Your Three Most Loved Digital Sources

[MartinT]

Taking a leaf from Andre's book, what were your three most loved digital sources?

I owned previous machines, but my three best (and most loved) were:

Pioneer PD-91 (battleship CD player from the Esoteric line, with a superb transport, copper chassis and great Burr-Brown DACs)

Sony SCD-1 (even more battleship than the Pioneer, fantastic transport that was dead slow to load, superb Audiocom-modded sound from SACDs and CDs)

Ayre C-5xe MP (wonderful machine with state of the art sound, modded with the Minimum Phase filters, plays DVD-A as well as SACD and CD)

[DSJR]

Micro-Seiki CD-M2/CD-M100/CDX 2000 - a trio of superb players, still difficult to better today if they're singing right..

TEAC P2 transport (2) with Prism DAC - a dem from over ten years ago convinced me.. Totally uncontrived and master-tape like..

Sony's best models - set standards for decades, the mechs being amazing on most of 'em..

One more, 'cos the design was so good with bits available - the AVI S2000 players. Crap to use sometimes, but very clear and powerful sound, totally lacking the "CD Harshness" in other, more "exciting" players...

There are others I remember fondly, but I've said too much..

[Labarum]

Haven't had many. I will list them all.

Philips CD204 - early CD player. Sold years ago when I bought

Quad 77 CD Player (plus Integrated Amp and Tuner which I still have. Don't use CDP or Tuner because I have a)

Squeezebox Classic (which I play through a Caiman DAC.)

Loved them all. Love the Squeezebox the best and it cost the least.

Edit: The laptop on which I am typing will drive the Caiman just as nicely via USB
(Foobar, Windows 7, WASAPI Mode - nothing to choose between laptop and Squeezebox, except SB is wireless and more convenient to use.)

[Spectral Morn]

Marantz CD85 Loved this player...then the CD94mk2 came along.....

Marantz CD94mk2 Stunning build and sound (as long as it is left on) 1541 Crown Dacs at their best imho. I still have this baby, a constant friend and companion through musics rich tapestry, for many years, and it still works.

AMR CD77 Pure magic. Multibit too.

Moon Andromeda It has everything in spades, but manages to be musical and not spotlit.

Almost loved Wadia 861se Similar to the moon, but everything is spotlit and its..well a bit Hi-Fi, and imho the Moon isn't.


Regards D S D L

[tunepirate]

I love my e-mu 0404 soundcard since it's fast, musical, and also a great recording equipment at the same time!
And at the same time it seems to be a pretty good transporter, atleast clearly better than my denon dvd-1720

[Labarum]

Neil, are those flashing Daleks new?

[YNWaN]

Ermm...I've got a CD player in the car and an MP3 player - I've never owned 3 digital sources, never mind 3 favourite ones!



No, hang on, I've also got a Playstation.

[Spectral Morn]

Neil, are those flashing Daleks new?

No...been using this avatar for quite awhile now :)


Regards D S D L

[Labarum]

No...been using this avatar for quite awhile now :)


Just shows how observant I am!

[Snoopdog]

My first CD player was a Sony ES557 which I bought in 1988 when DG announced that they would no longer release new titles on vinyl.

Soon gave way to a Meridian 200 series transport + DAC.

Best three though (in ascending order) were Meridian 508.24, Reimyo CDP-777 and the current incumbant, dCS Paganini transport + DAC.

[Themis]

I never *really* liked digital sources. My first loved one was the Northstar 192 dac.

[Joe]

I've only ever owned three digital sources, and still use two of those:

Arcam Alpha: not bad, the best I could afford back then

Exposure CDP: the original version, still in regular use; great with rock and jazz, slightly less so with classical

Meridian 500/Chord DAC64: what I mostly use, excellent all-rounder, but especially good on classical material

[REM]

I've only ever had one, it's 'quite nice'....:lol:

[trane]

- creek cd43 (original version with the ever-running clock-like logo when on play) > the first cd-player (in spite the others, rega planet included, that i had previously owned) that transformed cd-sound to Music :)
- rega apollo
- audio aero prima mk2

[Rare Bird]

Mission 'DAD7000R'
Meridian 'MCD Pro'
Marantz CD73 (But only the loading facination, not sound)

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k163/Graciefloydie/AK%20Gear/MarantzCD-73a.jpg

[MartinT]

Andre - that CD73 looks different, can't say I've ever seen one before. Do you have a photo of it open?

[StanleyB]

It was better known as the Philips CD303. Also known as the Grundig 7500.

[Joe]

Andre - that CD73 looks different, can't say I've ever seen one before. Do you have a photo of it open?

Filth!

[Marco]

He meant to say: 'open, wet, and gagging for it'.

Marco.

[MartinT]

Pass me a towel...

Just for that, I'm going to name a fourth item. My Beresford Caiman DAC, slightly modified, is a beauty. Is a DAC a source? In the sense that it is the start of the analogue signal, possibly. Discuss.

[Rare Bird]

Andre - that CD73 looks different, can't say I've ever seen one before. Do you have a photo of it open?

Philips CD303 was horrible in comparison.

