Is the NuPrime CDT 9 Pro a Best Kept Secret?


Recently the lens fell out of my heavily moded (Musical Concepts)  Pioneer PD 65 which I use as a transport, toslinked to my Audio Alchemy DPP/DAC. I glued it back in, but it won't play.  I  may have inserted it upside down, alas, there was no telling which way was up even wth my magnifying glass

so I am in search of a transport. The NuPrime CDT 9 Pro (MSRP $795) caught my eye, but I cannot find a review

Anybody know anything? 
tweak1
I also have cdt-8 running into Nuprime DAC-9.  Great sound. The transport has only been out a few months 
If you can stretch your budget.

I recommend Jay’s CDT2.

It is built solid and sounds almost top grade.

I got it yesterday. So far it sound excellent

The only better transport that I had heard is CEC TL0X which cost around 10k used.
I also recommend the Jay's CDT2 Mk2. I got one recently, and I love it! Much better sounding than the Musical Fidelity and the April Music transports it replaced. The build quality is up there with the best of them. 
Another vote for the CDT-8.  I run mine into the Directstream Sr. via I2S.

The CDT-8 Pro is a transport, that also has an upsampling converter on board (though it seems to be defeatable).

The CDP-9 adds full DAC plus preamp functions.

It you're looking for an inexpensive transport, the '8 is obviously a competitor to the few other ones out there (e.g. Cambridge), and there have been threads dedicated to this topic.

Googling the '9 for reviews and impressions, it seems to tend to hew to the, how shall I say, slightly less forgiving end of the spectrum that we're all familiar with.

Oops I meant '8'.

well, I found out that the remote does not allow for direct track selection, which seems unconscionable these days. I emailed them about it

I was intrigued by the SRC upsampling of both coax and toslink

The other issue: I sent 2 emails that are still unanswered 

I settled on a used Marantz HD CD 1 which will be used as a transport

Im looking for a buyer for my Pioneer PD 65 (heavily moded by Musical Concepts, including outboard power supply) which needs a new laser. It is an amazing transport 
@tweak1

I’ll pm you my NuPrime contact info (CEO). He’s quite responsive. I tried the CDT-8 Pro. Here is a summary of my impressions that I posted on their FB Page:

“The CDT-8 Pro is a beautiful transport in terms of finish, functionality and features. Though my Theta Digital DSPro Basic IIIa can only accept PCM/44.1kHz and PCM/48kHz input digital streams, the DAC locked on to the CDT-8 digital stream when the SRC value was set to "off", "PCM-44.1kHz" or "PCM-48kHz" data stream sampling rates.

“All of the functionality of the Remote is duplicated with operations control buttons on the CDT-8 transport face plate. Only exception is the SRC value settings, which must be set using the Remote from what I can tell. The same might also apply to track repeat and shuffle functions—seem to be Remote only functions.

“Only minor bit of confusion in reading the User’s Manual in relation to CDT-8 transport function is the operation of the Standby button on the transport face plate. Impatient American’s like me simply cannot quickly punch that Standby button in the hopes of engaging the operational features of the transport. One must hold the Standby button down for at least 2 seconds or until the Standby LED blue light turns off and the transport’s menu LEDs turn on. Same applies to re-engaging the Standby status using the transport’s front panel Standby button. Push and hold the Standby button on the unit face plate until the Standby LED blue light illuminates. The same patience is not required of the unit’s on-off button on the Remote: a quick punch of that button immediately prompts the desired command.

“Support sent me an email regarding the output circuit jitter level for the CDT-8 Pro being at 120 psec. Though this is higher than my CAL Delta transport, I will figure out an appropriate DAC solution for it.

“Great communication from Jason, the CEO. He obviously cares about his product working for his customers.”
Here is the only online review thread about the CDT-8 Pro that I discovered:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=158771.0

I’ve since returned it to NuPrime’s NA Office in California for a refund. I opted to a Jay’s Audio CDT2-Mk2 transport.
well it's a tough to compare a ~ $1600 player to Jays (~ $500 more), BUT, Jay doesn't include toslink, which to me is important, at least when using WireWorld toslink cable 
The nuprime transport is $800. Be sure to read the specs as the cdp 9 has functions you may not need or want. I have the 8, and use the dac10 with it as a pure DAC. Lovely. 
Must be a special digital cable to prioritize that product over a transport and DAC. 

celander
530 posts

"Must be a special digital cable to prioritize that product over a transport and DAC."   

You missed something the toslink goes between a trans and da.

Jay doesn't offer toslink
@tweak1, I understand the significance of the toslink digital cable and its inability to be used as a digital cable with the Jay's Audio transport. I guess I would have chosen the transport and DAC for their SQ's and then obtain a compatible digital cable to mate the transport and DAC together.

That you think highly of the WireWorld toslink digital cable is admirable. I am sure the NuPrime CDT-8 Pro will suit your needs quite well!
It's been about a week and Nuprime has has yet to answer 2 messages

In the meantime I came across a brand new Marantz HD CD 1, which should work quite well as a transport, and in a pinch as a decent cd player, BUT, it lacks balanced outs, which was an attraction with the Nuprime, BUT, the Nuprime is $800 an the Marantz almost half., and their remote doesn't select specific tracks

Ill know soon about the Marntz. Delivery expected today, but obviously it wil require 100-200 hours break in

As to toslink, there are a lot of companies offering mediocre cables, but WW is top shelf . Since my Audio Alchemy has a coax input and the Marantz a coax out, I will investigate it eventually as well 
What didn’t nuprime answer. While it may be moot, I may know. Did you email John Casler in the U.S?  The Phillips transport is so fast you can very quickly reach any track. The Phillips transport likely will long outlast the Marantz. It jitter is very low. 
@tweak1 I sent a private message to you regarding my NuPrime contact. Did you send an email to him? You will not hear from the NuPrime general email boxes. They appear to be dead correspondence boxes. 
Thank You!

