After over 20 years I replaced my old Technics SL-PS770A with the Atoll CD200 Signature which is a lovely player! Since I listen to physical media ONLY I very much appreciate any CD player review. 👍
I recently had the Marantz CD60 and the Arcam CD5 at home together for comparison. I agree with your descriptions of the sound of each. I chose the Arcam. The sound stage was wide and deep and clear, but the detail I was hearing sold me. I am generally of the belief that on good recordings the system that gives the most and clearest detail is the best, at least for me, since if you are hearing the details everything else is as it should be. This seems especially true with classical orchestral music. Going back and forth between the Marantz and the Arcam, the detail from the Arcam was obviously superior. As for the overall sound, the Marantz was warmer and the Arcam highs were not rolled off, but I suspect the clear highs of the Arcam helped with the detail and the extremely "tight" and accurate imaging. I have never heard anything like it from a similarly priced player. That said, I was not taken with the overall design which was a bit confusing, especially where the remote and settings were concerned. They were not at all intuitive. Lastly, the CD carrier did not leave room for any misplacement of the disc. It is very shallow and more than once I closed the drawer to find the CD caught between it and the front panel. As long as you are very aware and careful with CD placement this should not be an issue. Oh...mine came needing a firmware update to handle connected tracks such as the third and fourth movements of Beethoven's Fifth, and there were no instructions included, but you can get the update at the Arcam website. (I will also warn you that the CD Manual was lacking and was not much help, especially with the Remote Menus. The Arcam is also a bit slower accessing tracks.) After comparing the two players I wanted to like the Marantz better. It was better looking, to me, and better matched my current system. The controls, overall, were also more intuitive. But in the end, after many back and forths between the two, I had to have the Arcam CD5. The detail, imaging, soundstage, and clarity was amazing. I found myself listening to my favorite CD's all over again and hearing details and musicality I had not heard before. If you don't mind the ease of use issues I mentioned, or lack thereof, you may want to give it a listen.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I don’t know why but the Marantz CD60 didn’t inspire me. I didn’t find it materially better than the CD6006 even though it costs 50% more. Also, the new cosmetic design isn’t all too impressive and is just a little bland. I like the Marantz brand but I think they offered better value in the past.
Tarun, the Absolute Sound is absolutely crazy to not have asked you to review products for them from time to time, you sir are a godsend to the Audio industry. Literally a star is born here, your no nonsense, calm, prior experience in the industry and even style is infectious. You are one of the best reviewers in the game. You are the person that I would want to see at these audio shows in Munich and Axpona giving daily coverage and talking to the different industry heavyweights.
Hi Tarun, thanks for the detailed comparison! I am an audiophile who is on his 66th trip around the Sun.I bought a cd player in1990 for $99.00 USD and was happy with the sound, it was refreshing to not hear the pops and dust crackle that came from my Dual 501 TT and my Stanton 681EE cartridge. I eventually lost track of the turntable and gave a lot of vinyl away. About 10 years ago I found a stack of my old albums, bought an MMF 1 turntable with an Ortofon OM40 cartridge used, just to play some of these old albums. Wow the sound was fantastic, loved it more than the CD’s. About 3 years ago I bought an Oppo UDP 203 because of the death of my old Techniques player. Again a Wow moment my cd collection sounded really good, some as good as the vinyl copy’s I had. I since have acquired a WiiM Pro, Ares 12th and am enjoying streaming as much as I enjoy the other two formats. The Oppo into the Ares via I2s or optical-does not reveal anything better than the Oppo using the build in Oppo DAC. I have a VPI Prime TT & Ortofon Quintet Black cartridge, spent well over 5K. I love the CD format because of the durability of the CD. I have spent $50 dollars on a record and dropped it and scratched it, sadness! I personally am buying more CD’s than records and using streaming to preview and find new artists. I will never give up physical media, with turmoil in the world, I can see the internet going bye bye and having to depend on my CD’s and vinyl collection.Keep up the good work, love your take on audio!
I started my CD journey, like a lot of people, with a Sony back in 1987 (a Boxing Day sale). I proceeded through two more Sony players, each better than the last. But then I stepped into a local audio shop and compared my Kenwood (!) amp and preamp combination to the least expensive Arcam integrated amplifier (which cost less than the Kenwoods) and that one unit blew them out of the water. Honestly, it was like hearing my test tracks like someone had re-recorded them. But this led me to my first Arcam CD player, which completed my journey for a time. I later upgraded to an Arcam top of the line player which improved the sound, not the same jump as before, but still worth it. A few years down the road I sold my Arcam and bought a SimAudio Moon player. It was definitely more refined with better imaging and depth - a worthwhile upgrade. Unfortunately, a couple of years later, I happened to be able to do an A/B comparison with a Bryston BCD3. I say unfortunately, because I thought I had reached my personal pinnacle player, and the Bryston delivered more in every way, and so another sale, and now I have the one I will probably always have. What I would love to hear now is an A/B against the Hegel Viking. It's more than I can afford at this time, but I've said that before. Maybe I better not.
Thanks Tarun, that was great, particularly interested in this one as I only listen to CD's. Listened to several players up to 1200 last year including the Marantz you review, settled on the Musical Fidelity M2SCD which is very musical and outstanding with vocals, it's by far the best player I've owned.
Hi! I still have my CD 73 from ARCAM and I'm still very satisfied with the amp from the same company ( A 80). It is true you can listen to them all day long without a bit of fatigue. Thanks for another great review!
This, (along with What Hi Fi's review) was so helpful. I've been looking to upgrade from my Marantz 6007 CD player for sometime and in the end chose the Arcam CD5. The increase in detail is so noticeable and the overall sound is such an improvement with the Arcam. Thank you so much!
Great review!!! I purchased the Pl 200 a few months ago. Love it. Plus you can play the cd without the lid by holding the play button down for a few seconds. I’m using coax out to my Gustard R26. I’m not experiencing any if the issues using as a transport.
Same here. Using coax out to dac's inside the speakers and no issues. In fact, I did a small comparison test between balanced and coax out and I can't hear the difference (same volume). Balanced out sounds just as good as coax when using SMSL as transport.
I found this channel late last year 2023 and I really appreciate his detailed descriptions that help you understand what he's hearing in each item's review. Also the reviews range of components from working class affordable to dream zone class are nice for comparison. Overall very well done and glad I've subscribed for more!
Thanks for another good review! I think much of the compassion is on the DAC. May I suggest another round of review for Hi-Fi enthusiast who don't want to spend over 10K overall like myself. We keep thinking the high end CD transport is a hype. and like to see a honest compassion like this: A decent Sony Blue Ray universal player (I use Sony - UBP-X800M2 feeds digitally into Hegel H120), compare with a similar priced, dedicated CD player; a similar priced CD transport; then a double priced or even higher CD transport. Use all players as transport (digital out to the SAME reference DAC), and use a resolving enough amp/speaker set. Let's see how much difference you can get. Please also measure the noise out of the machine itself. In case there is a difference, we would like to know how resolving the main system (amp + speaker) needs to be to really show the difference. I personally use Hegel 120 with B&W 704S2, and interested to know if a CD transport "upgrade" can make a difference. I think many of your audience want to hear about it.
Bought the Sony CD 101 upon release about 1985, could not get on with it, sounding sibilant. I went back to turntable, then about 1995 heard the Pioneer PD S 703 and loved it, now have a Arcam FMJ CD 17 and really love it, great vlog sir.
Hi, ☕️ I just picked up an Audiolab 6000CDT..feeding my new Denafrips Ares 12-1 ..and I’m very pleased 😊 As for streaming..an OG Wiim Pro feeding the Ares 😎
@@abritishaudiophile7314 @carminedesanto6746 - I have the Audiolab CDT6000 too and i've found its SQ virtually indistinguishable from the Ifi Zen Stream (w/iPower X) when the Source file/stream is up to scratch on the latter. I also have the Eversolo A8 and the Zen Stream only loses out to it on ever so slightly on top end resolution. At regular sale price of 299 or even at MSRP 349 Pounds, the Zen Stream is terrific value for money.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Please do Tarun, I've started buying CD's again and am in the market for a really good CD transport but in 2024, I just don't know where to start.
I enjoyed your careful review. Words are important, especially when trying to describe sound. I wish reviewers were all as careful. I do despair at use of words like "authoritative" to describe sound. There seemed to be a lot of comments on the Internet about the CD5 not being fully ready eg software updates required, not to mention the drawer. I opted for the Marantz at £599 with a 5 year guarantee. The sound is a big improvement on the Marantz cd6006 ukse in the way you describe. I found the headphone sound better than from my Marantz pm8006 amplifier. . I have to add it's also better than the Linn cd player I bought in 1997 for £1,800! We are fortunate that improvements are not always matched by price increases.
Love this review Tarun! Back in the day, (that day being 30 years ago) I loved the Marantz sound and we sold a ton of them in the Home Counties HiFi dealer I worked in for over four years, with the now legendary KI editions often selling over the phone or without Demo at full price! Recently however my tastes (and wallet) have changed and I went for a Rega CD player. The uplift in sound is incredible.
Nice review, thanks! My cd player journey started in the late '90 with a technics sl480, later upgraded with marantz cd4000 in a marantz systems. By 2008 there was a cambridge audio system with the azur 640v2 which performed well and stayed long. After replacing amp and speakers, the need for better source emerged. I was targeting an used Hegel mohican but was out of reach. Found an used Linn Majik which sounds fantastic with my Hegel h160 and Totem forests. Still love phisical media and cant decide to move to streaming!
CD transport makes sense in order to utilize a quality external DAC and not waste anything on a crap internal DAC. From what I have seen SMSL dropped the ball on the 4499 chip implementation in the PL200 which is surprising considering that SMSL has 4499 DACs that are fantastic. I was set on the PL200 but glad that I went in a different direction. I am impressed that you figured that out by ear. I got a Sony UBP-X800M2 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray which is a dedicated transport and no internal DAC and I am impressed with it as there is nothing, as a general matter, that it will not play. I got mine for $250 which is a great deal and adds to the overall system versatility with a USB for sticks. Great review as usual. 🙏🙏🙏
Looking to upgrade from a 1995 CD player that refuses to die, I am curious about your approach. Which external DAC are you using with your Sony and how did you connect HDMI audio?
