I have been using Bartok with Tidal until now but as i have a nice collection of CD i decided to repair my old Audio Note CDT-zero CD transport and connect it to Bartok via coax spdif. Sound was not as detailed as from tidal but i noticed recently that really like CD reproduction much more than Tidal. I have compared many different tracks side by side and even the ripped version of my CD vs CD directly and there is more music from CD source! I would describe it as flow, fluid like CD reproduction vs a bit stiff file presentation. I listed to full CDs from the start to the end and want to jump on tracks when listening from files/tidal. There is nice coherence in CD presentation. You just want to listen to it! Strange…
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Pro-Ject audio builds a cd transport only- very nice!
Never knew about Pro-Ject. Interesting.
I’ve been going through all of my old CD cases and getting rid of most of them while building a small set of keepers. I listen to CDs in a headphone-only system separate from the Bartok but have considered finding a transport for the Bartok.
it’s in german…he said that they re-invent the cd drive, their reference was the Philips CD pro drive…imho this looks like a serious bid of gear…
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Here is a review of it ( alongside its matching DAC). it seems to be in a higher quality league than its sister Pro-Ject “Box” companions and the price reflects this.
I experienced similar emotions when I connected AN CDT2 BG to Bartok )))
anyone tried jay’s audio cd transport oder denafrip cdt?
l’ve only seen some internet pics, seems that this machine is build like a tank…guess the SQ is excellent too 
Nice!!
Does anyone have experience in CEC transports? They have 3 or 4 models that have word clock input and AES/EBU output, and the pricing is more down to earth.
http://www.cec-web.co.jp/service/download/document/catalog/TL2N_ENG_Catalog_w.pdf
Is getting a transport that has word clock input (so that it can slave to Bartok’s internal clock) more important than getting dual AES/EBU output, or vice versa, if I have to choose only one?
Regardless single or dual AES/EBU output, the clock is still from the source, same as SPDIF. If I want to use Bartok’s clock for CDs, I have to find a CD transport that has word clock input. Am I right? It seems only Japanese manufacturers care about word clock input, or you have to the dCS Rossini level.
As far as SACD playback, does any SACD transport that has dual AES/EBU output can extract DSD signal from a SACD out to Bartok, or it has to be from a dCS transport? Too bad Bartok does not have I2S input, otherwise PS Audio PerfectWave SACD transport can pair with Bartok and deliver DSD from a SACD. However the PS Audio transport does not have word clock input.
Any thoughts?
Yes wordclock input is more important if the transport is CD only. Only one clock is used ( the 44.1 kHz one) and S/Pdif is also an excellent interface for redbook if you don’t want to use a single AES/EBU cable. If you use a transport that cannot be synchronised with the dCS DAC although this will sort of work you may find glitches occurring from time to time.
In regard to SACD no other brand will work with any dCS DAC. This is because, due to patent issues, the transfer of digital data from SACD between two units was not allowed. To overcome this dCS had to devise a way of encrypting the data between the units to get approval from the SACD patent holders. Hence all dCS transports and DACS have outputs/inputs for SACD that are encrypted. Other brands cannot either encrypt or decrypt the data .
So any transport options other than dCS’ own models will be limited to CD replay.
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If I’m not mistaken, Esoteric CD-transport has W/C input and even someone here reported that it works for him. But in another place I read that the synchronization between dCS and Esoteric does not work. Maybe someone will share their experience of using dCS with Esoteric CD-transport
Thanks Pete! Do you recommend any CD transport that has wordclock input but is priced below $10K? So far I can only find CEC.
I am afraid not as I have used dCS transports exclusively since Verdi ( their first) came out at around the turn of the century.
These days there are not too many bona fide CD transports ( as opposed to what are really DVD players) available. And those having wordclock inputs must constitute only a fraction of these.
CEC do have a good reputation though and I have heard one when used by Living Voice with their astounding Vox Olympian speakers at the Munich show a few years back. At least I can speculate that the CEC transport was not holding anything back!
Incidentally I was musing about the prospect of a real Bartok transport today and , knowing a little of the manufacturing cost of things, I concluded that one physically matching Bartok DAC or DAC/Headphone would be likely to retail for approximately the price of Bartok itself.
Ok, I will look into CEC transports.
It would be great if dCS introduces a Bartok CD transport and a Bartok master clock
Thanks Pete!
Thanks Rudi. I looked at Pro-jest before but only looked at the top model and ignored this one. Great price with AES/EBU out and wordclock in, perfect. So this wordclock input in RS can work well with Bartok so that Bartok’s internal clock will be the master?
I am curious and surprised, why doesn’t the top model RS2T for 2x price provide wordclock input?
I don’t know why. I have written to Project and will let you know their answer
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