Roksan Atessa CD Transport
Contents
We begin with the British company Roksan. Part of Monitor Audio. The Atessa CD transport is very solidly built. The cabinet is sturdy and well finished. All in all, it feels above expectations for 700 Euros.
The front has a small but easy-to-read display. We also see the necessary buttons to operate things by hand. Of course, a remote control is also included. At the back only a coaxial output. However, that will not be a problem for many, but it is useful to know if the input at the dac is already taken.
The sound of the Atessa is definitely neat for a 700 Euro transport. All three of us are amazed at how good it sounds. Is it on the top-level in this test? No. But it would also be implausible for us to claim that. However, if we consider that the Atoll costs more than twice as much, we can safely say that you can’t go wrong with this drive within Roksan Atessa series!
It is striking that there is absolutely no hard edges to be heard. The sound image is very calm in the high range. The low end could be a bit tighter and more insightful in a tight and transparent system like the Alpha Reference system. Focus and imaging is very solid for a player in this class. All in all, a solid product in its price range!
Measurements Roksan Atessa CD Transport
The Roksan Atessa CD Transport shows a neat noise floor. Yes; there are even cleaner models, but know that they are all more expensive. Also, there are models with more noise. Jitter is – honestly – not to write home about. Average RMS jitter is around 40ps. Now that’s not bad, but what is noticeable is the amount of noise on the clock, which sometimes causes the Wavecrest to go a bit off track. If you want to address the Roksan, a better clock is the way to go. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the spdif clock (1.41 / 2.82 MHz).
There’s an interesting article by Stereophile about different CD transports and their impact on sound. Granted, it’s not very recent, but it seems that physics are still the same.
Know this one?
https://www.stereophile.com/features/368/index.html
Cheers!