Denon DCD 1650 VERY analog-like. Bought two months ago. A good buy. Unsure about servie though. Anyone have ideas about service. |
My transport is a TRIODE TRV-CD4SE tube CD player feeding thru the new REGA DAC. Still love the vinyl sound but this combo is very close. |
Theta digital ds pro prime ii dac and theta data basic transport. Awesome combo. Also adcom gcd-750 and Sony xa20es.. |
I have a Naim UnitiQute and on the rare occasion I play a CD, I use an Arcam DV88 Plus (DVD player) as a transport. One of the reasons I got a UnitiQute instead of the NaimUniti is that I don't really need a CD player. I have ripped all my CDs to FLAC and stream when I want to hear them. |
i was reading a review of the OPPO 95 recently in ENJOY THE MUSIC.com. I had to laugh as the reviewer and his panel don't like digital. They went so far as to say they couldn't listen to the 95 for any extended period of time and that the only digital approaching vinyl cost over $100K. My question why were they reviewing a digital player? How do I use a review where the reviewers say this about digital? What a pointless effort. I want to know how it compares to other digital units. Not a rant against digital. |
Vinyl is just a little better than my accuphase Dp-700,some times? but not worth the trouble,just happy with my sacd player |
Jolida Music Van 4 with Bybee music rails installed in the power supply. |
EAR acute CD player with a tube output stage. Fairly? close to analogue, but not steering me away from my record collection. My analogue front end is considerably more evolved. |
Actually I have two systems going with nearly 1,000 LP's, I also have a less sizeable CD colletion. My living room system has a Nottingham Analog Spacedec with a Meridian 508 CD player. My studio system has a REGA P25 player with an Arcam fmj36 CD player. (Although the Meridian is a much older player it still out performs the more recent Arcam) |
Naim cd555...beats all but the very finest vinyl playback. |
AMR CD-77.1 has replaced the beloved BAT player, which has now moved to my home office rig. For those who love LPs, the AMR is a must-hear in my opinion. |
Hi,
as I've already wrote in the TJ's thread "Reference DACS: An overall perspective" and in the TJ's review "Concert Fidelity DAC-040, I'm using the Métronome Technologie Kalista Référence as drive and the Concert Fidelity Tube DAC-040 as converter; in my opinion and for my personal experience this combo sounds even better than a high level analog front end system.
Regards, |
For Vinyl sound from a digital rig, read about .dff playback on a Meitner, PBD, or Mytek DAC. This is .dff file playback from a computer, not SACD.
Supposed to be the best - closest to vinyl, but we need a lot of support in order to anything to move in this direction. Otherwise the format will not take off. |
Reference system (office/studio): McIntosh MCD 7005
Family system (home): Faroudja DV 1000, Sony PS2 |
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Opera Droplet 5.0. Superb for any format sound wise. |
PS Audio pwd just installed the mkII board. I now just look at my disk washer with greater disintrest. Albumn art on a 27" screen |
Ayre C5xemp Very satisfying |
accuphase 90-91 but dp-700 is just awesome! |
A Lector CDP with Tele 12AT7s. |
Squeezebox touch to mhdt constantine dac. |
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Arcam CD37 - Plays also SACD |
No CD player... a LINN Akurate DS will destroy most CD players under $20k. |
EE MiniMax Dac w\RCA Cleartop tube
Pioneer DV503 as a transport
This EE is astonishingly good! |
I use OPPO BD 95
It simply trashes all other competition below 5000 dollars. |
I use an Oppo BDP-95 which connects to my system via HDMI link. I use a Meridian HD621 / G68XXD DAC Processor with apodizing filters - great sound. |
I have the Adcom GCD 575 for my CD transport but I use the Cal Audio Sigma for my D/A converter. I like the tubed output stage as it seems to warm up and smooth out the digital edge of the CD. Still not a huge fan of CDs or digital format in general but it was as good as I could get on my budget. |
I use a Playback MPS-5, first cd player to run my kuzma XL4 deck close. |
very plebian system here: McIntosh MCD 7010 for Redbook CD and Denon DVD-3910 for HDCD/SACD |
Aesthetix Romulus! Following a lengthy break-in period and installing some NOS tubes, this unit sounds very, very much like my analog rig. I am extremely pleased. |
Cary 306SACD through a Weiss 202 Dac |
For music, Pioneer Elite BDP-09 Bluray player > digital output > mhdt Havana Balanced DAC with 1964 Bendix 6385 tubes in the buffer section.
