Now that we're on the subject, what's the best digital playback you have heard?

TONEPUB · « **on:** 14 Mar 2007, 05:13 am »

I know that there is some pretty expensive digital playback, but what is the best
digital playback you have heard at

a: Cost no object

b: within reason (3000 bucks or less)

Curious to see what you come up with!

For me, I've been digging a number of good CD players over the last two years
and currently enjoy the Meridian 808. Is it the best CD player on Earth?
(Tas says it is...) Don't know about that, but we are on a quest to keep searching!

TONEPUB · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 06:21 am »

close enough, Im not that critical

Roeland · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 09:52 am »

a) Nagra CD-player, beats the Dcs P8 and the spectral CD-player in my opinion. And it's not even that expensive (12000€)

b) Opera Audio CD-120 Linear (800€) For the moiney one of the best CDP's I've heard, it does somuch right

navi · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 12:11 pm »

a/ Some DCS rig I heard a while back......... Heaven. Had a Transport DAC up-sampler....Really fancy

B/ MF Tri-vista DAC. It was pretty good.....For the price. For less than $3000 I would recommend anyone 2nd hand CDPs

rollo · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 12:57 pm »

Cost no object = MBL, Zanden $3000 or less Lector CDP7t [ Orig. $3300 purchased for $2900] Now $4400.

rollo

bummrush · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 03:44 pm »

Any Arcam player that has the ring dac

gooberdude · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 04:55 pm »

start with a stock Sony SCD-595 5 disc changer from Circuit City. Add 2 lbs of Permoplast to the inside of the lid. Leave lid on the chassis, but do not attach via screws going forth.

Next, remove the insulation from the captive stock power cord and route the smaller black and white wires out the side of the cdp. keep these separated if possible. Remove the stock male plug and add a decent aftermarket...i have a Furu fi-11Cu.

Then remove a 1/2" diam refrigerator magnet (from your fridge) and lay it on top of the cdp's metal lid, directly above the cd spindle. remove the lid initially and measure the distances, this has to be right on. If you have another such magnet, place it on the lid also, but directly over the transformer. the magnets i speak of are round, flat, and have a donut hole in them. the magnets create an enormous soundstage somehow...

Last, place empty LP covers inbetween your rack and the stock cdp feet. lay 2 LP's side-by-side so they aren't touching. this isolates the cdp from nasty sounds that your rack+cdp chassis (combined) add.

For about $189 incl tax, this is, by a large margin, the best digital i've heard. If i go nuts and spend $90 on an Oyaide P-046 male outlet, my expressions to describe this set-up will have many, many more exclamation marks since there's such a synergy with those plugs and the swo-xxx outlets in use.

in stock form the scd-595 sounds terrible. quite decent in the form described above though.

i'd take the addtl $2800 and buy cd's and a DAC + cable.

i'm a newbie though!!!!

PhilNYC · « **Reply #7 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 06:36 pm »

At the risk of being accused of dealer-bias, I'll go with:

a) Dodson DA-218 DAC paired with a Weiss Jason transport. Weiss Medea DAC is a very close second, followed by the Nova Physics Memory Player.

b) There are so many in this price range, it's hard to put one at the top. Am a big fan of the Cayin CDT-17A, Ayre CX-7, Nain CD-5...

(disclaimer: Am a dealer for Dodson and Cayin)...

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #8 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 08:42 pm »

I have owned well over 50 players in the past few years, and directly compared to LOT's more. including Audio Aero, Musical Fidelity, DCS, Meitner, Shandling, Esoteric, Denon, Sony, Xindak, Modwright, APL, Exemplar, et. et. My search for the finest digital, regardless of price is now over, with my NWO 2.5T. This machine, based on an Esoteric UX1, and with the BEST transport today, NEO VRDS, is just MIND BLOWING. This is absolutely the finest playback I have ever heard, including any and all vinyl set-ups. I also remove another limiting factor, in using no pre-amp, going direct from NWo-Amp-speakers. WOW, whata fabulous musical presentation.

aa

boead · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 09:39 pm »

Quote from: TONEPUB on 14 Mar 2007, 05:13 am

I know that there is some pretty expensive digital playback, but what is the best
digital playback you have heard at

a: Cost no object

b: within reason (3000 bucks or less)

Curious to see what you come up with!

For me, I've been digging a number of good CD players over the last two years
and currently enjoy the Meridian 808. Is it the best CD player on Earth?
(Tas says it is...) Don't know about that, but we are on a quest to keep searching!

I liked the Meridian too.

For my system I liked the older Arcam FMJ-23 better but I’m not saying it is better, just has better synergy with my stuff.

I didn’t like the Shandling or Musical Fidelity players. Didn’t get to hear the naim but was told by someone with similar taste it was similar to the Arcam as well as the Cary.

vinyl anachronist · « **Reply #10 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 11:13 pm »

I love my Naim CDX2 a lot. It's hard for me to imagine that there are two Naim models above this one!

rajacat · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 11:19 pm »

What about a modded to the max Squeezebox & power supply or a fully modded Transporter? I have a modded SB3 albeit not to the max and it sounds good to me.

