Slim Devices Transporter, Hands On + Photos Options

[WSLam]

Finally took delivery of the Transporter yesterday. The black one is mine, the silver one is my bro-in-law's.
Here are some photos. Enjoy

So far, I have almost nothing but praise for the Transporter. What stole my attention was the Analog Out from the Transporter. Truly remarkable, especially given this is SD's first attempt at the audiophile market. I think they have suceeded.

Cheers, ws

Transporter -> EMM Labs DCC2 SE -> Acoustic Reality eAR1001 -> Magico Mini

[Hamman]

Great!
I've always been of the opinion that this forum needs more images
What made you choose the transporter over the standard Squeezebox?

[cliveb]

What made you choose the transporter over the standard Squeezebox?

If you read WSLam's posts over on the Slim Devices forum, you'll discover that he must be pretty rich (eg. former owner of a Linn CD12 - a $12k CD player), so the price of the Transporter ($2k) was probably pocket money for him.

But in any case, the Transporter does have some very interesting capabilities over & above the Squeezebox, quite apart from the expected better sound quality. I'm not rich, but am seriously considering a Transporter to replace my Squeezebox. I just need to pluck up the courage to broach the subject with my wife....

[ModelCitizen]

But in any case, the Transporter does have some very interesting capabilities over & above the Squeezebox, quite apart from the expected better sound quality. I'm not rich, but am seriously considering a Transporter to replace my Squeezebox. I just need to pluck up the courage to broach the subject with my wife....

Well, I've bit the bullet and bought one after hearing a few reviews of the sound quality (I've been extremely pleased with my Squeezox 2). The wierd thing is that in the end (for me) it works out very cheaply, in fact amazingly cheaply (if not free) for a top end, highly-configurable and very flexible audiophile device.

Consider:

1) Comes with free Squeezebox 3 (which I will probably use in the kitchen or bedroom, possibly synchronised with the Transporter sometimes and maybe as my alarm clock too). BTW. This offer is still open on the SlimDevices web site if not elsewhere.
2) Has great internal DAC (so I can sell my existing Benchmark Dac1)
3) Has own internal pre-amp (so I can sell my existing pre-amp)

I can run other devices through it's DAC too.

I love the displays. The configuration possibilities for these seem endless too (two displays with two lines each with left and right configuration options) . I could do without VU meters and will be replacing them with a scrolling output from my Flac files Comment tag (all my files have the Comment tag populated with Bio's and Album Reviews), a progress bar, track number, artist, album, track and still have space left for graphic equalisers (should I want to use them).

I am just staggered by this device. It's very hard to believe it is the price it is. If a normal hi-end audio company had produced it (like NAIM for instance) it would be 10 or 20 times the price. The fact that a small open-source based company has produced a device to such exacting standards is pretty unbelievable.

I guess the only two things I can think of that would improve it are:

1) A display capable of showing album art
2) No buttons or knobs (seems pointless when you have a remote)

MC

This post has been edited by ModelCitizen: Oct 10 2006, 19:36