@@user-jl4gx3xd4f “Orchard Audio PecanPi+ DAC is based AKM’s state-of-the-art (SOTA) flagship AK4499EXEQ and AK4491EQ chips. The AK4499EXEQ is based on AKM’s VELVETSOUND™ technology which uses a switched resistor DAC architecture that functions similarly to R2R.”
Really enjoyed this review . My cd journey has been interesting to say the least - Panasonic ghetto blaster at uni , followed by a bose cd wave radio followed by an onkyo c515 all in one , followed by an arcam solo , a meridian f80, meridian g95 , meridian 808v6 and now at the end game with a dCS Rossini Player Apex . I should point out a number of “expensive streamers “ were unable to compete with the meridian 808v6 in terms of overall sound quality but the dCS Rossini is another level altogether .
My Journey started with a Philips CD104B. Built like a tank. This was used with NAD 3020B amp and AR20B speakers. I then upgraded to an Arcam Delta 70.2 CD player, with Audiolab 8000a and Monitor Audio R852 speakers. Currently I have A Yamaha CDS 2000 CD/SACD player, connected to a Burmester 082 amp via XLR and bypassing my Chord Qutest with MCRU power supply as I prefer the sound thst way. I run Wharfedale EVO 4.4. I have no intention of changing anything in the near future.
Another great review sir. Especially enjoy the comparisons. And so glad to see CD players that aren't just rectangular boxes. I got my first CD player in the 80s. Listened to several brands, settled on NAD as it sounded the least 'digital'. Next the vaulted Radio Shack portable with Dynakit tube combo in my home office. Then another NAD. Now a transport and DAC. Standard Redbook CD sure has come a long way and spinning the silver discs is the way I listen to music.
Very happy with your review of the SMSL, as I was thinking of using it as a transport. 👍 I listen to streaming mostly, but if I really like an album, I will buy the cd to support the artist. When I have time, I will listen to cd's. I think I will buy the new Rega Apollo when it arrives.
Started out with the Kenwood CD and rapidity moved on to a Marantz CD 63 Mk2 KI which I stayed with for years being a great sounding player for its time. Had a Pink Triangle turn table which ran along side with Exposure 15 amp for decades. Changed to up the Exposure 3010 amp last six years which shares duties with a Quad Artera pre And Artera Power amp. Currently use a Rega CD Apollo while not that accurate is immensely musical. Speakers currently PMC TwentyFive.23. I have watched many of your reviews and very much like your even handed approach and relaxed presentation. Keep up the excellent work Cheers.😊
Life started with a Toshiba 14 bit non oversampling transportable and has moved up to the Cambridge Transports and a SMSL SU9 dac which works well although the PL 200 appeals not least for its small factor form which in general I like and the absence of any draws which should help with reliability having had to strip down other players before now to change belts and regrease. As for your review, a very fair representation of the strengths and weakness of each model, none are by any means so-so but they are different and all will meet an audiophiles needs depending on the remainder of the system.
Hey Tarun, another thorough review, which must have taken hours! Don’t know how you have the patience. My first CD player was given to me by a relative to try out. It was an early Philips machine from the dawn if the CD era. I was playing records on my original Linn LP12 at the time. Needless to say the CDs sounded horrible and I quickly binned it off. Fast forward a few years and life meant the record collection, turntable etc had to go. Still pains me today. Then I was fortunate enough to restart my journey a little higher up the ladder from the digital perspective so in 2003 I bought a Musical Fidelity A3.2 and suddenly CDs were sounding great. As you know in the last few years I’ve become familiar with the internal workings of my boxes of electronics and the A3.2 has been subjected to some serious upgrades, the most significant of which was the swapping of the chip based opamps for Burson Audio Vivid V6 component opamps. This has made the sound so much more liquid with the last vestiges of harshness vanishing. However, that’s not the end of the story. CDs have been a struggle for me since the beginning due to the horrible mastering they’ve been subjected to since the mid 1990s. It meant my tastes shifted to well recorded disks and this meant more jazz, acoustic and classical than anything else. I still spin the odd CD but the reintroduction of vinyl has transformed my listening experience and I find myself playing all my old favourites from my yoof as well as my new found friends in jazz and orchestral genres. Still, I’ll take CD ownership over renting my music from a data centre any day.
I have a good cd collection and decent players linked to both my listening systems. My streamers have taken over and I just don’t use cd anymore. I used cd when my internet went out. It was then that I knew the streaming service I was using was in no way shape or form as good cd. It was night and day different. With that I swapped to Deezer who stream flac and I now have cd quality from my streamer. I personally have never had issues with cd players, cheap or expensive. I run them so the Amps internal dac is utilised so all the player is, is a transport. In this sense you can use any player and get the same out of it as all it is doing moving 1 and 0’s to the Amps dac. Currently I have a high end Sony UHD/SACD player feeding both my Denon cinema amp via optical and my Arcam SA20/ST60 via analogue. My second system has a Yamaha player hooked up to a Yamaha RN803D.
Thanks for the CD player review. I still have the 1st player I bought back in 87. A single disc Scott. My 300 disc Sony carousel I bought in 2007 is still running too. I Have bought a couple of 5 and 6 disc carousels too over the years. One is still running. Bought a higher-end Rotel RCD 1572 MKII last year connected to my main system replacing the Sony and it sounds the best. As long as they keep playing my CD player journey is complete. Still buying CDs especially box sets that keep being released. Stream Qobuz too. The best of both worlds.
Fantastic video on exactly what I've trying to decide on at the moment, which is which CD player under £1000 to buy. Including stuff like not being able to start a CD with the play button or restart a track on the Arcam is priceless info that other reviewers don't include. That ALONE, is enough for me to rule it out. May sound fussy, but it's all about usability and irksome is right. Please continue to include usability points like that in further reviews. The SMSL PL200 looks fantastic, and the 90's feel of it is right up my street not to mention the best feature of the expensive and impressive chip that it has. For me though, I can't help but feel that much of the unit cost is wasted on stuff I couldn't care less about like Bluetooth, headphone inputs and USB C ports. Could you recommend a standalone CD player sub £1000 with that chip that doesn't have all the extra bells and whistles and is basically just concentrating on being the best CD player it can be? That's all I want it for. A brilliant CD player to hook up to my Q M20 speakers. Hope you can help! :)
@@theresjustonemorething thank you. You could consider an Audiolab 6000 CDT and a good quality DAC. A two box solution but will give you more flexibility to upgrade in the future 😊
Brilliant review Tarun , I love Arcam Alpha 7SE so much specially with analog output rather than its digital outputs it has clear and warm sound with old BurrBrown Chip .. sat my wife and played “ it’s Probably me “ by sting and Eric Clapton and she was stunned how instrument separation was showing off from my Audiolab 6000a which you recommended and I use Celestion Ditton 22 ( 50 years old Speakers ) ❤ ❤ sometimes I prefer the sound of celestion more than my Focal Chorus 706
Thanks Tarun, my first cd player was a technics SL-P477A in the early 90’s. I then moved to a NAD 502 which I part exchanged for my then grail - the Marantz CD63mkII KI Signature. That Marantz was stunning. I now use an Audiolab 6000CDT (just a transport) and that thing plays all the CDs that were problematic with my other players, it is a fantastic bit if kit in that regard.
Recently purchased a Rega Saturn mk3 cd player. Love the cd format and the sound with the Rega very nice. I use him predominantly as a transport with my external dac that sounds more to my taste than the internal dac in the Rega. Streaming is more for background music whilst my cd player is more for enjoyment. Helps a lot in that regard that Rega is a top loader and that it feels a lot like putting on a record on a record player.
Ah, CDs! i still love them and still have a pretty large collection from back in the day. A great review, thanks, very informative. I had a Rotel CD11 Tribute, which sounded good, nicely detailed, on its own. Then I connected it to my Prism Sound Callia DAC (at least three times more expensive than the CD player...) and not surprisingly it sounded a lot better, adding sound stage and more midrange punch. I was very happy, for a while... until, that is, I decided to try a vintage machine - which changed everything. I acquired a 1984 Revox B 225 CD player, in perfect condition and re-capped. It is so old it doesn't have a digital out - not that it needs it, as I discovered. It sounds just amazing - it has two Philips TDA1540 mono DAC chips, which are 14-bit (before the 16-bit benchmark was set) and has the Philips CDM0 CD drive, apparently the original and best ever built. This thing has changed my view of CDs completely - it weighs a ton and sounds like it. The bass shakes the floor, and the sound is so analogue and dynamic it is pretty much indistinguishable from my turntable, which is a pretty high bar. My point is that CDs are a 1980s thing, and getting a 1980s player just sounds so right! If you are concerned about any thin sound from your CDs, try a vintage machine, especially with the classic TDA 1540 or 1541 chips, any early Marantz such as the CD94, any early Philips, Revox and so on. Like me, you may be blown away
Thanks for making another great edit Tarun. I recently swapped my Marantz CD67mk2 for a Marantz CD6003. I know it’s a cliche but there was an obvious improvement in all areas. I now prefer using this to my Linn LP12… plus CD’s are so cheap right now compared to vinyl💿🎶🎵😎💿
Hi, I recently purchased the Marantz cd 6007 and the Marantz 8006 integrated amp.. I'm using ADS L780/2 40yr old speakers with ("Siltech 770 anniversary cables") the sound is remarkable.. no complaints.. some cd's sound better the some others.. That's it. I'm saving for the Buchardts 400
Hi Tarun, being 53 I've had quite a few CD players on my journey. The last two were quite memorable. The Gryphon Audio Mercado signature and my current CD player is the MPT-8 from playback designs.