Raj

alotaklipsch · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Mar 2007, 03:44 am »

Quote from: tvad4 on 14 Mar 2007, 10:27 pm

Quote from: alotaklipsch on 14 Mar 2007, 08:42 pm
My search for the finest digital, regardless of price is now over, with my NWO 2.5T. This machine, based on an Esoteric UX1, and with the BEST transport today, NEO VRDS, is just MIND BLOWING. This is absolutely the finest playback I have ever heard...
NWO2.5T

Are you certain this is the latest version? After all, it is Wednesday. It might be up to NWO2.6i...

MAN O MAN TVAD, YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO HURT A GUY

:drool:I WILL FIGURE A WAY TO GET YA BACK, BABY

Nels Ferre · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Mar 2007, 04:06 pm »

Hi,

For a reasonably priced player, I'd say a JoLida JD100. It's been out for 5 years, so may be considered a bit long in the tooth, but I still enjoy mine immensely.

At $900 is is definitely a contender.

Imperial · « **Reply #14 on:** 16 Mar 2007, 10:08 pm »

I really can't see how we can speak of the best outside of a known setup...?
It's in context for me, or I can't picture it sort of...

a) I'm gonna have to say Electrocompaniet EMC player
hooked up to Forsell reference/Adyton 3B driving a pair
of Eben acoustics... That is the best sandamp + digital I've heard.
The song: Some drumsolo from the "Audiovector test CD", can't remember, but shockingly awesome dynamics!!! They also played Michelle Shocked, "quality of mercy" ,it scared my heart with joy for life!

Other than that I firmly believe that Lavry has the best "sand"Dac there is! But I've not been able to make a twin listen.

b) Naim CD5 (x or i or what it was) into a Stax Omega set with a 7t driver (the tube one)
Playing a Naim sampler cd I believe?

I would also give a hot tip on a song that really will separate players...
"QUEEN ... The Invisible Man"
It's not a superb recording... but it contains so many "gripes" and small sonic gizmo's that the cdplayers/dacs will attack this with verve and difference! (The song is a pure nightmare for any system...)

Imperial

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #15 on:** 1 Apr 2007, 08:12 pm »

A) Naim CDS3/XPS2
B) Naim CD5X

Vinyl-Addict · « **Reply #16 on:** 1 May 2007, 11:01 pm »

I'd have to say the best digital playback I've heard was from a Zanden DAC, speakers were Harbeth.

TaiPan · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 May 2007, 12:05 am »

CNO - Without a doubt dCS P8i

- paired with Vitus amps

and Focus Audio Master 2

>3K - My very own humble Raysonic CD-128

- paired with a PrimaLuna Prologue 2, Mircropure Kotaros, and REL R305 sub

Cheers

James Romeyn · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 May 2007, 03:27 am »

Specialty custom 5-channel: circa 24-bit/96k, Boz Scaggs "My Funny Valentine", vocal & awesome grand only, recorded in Boz's SF home, on the original hard drive, into Pacific Microsonics DACs, then unknown (probably Pass) insanely nice preamp, then Pass Labs 160W Class A high-range amps, Pass MONSTER AB bass, into five (circa $86k/pair) Andrew Jones' TAD Reference 1s. Sublime doesn't begin...I cried tears...thank goodness I was in the back...

Back to earth: I assume we're talking consumer gear playing Red Book, right?

Either my own TRL-modded (all solid-state) Sony DVP-NS900V (circa $1300, all video functions deleted, SACD remains) or the $3900 Audience-modded Denon. I lean heavily toward the Audience till doing a direct AB. A much more interesting/closer-in-cost comparison would be if the TRL had the $750-extra battery supply upgrade for the DACs only (transport remains AC powered).

Allison Krause's Live SACD/CD has about the best bluegrass/roots players on earth & it's a fantastic recording. I'm not great but I have a nice guitar & I play fairly good. So good is the TRL's Red Book performance that the CD layer beats the SACD, & once you tune into the difference it's pretty substantial.

I am emphatic about the following since getting a state of the art preamp: Comparing a Red Book source w/o a state of the art preamp is limited by the quality of the preamp employed or not employed in all cases. I'd challenge anyone thinking their digital source adequately drives cables & an amp to insert a state of the art preamp in between & double check their conclusion. I suppose the only exception is if the signal remains digital throughout as per Meridian, TACT, etc. But that has its own seperate list of perils.

I've auditioned preamps over the decades from stock PAS-3, stock PAT-4, trannies, passives, stepped Vishay attenutors, up to the now-$17k VTL, $15k Krell Evo/CAST 202, & my current preamp, the $5900 SST Ambrosia. If I had to give up the level of performance added by the preamp now I'd consider giving up the hobby altogether, such is the quantity of the upgrade. Anyone disputing this probably has never auditioned such a piece at home.

The preamp allowed me to downgrade two steps in speakers & still enjoy the performance better.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread but it does relate specifically to comparisons such as are the subject. The point is: no SOTA preamp, inaccurate conclusions.

tomjtx · « **Reply #19 on:** 2 May 2007, 04:02 am »

Ayre universal player and a stock Transporter with balanced outs are the 2 best I've heard.