Wanted: re-clocked CD transport / CD player

[jandl100]

... with an RCA digital output.

I'd like to try one to feed into my Bushmaster DAC. :)

What Have You?

[Puffin]

I would suggest that you try to get a transport or CD player that has something like a Trichord Clock 3/4 fitted and a separate power supply for the clock.

Some years ago I had a Clock 3 fitted to my Cambridge Discmagic transport which made quite a difference. I only fitted a dedicated PS to it recently (having meant to do it for years!) I have to say that this has taken it to another league.

Connected to my modded Beresford 7510 it is really good.

[jandl100]

Thanks Rob - I've been wondering about the Chevron Audio clock -- anyone got any experience?

[jandl100]

... a little birdie has just told me "The BM already reclocks the signal, which is why you'll find a crystal clock sticking out on the PCB next to the input receiver chip."

Interesting! :)

[sq225917]

Saying it re-clocks the signal is meaningless, it's half a description at best.

Do they mean it uses an ASRC to re-clock the data?
Do they mean it buffers the data in a separate FIFO with a new clock being generated to drive the output?
Or do they mean the output of the receiver chip has it's own clock to create the i2S output and this is similarly used to drive the dac chip?

I'd assume it's option 3.

[jandl100]

Ooooh - techie stuff! :scratch: :D

[sq225917]

Indeed, a more complex subject than a single word description is capable of encompassing, especially when that one word doesn't have a finite technical meaning. No doubt Stan will be along to reveal all in due course. ;-)

[loosend]

Jerry my brother bought one of these
http://www.fidelityaudio.co.uk/cd-s700.html

Sent it to Brent and he devised an upgrade path for it which he now lists on his site in that link, then bought another
The transport is all metal and choke loaded and they can be picked up new for £250 if ur lucky, he had all the Dac mods done £340 I think it was but it's outstanding now, He also had the regulators in the psu done, it was great as a transport before. He has been going on about selling one of them but I'd have to check if u were interested.

The pics on the site are of his actual unit (first one he had done)

(loosend)

[jandl100]

Thanks Dan - hey, I didn't realise it was you! :doh:

Ummm -- yeah, not sure what to do at the moment.

Is the re-clocking in the BM DAC good enough? Is it worth getting work done on my own Pioneer transport? -- if so, where? Chevron seem to have a cheap option of a clock with its own PSU for around £100. Or the Fidelity one you link to -- at higher cost, but you can get higher cost / fancier implementations from Chevron, too.

If your bro wants to sell one of his -- I'll be paying for the DAC upgrade too, which I don't need ...

:scratch:

[loosend]

He has all the digital, transport and psu side modded, he plugs it into an external Dac and the improvements were very clear! Even with a reclocking Dac or any external Dac the difference is very noticeable, dynamics, soundstage and clarity as well as more musical.
Brent @Fidelity will tell u that it's not worth getting just the clock done, he always says that a better improvement comes if a person is on a tight budget to spend it on caps and regulators first as there would be a better improvement and then the next step is the clock, that's why unless a bit is already equips with some very good caps etc first (like the ps audio perfectwave Dac on his site) he won't offer a set upgrade path that just consists of a clock

I've got to know him very well over the years and he's always too happy to have a chat on the phone and exp,Qin things to people, so maybe give him a bell and take it from there, even if u go elsewhere after just pick his brains

He's been getting some good reviews in the mags lately, one was on a modded Naim CDX or something and he had my bros yammy at the same time as he modded that one for Hifi World and he said the yammy with its metal, choke driven transport blew the Naim away.

Bit of food for thought mate :)

He said he will sell it for £400 it's had the level 2 digital and transport side upgrade and also the psu upgraded

Edit: he said the player cost him £350 on sale at Superfi and he spent £400 on mods, it's only a couple months old

[DSJR]

Sorry to thread cr@p, but I think the whole jitter thingy was sorted years ago and of it's an issue at all, I suspect only on older 1980's and some 1990's stuff. Once proper research tools became available to determine jitter, I think it became a non issue for many transports and players, especially as modern players have such short signal paths in both digital and analogue domains - far less room for errors to creep in. Of course I could be wrong :lol: but I really wouldn't worry about it Jerry. Just let the music flow instead :)

[jandl100]

Thanks, Dave - it's just that someone posted that their re-clocked transport was way better than this, that or the other into the BM! :lol:
I was just curious to investigate! :)

And thanks, Dan. Hmm. Not sure which way to go at the moment - assuming I want to go anywhere! The trouble with modded kit is that the very concept of a predictable resale value goes straight out the door - which is always a consideration for a boxswapper like me. And £400 ain't chump change.

