[Craig]

I use my DVD player (Pioneer 575a) as a transport for my DAC for redbook playback

Whilst I am far from convinced of the relentless jitter debate, I cannot escape the suspicion that a better transport would assist my redbook playback, which to be fair is the prioirity in my dual-purpose system

What I'm wondering about is tracking down a Sony 7700 (sex on a stick) and using it as DVD player and trasnport, but has anyone experience of how it compares to a 575a, or similar low budget DVDP with progressive scan?

Any advice, as always, is greatly appreciated

Thanks, Craig

[bonzobanana]

If your far from convinced about the jitter issue why would you change? If all you are doing is spinning a disc and getting the laser to send a bitstream to the optical or coaxial port then the only thing effecting it is going to be jitter practically. Jitter caused by poor stability of the psu and poor rotation consistency of the dvd drive. Audio CDs are generally much easier to read than dvds due to being older technology and its rare that a laser would struggle with reading them. Audio cds are most effected by jitter because the data is read off in realtime and fed directly out of the player unlike other media where the data is compressed and read off in individual packets.

The Pioneer 575 has a real SOC with its Mediatek 1389 chipset. Its does almost everything including controlling the dvd drive. There is little scope with such a chip in fine tuning audio cd output. The player is also made cheaply in china using a fairly low cost PSU. If you are satisfied with audio cd playback from the player then fair enough its doing its job but I have never seen a Mediatek based player rated highly for audio cd playback. You can buy mediatek 1389 based dvd players sub £30 easily its a very low cost solution. Generally the less embedded a chip the more scope to fine tune the electronics for maximum audio cd playback.

The main point with jitter is you lose detail. Often audio cd playback is still very pleasent its just the player fills in the gaps with missing information with best guess data. End result a smooth but not particularly detailed sound. Often players with low jitter sound a bit harsh in comparision but they are capable of more dynamics in the sound which requires a better amp and speakers to cope with.

I have a low cost AMW P80L and it has a jitter rating of 3,000+picoseconds and audio cd playback on it is very bland but ok. I think the 575 is about 1000 and the very best players are sub 200ps. I have a Limit 900SE and I have a pair of headphones that simply can't cope with its output at times and distort. They have no trouble with the AMW. However with a pair of Sennheisers (only fairly low cost PX-100s) the Limit sounds soo much better for audio cds where detail enhances the music. Sometimes though I have to admit I quite like the bland AMW sound. Certain instruments sound wrong but its very easy on the ears with its low dynamics.