Beautifully done Tarun. This is a benchmark review, with the right ingredients: a true comparison, several systems used, individual components analysis. Please keep doing it :) Allow me to suggest another comparison of GBP 1000-2000 CD players, and of corse the contrast with streamers. Also can you please review the Shanling ET-3 CD transport? I suspect it pairs very well with the Aries and Venus dacs…. and it is equipped with I2S, AES/EBU, Coaxial and USB outputs!!!
Fantastic! ❤ Tarun, once again delivers the clear, concise virtues of the various CD units in this lovely installment. That excellent alternative of multi-format use in Blu-ray and outboard DAC listening is wonderfully rich, and amazing. Thank you my dear friend!
Had Sonos Amp for mostly ripped CDs then wanted vinyl so got Technics SL100C and needed an amp so just went on reviews and got the Marantz PM6007 then had a CD revival with a bargain matching CD6007. Then recently despite being happy with the sound I couldn't resist upgrading to the Model 50 and CD60 just because of that industrial design, as well as a great 3 year IFC deal and trade in. Very happy, heard details I'd not heard before, and they really are beasts in build quality with a super smooth CD mechanism and an electronic volume control with display that is so much better than the old motorised potentiometer for ease and accuracy of adjustment.
Thanks for the great reviews. I own more than 900 CDs, and it's the main way I listen to music. I picked up a NAD C538 player for $350 ten years ago, which I thought was expensive at the time, but as I have been upgrading my gear I am more used to the sticker shock now, and wanted to buy something in the $1000 range. I tested a Rotel CD 14 MK2 which I liked a lot. Currently I am listening to a Denon DCD-1700NE which is the best sounding one I have heard so far. The Denon is big, and it was full price which hurt, but I have been blown away with how good it sounds.
My first CD player was the Arcam Alpha 5. I think I paid about £500 in the early 90s, I still miss that machine, it had a very sweet treble, you could listen to it for hours. I might have to buy one of the units that pop up on eBay every once in a while for a nostalgia kick.
Thank you for a lovely review! I appreciate the time and effort you put into making these videos. Your evaluation of the sonics is thorough and you touch on most subjects that are important to audiophiles. That being said - and this is just my opinion - CD players are HIFI components that ought to be evaluated not only in terms of audio quality, but also their operability - how fast does it load the disc, how responsive the mech is, what is the actual feel of the onboard transport controls. CD, after all, is a physical media and the “touch” should be a part of the experience. For a more technically-minded audiophile or music lover, this is important. I know you review CD players from time to time and IMHO, it might be worth your while to give it some thought. Obviously, this is not a complaint, just a suggestion and one that I believe would be beneficial to all. 😊 Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. This was a group review so I had to be selective about what to include. I included the operational features that stood out as either very beneficial or not up to scratch 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314Point taken - it would make the video longer, perhaps unnecessarily. Since you’ve mentioned having listened to older Arcam players, would you say that the new CD5 is a departure from the classic designs, like the ones equipped with a DCS Ring DAC? Cheers!
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thank you for replying! Most kind! Well, a few years ago you could buy a used Arcam CD player with the DCS’ discrete “Ring DAC” for around 200 quid. As I understand it, Arcam had a close relation to DCS before they became what they are today - expensive! So, at around 600-700 quid, the Arcam was considered something of a bargain. This was about 15-20 years ago though so 700 quid was a lot of money and likely still is. What’s more, some of the Arcam players were upgradeable so you could buy a base model and upgrade it afterwards, the DCS one being the top option. I was a teenager back then so there would be no chance for me to actually own one but I remember the days of reading the HIFI mags and being very excited about it. All the best!
Very interesting review! Keep up the good work! I’m still into CD’s (and also streaming and vinyl), still buy them as well, owing the music satisfies me more. Playing on a 14 year old Audia flight CD two. Still Love the sound! Currently searching for a new one.
Another great review! I revisited CD playing with a CEC TL5 belt driven transport and loved it. Detailed and smooth. But recently I splurged and purchased Atoll’s CD100 with built-in DAC and have experienced a renewed enjoyment of CDs. I find myself listening to it much more than streaming through my Pontus II DAC. Has a wonderful mix of detail and slight warmth in my system and the soundstage is outstanding.
Tarun, Excellent review as always, and so informative! I recently bought the Marantz CD60 to go with my Marantz Model 30 Integrated amplifier. Way more impressed with the sound of the Model 30 (which I still hope you can review one day) than the CD60. I found the CD60 a bit too warm and lacking in detail. I can't connect my Audiolab 6000CDT to the Marantz model 30 as it does not have an internal DAC. From what I can hear with the Audiolab transport hooked to the Audiolab 6000A integrated in my second system, the Audiolab transport seems to be more refined, detailed, transparent than the CD60. Curious now about the Arcam CD5 which perhaps I should audition to replace the CD60. Thanks as always!
I almost skip the SMSL PL200 when you mentioned the digital out sounded bad as a transport. But I brought one anyway since it is a good standalone CD player as you and many reviewers stated. The unit did not sound good at first played. After an hour or so, I hooked it up to the Pontus II. Wow. I couldn't believe how good those CW IV sound. I don't miss the REV SUB at all. The 8W SET drives the CW IV to all the bass I could ever wish for with well recorded CD, it is so musical, and it made me go to work late this morning. The Bright Red cd by Laurie Anderson was highly rated CD back in the 80s but it never wows me with my old system. That CD sounded like I have never heard before with my good old LUXMAN U-105D cd player. I stopped listening much to cd after that unit broke, and no one around can fix it. Other transports may be better, retrieve more detail, more airy or dynamic but with the current setup. I am now in sonic Nevada. Every instrument, male or female vocals are so real and vivid in my Livingroom. I am very happy with the PL 200.
Appreciate your review! Last year and after much consternation… I picked up a Cambridge Audio CXCv2. I’ve been very satisfied with it so far. Also using a Holo Audio Red as a streamer
Great review Tarun, thank you. My first real cd player was the KIS version of the marathon cd63 you displayed in the video, followed by a marantz cd6000KIS that I still own but needs attention. I now run Audiolab 6000cdt into a Mojo2 and I'm delighted with the result, it sounds great.
I bought my first CD player, a Yamaha CD-X2, back in 1985 when CD was a relatively new invention. It lasted around 5 years. I stepped up to a significantly better (sonically) Musical Fidelity A3CD player, which cost me around $2,000 AUD, a fortune in those days. I still have it, but nowadays I'm a convert to the convenience and variety afforded by streaming.
I only had a Denon micro system in the loft railway room for years. I still managed to accumulate several hundred CD’s though! When I invested in my big boy system a few years ago, I finally went for the Bel Canto Cdt3 transport. It is absolutely silent in operation and is slightly better than the Auralic streamer and different sonically to the Gyro turntable.
That's great. I love that you still don't have to spend masses to get good sound. It is at the modest price points where the great bargains are found 👍
Nice review Tarun, even though I'm unlikely to part with that much cash. For other budget hifi enthusiasts I can report my new (£100 used) Marantz 6000OSE ltd sounds great, a huge improvement on my even older 53 model. Its dac sounds good to me, though I usually hook it up to my Mojo, which widens and deepens its soundstage. I am still judging the merits of cd versus streaming, and can't make my mind up, but I will still be buying cds, not wanting to trust the internet with my music.
My CD playback journey has been a bare bones Sony CDP with a PCM58 DAC in the early days. This was replaced by an Ayon CD2s which was a monumental upgrade. Finally I went with separates in 2012-13 when I got a DIY CD transport built on top of a Philips CD Pro2m and an AMR DP777 DAC. Suffice to say i was so happy with this, I haven't upgraded since in 11 years. Of late, I have moved to vinyl playback and recently got a Dr Feickert Analogue Firebird turntable that doesn't make me want to listen to either CDs or Streaming anymore.
I began building my system on a specific budget with the Arcam SA10 and Wharfedale Denton 80 speakers as the base. I've always had CD's, so initially used my Samsung bluray player as transport. After a while, I tried the Audiolab 6000cdt and found it an improvement. Moving from the SA10's internal dac to the SMSL VMV D1se2 external dac brought a significant improvement in clarity and dynamics. It also allowed me to use my Dell computer as a streaming transport. Quite a few times, I've listened to CD's and streamed versions of the same recording and found the CD's a more fleshed out and fluid sound than when streaming. It is nice, however, to be able to use both sources as one can sometimes not find particular performances on one or the other. Would a dedicated streamer improve the sound from that source? Perhaps. But it will have to wait testing at a later date. Budgets rule.
My previous CD player was a first generation Play Station 1 until it stopped working a while back. It h as d a pleasant sound and used it mostly a work. I've recently put an Onkio Dx-710 in my system and noticed I'm using it alot. It has played some of my CDs that are on rough shape with out a hitch. Pretty comparable to my record player a Technics SL-7 with a Stanton L747S cartridge. The detail and sound stage are decent....CDs are not dead...second hand ones are reasonable and better than vinyl when they are mastered well😊
I have been on a cd transport journey and hopefully my experiences may help others. A couple of years ago I took a punt and purchased the Gustard R26 ladder DAC and it has proved my best ever hi Fi purchase. I tried various transports including the Audiolab 6000, Leak, Cyrus, plus various integrated players running as transports including Arcam, Marantz, Rocksan etc. In addition, I tried various quality blu ray players. Suffice to say I found dedicated transports audibly, in some cases markedly, superior. But some of the touted mid price transports were fairly underwhelming, particularly the Audiolab/Leak, and particularly the more expensive Cyrus. In the end I settled on two low mileage second hand transports, the Primare 15 and Moon 260D. The balanced outputs from the Moon into the Gustard are particularly pleasing. I have come to the conclusion that the quality of the transport implementation, and particularly its isolation, is key. That said, there has been a flurry of new transports so there is nothing to say they won’t be better, and at some point it would be fun to try the Audiolab 9000 and Schitt transports.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Happy to help👍🏻 Btw I should add that some of the most notable benefits is soundstaging and separation of instruments. What is fascinating, and what belies a lot of the criticism about transports just being transports, is that everything I tried was notably different, even between my two chosen ones, the Primare and Moon. The former is more muscular with good imaging, the latter is more airy with a wider soundstage.
