Attn Vinyl lovers - what CD Player do you use?


While reading through the many threads on Vinyl vs. CD, I thought it might be interesting to see what CD transports/players Vinyl fans use when not listening to their analog rig?
encyclopediabsh
EMM Labs XDS1 which sounds analogue, very much like my Skala/Oracle/SMEIV combo. The other day, music playing but not paying attention, I was surprised to see it was coming from CD and not vinyl. So far vinyl still superior but when the XDS1 is fully broken in, maybe not for long.
various vintage players attached to camelot arthur w/ battery supply. fantastic dac btw but battery onlasts about 1.5-2 hours per charge...
EAR Acute Cd Player with Nos Siemens, in my researchs it is the best affordable cd player which close to analog. The best I listened is the mbl transport+dac gear. It was nearly better then most of the analog setups I have ever listened.
SONY DVP-NS 305 of about 10 years old, the good thing is it operates flawless and plays DVD s as well , expensive cd players are a waist of money in MY opinion with maybe the exception of mark levinson and zanden audio.
Sony SCD XA5400ES. I also have a McIntosh, and Arcam, and previously the Ayre CX7e. All are good, but I only listen to the Sony. It is phenomenal.
I use a Denon CDR-W1500, which is a dual CD recording deck. The main thing I use it for is making excellent CD copies of vinyl records and other sources (tapes & radio). It has digital inputs and outputs (optical & coax) and has a 24bit DAC.
I run it alternately through a Sonic Solutions DAC for listening. The built-in DAC is very good but i prefer the external unit because it is very warm and pleasant.
For me PS has changed the title of the thread to " Hi rez lovers, what vinyl do you use. Yup I said that and I'm wearing nomex.
i'm currently using a MCD201 + ARC DAC7; i'm trying to ressurect my old favorite, Wadia 6i

egay
Soundlistening,
As I said, these are Japanese pressings of some popular music,
To name a few:

Tracy Chapman : New Beginning and Telling Stories
Pink Floyd : Wish you were here
Fleetowood Mac: Rumours

All these are pretty popular, may I call "mass-market", I have the European pressings of these very same albums but they sound like CDs, the Japanese version sounds like LPs.
Hope this helps.
I'm using the Goldenote Stibbert. It sounds wonderful. I can listen to albums or CD's and not feel the need to compare them.
Reimyo DAP-777. It has an organic warmth that's very similar LP. It needs a good cd transport, with very little jitter though, since the DAP-777 doesn't sport a digital buffer.
Naim CD5x, Marantz DV7001 (for SACD) and Squeezebox Duet with Cambridge DacMagic.

Nothing compares to vinyl through my Basis 1400/Encounter MkIII/Ortofon Kontrapunkt b.
I use the EMM Labs CDSD SE and the DCC2SE DAC combo. I bought the EMM XDS 1 player recently. But nothing beats the Vinyl set up.

It just sounds natural. Digital is all about sound shaping using algorithms. That is music to some years and noise to others. Tis best to listen to what u r more comfortable with. But try one must to all possible sources and technologies...
Ayre CX-7e. Have had it for a few years and love it (should really go for the MP upgrade soon!). Some CD's are better, some records are better - my vinyl rig is a bit higher end than the CDP, but it's close. One thing the CDP can't do is fill the room with music the way that the best vinyl does...but I suspect that's down to the missing resolution of the CD format.

Abbey Road - remaster - parts of it are better on CD, parts are better on vinyl...some of the remastering choices on this album were quite drastic and removed some distortion that's in the original recordings, so in that respect, the CD is better. In terms of filling the room with music though...as usual, the vinyl wins out.
I think you are asking me how good the Music Vault One sounds.
It sounds better than most CD players. I think you will find that your really crappy sounding CDs will sound pleasant enough through a Music Vault and your really good CDs better than you have heard them before. In addition you can down load Hi Res files from HD Tracks or other sites and play these as well, something most CD Players can't do. It is a server after all.
How's the playback on that Music Vault? Recording vinyl doesn't seem too difficult- my Yamaha CDR does it very well (although the interface is pretty lame). But, the actual recordings sound very close to the vinyl. And, that's not really an "audiophile" piece of equipment.
Well Vinyl Lovers the new Music Vault One has the ability to Record Analog at 24 bits up to 192 KSPS. It will capture the soul of the album and be indistinguishable in AB comparisons on the overwhelming majority of systems that people own. Actually it may sound better depending on your turntable because the Music Vault One is not susceptible to acoustic feedback.

