Lloyd, many thanks. After a long search for digital I could live with long term, in 2007 I settled on the EMM Labs CDSA SE, with German transport and X-upgrade since, and I couldn't be happier.
As with all things audio, always looking for something as an interesting alternative.
Your feedback most welcome. |
Jeff, your response is a little ambiguous. I've just updated my analogue front end to a tt/arm combo that combines the best of analogue ie warm and organic, with the best of digital ie open and detailed. I would hate to be without either in my sound presentation.
I actually find the EMM on audition 5 years ago was the clear winner over competing brands like Marantz, AMR, Naim, Meridian, Wadia etc.
I felt it was as detailed as any with a real tonal density and transparency I couldn't find in any other player (at the time).
So, in your opinion are you saying you prefer the Neodio to the EMM? |
Jeff, what I've learnt in this game is not to expect the expected. Many people told me the AMR 777 would blow the EMM CDSA out of the water. I felt rather the reverse was the case, feeling the AMR hopelessly outclassed when it came esp. to tonal solidity and overall transparency.
Both were better than my prev. Marantz SA-1 which was poss. one of my less intelligent purchases.
Please fill me in with as much detail as poss. your impressions of the Neodio, and how it compares with other top end players you've heard.
Many thanks in advance. |
Sabai, obv. system synergy is everything! Happy with EMM, but always on the lookout for more natural, analogue sounding digital. Ironically I've invested in a tt/arm which actually brings a lot of what is good about digital to analogue replay which I'm v. happy about, and there is some consistency of sound between it and the EMM.
But the few really positive comments I've heard re the Neodio and Eera Tentation has whetted my appetite to hear these poss. v. interesting takes on digital replay.
Still interested in listeners' impressions. |
Lloyd, yes I have followed the Audio Exotics thread. My inference is that many, if not all there, seem to favour it, some like it even more than the Stahl Tek. This is interesting because re UK pricing the latter is 4x more expensive (and let us not even consider the Opus version, 8x more costly!).
It does seem a few still give the Stahl Tek the edge, but there appears to be not much in it.
I particularly like the sound of the engineering behind the Neodio, utilising an analogue clock to counter the microphony sensitivity of quartz crystal, and it's fastidious attitude to damping/vibration control.
I'm also v. intersted to hear the Eera Tentation, which again uses over engineering solutions to enhance the sound of digital - both at a real world price (unlike the Stahl Tek). However the Eera has no UK dealership.
What is noteworthy about both units is that they are championed by renowned engineers both heavily pro analogue (Neodio by designer of DaVinci uber tts, and Eera by designer of Von Schwiekert spkrs). Both have dispensed with uber expensive cd players to settle on these, praising their warm, transparent analogue sound presentation.
Lloyd, can you be more specific as to the negative as well as positive comments you've heard re the NR22? And do you have any thoughts on the Eera Tentation? |
Well there is a possibility of hearing the one box player, and transp/dac in the UK. What's interesting for me is that players which were touted as analogue like, ie the Marantz SA-1 and AMR CD-777, I didn't at all get on with, but the EMM CDSA SE esp. with German transport upgrade and X upgrade, which is not necc. the choice of analogue afficionados, really does float my boat, so much so that my prev. analog rig (Michell Orbe/SME V) began to take a back seat to the EMM. However I am aware of it's main shortcomings, common to all digital that I've heard, of sterile thinness thru the midrange, and a tendency not to represent the difference in tonality in different recordings. Reading between the lines, the Neodio seems to positively address these shortcomings.
In fact, satisfaction with EMM digital has directly led to my current choice of tt/arm which now give my record replay a much needed boost of digital like precision, and reopened the advantage of analogue over digital by quite some margin.
It is from this perspective that I'm curious if players like the Neodio or Eera can now give me something more back on the analogue presentation front.
So negative comments are definitely not the consensus when put along Audio Exotic HK forum board members, who unanimously praise it's transparency and tonality, associating it's sound with state of the art analogue (Da Vinci tt/arm).