The LAN input on the R26 is the superior input to use. I ended up burning all cds to pc and use roon to play from pc it sounds better than any cd player I tried with the R26
Kudos to you for this highly thought out and well presented comparison of these three cd players. Many thanks indeed. Per your prompt, I've two cd transports ~ a Cyrus CD-T, and an Olasonic Nano-CD1. Both feed Meridian Director DACs. The CD-T's 44.1KHz sample rate is automatically upsampled to 88.2KHz to take advantage of the DAC's more benign anti-aliasing filter. The Nano-CD1 has selectable bit rates of 44.1, 88.2 or 96KHz. Using the two higher sample rates, it's hard to tell which is better, but both outshine standard Redbook 44.1KHz. I chose Meridian for its non-pre-ringing analog output. It has an Ortofon LOMC-like refined presentation that's easy to listen to and less fatiguing over long listening sessions.
Tarun I encourage all reviewers to buy a $15 isolation transformer for Coax SPDIF listening it will eliminate ground loops if the manufacturer didn't include galvanic isolation. Thanks for the review
Great review, Thanks! Owned a Marantz cd 63 se (great in reproducing voices), then a MF x-ray (much more analytical). Since a few years I have the x cd 1000 from Advance Paris and upgraded the tube, I'm still surprised by playing older discs from my collection, very happy with it, great value!
Thanks Tarun. Very informative. I use an Audiolab 9000 transport into a Pontus II with a Card cable. It's all I need. My big complaint (I'm old, expect it) Is Cd players without direct track access via the remote. Unless you want to listen to every cd all the way through or tediously hit the fast forward button, You need a remote with numbered keys. Seems like the Arcam is lacking this feature. This seems to be fairly common with the Schiit transport among others lacking direct track access. My other gripe is microscopic LED screens. My 9000 is clearly visible from the listening position and sounds excellent.
Started with a Sony, changed to a Rotel which is still going, 33 years old now Then purchased a Cyrus DAD3Q, ran for 28 years, just replaced with a Cyrus CDI, each upgrade gave better performance, must be lucky that had no breakdowns of any of the listed machines, perhaps if you treat them right you get trouble free performance. All olayers played at least six cd discs per week.
I bought one of the first Phillips CD players when they came out in Australia back in the 80's. Then later I bought a Teac followed by a Sony midrange ES series in 1996, which worked flawlessly for 20 years. Stunning build quality and would read any CD that lesser even more expensive players would have trouble with. When it died i purchased a Cambridge Audio CX series transport into my high end DAC. No comparison 😢. Sony mastered the CD format Afterall they along with Phillips invented the Redbook format. I am yet to hear anything better than my old Sony.
Always prefer physical media to streaming (though i use both). A physical collection is part of my musical history/journey that streaming just cant replicate though there is no denying the convenience.
I spend much of my time listening to my Bluesound Node and matching Bluesound Vault. However, I have a Cayin Mini-CD for those times when the internet decides to take time off. For serious listening, I've returned to the " licorice pizza " of my youth. I'm enjoying all the Jazz I missed while I misplaced my youth listening to rock&roll. 😎
I do love the sound of Arcam but, I had 2 cd players and one blue ray player and each of them went much to early broken. After about 3 years of use the reading device broke down. The AVR receiver that I had from Arcam sounded fantastic and with no technical issues. So for buying a cd player I sadly won’t choose Arcam how good it may sounding. Now I have an Exposure basic model in use that sounds also great but it’s well bild and works for more than 10 years. I only wished that I could find a a dealer for Exposure in Belgium. Greetings Ludo
Excellent perspectives and detailed review. Thank you so much, as always for your time,efforts and very coherent summation of all this technology. Have a great weekend and take care, Sir .
The USB-C input on the pl200 was intended for it to be use in a desktop environment as a DAC + Headphone amp, especially in a 1 room setup(dac+hpa when working on computer, as a CD player when relaxing) not really for connecting a phone to it.
Hi Tarun - I subscribed today, I love your A/B comparisons. I've had a Rotel RCD-991 since the late 1990s - a truly fantastic player with a R2R ladder DAC inside it. Now I'm about to put it on eBay because I picked up an (oldish) Unison Research Unico, on Ebay, that's even better than the Rotel. What I've noticed about these two players is the increased sound quality of the balanced XLRs compared to the RCAs, and was interested to see the SMSL has this feature too. I wondered if you ever thought about making a video looking further into the benefits of XLR outputs or are my ears playing tricks on me? 🙃 - Kind regards - Richard in Folkestone.
I bought a detailed oriented Audiolab 9000CDT which virtually never skips, paired with a full sounding Teac NT-503 Dac over a Tubulus Argentus coaxial cable. It is a great front end. If I were to consider an upgrade, the Teac VRDS-701 would be on my shortlist as it has a custom transport and custom Dac chips.
I have a Linn Klimax DSM 3 streamer and by accident I rediscovered CD, story for another day. After study & trials I bought the new TEAC VRDS 701 transport into the Linn DAC. SPIF cable is crucial and for that I go to pros, not audiophiles. A 12G UHD SDI Belden 4694R & Neutrik UHD BNC’s 2m cable from D3 for £35. If it is a digitally recorded/mastered for CD 44.1 kHz it significantly betters streaming of the same. Rest of the system is Linn Klimax LP12 & Solos into Kef Blade Two’s.
I just splashed out on a JBL CD350, I've been told it's pretty much the same on the inside as the Arcam CD5 - both brands being owned by the same parent company - the remote controls for the Arcam & JBLs even look the same. Compared to Arcam, the JBL CD350 and accompanying SA550 amplifier (which replaced my Yammy S-A501 & CD-S303) both offer that retro 1970's look, with lovely side walnut veneers, which is just my cup of tea. Really love the sound I get from the CD350, feels warm yet detailed, perhaps helped by the DAC in the SA550, an ESS ES9038K2M (24-bit/192kHz) and my Monitor Silver 100's. Although sound is key, hifi appearance also matters to some extent, you don't want something ugly set up at one of your room, and the Marantz has never really done it for me in terms of appearance (sorry Marantz fans).
Both vinyl and CD have similar problems in that I find it's a rare album where I like more than 2 or three tracks. There's so much faff with changing albums (even more with vinyl than CD, of course) and I was forever up and down and rummaging amongst my CD collection to find the next thing I wanted to listen to. So I was very grateful to discover CD ripping to FLAC, and now have a collection of all my favourite tracks on HD that I can listen to and search through much faster. I don't stream, because as someone else mentioned, I like to own my music. One thing I've always wondered is whether ripping to FLAC depends on the quality of the CD player used. I mean, I just use the one in my desktop PC -- probably a £20 item at most. Can you Tarun, or anyone else, provide the answer? TIA. 🙂
In my opinion a cheap CD drive can make bit-perfect rips if suitable software is used which verifies the data. The two I am familiar with are DB Poweramp and Exact Audio Copy ( EAC) and I use the latter. Having got bit-perfect rips stored on your computer, it’s then down to how you play that data - I’ve found a network streamer to give better results than a USB DAC.
@@simonupstone4924 Thanks for the reply. I use Wondershare Uniconvertor software to rip, and go from laptop to Singxer Su-2 DDC and from there via I2S into my Gustard R26 DAC. Sounds like it should be okay.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 DB Poweramp and Wondershare Uniconvertor cost around the same, so I'm hoping they're about the same quality -- but Wonderhare has lots of other features too. I don't rip to WAV because to my ears there's little difference and my music library is that much smaller. I may give the free trial of DWP a go to see if I'm missing anything.
I converted the discs and records to flac and wav files (using Exact Audio Copy) for the same reason: albums with more than 2 or 3 tracks I like are rare. I started with a test using an evaluation set of tracks. Played on a Denon DCD-1650AR (a capable CD player) or from wav and flac using a laptop and RME ADI-2 FS DAC, the latter combination sounded slightly more detailed. So that's good, the discs could all be ripped, sold, the flac & wav files backed up, and playlists implemented on the collection of best tracks. Some playlists take the listener through the best tracks of a band over their entire history without interruption. And the 'best-of' subcollection can easily be copied to be used in multiple rooms or in the car, the copies also being each other's backups.
I mostly think latest dac technology is irrelevant, especialy aftet the hearing the suberb Sugden dac that uses an ancient Philips DAC chip and also having a TAG DAC20 fully refurbished. Implementation is definitely more important than the 'latest dac'.
That SMSL unit looked pretty nifty, had excellent components and interface options. I wouldn’t discount the Bluetooth though, some folks (like on of my sons) love it. They’re ready to party with a Bluetooth speaker -except where there is no internet coverage. This unit might have saved one of our family reunions held at a remote site. 🙂 Edit: Bluetooth is all my son used to listen to music in his home. Just saying.
My main cd setup is a Jay's Audio Cd2 mk 3 transport with Denafrips Terminator Plus Dac and it sounds great. But for my AV system I recently picked up a Denon 2900 cd/sacd/dvd flagship player from 2003 for about £100. It is built fantastically well and sounds great with its own dac or as a transport. I think there is a lot to be said for buying second hand cd players. Often the transport mechanism is far superior to the players available today. Yes, lasers fail, but replacements are often easy to come by and fit.
I owmed a arcam alpha 9 cd player, currently I have an Oppo 105 which is good multi-player. I really regret passing on the arcam as the dCS based DAC was fantastic with redbook cds.
I’ve struggled with less expensive CD players primarily because they seem to have issues tracking well. They seem to skip randomly even on clean unscratched or very lightly scratched cds. I started looking at more expensive CD players and started reading the one star reviews. I even looked at a review for a $6000 MacIntosh and people were complaining about skipping. I decided to go with a nice 4k Blu-ray and an external DAC. I’m happy with it and it has the added flexibility of being able to play SACDs and Blu-ray audio, not that I’m planning on building a huge collection of those types of media.