[DSJR]

I only say this because the CD94 based Micro Seiki I have has a hugely complex )by modern standards) digital and analogue signal path, the laser output going first to this board, then that, and then onto a third area for analogue output. despite this, and possibly because of the large power supplies and regulated stages, adding a Trichord Clock 2 didn't make a huge difference (and barely made a sonic difference at all to a CD94 we had done), although it may have just cleaned things up a bit.

[loosend]

I know what u mean Jerry

I have a fully modded Squeezebox by Audiocom and the difference to the stock one is huge, resale value tho, well debatable :)

[jandl100]

Best value for me may well be to part with £100 and get Chevron to re-clock my Pioneer cdp ... :hmm:

Or even better value -- just leave it alone and continue to enjoy the fab sound of my system! :eyebrows:

[loosend]

If u get the Pioneer reclocked u I'll need some other updates and I guess they may suggest this also, u may be better off just getting some new caps and regs if u want a boost......?

Enjoy ur months holiday, Alan messaged me earlier, doh!
Should finally get those LV's collected from him this week :)

[Yomanze]

Best value for me may well be to part with £100 and get Chevron to re-clock my Pioneer cdp ... :hmm:

Or even better value -- just leave it alone and continue to enjoy the fab sound of my system! :eyebrows:

...or even better still, pick up a used Pioneer DV-505 for £30-odd quid. ;)

If you use CD-Rs or CD-RWs though, forget about it. These players read CDs as data disks, and thus buffer them into memory and try multiple re-reads on error instead of applying error correction.

As you might already know Jerry have long been a fan of the Pioneer PD-S505 in particular, but the DV-505 beats it.

[jandl100]

Enjoy ur months holiday, Alan messaged me earlier, doh!

I might just make it permanent, actually! :banned: :lol:

Who needs it? :rolleyes:

[jandl100]

...or even better still, pick up a used Pioneer DV-505 for £30-odd quid. ;)

If you use CD-Rs or CD-RWs though, forget about it. These players read CDs as data disks, and thus buffer them into memory and try multiple re-reads on error instead of applying error correction.

As you might already know Jerry have long been a fan of the Pioneer PD-S505 in particular, but the DV-505 beats it.

OK! - there was one on fleaBay for £80 delivered, not exactly £30 but still seems good vfm .... but someone with eBay ID JANDL100 seems to have just bought it! :scratch: :lol:

I'll use another player for my CDRs. :)

It comes with 25 DVDs - so I can probably flog them and make up most of the difference. :D

[Yomanze]

OK! - there was one on fleaBay for £80 delivered, not exactly £30 but still seems good vfm .... but someone with eBay ID JANDL100 seems to have just bought it! :scratch: :lol:

I'll use another player for my CDRs. :)

...well the PD-S505 reads bloody everything. ;)

Yeah am sure the 25x DVDs would get snapped up for £40 or so...

[Yomanze]

I might just make it permanent, actually! :banned: :lol:

Who needs it? :rolleyes:

I'd make it permanent... what a joke. In fact it's made my mind up, am not bothering posting there again!

[jandl100]

yeah - it's nice round here, innit! :thumbsup:

[Yomanze]

yeah - it's nice round here, innit! :thumbsup:

Yeah, it's refreshing that different opinions are not shot down / pounced upon.

[DSJR]

Where's this then? Can't stand the suspense of not knowing ;)

[sq225917]

jerry, I'd warrant that a couple of local regulators added somewhere in most cd players would do more than reclocking- unless they are very old and jittery.

[DSJR]

Jerry, didn't you once have an AVI CD player, or is it the Lab series amp I'm thinking of? I have a pic sent by a mate of mine who bought an S2000 CD player new and currently has it in bits awaiting a replacement "pattern" loading gear. I have to say the mother board os beautifully laid out and the power supplies and regulators would do any small amplifier proud I reckon. AVI are different things to different people, but Martin the designer does know a thing or three about digital circuit design and his machines always performed and sounded well, even if the mechanisms and control logic didn't all of the time ;) An S2000 reference (IIRC) was totally altered in sonics by replacement of a handful of coupling caps and possibly even the output op-amps, which are the ubiquitous and still worthy (if properly supplied and implemented) NE5532 types..

[jandl100]

Hi Dave

re: your 1st query - I got banned from a certain other forum for standing up against a witch-hunt.


Jerry, didn't you once have an AVI CD player, or is it the Lab series amp I'm thinking of? ....

re: your 2nd query - yep, I love the AVI Lab Series kit. Proper hifi, that. Yes, I've had both the integrated amp and the CD player, and loved them. Also tried a Lab Series pre-amp but found that a bit too tonally stark.

[loosend]

jerry, I'd warrant that a couple of local regulators added somewhere in most cd players would do more than reclocking- unless they are very old and jittery.
:)

[StanleyB]

re: your 1st query - I got banned from a certain other forum for standing up against a witch-hunt.
Deja Vu..