Do You Still Play Compact Discs?

[Al M.]

Ty for replying I can agree with most you posted
many given server has a sound and the player used makes it more complex
so is your reclocker spidf ?

The reclocker uses SPDIF over BNC connections.

 

[K3RMIT]

The reclocker uses SPDIF over BNC connections.

As I thought , while re clockers do help
have you tried other cables not expensive just ones made for it blue jeans as an example.
jitter is a cause of bad sound. if the CD player is good the use of a re clocker might not be needed.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Yes it’s my point I’m not claiming they all sound the same
but it’s obvious no matter what sever dac combo a cd player a good one not a garbage one has qualities the combo does not.

I expected that.

 

[K3RMIT]

Good or bad Hahaa. CD players should not need a re clocker but I have a lot of respect for Al m he really knows good audio. as an example an esoteric cd player should not need a reclocker but if you used a coax cable not made to spec it would
a coax cable used for digital it’s critical to be spec
even the connectors used must be terminated to maintain spec
if one side is rca and other is bnc it’s not to spec as each has a different imp
see my point. There are some here Steve Nugent for one who can explain much better then I can.

 

[K3RMIT]

I am not a pro on audio or even servers
but I’m playing with this for enough years back in the dark ages hahaha it matters

 

[Al M.]

As I thought , while re clockers do help
have you tried other cables not expensive just ones made for it blue jeans as an example.
jitter is a cause of bad sound. if the CD player is good the use of a re clocker might not be needed.

The BNC cables that I have come with the Empirical Audio reclocker and are designed to minimize jitter.

CD players usually have jitter. Steve Nugent from Empirical Audio measured an Oppo, and it came in at 800 picosec jitter. It sounds like it. My Simaudio Moon DT 260 transport has a jitter of 125 picosec, and in a direct comparison the sound had much more color and separation of instruments, and was far less grainy. The 125 psec number is very good for a CD transport, but it is still not sufficient. The Empirical Audio reclocker brings down the jitter to about 7 picosec, which is in the territory of computer audio (but the latter can sound bad anyway, presumably because of RF noise issues). As I reported, the difference with and without reclocker is not subtle at all.

Only very expensive transports, like the Spectral transport, have very low jitter; the Spectral comes in also at about 7 picosec, IIRC.

I asked Steve Nugent, what then about Femto clocks? He said most of them have much higher jitter than advertised because of the support circuits of the clock and the voltage regulation of the oscillator.

 

[K3RMIT]

Ty for your comments Steve is the man on this. i own some of his stuff as well. He made me a spidif cable far better then many I tried
I guess the ones I have heard were just good ones and the ones that sounded bad might have been needing Steve’s re clocker
I think a well made CD player is tough to beat if the dac inside has a sound you like as it’s totally setup for best sound jitter and all.
i know you have a very good perspective on good audio
I don’t own a newer CD player but what I own sounds good on external dacs.
i keep saying I’m going to buy a used cd player one being esoteric for sure
but too many other audio stuff to attend to. i got into analog both tape and vinyl it keeps my head spinning enough for now.

 

[K3RMIT]

Has Steve ever tested any esoteric players ?

 

[Al M.]

Has Steve ever tested any esoteric players ?

You could ask him. His email is:
nugent/at/bendcable.com

Personally, I would think the reclocker solution, including cables, that I have (see my signature) is probably cheaper at about $2.5K total than even a used Esoteric player, unless you want to use the internal DAC and play SACDs as well, of course.

Since you say your CD player sounds good with external DACs, its transport must be pretty good, good enough to bring it to top notch performance with a reclocker.

 

[K3RMIT]

I have his email , he is a very kind man and knows very well on the topic
it’s not that a new CD player for transport is a must but to me is needed
I’ll email him and gaze his website to see what he has as well. If you like it it’s a worthwhile try
thanks

 

[Al M.]

I have his email , he is a very kind man and knows very well on the topic
it’s not that a new CD player for transport is a must but to me is needed
I’ll email him and gaze his website to see what he has as well. If you like it it’s a worthwhile try
thanks

You're welcome. You have a 30-day money back guarantee, if I remember correctly.