After several weeks planning the purchase of a CD for my stereo, finally today arribed my new Sony XB800M2 BluRay player. Can read CDa, CDR/RW, SACD, DVD, bluRay, Flac's on my NAS, and view Live DVD/BluRay Concerts on my Stereo and TV. Connected the COAX output from the Sony to the COAX input of my Elicit MK5 Using the bluRay as transport. 265 € at home and some bucks on my pocket. Can't be happier :)
I love my SMSL AO300, which shares the same aesthetic and is presumably intended as coming from the same line. It's got some quirks but it's got a terrific sound -- gob-smacking, even, considering the price -- and I've no intention of upgrading that part of my system anytime soon.
Excellent comparison and much appreciated! Struggling with a decision between a dedicated player or a transport, it now leaning toward a transport. Would love to get your impressions of a few transports in a similar priceline. Shanling ET3 seems a nice one there 🙏🏼
Last summer I decided to move away from streaming to CD, after having borrowed a CD-player in the same price category as my Node. After a comparison I concluded that CD simply sounded better. I eventually bought the Denon DCD-1700ne and I'm using it both as a transport and with the built in DAC. External DAC is the Eversolo Z8, I prefer it when listening to complex and fast music as it keeps things together while still managing to sound relaxed and effortless. From the complexity and weight of the piano in Chopin's second piano sonata, to the insane sonic landscape of Lorna Shore. I prefer the DAC inside the Denon for jazz, and some less complex metal and rock. Lorna Shore is almost unlistenable on the Denon, it's like trying to make sense of the movement on an anthill - despite my treated room. The soundstage of the Z8 is smaller and less 3D, but the sound signature sounds more real and as mentioned, well-composed and kept together. The soundstage of the Denon is quite a bit bigger, and is more out into the room. The sound has less bass and a more energetic midrange, older jazz sounds vivid and just fantastic. But the sound has a sort of artificial tone to it. If this was photography the Denon would be a film camera producing images with a distinctive 60's-70's vibe,. The Z8 would be modern digital photography. This is also why I think voices sound better on the Z8, but less present and "there". I would love the sound of both their stengths put together, the size and presence in the room of the Denon with the composure and effortlessness of the Z8. So the pursuit of the perfect sound goes on :) PS. Putting weights on the Z8 elevated the sound quality substantially! Clearer notes, blacker background. Currently I have 5kg on top. More, and it would look even more ridiculous... So I won't even try, haha.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 You're welcome, and thank you for reading! I now realize my comment escalated into some sort of review.. 😅 I guess we all have a need to talk about our gear. It's not like my friends are lining up to hear about my new cable! Have a great day
I'm still strictly cd, love them, currently using Denon DCD 800ne & an Arcam dv 88+ players, was hoping you would include Denon DCD 900ne with sabre chipset in this test, can't be bothered with all this streaming business, will add an external dac when the need to upgrade kicks in again, if it ain't on your shelf, then you don't really own it, is my way of thinking, bands get a pittance from these streaming companies etc etc, nice to see a vid on CD players all the same👍
I use a Sony S9000es. The build quality is exceptional. Copper chassis, dedicated analogue power supply, killer dac with a slow filter that sounds analogue. 20+ years old and when it gives up the ghost I’m going to be devastated.
Great vid as usual! I don't own any super hi end stuff, but I do have a MArantz nd8006 Combination streamer/cd player and I love it. I'm not sure why they discontinued this type of combo device. I literally can switch between playing the same track on Amazon HD music and also CD for comparisons. If you can find one used for under $1000 I would take the risk!
Thank you again for a nice review personally I have the Marantz CD 6006 as it is a great little machine fantastic sound with Cambridge AXA 35 and emotiva B1 plus bookshelf so I tried Marantz CD 6007 which was definitely not as good and I tried the cd60 to my surprise NOT as good not as real, detailed, smooth sounding although the Sound Stage was much larger. Is the dac not as good as the cyrus logic used in cd6006? I just want to thank Taryn for the recommendation Cambridge AXA 35 fantastic amplifier. I also purchased the cambridge cxa61 but have not tried it yet as the cxa35 is SUPERB.I get such realistic sound from this little Dynamo. I don't feel I am missing ANYTHING. WOW!
For some time I used my venerable Toshiba SD-100e, as a CD transport, but sadly after 24 years, it has started to show its age, so last year, I bought the Arcam CDS50, which is both a CD player and streamer. Sound wise the CDS50, sounds very neutral, similar to my Topping DX3 Pro+. Currently, I mainly use it as a transport to my Roksan K3 amp. Of course, the party piece of the CDS50, is its ability to stream, but sadly, Arcams Musiclife app, has far too many issues to be a practical solution, though you can (and I do), use mconnect instead, which works much better, but does not work when the device used goes into sleep mode which is a real pain. As a CD player the CDs50 is much better, than a streamer, but the convenience of a streamer means I mainly use it the streamer function which is instead, which is not ideal. It is getting to the point where I am considering getting Wiim, or maybe another Bluesound node, just because they work, but at the moment I am holding off.
Some rambling (sorry!) thoughts about CD players. I've dived back into CDs about a year ago. All of that has to do with my living situation, which is completely different from 15 years ago. I watched the video with interest, first, what to think about when looking for a new player (fortunately I don't have to do that right now), second, there was a Marantz in the test. When emigrating, I brought c 250 CDs with me, some of them I have to admit, downloads from piratebay. And a Marantz SR14, and a Marantz DV8300. I had them both looked after and repaired last fall, so I was totally in to playing my CDs again. And, filling in the gaps in the collection. Gaps? In the 70s I had vinyl of course, so I managed to find CDs of Little Feat, the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Cream, etc. So, yes, I'm into enjoying music much more than the hardware so to speak. Back to the CD players. I'm into Marantz, as you may have noticed. Why? Build quality, sound quality, looks. I was a little disappointed by the CD60, for those reasons. I can't know how it would compare to the DV8300, in my set up, although I suspect the mechanics of that 20 year old thing are as good as the modern CD60. Add to that the copper plated chassis. I can use the DV8300 with an external DAC (SMSL DO300), sound is noticeably different, but is it better? In my set up, to my ears! Anyway, ramblings. It's a good thing I don't have to make choices now. Btw, I do 'streaming', from tablet/TH-cam to DAC to SR14. Pretty good!
@@abritishaudiophile7314 from Sony 707ES integrated amplifier + 555ES CD player I evolved to the two Marantz units. I've always loved the solid feel of those 90s/2000s Japanese hi-fi products. The good old days!
Another interesting Video! I think transports are the way to go. However, S/PDIF and AES/EBU have their flaws with the clocking, for I2S there is no clear definition and HDMI is very uncommon for pure audio. So from my persepctive, USB may be the way to go but there is only a limited number of transports with USB-Out available. Maybe you could share your thoughts in one of your next videos! ✌️
My first CD player was an early Technics (can’t remember the model but it was late 80’s) an entry level model that was highly rated at the time. I then moved onto an original Arcam Alpha player (obvs lol) and then to a Linn Genki… when that eventually started misreading I moved sideways to an Audiolab 8200.. my current player being a Rega Saturn R… that is playing up after just 3 years ownership (grr) Rega have it at the moment but I am considering jumping ship.. possibly to an Arcam CD5 as money is a bit tight and i don’t really want to shell out around 1500 on a Cyrus! Sitting on the fence at the moment though.. I may also look at the new Creek 4040 player too?
@@abritishaudiophile7314 p.s. l get beautiful sound quality from a ifi Zen blue (Cinnamon optical) and my phone. T, Your videos are always helpful on this tr!p. D.
After over 20 years I replaced my old Technics SL-PS770A with the Atoll CD200 Signature which is a lovely player!
Since I listen to physical media ONLY I very much appreciate any CD player review. 👍
Thank you 👍
Love my cd200
I recently had the Marantz CD60 and the Arcam CD5 at home together for comparison. I agree with your descriptions of the sound of each. I chose the Arcam. The sound stage was wide and deep and clear, but the detail I was hearing sold me. I am generally of the belief that on good recordings the system that gives the most and clearest detail is the best, at least for me, since if you are hearing the details everything else is as it should be. This seems especially true with classical orchestral music. Going back and forth between the Marantz and the Arcam, the detail from the Arcam was obviously superior. As for the overall sound, the Marantz was warmer and the Arcam highs were not rolled off, but I suspect the clear highs of the Arcam helped with the detail and the extremely "tight" and accurate imaging. I have never heard anything like it from a similarly priced player. That said, I was not taken with the overall design which was a bit confusing, especially where the remote and settings were concerned. They were not at all intuitive. Lastly, the CD carrier did not leave room for any misplacement of the disc. It is very shallow and more than once I closed the drawer to find the CD caught between it and the front panel. As long as you are very aware and careful with CD placement this should not be an issue. Oh...mine came needing a firmware update to handle connected tracks such as the third and fourth movements of Beethoven's Fifth, and there were no instructions included, but you can get the update at the Arcam website. (I will also warn you that the CD Manual was lacking and was not much help, especially with the Remote Menus. The Arcam is also a bit slower accessing tracks.)
After comparing the two players I wanted to like the Marantz better. It was better looking, to me, and better matched my current system. The controls, overall, were also more intuitive. But in the end, after many back and forths between the two, I had to have the Arcam CD5. The detail, imaging, soundstage, and clarity was amazing. I found myself listening to my favorite CD's all over again and hearing details and musicality I had not heard before. If you don't mind the ease of use issues I mentioned, or lack thereof, you may want to give it a listen.
Great 👍 thank you for sharing your experiences 🙂
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I don’t know why but the Marantz CD60 didn’t inspire me. I didn’t find it materially better than the CD6006 even though it costs 50% more. Also, the new cosmetic design isn’t all too impressive and is just a little bland. I like the Marantz brand but I think they offered better value in the past.
I thoroughly enjoyed this format of comparison between products. I hope you'll continue with different price ranges.
I will try when I can, but it was a lot of work to do a 3 in 1 review 🙂
Tarun, the Absolute Sound is absolutely crazy to not have asked you to review products for them from time to time, you sir are a godsend to the Audio industry. Literally a star is born here, your no nonsense, calm, prior experience in the industry and even style is infectious. You are one of the best reviewers in the game. You are the person that I would want to see at these audio shows in Munich and Axpona giving daily coverage and talking to the different industry heavyweights.