The "Truth" according to me anyway is that older CDs weren't mastered that well which makes them sound crappy and most CD players have to do error correction as the CD is plying and they don't always get it right if the Disc surface has issues. The Music Vault Rips the CD to a HD and Does error correction using computer methods that get it right or none of our software would work.

The end result is the Music Vault Music Servers are the best sounding Digital sources out there and do get the soul of your music and the new Music Vault One can make perfect copies of your Albums too.

I am the designer and Manufacturer of the Music Vault Servers, I thought the disclosure was needed.
Ayre CX7e-MP

I never thought CD could match vinyl. Now I'm questioning whether it is better than vinyl (and my vinyl rig costs 3-4x the price of this CD player)
The Audio Note Kits DAC 2.1C (roughly equiv to factory DAC 3 I believe) was truly a revelation to me after trying a number of DACs and CDPs, some up to 3x its price. The smoothness and timbre of the NOS/filterless topology with great dynamics and microdynamic finesse (something very many easy to listen to, "analog-like" DACs are missing).

Have never heard the AMR or the new db audio.

Vinyl is still better, substantially.
Rotel RCD-1072....................Since most of my $$$ goes into my analog front end and buying more LP's (a constant adventure), I didn't want to spend a lot on a CD player. This Rotel RCD-1072 is a beautiful sounding deck, and it's "very analog sounding," bringing out the best of my CD's without breaking the bank.
dCS Puccini with clock is the solution I have choosen ... but good LPs just sound marvellous and so natural
Pani,

We would appreciate some of those references to enable us to expereince this.

Give us a few of your "top 10"

Thanks
Tim
While there are lot amazing digital playback systems out there, in my experience its the recording rather than a rig that closes the gap between digital and analog playback.

I have a few Japanese pressings of some popular albums and the magic with them is they absolutely make you forget about "digital" playback. You dont remember the source at all when these CDs are playing, all you do is listen to music !!!!
Thats very similar to what Vinyl does.
But then very very few other CDs (not pressed in Japan) are able to replicate that feeling. And interestingly these are not some exotic record labels like MoFi or XRCD...these are the same vanilla flavor stuff but manufactured in Japan.
Something to think about !!

BTW my digital rig:
TEAC VRDS 10 (modded)
Reimyo DAP-777
Another vote for Ayre CX-7eMP. Overall, my vinyl rig sounds just a bit better, with small but noticeably more texture. But if I didn't already have a vinyl collection, I'd go digital only and never look back. I only have about 6-8 duplicate titles on CD and vinyl. In head to head comparisons, the vinyl kills the CD on Jack Johnson's "On and On". But I got the ripped CD from a friend and I wonder if it's MP3. On "Abbey Road", the vinyl is clearly better, but it's the 1980's CD and the remaster would certainly narrow the gap. On Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark", the sound is very similar. Other than the vinyl pops, I don't know that I could otherwise distinguish them blindfolded. I have four duplicate Bruce Cockburn titles. I prefer the CD "Circles and Streams" simply because the used vinyl is just hammered - barely listenable. "World of Wonders' vinyl notably betters the 1980s CD. But the remastered Rounder CD releases sound every bit as good as vinyl. In fact, I actually *prefer* the CDs because they seem to better highlight vocals while surrendering hardly anywhere else.
Currently, an Ayon CD-2. Upgrading to the CD-5 in about a week. The CD-5 has been getting smoking good reviews.
I am using a Parasound 2000 C/BD Belt Drive Transport and am loving it. Truly it has an analog sound that is just beautiful. I am presently looking for a DAC that will be able to read and play HDCD's and other formats. Your suggestions are welcomed and thanks much.

Bob
Music Hall CD 25.2, but listen to vinyl 90% of the time, It is a solid CDP withg a nice sound and great price break.
For the digital front end I use a Music Hall CD 25.2 player as a transport and have a Cary Audio XCiter DAC. The two are connected via a DH Labs D-75 cable. I really like the sound of the Cary DAC; very smooth and no digital glare, but lots of detail and nice, full, rich sound.
Tascam CC222MkII Player/Recorder and Music Hall Maverick SACD player modified by Underwood Audio for my main system.

I've been quite happy with how good the Tascam records and how both it and the Music Hall sound. I have had some problems with the Music Hall and had to have it repaired twice. Overall cost for the Music Hall was around $1700 with mods.

A Wadia would be a luxury but I can't relate to the cost at this time.
Recently bought Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP (+Kondo Vx interconnects) which I can listen to with the same pleasure as Raven One + Tri-Planar + Transfiguration Phoenix.

CDP does sound analog like, despite the statements in this thread :) (which I take with due respect).
Sony SCD XA9000ES. Wondering if the XA5400ES is an upgrade or about the same... anyone?