I just saw it in my inbox 

And yes I emailed CA

It is moot in that I made a purchase

one question was will they be offering a more full function remote, the other was about the SRC
The remote will remain as is, but the codes are now published so any universal can be used. 

SRC can be used, or not, and varied up to its ceiling. 
Thanks again

Well, if they don't know that their email is a dead box then... WOW!

Publishing the codes is a vg idea 
@tweak1 You’re welcome, my friend!

The CEO, Jason, will promptly respond to your email inquiries. He communicates quite well.

I waited forever for a reply from their general email accounts. Nothing for weeks.

The SRC works quite well from my limited experience with it. As long as your DAC has a digital signal lock indicator, you should be able tell if the selected sampling rate is accepted. I presume the “SRC Off” setting is simply 44.1kHz, as it worked with my DAC that only has the ability to accept 44.1 and 48 kHz data streams.

NuPrime emailed me their jitter specs as measured at the output clock circuit. It’s 120 psec. 
I unboxed the Marantz: it's no toy CD player. Handsome, well made, heafty.

Alas, it is not without its quirks, which have to do with the universal remote...

*it is not backlit
* and because it also provides functions for the matching amp, it is crammed with buttons. One output selection button is directly above, and easily engaged when selecting, the pause/play button .That took awhile to figure out as doing so disengages the remote features
* does not have open/close
* the manual is on a disc! WTF?

Quibble aside, it was sold as new, never played, meaning it's not broken in, even though with digital once it's unplugged it takes 24-48 hours to come on song, so Im expecting 100-200 hours, BUT, right out the box I can tell it's probably going to be a very good upgrade from my trusty Pioneer {Pioneer is no longer carrying parts:(, and pricewise it's a no-brainer or me

How much better the Nuprime might be will escape me, but the email screw up saved me almost $400 and with the Marantz and me being in Florida, about a week shipping time
Today, I tried upsampling. Oh, my-everything is in near perfect 3d, with ultra wide and deep soundstage. Wow. 
Re Marantz  repeating a disc but mostly on mute, I listened Wednesday morning and afternoon to a few familiar discs and it was ok, but I was hearing much deeper into the venue/recording, though bass had not yet hown up. Yesterday afternoon I popped a burn in disc (on mute) then last night I played Alison Kraus' New Favorites, and was startled how much better it sounds vs the Pioneer: better depth, imaging and speed. The banjo blew me away

Used ones are out there at $450, and new ones areonly  $600

Again, I am using it as a transport via toslink, though I will try coax once I get a proper cable

I will start a nw thread about the HD CD 1 which, SO FAR, seems a real bargain    
don't really like headphones either, but sometimes no choice...been looking for a small CD player with good built-in headphone amp, and the Marantz looked like it might be the one
I recommend Jay’s CDT2.
Trouble with that, the CDM-4 laser is getting hard to get and expensive for a new Philips one.

Does anyone know what the Nuprime  CDT-8 has for a laser, as they quote a the chip on their site but not the laser/mech.

Cheers George
Yeah but what one, as there are some very hard expensive Philips ones also.

Cheers George
Lots of Philips transport 411 in the 6moons Jays Audio transport review.

Caution, after reading it you may change your mind
I’ve sent an inquiry about the brand/model of the laser assembly/mechanism used in the CDT-8 Pro to Jason Lim who is the CEO of NuPrime. I’ll post his response if and when he responds. I sent the link to this thread to him, so he may respond directly. 
Doubtful that Jason will know off hand.  He will have to contact the engineering team at the factory in Taiwan to get the answer.  
This comes from a couple emails from Jason Lim regarding the CDT-8 Pro transport mechanism:

“Thanks for mentioning online. The transport info is on the product page:• Philips SAA7824HL high-end laser reads/writes head control and decodes chips for CD transport. There are a lot more than the transport, the decoding is very crucial too, and we have a team from Microchip Technology helping to write the firmware code. Our sales volume is so low that such assistant came from old friendship between the bosses :).”
 
And regarding the actual brand/model of the disc spinning laser assembly or mechanism: 

”Dan,
That I am not sure. I have to check with R&D if they allow me to talk about it. What I do know is that part of the design was sourced from a company that also provided the exact same solution to several other brands that sell for $2K to $4K. NuPrime is a no frill engineering company and I am very sure the same thing would cost much more elsewhere. Seems that such details are important to some customers. The transport details were added after the product page was published so it is possible some people didn’t see it.
Jason”
This we already knew that it uses a SAA7824HL controller chip, but it’s what the laser is for the 8 and 9 that needs to be told, so we can see if it’s readily available, and for a reasonable price, otherwise without knowing this i know I wouldn’t go near it.

Cheers George
Aren’t all Phillips units out of production?
If that's the case and there's no subs, I wouldn't go near them.

Cheers George 
This Summer, I finally sold a fully functioning Rotel RCD 990, famous for its out of production Phillips transport. I bought it around 1996 and used it weekly.