@@sidvicious3129 thank you my friend. That is very kind of you to say 😊👍
Hi Tarun, thanks for the detailed comparison! I am an audiophile who is on his 66th trip around the Sun.I bought a cd player in1990 for $99.00 USD and was happy with the sound, it was refreshing to not hear the pops and dust crackle that came from my Dual 501 TT and my Stanton 681EE cartridge. I eventually lost track of the turntable and gave a lot of vinyl away. About 10 years ago I found a stack of my old albums, bought an MMF 1 turntable with an Ortofon OM40 cartridge used, just to play some of these old albums. Wow the sound was fantastic, loved it more than the CD’s. About 3 years ago I bought an Oppo UDP 203 because of the death of my old Techniques player. Again a Wow moment my cd collection sounded really good, some as good as the vinyl copy’s I had. I since have acquired a WiiM Pro, Ares 12th and am enjoying streaming as much as I enjoy the other two formats. The Oppo into the Ares via I2s or optical-does not reveal anything better than the Oppo using the build in Oppo DAC. I have a VPI Prime TT & Ortofon Quintet Black cartridge, spent well over 5K. I love the CD format because of the durability of the CD. I have spent $50 dollars on a record and dropped it and scratched it, sadness! I personally am buying more CD’s than records and using streaming to preview and find new artists. I will never give up physical media, with turmoil in the world, I can see the internet going bye bye and having to depend on my CD’s and vinyl collection.Keep up the good work, love your take on audio!
I love that 66 trip reference. I am a few trips behind 🤣 thank you for sharing 🙂
I started my CD journey, like a lot of people, with a Sony back in 1987 (a Boxing Day sale). I proceeded through two more Sony players, each better than the last. But then I stepped into a local audio shop and compared my Kenwood (!) amp and preamp combination to the least expensive Arcam integrated amplifier (which cost less than the Kenwoods) and that one unit blew them out of the water. Honestly, it was like hearing my test tracks like someone had re-recorded them. But this led me to my first Arcam CD player, which completed my journey for a time. I later upgraded to an Arcam top of the line player which improved the sound, not the same jump as before, but still worth it. A few years down the road I sold my Arcam and bought a SimAudio Moon player. It was definitely more refined with better imaging and depth - a worthwhile upgrade. Unfortunately, a couple of years later, I happened to be able to do an A/B comparison with a Bryston BCD3. I say unfortunately, because I thought I had reached my personal pinnacle player, and the Bryston delivered more in every way, and so another sale, and now I have the one I will probably always have. What I would love to hear now is an A/B against the Hegel Viking. It's more than I can afford at this time, but I've said that before. Maybe I better not.
Great to learn about your experiences 🙂
Would love to see a similar group test, with more expensive CD players.
I hope to review more CD players. These group tests are quite involved though. I plan to do them periodically 🙂
Thanks Tarun, that was great, particularly interested in this one as I only listen to CD's.
Listened to several players up to 1200 last year including the Marantz you review, settled on the Musical Fidelity M2SCD which is very musical and outstanding with vocals, it's by far the best player I've owned.
Thank you Dale 👍
Hi! I still have my CD 73 from ARCAM and I'm still very satisfied with the amp from the same company ( A 80). It is true you can listen to them all day long without a bit of fatigue. Thanks for another great review!
Thank you Yves 🙂👍
This, (along with What Hi Fi's review) was so helpful. I've been looking to upgrade from my Marantz 6007 CD player for sometime and in the end chose the Arcam CD5. The increase in detail is so noticeable and the overall sound is such an improvement with the Arcam. Thank you so much!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Great review!!! I purchased the Pl 200 a few months ago. Love it. Plus you can play the cd without the lid by holding the play button down for a few seconds. I’m using coax out to my Gustard R26. I’m not experiencing any if the issues using as a transport.
Thx for sharing 🙂
Same here. Using coax out to dac's inside the speakers and no issues. In fact, I did a small comparison test between balanced and coax out and I can't hear the difference (same volume). Balanced out sounds just as good as coax when using SMSL as transport.
I found this channel late last year 2023 and I really appreciate his detailed descriptions that help you understand what he's hearing in each item's review. Also the reviews range of components from working class affordable to dream zone class are nice for comparison. Overall very well done and glad I've subscribed for more!
Thank you my friend. Much appreciated 🙂 👍
Thanks for another good review! I think much of the compassion is on the DAC. May I suggest another round of review for Hi-Fi enthusiast who don't want to spend over 10K overall like myself. We keep thinking the high end CD transport is a hype. and like to see a honest compassion like this:
A decent Sony Blue Ray universal player (I use Sony - UBP-X800M2 feeds digitally into Hegel H120), compare with a similar priced, dedicated CD player; a similar priced CD transport; then a double priced or even higher CD transport. Use all players as transport (digital out to the SAME reference DAC), and use a resolving enough amp/speaker set. Let's see how much difference you can get. Please also measure the noise out of the machine itself. In case there is a difference, we would like to know how resolving the main system (amp + speaker) needs to be to really show the difference.
I personally use Hegel 120 with B&W 704S2, and interested to know if a CD transport "upgrade" can make a difference. I think many of your audience want to hear about it.
@@svx94 thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Bought the Sony CD 101 upon release about 1985, could not get on with it, sounding sibilant. I went back to turntable, then about 1995 heard the Pioneer PD S 703 and loved it, now have a Arcam FMJ CD 17 and really love it, great vlog sir.
Thx for sharing 🙂
Hi, ☕️
I just picked up an Audiolab 6000CDT..feeding my new Denafrips Ares 12-1 ..and I’m very pleased 😊
As for streaming..an OG Wiim Pro feeding the Ares 😎
Very nice 👍I may do another video on CD transports at sometime 🤔
@@abritishaudiophile7314 @carminedesanto6746 - I have the Audiolab CDT6000 too and i've found its SQ virtually indistinguishable from the Ifi Zen Stream (w/iPower X) when the Source file/stream is up to scratch on the latter. I also have the Eversolo A8 and the Zen Stream only loses out to it on ever so slightly on top end resolution. At regular sale price of 299 or even at MSRP 349 Pounds, the Zen Stream is terrific value for money.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Please do Tarun, I've started buying CD's again and am in the market for a really good CD transport but in 2024, I just don't know where to start.
I also have the WiiM pro and ares12th, great combo! I really can’t imagine the sound being that much better with say a blue sound node and the Ares.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Please, Tarun, do so!
I enjoyed your careful review. Words are important, especially when trying to describe sound. I wish reviewers were all as careful. I do despair at use of words like "authoritative" to describe sound. There seemed to be a lot of comments on the Internet about the CD5 not being fully ready eg software updates required, not to mention the drawer. I opted for the Marantz at £599 with a 5 year guarantee. The sound is a big improvement on the Marantz cd6006 ukse in the way you describe. I found the headphone sound better than from my Marantz pm8006 amplifier. . I have to add it's also better than the Linn cd player I bought in 1997 for £1,800! We are fortunate that improvements are not always matched by price increases.
@@chrisseeker1 thx for sharing your experiences 😊
The Cambridge Audio CXC transport is worth considering, especially if you already have the CXN streamer or CXA amp
Agreed 👍
Love this review Tarun! Back in the day, (that day being 30 years ago) I loved the Marantz sound and we sold a ton of them in the Home Counties HiFi dealer I worked in for over four years, with the now legendary KI editions often selling over the phone or without Demo at full price! Recently however my tastes (and wallet) have changed and I went for a Rega CD player. The uplift in sound is incredible.
Thank you. Much appreciated 👍
Nice review, thanks!
My cd player journey started in the late '90 with a technics sl480, later upgraded with marantz cd4000 in a marantz systems. By 2008 there was a cambridge audio system with the azur 640v2 which performed well and stayed long. After replacing amp and speakers, the need for better source emerged. I was targeting an used Hegel mohican but was out of reach. Found an used Linn Majik which sounds fantastic with my Hegel h160 and Totem forests.
Still love phisical media and cant decide to move to streaming!
Great to learn about your experiences 🙂
CD transport makes sense in order to utilize a quality external DAC and not waste anything on a crap internal DAC. From what I have seen SMSL dropped the ball on the 4499 chip implementation in the PL200 which is surprising considering that SMSL has 4499 DACs that are fantastic. I was set on the PL200 but glad that I went in a different direction. I am impressed that you figured that out by ear.
I got a Sony UBP-X800M2 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray which is a dedicated transport and no internal DAC and I am impressed with it as there is nothing, as a general matter, that it will not play.
I got mine for $250 which is a great deal and adds to the overall system versatility with a USB for sticks.
Great review as usual.
🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for sharing. The SPDiF digital outputs were the biggest let down with the SMSL PL200. Other than that it is a very nice sounding player 🙂
Does your Sony do Dolby Vision?
Looking to upgrade from a 1995 CD player that refuses to die, I am curious about your approach. Which external DAC are you using with your Sony and how did you connect HDMI audio?
@@user-jl4gx3xd4f “Orchard Audio PecanPi+ DAC is based AKM’s state-of-the-art (SOTA) flagship AK4499EXEQ and AK4491EQ chips.
The AK4499EXEQ is based on AKM’s VELVETSOUND™ technology which uses a switched resistor DAC architecture that functions similarly to R2R.”
Really enjoyed this review . My cd journey has been interesting to say the least - Panasonic ghetto blaster at uni , followed by a bose cd wave radio followed by an onkyo c515 all in one , followed by an arcam solo , a meridian f80, meridian g95 , meridian 808v6 and now at the end game with a dCS Rossini Player Apex . I should point out a number of “expensive streamers “ were unable to compete with the meridian 808v6 in terms of overall sound quality but the dCS Rossini is another level altogether .
Thank you for sharing your experiences Mr S 👍
My Journey started with a Philips CD104B. Built like a tank.
This was used with NAD 3020B amp and AR20B speakers.