The mystery deepens! |
Just upgraded to Trans Fi Audio Salvation direct rim drive tt (I have a thread running on the Analog Forum) with Terminator T3Pro air bearing linear tracking tonearm. The banishing of belt drive time domain bass smear and neutral tracking of the arm is giving me all the benefits of analogue with the all the precision of digital. Interestingly, some of the tt's sound is in similar league with my Emm cd. Cart is Transfiguration Orpheus or Zu Denon 103 into a Tom Evans Groove Plus SRX phono, Hovland HP200 tube preamp/Radia ss pow amp, Zu Audio Definitions Mk4 xoverless FRD spkrs. I am also running the system thru a 4kV balanced power unit and have eliminated bass nodes with SpatialComputer Black Hole unit.
So my system is pretty well balanced, power uncorrupted, analogue as good as it gets imho, just curious if the Neodio really matches up to things mentioned in the HiFi Plus review esp. ability to really convey tonal differences between recordings - this is such a given on lp, but cd players even at the top end really do struggle not to homogeinise sound from one disc to the next. |
Gentleman, I can't stretch to the Stahl Tek, short of a lottery win. Having just made what I believe will be my last ever analogue upgrade, which is extremely neutral displaying the best of digital in it's presentation, I'm now on the search to find a cd player that will demonstrate the best analogue characteristics in it's presentation. Other than my EMM, only the Reimyo I heard previously gets close.
The review in HiFi Plus stating the Neodio being adept at changing tonality between discs suggests it has this analogue sensibility.
I gather the Eera Tentation is v. analogue like too esp. in terms of tonal density. |
No tubes, just a well isolated analog clock, and OTT damping/vibration control.
The EERA TENTATION that I'm considering also has it's main claim to fame being serious vibration control thru internal damping and the over engineered Gyropint 2 transport upgrade mechanism.
It seems that if these two players (plus the Stahl Tek) are really close to the best of analogue compared to other players out there, it seems that engineering practices applied to tt's for many years are going to get the best out of digital.
Maybe the transport is a lot more vital, even than the DAC, then we've considered previously. |
Well, I am investigating whether that elusive cd player is out there that can hold it's head up high with my new really sweet sounding analogue rig. I'm afraid the Stahl Tek is a LITTLE out of reach, but the Neodio may still do it for me. I'm a little out of the mainstream here, use of a server/downloads of no interest to me, I'm confident discs and standalone players will be here for some time yet (lp's are back in vogue, believe over the decade same will happen to digital). |
Can we please keep this thread on topic. Just curious to hear impressions of the Neodio and Eera; they're both "below the radar" but claim to get as close to analogue as any digital does.
Would like to gather impressions. |
Good advice Lloyd. TAD a "tad" out of my price range (not an original pun, but what the heck!).
I'm certainly going to contact Wilson, Lamm etc. Hopefully they'll have an opinion on a player not their own.
Really curious to find out if analogue like tonal discrimination is possible in players like the Neodio/Eera. Since I'm still v. happy with my EMM, I'm also curious re what effects upgrading power cords/vibration control on it will make.
But thoughts from those familiar with these two players still much desired. |
Thanks Andrew, personally I'm not going down the download/streaming route yet (I'm a bit old school!) so single box or transp/dac for me.
Glad to hear you think it sits well with your analog. What's your tt/arm/cart?
My main issue with digital is a tonal homogeneity between discs/recordings. No two lps sound the same, so well is tone rendered in analogue. Can digital via the Neodio do the same?
Are you of the opinion that the Neodio can bridge some of this consistent shortcoming in digital, and give me something closer to the individuality of good analogue? |
I am going to investigate upgrading my power cord to a Zu Event, and improve vibration control to the EMM cd before I consider upgrading the whole player. My new spkrs arriving in Oct have better HF extension, so this combination may re establish my love for the EMM.
Still considering as analogue an alternative in the Neodio/Eera, so opinions still welcome. Not going to rush this one. |
Rx8man, can you send me a precise link to audioplay uk, I'm struggling to find it |
Sorry Cavis, but no. The two cdp's I'm interested in (Neodio NR22 and Eera Tentation) have very little representation in the UK (Eera totally unheard of).
My requests for current owners to voice their opinions continues to fall on stony ground.
Either these two players are the route to analog like nirvana, but their owners wish to keep them a closely guarded secret, or noone has them, and claims to their superiority are to be taken with a large grain of salt.
Currently I'm really enjoying my EMM Labs CDSA SE cdp, and am not compelled to upgrade having spent the last year working towards my final tt and spkr upgrades. But I would still like to hear these two players to know what, if anything, I'm missing. |
