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Slim Devices Transporter network music player

Is a high-end music server the audio equivalent of polishing a turd?

I've been hearing this put-down since I first became an advocate for digitally stored audio almost five years ago. At first, the argument was that computers had no place in a listening room. Wireless music servers took care of that argument. Then the big—and valid—concern was lossy-compressed formats, but ever-cheaper digital storage made uncompressed and losslessly compressed storage a slam dunk.

Well, said the still-unconverted, you can't argue that high-end DACs don't perform better than the cents-…

Slim Devices Transporter network music player Page 2

It's far from original to observe that a satisfying audio component will send you scrambling through your record collection with a huge grin on your face, but that's what the Transporter did—only, thanks to how easy it made searching through my organized digital archive, I didn't have much scrambling to do. There was barely a slip between thought and deed.

Of course, as a hardworking audiophile, being merely content wasn't on the agenda—at least not for long—so I compared the files I'd ripped to my Apple G5 PowerMac, played through my network and the Transporter, with the CDs I'd ripped…

Slim Devices Transporter network music player Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: WiFi (802.11g) and/or Ethernet-connected D/A processor with digital-domain volume control (range-adjusted with resistor jumpers). Digital inputs: TosLink, coaxial, BNC, AES/EBU, word-clock (BNC). Digital outputs: TosLink, coaxial, BNC, AES/EBU. Analog outputs, 1 pair each: RCA, balanced XLR. Operating systems supported: Mac OS X 10.3 or later; 733MHz Pentium running Windows NT/2000/XP; Linux/BSD/Solaris/Perl 5.8.3 or later. Sample rates supported: 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz. Audio formats supported: linear PCM, 16 or 24 bits/sample. Maximum output levels…

Slim Devices Transporter network music player Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Source: Ayre C-5xe universal player, Musical Fidelity X-DACV3.
Preamplifiers: Ayre K-1xe, Krell Evolution 202.
Power Amplifiers: Ayre MX-R, Krell Evolution 600 (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio Confidence C4, Vandersteen Quatro Signature.
Cables: Digital: Stereovox XV2. Interconnect: Krell CAST, Shunyata Research Aries. Speaker: Shunyata Research Lyra, Stereovox Firebird. AC: Shunyata Research Anaconda & Orion.
Accessories: Audience adeptResponse power conditioner; Ayre L5 AC line filter; Furutech eTP60 power distributor…

Slim Devices Transporter network music player Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

All the measurements were performed on the replacement Transporter with its volume control set to its maximum and its internal attenuation set to 0dB. The source signals for almost all the measurements were 16-bit and 24-bit data files accessed from a Mac mini running the necessary SlimServer software via my WiFi network. The 16-bit files were Apple Lossless, the 24-bit files were AIF. Some measurements were repeated using a TosLink optical connection from a PC fitted with an RME soundcard. The Transporter successfully handled files with 44.1kHz, 48kHz, and 96kHz…

The Fifth Element #40

One of the engrossing and rewarding things about the study of history is that, every now and then, someone comes up with a plausible solution to a historical mystery—or some aspect of a historical mystery—that is decades, or even centuries, old. It often is the case that all the evidence was right there under everyone's noses all along. It's just that no one had yet managed to put all the pieces together properly and look at them from the right angle.

One excellent example of what I'm talking about comes from the disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. For decades, historians,…

The Fifth Element #40 Page 2

Oistrakh not only played music beautifully on the violin, his playing was beautiful to behold. He evinced a nearly balletic grace and economy of movement—the amount of sound he was able to achieve from the smallest motion of the bow, even at its tip, was amazing. In Oistrakh's playing there was no posturing, no showing off, and, most of all, no pandering to the peanut gallery (footnote 2). Even in a live and unedited performance such as this one, his pitch security and the richness of his tonal palette are wonders to hear. Richter was no slouch, either, of course!

The director of this…

The Fifth Element #40 Sources

Sidebar: Sources

Terence Ashley, Learn to Read Music in 10 Lessons. Barnes and Noble, 2005. Hardcover, 128 pp., includes CD. $9.98. www.barnesandnoble.com. David Oistrakh & Sviatoslav Richter: Live at Alice Tully Hall, 1970. VAI 4369 (DVD). www.vaimusic.com.
Coleridge-Taylor & Dvorák: Violin Concertos. Phillippe Graffin, violin; Michael Hankinson, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Avie AV0044 (CD). www.avierecords.com.
Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem. Paul Hillier, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, organ. Harmonia Mundi USA HMU 807401(hybrid…

Listening #50

I was going through a box of old photographs, lingering over some pictures I'd taken at the Quad loudspeaker factory in Huntingdon, England, a number of years ago. It was my second trip overseas—1994 or '95—and while I remember being intrigued by the machinery and the test equipment and all, I know that the real impact of the tour was probably lost on me: I wasn't yet a Quad owner.

That's all changed, of course. In 2002, I bought Stereophile's review pair of the excellent Quad ESL-989, and used them regularly for the next four years. Then, a number of months ago, I bought a pair of…

Listening #50 Page 2

Lowthers are also notorious for having a bump in their lower-treble response, reportedly caused by a resonance that's set up in the crease between the two paper cones. With earlier Lowther drivers, I've been troubled by the "Lowther shout" myself—but much less so with all of the current-production units I've tried. That's because the Lowther whizzer of today is formed with an integral lip at its outermost edge, folded back about 3/16", as opposed to having the raw edge of the paper cone facing outward. The lip may not prevent the resonant tone from being produced, but it does seem to block…