 

[exupgh12]

This morning i finally got my Luxman D10x, guess this confirms i still use CD's as a source.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Sometimes my old love Teac Esoteric X1S

 

[K3RMIT]

You're welcome. You have a 30-day money back guarantee, if I remember correctly.

Steve’s stuff does need a return policy it acually does what he says
very audible improvements for sure
one last question when you compare before and after using his reclocker
did the tone vary . Did the top end seem darker ? While all is still there did it sound darker yet had much more detailed sounds.
I hope I’m explaining this well enough ??

 

[Al M.]

Steve’s stuff does need a return policy it acually does what he says
very audible improvements for sure
one last question when you compare before and after using his reclocker
did the tone vary . Did the top end seem darker ? While all is still there did it sound darker yet had much more detailed sounds.
I hope I’m explaining this well enough ??

The top end has less artifacts, but is not darker. For example, massed orchestral violins lose a metallic edge, which resides somewhere in the upper midrange/lower treble, I guess. Yet small triangle sounds just as brilliant as without reclocker (if it's better in tone, I'd have to check). Solo violin sounds less flat and more detailed, and with that it does sound a bit more lively in treble energy if you will. While the tone overall is fuller, it is also less muddy and woolly, e.g., in the left hand of the piano -- that lightens up piano tone, in a realistic manner. The sound overall is filled with more subtle detail, for sure. Decay of tones is better as well.

 

[K3RMIT]

I’ll say this man you have a way with words such perfection in your post
it’s how I hear his offramp way back when
I think his products do make digital audio more correct it’s obvious and repeatable. i think one needs to then tune there system to make it more what we perceive is better.
i plan to buy his product and I thank you for the reply
in my life only a few took the time to really improve issues with not the dac but the source to it.
Steve was a true frontier leader in this
and no one ever talks of him.
another was Paul pang I know his stuff looked home made and I’m sure it was
but like Steve the improvement were obvious
without these two and mostly Steve I wonder where digital would be now.
he also turned me onto issues in network used for audio to.
he makes products based on science and testing not mystical products based on non science and measurements
ron thanks for a great post to start this

 

[Al M.]

I’ll say this man you have a way with words such perfection in your post
it’s how I hear his offramp way back when
I think his products do make digital audio more correct it’s obvious and repeatable. i think one needs to then tune there system to make it more what we perceive is better.
i plan to buy his product and I thank you for the reply
in my life only a few took the time to really improve issues with not the dac but the source to it.
Steve was a true frontier leader in this
and no one ever talks of him.
another was Paul pang I know his stuff looked home made and I’m sure it was
but like Steve the improvement were obvious
without these two and mostly Steve I wonder where digital would be now.
he also turned me onto issues in network used for audio to.
he makes products based on science and testing not mystical products based on non science and measurements
ron thanks for a great post to start this

You're welcome. I hope the Empirical Audio reclocker will work for you as well as it does for me.

Yes, Steve is really a solid expert and leader on digital, as is obvious from his products, and an honest one too. He talks about jitter improved into the low picosec range, and never about femtosec stuff. When I asked him about femto clocks, his answer about most of them having much higher jitter than advertised, because of support circuits and the voltage regulation of the oscillator, was revealing. Everyone can claim to have a femto clock, but I would be curious about actual jitter of the internal femto clocks on expensive DACs of other companies that seem to be on the leading technical edge, such as MSB. Maybe those work more as advertised.

A thanks from me to Ron as well for starting this thread.

 

[CKKeung]

I have auditioned the first CH Precision D1.5 in Hong Kong 2 days ago.
Will write a short review on WBF soon.

 

[Kingrex]

Ben with Mojo Audio has me convinced, as well as others that a CD player can perform better than a server. Especially with the SPDIF input. He also mentioned SD Card players operate much the same as a CD player, yet you can get a few albums on a card and you can also make playlist. I started a thread on the subject. I am now looking at SD Card readers and trying to determine if they can perform better than my server. Or a CD player.

 

[Al M.]

Ben with Mojo Audio has me convinced, as well as others that a CD player can perform better than a server.

What is his reasoning on why this would be?