As the very first mod-righted Transporter owner, Ted_b had this to contribute: "I'll start being that I was the first one to receive the Modwright Transporter and did some bug fixes with Dan along the way (Dan is incredible when it comes to the whole beta test/feedback/fix loop). I am a long-time Modwright user, having owned his SLW 9.0SE, his Platinum Sony 999ES and now own his LS 36.5 pre and the Modwright Denon 3910 universal. The Modwright TP is not my first foray into PC-based music nor even my first Transporter. After playing around with PC-based software

players like Foobar2000 and soon realizing that hard-drive-based music playback had the potential for replacing and even outperforming CD transports, I decided to evaluate this music delivery system in my main setup. The best way to do that, short of having a laptop in my lap (go figure), was the Slim Devices paradigm.


"Slim Devices offered a 30-day trial on their new Transporter and you got a free Squeezebox 3 with the delivery. A nice move on their part was that you could download their software Slimserver while waiting for the units. By the time they arrived, I was Slimmed! I brought both units into my system and fired them up, TP first. I tried to like the sound, I really did. But my system tended toward the analytical (McCormack DNA-500, Bent TAP preamp while waiting for the 36.5) and the Hubbel-like resolution of those AKM DACs just pushed it over the edge. I heard microdetails but didn't really care, it was too cold and amusical. Replacing the TP with the Squeezebox 3 helped a lot. What helped even more were the mods available to the SB3 by then. So I sent both units back, collected my refund and bought a used RedWine Audio SB3 (battery-powered of course) off Audiogon. Vinnie retrofitted it with an AC power supply (cuz I am an idiot and forgot to turn off the batteries, ruining three of them) and I began my love affair with Redbook-meets-Michael-Dell.


"Enter the Modwright TP. After talking with Dan for many months, we convinced him that the TP was a perfect platform for his analog tube output stage magic. It seemed a marriage that couldn't fail and hasn't. The vast real estate he was given in the TP was probably 10 x what he is used to and he duly filled that track with a boatload. After one hiccup (he accidentally designed the output with the digital volume turned down), we were in business. Tips:

  • The Modwright Transporter blossoms into the beautiful streamer after about 200 hours of true break-in. Those Modwright caps et al are serious signal-path alterations and require quite a bit of test tones/music to loosen up. Once done, music from my TP married to my broken-in LS 36.5 bests any Redbook player I've had the luxury of using, including Dan's own vaunted Denon 3910 Signature mod (which I keep around for 2-channel SACD and multichannel DVD-A/SACD playback). The air around instruments is especially noteworthy.
  • Tube rolling is fun but I've found (as has Dan so far) that his 6NP1s sound awfully good and are preferred over the 6H30s or 6CG7s I've tried.
  • In my opinion, the true balanced outputs are clearly the better option in the stock player but in Dan's version, the RCAs best them with good interconnects. However, this is terribly subjective and my data points are few. I use Stealth Nanofiber RCAs and any esoteric XLRs I've tried don't equal the "balanced" (pardon the pun) sound coming from Dan's custom RCA outputs.
  • The unit clearly responds to power cord upgrades. I tried a bunch and settled on a personal favorite for all digital sources, the Black Sand Violet Special.
  • I can't tell any sonic differences between wired and wireless so I'm going wireless right now due to placement.

"I use EAC to rip and lately have been doing less and less FLAC compression (80% of my library now is FLAC down from 95%) because storage has become too cheap to even deal with it. My biggest mistake in PC-based music is that I rip everything to album-sized files and associated cue sheets rather than per track. That file structure can be problematic with album art etc. but I've found solutions." Ted_b then referenced reviewers Robert Levi's and Wayne Donnelly's regard for ModWright's modified Denon 3910 for the bigger context and added that "the Modwright Transporter outdoes it very so slightly."


Stercom's reluctance to the streaming concept was weakening but he isn't sold yet: "I'm a skeptic over the whole digital streaming and music server phenomenon. I owned a SB which I streamed from a computer for a while and I certainly understand the convenience of having your music collection at your fingertips. However, I'm an audiophile, not a technophile so it is the music that matters most. What I heard was a lack of soundstage both in depth and width, overly hyped leading edges with very little natural decay and a general washing out of the lower midrange/upper bass which took the 'soul' out of the music. I have not given up and am currently awaiting delivery on a modified Olive Musica which I've been told has excellent audio performance. I've been in this hobby for a long time and it seems we have been down this road before when we were originally introduced to digital audio. As compared to vinyl, the CD was more convenient, supposedly had better sonics and specs, the display showed us the length of the CD/number of tracks and there was very little or no maintenance!
"The vocal minority who said "...but vinyl sounds better" was ignored by many or labeled idiots who simply didn't understand the new technology and the "obvious" advantages of CD. Today, it seems the same thing is happening all over again, with many people placing 1000s of songs on hard-drives and streaming music through computers, Wi-Fi and USB connections all in the name of convenience. It is very had for me to believe that digital noise such as RF, EMI, jitter and even just plain old electrical crosstalk are not being added to the signal. I know that hard-drives output the digits with less jitter than a normal CD player or transport but that is the only sonic 'advantage' which seems to be documented. I would hope you look not only at this 'new' technology based on the obvious convenience aspect but explain how the technology is sonically better and why. I was at RMAF and heard a lot of streamed digital music from all kinds of companies. Let's just say it was a relief when I went into a room that was spinning vinyl. Dan Wright is one of the best guys in audio in my opinion and he had an excellent vinyl rig sitting right next to his new tubed transport. I don't think you need to ask which I preferred."


