a certain price, it hits the law of diminishing return. i2s is a slave connection, so in last, it remains to DAC coax is also slave CD transport are all slave, so it remains to DAC in the end. when they become master in future, we would be able to upscale the bitrate with error correction rate, then CD transport would be amazing all the price we are paying is for components here a good CD transport can be made for 300$(i made one....DIY), all other is components and Thanks for the video and a trusted brand, because they posted the internal component pictures keep making good videos

[@epi2045]

dhruv meena I agree with you. If someone wants or absolutely needs a transport, just get a Cambridge Audio CXC transport. Otherwise money spent elsewhere in the audio system is better spent including high quality CDs with great recordings.

[@cebruthius]

> this happens because CD reader apply compression to decompress on OS like windows and Linux.... but on DAC, the compression remains. What the hell?

[@gwadaflat]

Hi , And what do you think of the Denafrips Avatar? Thank you !

[@henriksrensen5958]

cec makes great cd transport too

[@eightrodway]

I don't get around as much as I used to, but I've yet to hear a streaming/harddrive based system that sounds as corporeal as cd physical media.

[@mydogskips2]

No offense, but I would bet that's just in your head. If you did a true blind listening test, A-B, and even C-D, that's to say multiple listening sources, CD, DVD player, hard drive, flash drive, High-quality streaming, etc., I would think you would find it very difficult to discern between the different media sources.

[@eightrodway]

@@mydogskips2 Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, just as I am confident in mine. As for multiple blind comparisons, the very nature of the test confuses the issue. Happy listening!

[@Howling-Mad-Murdock]

mydogskips2 Ah, blind testing! The bette noir of the dedicated audiophile! Blind testing exposes so much of the hobby for what it is, smoke and mirrors. It also exposes so much about the peculiarities of people in general that, rather than be happy to find out that sighted listening isn’t always that reliable, the dedicated audiophile will instead try to find reasons why listening without prejudice (blind) is inherently flawed. People allow their egos to take over, and sometimes the truth hurts.

[@Coneman3]

@@Howling-Mad-Murdock You only believe in hi end hifi when you have heard it. Your ears are the proof. Blind testing is difficult to set up, and it is also not a perfect test.

[@Howling-Mad-Murdock]

@@Coneman3 Blind testing is not at all difficult to set up, not for an informal comparison. You just need a willing helper.