Sometime in this calendar year we will be launching a new transport that replaces the PerfectWave Transport, a product that's been a reliable old friend for many years. Thousands of them are playing music around the world. But it's getting close to the time we will finally replace it.
I have been comparing the sound of the new DirectStream Transport, vs. the PerfectWave Transport. I spent much of yesterday in Music Room One doing so. Though the new DirectStream Transport will play SACD in its native format DSD, right into the DAC, that's not what I am auditioning. Instead, I have been focusing on the basics: CD reproduction. How does the venerable CD sound on the new transport vs. the old transport?
It's a given that SACD finally unveiled and played the way it was intended, and through a proper DAC, is nothing short of breathtaking. But you knew that. No, what I am focusing on is far more basic. What's a CD sound like?
The thing is, the PWT was one of the first transports to be able to play a high resolution audio datadisc, but the vast majority of its users played CDs. Our libraries are chock full of CDs. We surely have fewer high resolution discs. So when we launched the PWT, it was CDs I listened to most during its voicing. Not much has changed since.
The real challenge is to make sure the baseline is maintained, not to focus on the cake's icing, where the real fun is. The results are most encouraging.
Yes. Most encouraging.
