TotalDac d1-CD CD transport

[hongkongfoufou]

Hello guys,



I have received my TotalDac d1-CD CD transport today.



I can say it is a killer CD transport.

After owning Technics SL-PS70 (4000 francs), Philips CD 723 (990 Francs and infinitely better than the SL-PS70 four times more expensive), CD Arcam CD 23T (2500 Euros), Marantz SA7 (8000 Euros) and the reference of a little SACD/CD player….I talk about the Esoteric K-03XS (12900 Euros).

I can confirm the TotalDac d1-CD CD transport is a killer CD transport.

I've rediscovered some demo CDs that I have, like The O Zone Percussion Group La Bamba demo CD.

The O-Zone Percussion Group - La Bamba

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the CD release of "La Bamba" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

Track 10 Jazz Variants is played with a xylophone that sounds wonderful. I feel as if the xylophone is in my room. The notes and interpretations of this TotalDac drive leave the Esoteric K-03XS in its tracks...



This drive has a sound that fills the room....a 3D sound. The three-dimensional space is much larger than that of the Esoteric K-03XS.



It has incredible dynamics.

It reveals every nuance of the CD.

It also shows the differences in output levels between CD media. Sometimes I have to turn the sound up. Sometimes I have to turn it down.

It's very quiet at playback level and very quiet at music level too.

With Dire Straits – On Every Street,

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/7553770-Dire-Straits-On-Every-Street

the voice of Mark Knopfler is warm.

The strong point of this CD drive is its capacity for resolution in the extreme bass.

The track 2 is a real pleasure to listen.

With Mariah Carey – Me. I Am Mariah ...The Elusive Chanteuse,

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/5854390-Mariah-Carey-Me-I-Am-Mariah-The-Elusive-Chanteuse

The piano in the introduction on the track 8 - You Don't Know What To Do – is real, better than the Esoteric K-03XS. No doubt.



Whitney Houston – The Ultimate Collection

https://www.discogs.com/fr/release/1876698-Whitney-Houston-The-Ultimate-Collection

The voice of Whitney Houston with the track 1 - I Will Always Love You – is beautiful. I can say it’s exceptional…



The album Cotonete – Victoire de la Musique – is very good recording.

My favourite song is the track 8 - O Céu é Preto .

This drive is very musical.

You will say: it is subjective…

I can say perhaps yes, perhaps no…

If I say I can't stop tapping my foot on the floor when I listen to this player...and then I get up and tap my foot again while standing...and I keep turning up the volume on the preamp....It's impossible to sit still if you play music that moves....

You listen music, you forget the CD transport.

I prefer listen it with AES in my configuration and not with the BNC output.



Configuration :

Magnepan 3.7i

Jeff Rowland Corus preamplifier

Jeff Rowland Model 625 first version

DAC Mark Levinson N360S (no upgrade)

Cables :

Hijiri Million Interconnects XLR version II between preamplifier and amplifier

Hijiri Million Interconnects XLR version I between preamplifier and DAC

Hijiri 'Takumi' for the preamplifier and the amplifier

Furutech Speakerflux between the amplifier and the loudspeakers



TotalDac d1-CD CD transport with TotalDac AES cable and basic power cord (LOL)…beats easily Esoteric K-03XS with Ansuz foot, Grimm CC1 with Ansuz foot, Furutech Digiflux and Furutech Digiflux NCF and 2 Furutech Flux NCF Gold…

TotalDac is connected to the Isotek Nova GII.

I have no more place with the Furutech Pure Power 6E NCF…Esoteric K-03XS is connected to Furutech Pure Power 6 E NCF….(LOL)


Live-power with IEC inlet:




Remote control




Output : AES and BNC




The pressure puck ( I don't if the term is correct, sorry )



The cover :

 

[hongkongfoufou]

The reference of the disk I have forget :

Cotonete - Victoire de la Musique

Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for Victoire de la Musique by Cotonete. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[hongkongfoufou]

With the Köln concert, I discover all the CD.
The piano is beautiful.
We hear the background noises of the concert hall and Keith who 'sings' at the same time as he plays. Piano notes flow in time. These notes are real, I mean that we would feel like a concert. There is a feeling of being enveloped by music. It's really top.

Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2016 CD release of "The Köln Concert" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[hongkongfoufou]

I never listen this album like now....

Delegation - Eau De Vie

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2002 CD release of "Eau De Vie" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

"Darlin', I think about you " has beautiful voices.
We hear very distinctly the choirs and the main track. The instruments are amazingly realistic. This reader highlights some very subtle details. It's really a pleasure to cover these CDs. The only drive where I beat the measure ...It is really very musical, with warm voices, while being particularly precise. How can a CD player assemble so much quality that opposes each other? In general, precise says analytical, but not here. It's THE most musical CD transport I've ever owned.

 

[hongkongfoufou]

Very strange, this CD is not recorded in discog.

UHQCD DENON Classics BEST Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor [UHQCD] Vaclav Neumann (conductor), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra CD Album

Vaclav Neumann (conductor), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,UHQCD DENON Classics BEST Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor,CD Album listed at CDJapan! Get it delivered safely by SAL, EMS, FedEx and save with CDJapan Rewards!

www.cdjapan.co.jp

Allegro con fuoco is exceptionnal...

 

[davenrk]

Which cd transport/mechanism does it use?

 

[hongkongfoufou]

Which cd transport/mechanism does it use?

The d1-CD uses a today's Austrian CD-PRO8 mechanism and inherits all the research that went into developing Totaldac DACs, reclockers and streamers:
oscillators, specific clock distribution, specific spdif generator, massive copper plate, anti-vibration feet, ground and earth distribution, electromagnetic and mechanical damping, live-power transformer, specific power supply filtering.

It is not me. It is here :

d1-CD

www.totaldac.com

 

[hongkongfoufou]

Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence

View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the CD release of "Declaration Of Dependence" on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

This album, I knew it....
But no, I believe I know it, but no....
With the TotalDac D1-CD transport, we not play in the same league than the Esoteric K-03XS
With the TotalDac D1-CD transport, with this CD, and in my system, I can hear clearly the violon, the guitar.
The lyrics are comprehensible in the sense that you can understand them without straining your ear.
The violin is a violin. Unlike Esoteric, where the violin looks like a violin. The guitar and the lyrics of the two singers are perfectly distinct. You can even hear the guitar plucking. And that room-filling sound. This soundstage is incredibly realistic.

 

[hongkongfoufou]

The big advantage of the TotalDac CD player remote control is that you don't have to aim at the player to operate it.

This player also features a text function.