0korTMvdK4A

[Stratmangler]

Bleedin' hell Andre, that mech's got an action worse than Arkwright's cash register !!

Ggggggggranville, wwwwwwhere are you ?

[MartinT]

Thanks Andre, for the video and The Police.

That mechanism needs a little damping, don't you think? Intriguing, though.

I used to get many admirers when loading up my old Sony SCD-1. The sliding top door was always a talking point.

[Rare Bird]

Too rught chris but it's actually not as nasty in the flesh as it looks on that vid..

[Barry]

Not sure which I find more amazing: the Venus Flytrap acuity of the drawer (Arkwright's till indeed!), or the fact that people take video footage of their tuntables, CD players, reel-to-reel tape recorders in action for YouTube?

Regards

[Beobloke]

Marantz CD94. I love it for its sound, but not the fact that it gets through a set of belts every 18 months or so. :steam:

Bang & Olufsen Beogram CDX - the coolest CD player ever. Sounds quite nice in a 'warm and friendly' kind of way, too.

All the others I've owned have been unremarkable, unreliable or, in the case of the ones made by Philips - both.

[Rare Bird]

Marantz CD94. I love it for its sound, but not the fact that it gets through a set of belts every 18 months or so. :steam:



Yeh i noticed tuther Sunday :lol:

[Alex_UK]

Especially for all you Ken Ishiwata "haters": :eyebrows: (DSJR especially loves them, I know! ;))

Marantz CD63 KI Signature CD Player
Marantz CD6000 OSE KI Signature CD Player
Marantz SA7001 KI Signature SACD/CD Player - this in particular is a bit of a hidden gem IMHO, (WTF having got bored with KI kit and not even bothering to review the latest stuff?) and sounds incredibly analogue.

:ner:

I'm sure there is plenty of better stuff out there that I don't know about, but for someone on a limited budget I've always found the KI players more than held their own against similarly priced Arcam, Rotel Sony etc. when auditioned, so I've been a happy bunny for the past 14 years.

[The Grand Wazoo]

From The Grave

[Macca]

1) Cambridge CD4SE - made instruments sound like real instruments, especially brass.

2) Sony CDP791E - totally different from the above but did proper bass and dynamics

3) Three? that's one too many ;) - maybe the original Oppo universal player - versatial and pleasantly boppy. Not many used ones out there for sale, which says something I think.

[WOStantonCS100]

Please wait patiently for your turn to throw your chopsticks at me...

JVC XL-M415 - I despise Red Book; but, to present day I have had no other standalone CD spinner top it, at least not in my home. 8x oversampling, DAC, filtering??? I can't say for sure; but, the recipe works.

Sony MDS-JE510 - I know, I know. BUT, the editing features of this little guy were awesome. Portability was excellent. Sound... sucked hard.

my old pentium 3 PC (gave it away) - I successfully recorded and played back digital, certainly higher res than CD, with this and it certainly sounded better than CD. It even ran 8 tracks of Sonar quite well. The downsides were ridiculous hardware/software fine tuning, elaborate setup and the need to leave the PC in the neighboring room to squelch the noise.

I'm still hoping to find an (industry standard) solution that uses physical media (portability) and encapsulates the best of all three; a standalone unit (one box quiet running solution) with excellent recording and editing that far outshines Red Book playback/sound... at a reasonable price.

[howlindawg]

#1: Audionet ART-G3.
Stunning build and sound quality.

#2: Squeezebox Touch.
Still astounded by the versatility and quality of this little box of tricks when used as a transport.

#3: Consonance Forbidden City Orfeo.
Wonderful organic sound from this very reasonably priced CDP.

[MartinT]

New thoughts:

1. Pioneer PD-91, it was my first proper high end CD player, it looked gorgeous and it sounded superb. I modded it with better op-amps and it lasted me many years of absolutely faultless operation.

2. Sony SCD-1, the biggest battleship of a player you're ever likely to find, it weighs 26kg and operates in a stately manner. I had it fully Audiocom modded and it sounded wonderful on both red book and SACD.

3. Ayre C-5xe MP. My current and, probably, final disc player. Since the MP upgrade it is peerless in CD and SACD playback and sounds particularly brilliant with both commercial and burned DVD-As of hi-res material.

[Welder]

I never really did CD. It was reel to reel tape and vinyl or nothing up until a few years ago.
I had one of those periods in life where Hi Fi just didn’t feature as a priority in the great scheme of things and bought an Exposure CD player as a convenient means of playing music.

I’m not really a Hi Fi enthusiast tbh. I like good quality sound and in my experience the two don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Most of my music loving friends moved to Pro Audio gear and one in particular introduced me to file based audio which he had been interested in from its earliest days.

My first serious digital sources were my Sony Vaio and a fairly powerful PC. I’ve squeezed excellent audio out of both. First using a Lynx Pro audio card in the PC and later as my interest and skills in file based audio broadened, the stripped out Vaio laptop feeding various Dacs.

My current WIP music server is my most loved digital source. It performs comparably to any of the Vinyl replay equipment I’ve had and completely overshadows the relatively small number of CD players I’ve heard.

