Musical Fedelity's X10v3 tube buffer.
A tweak that will tame the digital-ness
You can improve the sound of the red book Cd.
1) Rip it into your computer with the EAC program (exact audio copy) - can be had for free by google searching for it.
2) Burn it onto a Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui gold CDr.
3) Use Feurio program to burn - google for it also.
4) Burn it on the slowest speed allowed by your CDr
Player.
5) If you upgrade your CDr player to a plextor one, you can further improve the quality.
The sound is more dynamic, and the digital shril-ness is tamed. For the first time, I am satisfied with the digital sound.
Before spending thousands on an upgrade, might want to give it a try.
1) Rip it into your computer with the EAC program (exact audio copy) - can be had for free by google searching for it.
2) Burn it onto a Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui gold CDr.
3) Use Feurio program to burn - google for it also.
4) Burn it on the slowest speed allowed by your CDr
Player.
5) If you upgrade your CDr player to a plextor one, you can further improve the quality.
The sound is more dynamic, and the digital shril-ness is tamed. For the first time, I am satisfied with the digital sound.
Before spending thousands on an upgrade, might want to give it a try.
15 responses Add your response
I'll definitely check out those brand CDR's. I've also heard that the black CDR's also have a similar effect. Take is a step further and get a plextor external and isolate it, and plug that into a laptop running on batteries and you will get the ultimate results. Use Plextor Tools to rip and burn instead of EAC since it is already calibrated for the drive. Use a CD Lathe to balance the CD's prior to reading and writing and even get a better result. |
UncleJeff: go check out the Bolder form on audiocircle for discussions about modifications for SB's. Bolder is trying a different approach to modifications to the Transporter but hasn't come out with a unit he likes. There are two other mod'ers with transporter mods and I think they cost $2700 including the unit. Huge benifits from my Bolder modified SB3, mainly the Ultimate powersupply which was ~$1500.. This made the unit comparable to my ~$5k Universal CDP player. I am about to send mine in to get the MkII updates and then re-evaluate. A stock SB is really lean and flat in the bass, very similar to a Sub $1,500 CDP. |
Unclejeff: and so far the modified SB's $1500+400 still is sounding better than the modified $2700 Transporters so it's still cheaper...until they figure out what to do with transporters to make them sound better. Isolating powersupplies away from main units is always an improvement. I would have bought a Transporter if they had installed a larger display. And keep in mind that amount is still cheaper than $5000 players plus preamps $$ and interconnects... |
Try Maxell PRO CD-R's available at Staples and elsewhere. They are made in Japan by Taiyo Yuden plus they have an added scratch protection layer that makes them more durable than regular Taiyo Yuden discs. But make sure you get the ones labeled as PRO ($14.95 for 25-spindle) and not the regular Maxell's as they are hardly the same quality. |
I would like to know if an important part of the so called "digital sound" is in fact due to different amplitude/frequency characteristics of the reproduced sound. If one is able to make (through the use of equilizers) the amplitude/frequency graph in case of music reproduced through a high end digital unit looks similar to that of music reproduced through a high end analog set up, I think both (the digital and analog source units) would sound quite alike. Chris |
Just a follow-up to my previous post... The Maxell CD-R Pro discs are just outstanding! They make even regular Taiyo Yuden and Mitsui CD's sound flat (haven't tried MoFi CD-R's yet, but they are also Mitsui discs). I guess it has something to do with the anti-scratch coating put on the Maxell discs that focuses the laser better, but whatever it is the sound quality coming off the Maxell Pro discs is simply the most analog-like sound I've ever heard from a CD. Very liquid-smooth and 3-dimensional and instruments seem to jump out at you. Makes me want to redo my whole CD-R collection. |
You may want to try ERS Sheets on your digital equipment before spending huge $s. http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/ers_cloth_e.html |
Sorry to revive such an old thread! I just purchased a pre-owned factory reconditioned Harmon Kardan CDR-2 cd recorder. It can burn at 1X. Do you think using Taiyo Yuden or Mitsui gold CDR's as described above burned at 1X on this unit will garner similar results in terms of an improvment over Redbook? Anyone? |