I then upgraded to an Arcam Delta 70.2 CD player, with Audiolab 8000a and Monitor Audio R852 speakers.
Currently I have A Yamaha CDS 2000 CD/SACD player, connected to a Burmester 082 amp via XLR and bypassing my Chord Qutest with MCRU power supply as I prefer the sound thst way. I run Wharfedale EVO 4.4.
I have no intention of changing anything in the near future.
Quite a journey. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Another great review sir. Especially enjoy the comparisons. And so glad to see CD players that aren't just rectangular boxes.
I got my first CD player in the 80s. Listened to several brands, settled on NAD as it sounded the least 'digital'. Next the vaulted Radio Shack portable with Dynakit tube combo in my home office. Then another NAD. Now a transport and DAC.
Standard Redbook CD sure has come a long way and spinning the silver discs is the way I listen to music.
Thank you Gerald. Always a pleasure to hear from you 😊👍
Very happy with your review of the SMSL, as I was thinking of using it as a transport. 👍 I listen to streaming mostly, but if I really like an album, I will buy the cd to support the artist. When I have time, I will listen to cd's. I think I will buy the new Rega Apollo when it arrives.
Thank you OJ 😊
Started out with the Kenwood CD and rapidity moved on to a Marantz CD 63 Mk2 KI which I stayed with for years being a great sounding player for its time. Had a Pink Triangle turn table which ran along side with Exposure 15 amp for decades. Changed to up the Exposure 3010 amp last six years which shares duties with a Quad Artera pre And Artera Power amp. Currently use a Rega CD Apollo while not that accurate is immensely musical. Speakers currently PMC TwentyFive.23. I have watched many of your reviews and very much like your even handed approach and relaxed presentation. Keep up the excellent work Cheers.😊
Thank you kindly Steve. Some great components 🙂👍
Life started with a Toshiba 14 bit non oversampling transportable and has moved up to the Cambridge Transports and a SMSL SU9 dac which works well although the PL 200 appeals not least for its small factor form which in general I like and the absence of any draws which should help with reliability having had to strip down other players before now to change belts and regrease.
As for your review, a very fair representation of the strengths and weakness of each model, none are by any means so-so but they are different and all will meet an audiophiles needs depending on the remainder of the system.
Thank you. Much appreciated 👍
Hey Tarun, another thorough review, which must have taken hours! Don’t know how you have the patience.
My first CD player was given to me by a relative to try out. It was an early Philips machine from the dawn if the CD era. I was playing records on my original Linn LP12 at the time. Needless to say the CDs sounded horrible and I quickly binned it off.
Fast forward a few years and life meant the record collection, turntable etc had to go. Still pains me today. Then I was fortunate enough to restart my journey a little higher up the ladder from the digital perspective so in 2003 I bought a Musical Fidelity A3.2 and suddenly CDs were sounding great.
As you know in the last few years I’ve become familiar with the internal workings of my boxes of electronics and the A3.2 has been subjected to some serious upgrades, the most significant of which was the swapping of the chip based opamps for Burson Audio Vivid V6 component opamps. This has made the sound so much more liquid with the last vestiges of harshness vanishing.
However, that’s not the end of the story. CDs have been a struggle for me since the beginning due to the horrible mastering they’ve been subjected to since the mid 1990s. It meant my tastes shifted to well recorded disks and this meant more jazz, acoustic and classical than anything else.
I still spin the odd CD but the reintroduction of vinyl has transformed my listening experience and I find myself playing all my old favourites from my yoof as well as my new found friends in jazz and orchestral genres.
Still, I’ll take CD ownership over renting my music from a data centre any day.
Thank you Mark. Nice to know the MF CD player has undergone the Carrington upgrades too 😊👍
I have a good cd collection and decent players linked to both my listening systems. My streamers have taken over and I just don’t use cd anymore. I used cd when my internet went out. It was then that I knew the streaming service I was using was in no way shape or form as good cd. It was night and day different. With that I swapped to Deezer who stream flac and I now have cd quality from my streamer. I personally have never had issues with cd players, cheap or expensive. I run them so the Amps internal dac is utilised so all the player is, is a transport. In this sense you can use any player and get the same out of it as all it is doing moving 1 and 0’s to the Amps dac. Currently I have a high end Sony UHD/SACD player feeding both my Denon cinema amp via optical and my Arcam SA20/ST60 via analogue. My second system has a Yamaha player hooked up to a Yamaha RN803D.
Thx for sharing 😊
Great comparison/review -- hopefully you'll get the -upcoming- recently released Exposure player in for a review as well. Cheers
Thank you. I hope to do that 👍
Thanks for the CD player review. I still have the 1st player I bought back in 87. A single disc Scott. My 300 disc Sony carousel I bought in 2007 is still running too. I Have bought a couple of 5 and 6 disc carousels too over the years. One is still running. Bought a higher-end Rotel RCD 1572 MKII last year connected to my main system replacing the Sony and it sounds the best. As long as they keep playing my CD player journey is complete. Still buying CDs especially box sets that keep being released. Stream Qobuz too. The best of both worlds.
That is great 👍
Fantastic video on exactly what I've trying to decide on at the moment, which is which CD player under £1000 to buy. Including stuff like not being able to start a CD with the play button or restart a track on the Arcam is priceless info that other reviewers don't include. That ALONE, is enough for me to rule it out. May sound fussy, but it's all about usability and irksome is right. Please continue to include usability points like that in further reviews.
The SMSL PL200 looks fantastic, and the 90's feel of it is right up my street not to mention the best feature of the expensive and impressive chip that it has.
For me though, I can't help but feel that much of the unit cost is wasted on stuff I couldn't care less about like Bluetooth, headphone inputs and USB C ports.
Could you recommend a standalone CD player sub £1000 with that chip that doesn't have all the extra bells and whistles and is basically just concentrating on being the best CD player it can be? That's all I want it for. A brilliant CD player to hook up to my Q M20 speakers.
Hope you can help! :)
@@theresjustonemorething thank you. You could consider an Audiolab 6000 CDT and a good quality DAC. A two box solution but will give you more flexibility to upgrade in the future 😊
Brilliant review Tarun , I love Arcam Alpha 7SE so much specially with analog output rather than its digital outputs it has clear and warm sound with old BurrBrown Chip .. sat my wife and played “ it’s Probably me “ by sting and Eric Clapton and she was stunned how instrument separation was showing off from my Audiolab 6000a which you recommended and I use Celestion Ditton 22 ( 50 years old
Speakers ) ❤ ❤ sometimes I prefer the sound of celestion more than my Focal Chorus 706
That is great Atri and it is not just you 😉
Thanks Tarun, my first cd player was a technics SL-P477A in the early 90’s. I then moved to a NAD 502 which I part exchanged for my then grail - the Marantz CD63mkII KI Signature. That Marantz was stunning.
I now use an Audiolab 6000CDT (just a transport) and that thing plays all the CDs that were problematic with my other players, it is a fantastic bit if kit in that regard.
Great 👍 thank you for sharing 👍
Recently purchased a Rega Saturn mk3 cd player. Love the cd format and the sound with the Rega very nice. I use him predominantly as a transport with my external dac that sounds more to my taste than the internal dac in the Rega. Streaming is more for background music whilst my cd player is more for enjoyment. Helps a lot in that regard that Rega is a top loader and that it feels a lot like putting on a record on a record player.
Great 👍 thanks for sharing 🙂
Ah, CDs! i still love them and still have a pretty large collection from back in the day. A great review, thanks, very informative. I had a Rotel CD11 Tribute, which sounded good, nicely detailed, on its own. Then I connected it to my Prism Sound Callia DAC (at least three times more expensive than the CD player...) and not surprisingly it sounded a lot better, adding sound stage and more midrange punch. I was very happy, for a while... until, that is, I decided to try a vintage machine - which changed everything. I acquired a 1984 Revox B 225 CD player, in perfect condition and re-capped. It is so old it doesn't have a digital out - not that it needs it, as I discovered. It sounds just amazing - it has two Philips TDA1540 mono DAC chips, which are 14-bit (before the 16-bit benchmark was set) and has the Philips CDM0 CD drive, apparently the original and best ever built. This thing has changed my view of CDs completely - it weighs a ton and sounds like it. The bass shakes the floor, and the sound is so analogue and dynamic it is pretty much indistinguishable from my turntable, which is a pretty high bar. My point is that CDs are a 1980s thing, and getting a 1980s player just sounds so right! If you are concerned about any thin sound from your CDs, try a vintage machine, especially with the classic TDA 1540 or 1541 chips, any early Marantz such as the CD94, any early Philips, Revox and so on. Like me, you may be blown away
Thank you for sharing your experiences Martin 😊
Thanks for making another great edit Tarun. I recently swapped my Marantz CD67mk2 for a Marantz CD6003. I know it’s a cliche but there was an obvious improvement in all areas. I now prefer using this to my Linn LP12… plus CD’s are so cheap right now compared to vinyl💿🎶🎵😎💿
Thank you. I appreciate you sharing 👍
Hi, I recently purchased the Marantz cd 6007 and the Marantz 8006 integrated amp.. I'm using ADS L780/2 40yr old speakers with ("Siltech 770 anniversary cables") the sound is remarkable.. no complaints.. some cd's sound better the some others.. That's it. I'm saving for the Buchardts 400
Cool 😎
Hi Tarun, being 53 I've had quite a few CD players on my journey. The last two were quite memorable. The Gryphon Audio Mercado signature and my current CD player is the MPT-8 from playback designs.
Thanks for sharing 👍
Beautifully done Tarun. This is a benchmark review, with the right ingredients: a true comparison, several systems used, individual components analysis. Please keep doing it :)
Allow me to suggest another comparison of GBP 1000-2000 CD players, and of corse the contrast with streamers.
Also can you please review the Shanling ET-3 CD transport? I suspect it pairs very well with the Aries and Venus dacs…. and it is equipped with I2S, AES/EBU, Coaxial and USB outputs!!!
