with the technology curve that we have seen of CDs->DVD-A->SACD and the upcoming new DVD formats,. you will be lucky if the transport you buy today is even technically feasible in 5 years...10 years, it will be heavy doorjam
IOW, I should hold off on purchasing a universal disk player as long as possible?
no, if you try to wait out technology, you will never buy anything...
I was just pointing out that the 10 year argument is flawed due to this...and that is why I am ok with buying cheap transports, that sound good, rather than paying a bunch of money for something that will be outdated....
anyone remember what the tascam cd-writers were going for??
This logic makes no sense. I own a MusicHall cd-25 which plays cd's and hdcd's. It also plays cdr's. It's quite a solid cd player and very upgradeable if need be. DVD-A and SACD are outta here thanks to lack of public interest, so yeah, whoever bought into those formats is screwed royally. I don't consider myself a audiophile, but a audio enthusiast who loves music and thinks the redbook format ain't going anywhere fast, so why not splurge a little and get a cd player that sounds sweet.
Now, on the other hand there's audio enthusiasts who are looking for a budget source that sounds great and there's some out there. My argument is that these budget sources are probably not as well built and will probably fail far sooner than a well-built, albeit more expensive, unit.
I'll never understand why people settle for a budget source when there's plenty of stellar sources that cost some dough, but will last the test of time unlike these budget sources that fall apart. Plus, i'm a believe of source first, therefore garbage in>garbage out is something i believe in as well. If you're willing to dump thousands on speakers and amps, why not get a source that's equal in terms of quality?
Now interconnects (or audio cables of any kind) are a different story, i'm not sold on those yet.
"FWIW, a simple perusal of the net would demonstrate that Tim is not the only one "propping up this model""
I know, people are raving about it over at head-fi among other forums i imagine as well. Lets say i've always been concerned about budget sources that are all the rage then after a year or two they start to display problems. I hate that and have been burned by it, so i steer clear of budget equipment that's supposed to give you the best bang for the buck.
"Hmmm... maybe I wasn't clear enough last time. BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS"
LOL, Tim, relax man. I have no beef with you at all. I wrote a very honest reply and you drag it down to personal insults?
"I'm sick of your condescending attitude. I've got plenty of money in my playback system, it's pretty clear that I understand the value of nice gear - ASL, B&W, Bel Canto (not exactly low end stuff), not to mention my recording rigs: u89s, Apogee, Grace, Oade. Any of these ring a bell? "
I'm very familiar with those brands. I could sit here and be an asshole and start tossing out names of companies no one here has probably never heard of, but that would be very petty. What i was trying to say is that your rig would probably be better off with a higher quality source. I mean, we all love kick ass budget sources, but they tend to be flaky and fall apart and that's what comes with the low price. For example, i purchased a Rio Karma mp3 player, which is always being ranked up as the best mp3 player. I decided to jump on it and buy one for the low price of $180...it's a 20GB model. Now, the unit has it's problems (hd failures, faulty buttons, etc etc). So far so good for me and it features a great EQ that apparently rivals any other (parametric eq). Now, if the unit dies on me six months from now, who can i blame? No one but me. I knew the sucker had faults and at that price, i enjoyed it while it lasted.
"EDIT: Maybe I can lecture you on the obvious shortcomings of your taping rig? Since you seem to enjoy lecturing others I'm sure you would love it..."
Absolutely. When i trade my recordings, i always love to hear positive and negative feedback. There's nothing wrong with it. My preamp is ok, the dat is what it is and the mics, well, they sound rather decent. I have a pair of Audix 1290C that i'd like to take out for a trial and let them do their magic. I got to test them out briefly and they sounded freaking sweet, heads and shoulders above the soundpro's.
No harm done and i think i probably came off the wrong way earlier, my apologies if i did so. Hopefully this post will clear things up.