My analogue rig - TW Acoustics Raven One turntable/Graham Phantom II arm/Transfiguration Orpheus L mc phono cartridge (phono stage is built into my Karan Ref MkII preamp).
My digital rig - dCS Paganini transport + DAC (MIT Oracle MA digital clock cable with BNC terminations/Siltech G7 Classic Anniversary firewire cable).
The two exist happily side by side and I am not troubled by the superiority of one over the other when enjoying listening to music, digital or analogue! |
A 4.5 TB server with a MF Trivista DAC. |
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Sony XA5400es
It has an organic & correct sounding presentation.
Enjoyable listen to CD's straight through. |
I like pioneer stable platter design and use pioneer pd-65 and a pd-59 and a rega planet original. All are used as transports with outboard dacs and monarchy dips. |
April Music Stello CDT-100 and Stello DA-100 Signature. With the I2S connection, XLR outputs and your favorite PC, you will be quite happy if analog is both your larger investment and favorite medium. |
McIntosh MCD500...very analogue sounding. |
I enjoy listening to both cds and vinyl. I have an Audio Note 4.1x Balanced DAC and an Audio Note CDT-Two II transport. My analogue rig is a Basis 2800 Signature (vacuum) table, Vector arm and Dynavector XV-1s cartridge.
Don |
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I have a $15.00 Sony Playstation 1. One of the best sounding CD players I have ever heard. I think the top end is slightly rolled off which keeps the digital glare down,not to mention a much sweeter over all sound.
Since I am almost strictly a vinyl nut,this rig is perfect;minimal investment,good quality sound in a (IMHO)limited format.
For $15.00 at a yard sale,I certainly have no complaints.I would much rather put my money in either more LPs or
a better MC cartridge.
e |
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Modwright modified Transporter. Very listenable and finally a digital source that gives my vinyl setup a rest. Had a highly modified XA777ES that was good but seldom found playing time. Digital very close now and happy with either. |
Audio Note Dac 2.1 signature kit from Audio Note kits. Much more analogue sounding than my wadia 301 (with mods) or my arcam fmj23. Highly recommended. Jeff |
Shanling SCD-3000, modified by Reference Audio Mods, and using Amperex Bugle Boys. |
Sony X77ES CDP to Krell Stealth DAC is a very nice sounding combo- but compared to my KAB Technics? They are 2 different animals, both good but definetly diferent. |
Accustic Arts Drive 1mk2 and Accustic Arts TubeDac2: the closest thing to analog sound in my experience (AA replaced Metronome combo). |
I built an Audio Note 2.1x Dac kit and the sound now equals my Audio Note TT2 turntable, which really surprised me as I didn't think digital could ever sound as good as decent analog. |
Pioneer Elite DV-58AV modded by Ric Schultz with a Superclock 4 and beefed up and cleaned up input and output stages.
Dave |
AMR CD-77. It's the best digital source I have personally experienced and is very competitive with mortal analog sources. However, the highest end analog sources still hold the high ground by a noticeable margin. (IMO, of course.)
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APL Philips SACD 1000. The first CD/SACD player I really didn't mind listening at home. |
The new dCS Puccini one-box. I bought it primarily for its SACD capabilities. Although I only have about 100 hours on it, I am very pleased with the results in my system. Very highly resolving, none of the typical digital "glare," and particularly tight, deep bass. There are several recordings -- particularly large scale orchestral -- that sound as good or better than their vinyl counterpart. My time spent listening to digital has gone from about 5% to 30% with the Puccini. |
ooops meant kicks the pants off...
Sorry. |
A MF Kw 25 DAC and transport that licks the pants off my vinyl set up when play the only XRCD 24 that I own. OTW vinyl rules.
Cheers |
I use a Sony CDP with a tube DAC for a while, now I use the AH Njoe Tjoeb with upsampler. |
MacBook to USB Wavelength Brick Silver DAC |
GNSC modded Resolution Audio Opus 21, my last CD player, until it dies of course. It's detailed, fast, without seeming to be so, like Naim players. No digital glare, I really do put it on a par with my Vinyl system |
I bought an Ayre CX-7e and I haven't listened to this much digital since I bought my first turntable (about 5 years ago). I'm actually buying CDs again.
