Has anybody heard the new Nagra CD Player?

Downloaded, ripped and recorded music still sounds best when burned to a CD-R and played on a dedicated CD player/Transport. The CDs may disappear but the CD-Rs will not.

Regards,
Alex

My opinion is based on number of experiments with computer based audio. The ultimate test for me is when vinyl is recorded to a PC, both to HDD or internal Compact Flash memory drive. Sampling rate is 96/24 or 192/24. Then using the same DAC, vinyl setup and associated equipment, the sound quality is compared between:

1. Vinyl in the pure analog domain.

2. Vinyl being just converted to digital.

3. Vinyl recorded to CF or HDD and played directly from the HDD or CF drives.

4. Vinyl recorded to CF or HDD, burned to DVD-A and played on a dedicated digital transport.

For some reason, #3 does not sound nearly as good as #1, 2 and 4 while there is hardly any difference between #1, 2 and 4.

This was done using heavily upgraded 67 bit audio card in the PC feeding the external DAC through S/PDIF connection. The reason why #3 didn’t sound as good is NOT the S/PDIF connection since #1 and #2 sounded the same.

Wavelab and Disc Welder were used for the REC/PB/Burn processes.

Few local audiophiles witnessed the experiment and agreed to the above results.

There are many reasons why #3 did not sound as good but I’d rather not discuss them here.

So, that is my truth.

Regards,
Alex