[aBe]

1) Marantz CD10 - battleship build, smooth operator, superb transport. Abused daily since 1995.

2) Technics SLPG580 - nice sounding affordable Teutonic's CDP. Top notch reliability.

3) Caiman (Gatorised) - great DAC. Period. Will use daily until I can afford something much..much more expensive and plays better music.

[synsei]

My current incumbent, an Arcam CD72 is the best CDP I've ever owned knocking spots of the NAD CD524 I used previously in terms of its natural sound and total lack of digital harshness. The NAD had its good points but could sound way to brash on some material, even when run through the Caiman.

HP Pavilion DV7 3020sa lappy and self built PC running through the Caiman playing lossless audio files (FLAC, MonkeyAudio, Win Lossless).

I've yet to figure out how to use Foobar and have no idea what the hell Wasapi is but things are sounding very nice regardless when played on WMP11 with added codecs :cool:

[Themis]

Nothing new since last year, for me. :(

[Darren]

The three best digital sources I have owned are:
Sony Es555x with either Dax 2 or Audionote 1.1x dacs. Great transport, sweet, transparent sound.
Wadia 830. Dynamic and transparent.
Squeezebox touch with various Dacs. Cheap and flexible and fun.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Well, I only really owned three CD players, though I have lived with quite a few for fairly protracted periods, there have been a few short stay players & there's a Standac in constant use for the computer. If I like something then I usually hang on to it for a very long time!

Mission DAD7000 how many CD players have a heatsink on their outer casing nowadays - don't drop it on yer foot!
Naim CDI which I was lucky enough to win in a competition & stayed in use for a very long time
Accuphase DP67 you really, really mustn't drop this on yer foot!!! I had to spend a lot of lolly to feel I'd really stepped up properly from the Naim.

[jandl100]

My faves of the dozens I have owned? ....

Burmester CD006 - not that 'impressive', it just sounded right. I kept it for over a year. A beautiful thing.

Krell KPS25S - stunningly articulate, and built like the Arc de Triomphe! Sadly it rapidly developed a fault and was returned to the seller.

MHZS CD88 - my current fave, superbly focussed with wonderful in-the-room presence and drenched with tonal richness and dynamic nuance, it could do with a lower noise floor from the valve output stage but apart from that it's the best I have heard.

[jandl100]

#3: Consonance Forbidden City Orfeo.
Wonderful organic sound from this very reasonably priced CDP.

Mmmmm, yummy ... that's just how I imagined it would sound! A friend of mine has a Consonance Droplet CDP - gorgeous! Must admit that a Consonance CDP is on my Want List. :)

[roob]

Jerry
What happened to the DPA dac?

[WAD62]

At about £90 the SB receiver is hard to beat for value and performance, particularly when paired with SqueezeCommander on an android phone (about £3) ;)

[jandl100]

Jerry
What happened to the DPA dac?

Yep, that was good ... but ...

... Jake / lordmortlock of this parish came around to my place with his Marantz KI Pearl CDP. That was just a hifi blockbuster with little or no musical involvement, but it showed up some deficiencies in the bass end of the DPA. (By gum, that Marantz had phenomenal bass depth and slam!:eek:). I stewed in that for a while, then Jake sold the Marantz and bought my DPA DAC! Funny old world, innit! :)

... I then tried the MHZS CD88 and have fallen madly deeply in love with it.

[bobbasrah]

At my more budget end of it:
1 - Creative Zen 32Gb - Coupled with Sennheiser Buds, it actually made mp3's sound musical and look organised before FLAC players began to appear.
2 - Musiland 02US - My first experience of what CD and DVD players failed to deliver:XP pumping FLAC on Foobar with Asio enabled via USB to the Musiland to the big Pioneer to the Beyers. The RCA out from the 02US was raspy, but later as a transport to a DAC/AMP on digital, nice step.
3- Not sure if this counts strictly, but new computer with 2 separate internal USB hubs (one dedicated to the 02US) + Win7/Wasapi and Mediaportal/PureAudio Plugin made it a joy to use. Roll on MP2....

Of course that is the 3 faves only until the next idea comes along for a DIY upgrade project.

[griffo104]

My current two digital sources.

Audio Analogue Maestro MKII. 20kg of Italian sweetness, made me want to listen to CD again after vinyl took over my life. The drawer is horrible on it but once in the CD sounds very sweet, switchable sampling rate and also has an input to use the DAC, which also sounds very good in it's own right.

Denon DVD2900. Great build quality, decent cd player, very good SACD and it also plays films very well - perfect universal player. Does a very good job as a transport as well, recently been playing with it going in to the AA Maestro DAC and it does a very good job indeed.

Doubt I'll ever buy another CD player, chances are I would get a cheap blu-ray for a transport to make use of the AA dac or alternatively I'll go the computer way and still make use of the AA dac. No changes to the digital front ends until something dies.

I do enjoy my players but I find the gap in digital quality very small compared to vinyl and I'd much rather listen to that given the choice.

Having heard an £8.5k Nagra CD player in my system it was better but not £8k better than I paid for the AA player.