I have the cdt 8 and love it!
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?
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?
104 responses Add your response
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.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. |
celander530 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 |
@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 |
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 |
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” |
Can somebody identify it from pics? https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0003/9662/3884/products/CDP-9_internal_2000x.jpg?v=1537291422 |