Friend of mine who's currently using a Meridian 507 as a transport for his DAC64 thought it was a waste of a 507 to be using it just as a transport so he was looking for a downgrade, something with an optical digital output of course ;) And we're talking [b]down[/b]grade - like a [url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008AF5O/ref=sr_aps_electronics_1_1/026-7624642-0494869]Sony D-EJ985 CD Walkman[/url] :D So - we got it charged up and running on batteries and then hooked it up to (my) DAC64. First obvious issue is that it only sends a digital signal down the TosLink cable when it's playing so the DAC has to re-lock on each time you press play. This might reduce the effectiveness of the DAC64s buffer system, especially for the first few seconds of music. Also, the DAC64 occasionally goes a bit loopy when it's idling without a digital lock. I've heard it do things like very quietly repeat a small snatch of music over and over again or make some really horrible screeching noises in that condition :eek: There's also no remote control on the discman and the controls there are are pretty fiddly. Then again I don't think Sony had a hifi CD transport in mind when they were designing it :) OK, so how does it sound? Well, pretty bloody good! We did a few comparisons against my Teac T1 though and realised that, you guessed it, there is a difference. With the discman the sound is "smaller", less full and less involving. It's not a :mana: difference by any means but it's a difference that can't be denied. So, in the fairly extreme comparison of a CD walkman against a Teac T1 which has been tweaked and clocked to within an inch of its life there [b]is[/b] a difference between transports, even using an optical connection, with the DAC64. It's small, but definitely there. We weren't using the same optical cable as the discman's output is of the small toslink variety and the only small->big toslink cable we could find was 1.5m long which probably isn't ideal. I'd like to try with a shorter cable to be sure that signal loss wasn't a factor. Also, I suspect the discman not putting out a constant clock signal (only when playing) for the DAC to stay locked onto somehow makes the buffer algorithm less effective. An interesting experiment though. I have a feeling that when my mate gets a bit more cash together after selling the 507 and his Musical Fidelity A1000 amp he might be looking for a slightly better, and slightly more practical transport ;) Michael.