Phil |
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i recently had my analog rig repaired. i hooked it up and listened to an lp of dave grusin , discovered again on the sheffield label.
i own several copies of the track "keep your eye on the sparrow".
when comparing the sound of the cd to that of the lp, i noticed something interesting. it was the way in which the decay of the vibraphone was presented.
on the lp, the vibraphone's last note got softer and softer, raking its time, before it was no longer audible. on the cd, decay was very quick.
i don't think the cd medium can compare to the analog medium in this respect. so it may be academic what digital front end you use, if certain factors are unique to analog and cannot be matched by digital. |
I have Audio Note tube amps and also use Stax SR-007 MK2s (Omega2s).
I use a Mac Mini with M2Tech EVO USB - SPDIF into an Audio Note DAC 3.1 SE.
It sounds better than any vinyl rig I had, and better than my friends (good) vinyl rig as well. Very tuby, analogue BUT fast and revealing with serious bass.
Very happy. |
I have an Arcam FMJ CD17. It is very detailed and articulate but opposite of my vinyl rig. Lacks warmth and it is harder to make an emotional connection to the music with it. But for some recordings, this CD player does serve its purpose. |
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I am using Ayon Cd 5...!!..with High Tunîng fuse..!..so far the closest one to tttble lp quite happy with it. |
I use mhdt dacs (paradisea and Constantine) with Squeezebox touch and other sources. |
OPPO 105, spending more on a CD/SACD/DVD-a/Blue ray player is wasted money:) |
Symphonic Line Reference Mk2. Just wonderful. Listen to CDs a lot more often than to Hi-Res music via MacMini/Pure Music/Weiss DAC202. Preamp CAT SL1 Rennaissance. Amp CAT JL3 Sign mono blocks. Speakers: ProAC Response D38. |
I just changed my Accuphase combo 800/801 for a Soulution 745 and i must admitt that this player in some ways exceeds my vinyl rig ( VYGER Indian sig, DaVincy 12" Grandessa, Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement, Aesthetix Eclipse )
It has very lifelike sound and the edgy digital way, all- though the Accuphase also has a very musical approach, has total vanished. The 745 has much more natural weight in the 3D soundstage. Now a much bigger percentage of my CD's are palyable at a realistic volume, this highvolumen level used to be reserved for the analog rig, except for some SACD's |
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For the first time, my digital is actually sounding great! Just bought a MHDT Havana Balanced, non-oversampling, tube output, DAC. For the first time, I hear MUSIC though the digital; truly, amazing, emotional, music.
I've had an Oppo BDP-95 that I've took from my HT and although it has always sounded good, it has always felt like it lacked the "emotions". Kind of "great bass on that recording", to with the MHDT "that's a great bass player". I keep listening to the music and forgetting the details (and they are all there...).
I was planning to get an inexpensive transport for it, but after spending some serious time with it, I've decided to blow the budget and get a CEC TL1. If that's only half as good as the reviews say it is (admitting, I took a chance and bought it unheard... but the price is good enough that I can sell it for no loss if I don't like it), then there's actually a chance that my digital will outperform my analog... imagine that! :-) |
I just bought an Auralic Vega DAC from Audio Doctor and, for the money, it's the most analog sounding DAC I've heard below 10K. At $3500.00, it's a steal. |
Just acquired an old Cal Audio DX-1 and it's the first CD player I've heard that sounds like vinyl to me. |
Ster4
What other under 10k Dacs did you listen to
I'm demoing the Vega but have limited access to other Dacs and limited experience |
Bow Technologies zz8 drive, and Mac Mini with Pure Music / Core Audio Technololgies Kora power supply and level 3 Power filter, feeding a Brinkmann Zenith 3 dac via an Audiophilleo 2 USB reclocker. The Bow + Brinkmann combination is the closest thing I've heard to the liquid, free-flowing, natural feel of vinyl, without artificial extra "warmth" trying to pass for analogue sound. The upgraded Mac Mini sounds even better on some levels - bigger soundstage, incredible resolution, deeper bass and even more dynamics - but a tad less harmonically rich, probably a factor of it not being quite burnt-in yet. The Zenith operates in 16/44 which theoretically makes it a very outdated design - but as far as my ears are concerned it wiped the floor with a lot of high rez devices, including a Mark Levinson 24/96 DAC I had on loan for a while, and the - however excellent - built-in DAC in the Marantz UD 9004 I use in a separate HT room.
The only glitch is - the Zenith is basically impossible to find, especially in this version - which has been considerably upgraded by the ex-Brinkmann designer who came up with it in the first place and happens to be a friend. But put your hands on a used Bow zz8 and you will get very close already - the built-in DAC sounds a little less open than the brinkie but has a very definite analogue feel. |
Ayon 07s. The best cd reproduction I ever heard. |