I'm kind of embarassed to say this, but I really didn't think I'd actually use it when I bought it (yes, that's one expensive paperweight). But the sound it so liquid and compelling that, right now, it's getting more attention than my analog front end. |
I recently bought my 'last CD player'. I spent weeks auditioning reference players from Audio Research, Audio Aero, Meridian, Classe, Linn, and Esoteric among others. I purchased the Sim Moon Andromeda CDP and have been very happy.
Regards, |
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Used GNSC modded Wadia 830 for a long time - loved it. Now using an Oracle CD-1000 transport into a Maui-modded Tact 2.0s. |
Mod. Audio Research CD7 , other tubes , and a special
Clock ( TentLabs , Dutch brand ).Sounds very analog , but
can 't beat the Sphinx PJ 6 TT with ET 2.5 arm and TE KAITORA cartridge .
Greetings from the Netherlands .Hans |
Modded Sony SCD-1. Extensive rework of this CDP has kept RBCD within one pubic hair of vinyl spun at 45 RPM on the delta of venus. |
Abbingdon Music Research AMR CD-77 |
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I've just upgraded to the Esoteric P-05/D-05 and its a keeper! |
IBM x40 notebook-Apogee Rosetta 200. Cd is still cd, and has some brightness and hardness, which makes a difference to LP. But, I digitilise my LPs through the AD converter of Apogee, and that digital recording is practically indistinguishable from the LP, and at the same time very much differs from the "original" "factory made" cd-copy of the same LP. |
Zanden's Signature DAC with Zanden Transport (i2s connection) and Metronome's Kalista Transports. |
The first cd player that changed my mind about digital being music was an APL Denon 3910(lower-cost one). Currently, I use the APL's transport with an Oritek OMZ DAC(It's a combined preamp and DAC.). |
My digital front end consists of a 47 labs Flatfish mk2 -> Apogee Digital BigBen (clock) -> Zanden 5000 mk3 dac. All is connected using Siltech G6 Golden Ridge digital wire.
I have no desire to look for a new digital front end. For Redbook CDs, this setup for me really stands out. There is a 'flow' of music that most digital front ends are missing. Hard to describe, but you know it when you hear it.
I have not listened to the EMM labs gear. I'm sure thats first rate as well. |
Correction - I now use Reimyo.. but still stick to Accuphase as another good option. |
At the moment, I don't have a CD player hooked up. When I do listen to CD (which is rare--I'm guessing it's at least a month since I played one!) I use a portable CD player and Grado SR 60 headphones. My portables are mostly older--the best is probably a 1989 Sony (made before it became a priority to get five hundred hours of run time from a single AAA battery.) This doesn't give me the best sound I can get from CD. But, it works, and it's better in many ways than what I've heard in my system with the "real" CD players (all of which were, ah, modestly priced) I've had over the years.
I sometimes think of getting a better CD player. But, then, those players would take money from the analog budget. And we certainly can't have that. Can we? |
The Raysonic definitely makes edgy CDs listenable, more so every day. I may reach a point where the Ack dAck becomes "unnecessary" and, yes, it does sound a bit rolled, relative to the Raysonic. One problem is that the DAC has substanially less output at the same gain setting, so A/B switching doesn't do it any favors. Both tubes and cables (especially power cords) have a major effect on the Raysonic's sound, So I don't have its full measure yet. But clearly it's a winner, IMHO. Dave |
Dopogue: Are you suggesting the Ack dAck 2.0 is more rolled-off in the upper-mids/lower treble (a.k.a. brightness) range? To my mind, that's where digititis makes itself heard. I was under the impression by other posters that the Raysonic was smooth enough to make edgy-sounding CDs at least listenable. I know it may be too soon for you to tell, but when you do have some thoughts on this, please post them here. Thanks! |
Updating my totally out-of-date post, I sold the Sony XA777ES (using a cheap Sony NS 500V for SACDs only). Just bought a tubed Raysonic CD128 and use an Ack dAck 2.0 with it for those CDs suffering from major "digititus." It's too early for a really informed recommendation, but so far this Raysonic is awesome. Dave |
Marantz SA8260 SACD/CD player. |
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I've recently changed to use the Denon A11 (5900 Asia model) as my digital source, with a stock power cord, power supplied by a PS Audio P300. The A11 universal player is sited on 3 DH Jumbo points and 3 DH squares which all but lifted its performance. What I now get is more dynamics and a very natural flow. Thoroughly impressed! |
CJ DV2B, Meridian 508.24 and a Jolida 100. These are about as "analog" as you can get. |
Rotel RC-1055 - like to load an listen non-stop for 5 hrs. |