Mdconnelly didn't even need to reference vinyl to have a preference: "I have two SB3s and have listened to a stock Transporter in my system a while back. I love the convenience factor of this technology and have ripped all 700+ CDs I own. Over the holidays, my Squeezebox was playing albums I've ripped or music via Internet music stations almost continuously. But, compared to the CD players I've owned since my first Squeezebox, the Squeezebox has never been able to engage me as well under critical listening. Even when I listened to the Transporter -- while better than the SB3 -- it still left something behind and in my opinion didn't warrant the additional cost.
"The CD players I've actually compared to my Squeezebox have been a Great Northern Sound modified Wadia, a Cambridge Audio 840c and, most recently, an Oracle transport. When I choose to just sit and listen critically, I do so with either my CD player or my turntable. Not only do they clearly sound better to me -- more resolving, more engaging -- there is something about the act of selecting a CD or LP and placing it on the player that I really enjoy. It's part of a ritual I've been doing all my life and find hard to give up (after all, I am a 55-year old dinosaur). I don't doubt in the least that music

sourced from a hard-disk or the Internet will eventually match and exceed even the best CD players of today and I'll certainly be in line to upgrade as quality improves. I suspect Dan has already taken a giant step in that direction with his modded Transporter. But just as I was never willing to relinquish my turntable, I suspect I'll always want to keep a CD player as well."
Bhobba in Australia has "a dislike of tubes -- to me they are fragile old tech -- but that's just me. This means the APL-modified transporter appeals more." Philistine kicked off with some background: "About 5 years ago I had all but given up on 2-channel audio. My so-called Stereophile class 'A' rated CDP was painful to listen to as my system just resolved more weaknesses and the harshness/brittleness of digital sources. After spending years of cleaning records and watching a diamond being dragged across the surface of a piece of vinyl, going back to a turntable was not going to happen. Consequently my system was converted into a home

theater system. I then spent the following 2 years spending 80% of my media time watching movies and only 20% listening to 2 channel. I stopped buying music. My local dealer loaned me an Esoteric Universal player, which was built like a tank and much better than my 'A' rated player. At the same time I had lurked on the various Modwright forums but was nervous about taking the plunge into the uncharted waters of the modification business. A call to Dan didn't help as he was just too modest and unwilling to comment on a comparison of his work with the Esoteric (on the basis that he hadn't performed an A/B). Consequently I did take the plunge and bought one of his modded Sony 999ES and found it more fun and musical than the Esoteric. I still regard the Esoteric as an excellent player. My HT audio system was subsequently dismantled, my 2-channel system beefed up and I became a buyer of CDs again - all driven by the pleasure and fun the 999ES gave me


"Fast forwarding, I heard that the SqueezeBox thingy was generating interest but my paradigm said that a $300 source driven from a PC could not be serious HiFi. As a Brit living in the US, I was intrigued by the ability to stream the BBC into my home office however and took the plunge. At the same time I read the 6moons review of EAC and followed the links, which enabled me to integrate EAC/Accurate Rip/FLAC. You do need some computer literacy and basic understanding but the step-by-step instructions allow you to put together these free tools. Once you've done it, the process becomes 'automated' with no changes required. I found the SB to be a lot of fun, had it modded and bought an upgraded power supply. One of the main benefits I found was the ability to set the SB to random play and discover music I'd completely forgotten about or never listened to.

"Having ripped my CD collection to hard-drive, I followed Dan's progress on the modded TP. I liked the concept of a one-unit system; hi-rez audio (96kHz); a mature and proven electronic design/circuitry; a great DAC; valves sound good; the Modwright 'house sound'. Dan uses his ears and sound theory. This was enough for me to take the plunge and my TP arrived just before Christmas. Dan has given us an abundance of tube rolling choices. This is potentially dangerous as I want to explore all the combinations and

permutations... I've just sold my CDP and this weekend all my CDs have been boxed and archived together with my LP collection - a symbolic move."