[Zero]

A gentlemen (ok, a bastard) who attends these boards informed me of an external cd-rom drive intended for PC use.  I was looking for a decent source at the time, and simply was not finding much satisfaction from most CD players I've tried (amc cd8, nad 541i, rotel 1070, MF A3.2 cd), and he recommended I give this one a shot.

Went on ebay, found one, done deal.  It finally arrived.  A little knicked up, but in functioning order.  Much bigger than most external's I've seen, this obviously isn't anything new.  Hooked up my Onix Ref. 2 digital cable straight to a Sony avd s50es.  

Now it has a tray loading.  The little tray just pops right on out, you put the cd in it, and put it right back in.  A little scary at first.  I plugged in Josh Groban to kick things off.

Not to anyones suprise here, it rocked (if it didn't, would I really be talking about it?).  By Rock I mean, this was jaw dropping "Holy S*$#".  Everything you could imagine was improved ten fold.  Pace, Detail, Soundstage, Rythm, you name it, it was improved upon!

The real kicker is, this *little* unit can be had for roughly 20 bucks on ebay.  I got mine for 10 bucks.  Put this baby in a fancy little chasis, give it a swift name and people would shell out $500 and call it one of hi'fi's evolutionary redbook cd sources.  Ok, I may be stretching it a bit there, but it is still worth checking out gents!  

If you have about 20 bucks to spare, and can find this baby on ebay.  Do yourself a favor and go for it.  Im thinking about hogging these things up in case one dies.  Always good to have a spare.

Good hunting fellas.

[Carlman]

Well, doesn't appear to be any on ebay at the moment... so, I guess you got 'em all...

I did find a diagram of one:
http://www.embeddedlogic.com/TH99/r/M-O/60214.htm

Is there no digital out?  It looks like there is an optical out but, otherwise how are you running this?  The analog audio outs?

-C

Edit: I found this review which compares similarly to what I found when I used a CD ROM (Shuttle brand 50X internal) as a transport:
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/digital/messages/65681.html

[Hantra]

A gentlemen (ok, a bastard)

That's a real sign of appreciation I guess.  Nixon turned me on to that drive, and another NEC which he has been able to mod out and throw his DAC right in the box. .

I found this review which compares similarly to what I found when I used a CD ROM (Shuttle brand 50X internal) as a transport:

That's not surprising.  The Ayre really whipped the 7700 BAD when we compared them, and it uses a CD-transport.

[Zero]

Carlman,

The unit I have has a digital output on it.  Thats what I use. I tried using the analog, but one of the outputs were dead.

Hantra,

Nothing but love, you know that! hah

[Mad DOg]

hello A6M-Zero,

just curious...what's an Onix Ref 2 digital cable? i've never heard of this one before...thanks...

and cool deal about the external cd rom drive...

[Tonto Yoder]

Is there any way to tell WHICH of these CD-drives have the digital outputs just by model number????  Some eBay sellers will include a picture of the back side, showing either the two or three RCA jacks, but many just include a picture of the front.  Since they're thinking of the drives only/mostly in terms of computer use, their item descriptions often omit mention of analog/digital outputs.

[minotaur]

According to the PF Online article, it's the NEC 602e drive. Tho most times on ebay they have a picture on the back that shows 3 rca connections (at least when I was looking a while ago)
Here's a link to the article:

http://positive-feedback.com/Issue3/cdrom.htm

[Zero]

MadDog,

www.av123.com

Unfortunately I lack information about the cable.  From what Ive read over time, this cable was made by Onix and retailed for roughly $600.00. I have read this cable (amongst others) were dropped due to the lack of volume.

Its a thick cable, very difficult to move around.  So far, I love it!

Tonto,

I would simply shoot off an E-mail to the seller, asking them if there is any Digital Output (black connection) on the back of the drive. Having not owned both varients, I couldnt tell you the differences from a front-side view.

Minotaur,

Interesting article.  I would not go so far as to say this is a 3k player (with a good dac).  But, for the price it can be had, its just way too good to pass up.  Anyone looking for a good player on a budget, should give this a shot.

In recent months, buzz about the Panny X45 has begun to vest new interest with many people, who are out buying the unit (hell, even I might)..  I'd imagine the combination of this unit *running digital straight to the panny*, and the receiver itself, would be an absolute jaw dropper for the price.

[Tonto Yoder]

MadDog,

www.av123.com

Unfortunately I lack information about the cable.  From what Ive read over time, this cable was made by Onix and retailed for roughly $600.00. I have read this cable (amongst others) were dropped due to the lack of volume.

Someone's closing out Onix cable on Audiogon, giving a brief explanation of why they're available--
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?cablintr&1079741609

The Ref digital isn't available, but the Master is.

[Mad DOg]

MadDog,

www.av123.com

Unfortunately I lack information about the cable.  From what Ive read over time, this cable was made by Onix and retailed for roughly $600.00. I have read this cable (amongst others) were dropped due to the lack of volume.

Its a thick cable, very difficult to move around.  So far, I love it! ...

A6M-ZERO,

Sounds like the same digital cable i'm using then...the Onix Grand Master...is it black or grey? if it's black, it's the Grand Master. if it's grey, then it's the Master. they're both very thick and rigid...

Like you, I love mine as well! Glad it's working for you! If you like the GM digital cable, you might want to try out the GM ICs...those are really sweet IMHO...

Actually, Mark Schifter announced on the av123.com forum that they will be bringing back the entire lineup of Onix cables due to the recent demand for them.

Happy listening...

[Mad DOg]

...Someone's closing out Onix cable on Audiogon, giving a brief explanation of why they're available--
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?cablintr&1079741609

The Ref digital isn't available, but the Master is.

Thanks for the info, Tonto...

Actually I picked up a Master digital IC from Walter Liederman and installed it in my sister's system between her DVD player (used as a CD transport) and the receiver (it replaced another digital cable)...WOW! What an improvement that made!!! My sisters aren't audio enthusiasts at all....they just love music...and have gradually learned to appreciate higher quality sound as i've gradually upgraded their system little by little...they both commented that Andrea Bocelli's voice was fuller, warmer and sweeter sounding...and then they noticed the bass was much fuller, stronger and tighter...then, of course, they asked me how much it cost...usually when they hear about how much I've spent for something, they shoot me that disapproving look making it clear they feel i've wasted money... i was fully bracing myself for this look quickly looking for a place to hide... this time, they smiled    and nodded their heads in semi-approval... and then stated, "I didn't know a cable could made this big a difference!"