Thank you. I appreciate the suggestions 😊👍
Fantastic! ❤
Tarun, once again delivers the clear, concise virtues of the various CD units in this lovely installment. That excellent alternative of multi-format use in Blu-ray and outboard DAC listening is wonderfully rich, and amazing.
Thank you my dear friend!
Thank you Dr Noah. Much appreciated 🙂👍
Had Sonos Amp for mostly ripped CDs then wanted vinyl so got Technics SL100C and needed an amp so just went on reviews and got the Marantz PM6007 then had a CD revival with a bargain matching CD6007. Then recently despite being happy with the sound I couldn't resist upgrading to the Model 50 and CD60 just because of that industrial design, as well as a great 3 year IFC deal and trade in. Very happy, heard details I'd not heard before, and they really are beasts in build quality with a super smooth CD mechanism and an electronic volume control with display that is so much better than the old motorised potentiometer for ease and accuracy of adjustment.
Thx for sharing 😊
Thanks for the great reviews. I own more than 900 CDs, and it's the main way I listen to music. I picked up a NAD C538 player for $350 ten years ago, which I thought was expensive at the time, but as I have been upgrading my gear I am more used to the sticker shock now, and wanted to buy something in the $1000 range. I tested a Rotel CD 14 MK2 which I liked a lot. Currently I am listening to a Denon DCD-1700NE which is the best sounding one I have heard so far. The Denon is big, and it was full price which hurt, but I have been blown away with how good it sounds.
Thank you 😊
My first CD player was the Arcam Alpha 5. I think I paid about £500 in the early 90s, I still miss that machine, it had a very sweet treble, you could listen to it for hours. I might have to buy one of the units that pop up on eBay every once in a while for a nostalgia kick.
That would be cool 😎
Yep. My first good cd player was the Arcam Alpha 7, and very nice it was, too.
Still got mine. Great player that made me move over from LPs
Thank you for a lovely review! I appreciate the time and effort you put into making these videos. Your evaluation of the sonics is thorough and you touch on most subjects that are important to audiophiles. That being said - and this is just my opinion - CD players are HIFI components that ought to be evaluated not only in terms of audio quality, but also their operability - how fast does it load the disc, how responsive the mech is, what is the actual feel of the onboard transport controls. CD, after all, is a physical media and the “touch” should be a part of the experience. For a more technically-minded audiophile or music lover, this is important. I know you review CD players from time to time and IMHO, it might be worth your while to give it some thought. Obviously, this is not a complaint, just a suggestion and one that I believe would be beneficial to all. 😊 Thank you! Cheers!
Thank you. I appreciate the feedback. This was a group review so I had to be selective about what to include. I included the operational features that stood out as either very beneficial or not up to scratch 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314Point taken - it would make the video longer, perhaps unnecessarily.
Since you’ve mentioned having listened to older Arcam players, would you say that the new CD5 is a departure from the classic designs, like the ones equipped with a DCS Ring DAC?
Cheers!
@antunkatona5674 I would need to get a DCS player home to answer in detail. It performance it at another level though as is the price 🙂
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thank you for replying! Most kind!
Well, a few years ago you could buy a used Arcam CD player with the DCS’ discrete “Ring DAC” for around 200 quid. As I understand it, Arcam had a close relation to DCS before they became what they are today - expensive! So, at around 600-700 quid, the Arcam was considered something of a bargain. This was about 15-20 years ago though so 700 quid was a lot of money and likely still is.
What’s more, some of the Arcam players were upgradeable so you could buy a base model and upgrade it afterwards, the DCS one being the top option. I was a teenager back then so there would be no chance for me to actually own one but I remember the days of reading the HIFI mags and being very excited about it.
All the best!
Very interesting review! Keep up the good work! I’m still into CD’s (and also streaming and vinyl), still buy them as well, owing the music satisfies me more. Playing on a 14 year old Audia flight CD two. Still Love the sound! Currently searching for a new one.
Thank you Rob 👍
I have Nakamichi CDP-2 cd player, I use it daily with my floorstanding speakers and I love it. It just blow out my first cd player Marantz CD67.
Another great review! I revisited CD playing with a CEC TL5 belt driven transport and loved it. Detailed and smooth. But recently I splurged and purchased Atoll’s CD100 with built-in DAC and have experienced a renewed enjoyment of CDs. I find myself listening to it much more than streaming through my Pontus II DAC. Has a wonderful mix of detail and slight warmth in my system and the soundstage is outstanding.
Great to learn about your experiences 👍
Tarun, Excellent review as always, and so informative! I recently bought the Marantz CD60 to go with my Marantz Model 30 Integrated amplifier. Way more impressed with the sound of the Model 30 (which I still hope you can review one day) than the CD60. I found the CD60 a bit too warm and lacking in detail. I can't connect my Audiolab 6000CDT to the Marantz model 30 as it does not have an internal DAC. From what I can hear with the Audiolab transport hooked to the Audiolab 6000A integrated in my second system, the Audiolab transport seems to be more refined, detailed, transparent than the CD60. Curious now about the Arcam CD5 which perhaps I should audition to replace the CD60. Thanks as always!
Thank you. An external DAC may be a solution 🙂
I almost skip the SMSL PL200 when you mentioned the digital out sounded bad as a transport. But I brought one anyway since it is a good standalone CD player as you and many reviewers stated. The unit did not sound good at first played. After an hour or so, I hooked it up to the Pontus II. Wow. I couldn't believe how good those CW IV sound. I don't miss the REV SUB at all. The 8W SET drives the CW IV to all the bass I could ever wish for with well recorded CD, it is so musical, and it made me go to work late this morning. The Bright Red cd by Laurie Anderson was highly rated CD back in the 80s but it never wows me with my old system. That CD sounded like I have never heard before with my good old LUXMAN U-105D cd player. I stopped listening much to cd after that unit broke, and no one around can fix it. Other transports may be better, retrieve more detail, more airy or dynamic but with the current setup. I am now in sonic Nevada. Every instrument, male or female vocals are so real and vivid in my Livingroom. I am very happy with the PL 200.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Appreciate your review! Last year and after much consternation… I picked up a Cambridge Audio CXCv2. I’ve been very satisfied with it so far. Also using a Holo Audio Red as a streamer
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Great review Tarun, thank you.
My first real cd player was the KIS version of the marathon cd63 you displayed in the video, followed by a marantz cd6000KIS that I still own but needs attention.
I now run Audiolab 6000cdt into a Mojo2 and I'm delighted with the result, it sounds great.
#Marantz, not Marathon. Bloody auto correct!
Thank you Andy 👍
@@andysmith9720You do realise you can edit your posts...?
@steven2809 thanks, I didn't know but now I'll keep it in mind. Ta.
I bought my first CD player, a Yamaha CD-X2, back in 1985 when CD was a relatively new invention. It lasted around 5 years. I stepped up to a significantly better (sonically) Musical Fidelity A3CD player, which cost me around $2,000 AUD, a fortune in those days. I still have it, but nowadays I'm a convert to the convenience and variety afforded by streaming.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 👍
I only had a Denon micro system in the loft railway room for years. I still managed to accumulate several hundred CD’s though! When I invested in my big boy system a few years ago, I finally went for the Bel Canto Cdt3 transport. It is absolutely silent in operation and is slightly better than the Auralic streamer and different sonically to the Gyro turntable.
That's great. I love that you still don't have to spend masses to get good sound. It is at the modest price points where the great bargains are found 👍
Nice review Tarun, even though I'm unlikely to part with that much cash.
For other budget hifi enthusiasts I can report my new (£100 used) Marantz 6000OSE ltd sounds great, a huge improvement on my even older 53 model. Its dac sounds good to me, though I usually hook it up to my Mojo, which widens and deepens its soundstage.
I am still judging the merits of cd versus streaming, and can't make my mind up, but I will still be buying cds, not wanting to trust the internet with my music.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 👍
My CD playback journey has been a bare bones Sony CDP with a PCM58 DAC in the early days. This was replaced by an Ayon CD2s which was a monumental upgrade. Finally I went with separates in 2012-13 when I got a DIY CD transport built on top of a Philips CD Pro2m and an AMR DP777 DAC. Suffice to say i was so happy with this, I haven't upgraded since in 11 years.
Of late, I have moved to vinyl playback and recently got a Dr Feickert Analogue Firebird turntable that doesn't make me want to listen to either CDs or Streaming anymore.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 🙂
Great review, I still love CD players
Thank you 😊
I thought I was the only person on Earth still listening to CD's! Still using my ever enjoyable (circa) 20 year old Cyrus Quattro system.
My no means. Plenty of CD fans out there 🙂
I began building my system on a specific budget with the Arcam SA10 and Wharfedale Denton 80 speakers as the base.
I've always had CD's, so initially used my Samsung bluray player as transport. After a while, I tried the Audiolab 6000cdt and found it an improvement.
Moving from the SA10's internal dac to the SMSL VMV D1se2 external dac brought a significant improvement in clarity and dynamics. It also allowed me to use my Dell computer as a streaming transport.
Quite a few times, I've listened to CD's and streamed versions of the same recording and found the CD's a more fleshed out and fluid sound than when streaming. It is nice, however, to be able to use both sources as one can sometimes not find particular performances on one or the other. Would a dedicated streamer improve the sound from that source? Perhaps. But it will have to wait testing at a later date. Budgets rule.
Thx for sharing your experiences 👍
My previous CD player was a first generation Play Station 1 until it stopped working a while back. It h as d a pleasant sound and used it mostly a work. I've recently put an Onkio Dx-710 in my system and noticed I'm using it alot. It has played some of my CDs that are on rough shape with out a hitch. Pretty comparable to my record player a Technics SL-7 with a Stanton L747S cartridge. The detail and sound stage are decent....CDs are not dead...second hand ones are reasonable and better than vinyl when they are mastered well😊
Thank you Steven 👍
I have been on a cd transport journey and hopefully my experiences may help others.
A couple of years ago I took a punt and purchased the Gustard R26 ladder DAC and it has proved my best ever hi Fi purchase. I tried various transports including the Audiolab 6000, Leak, Cyrus, plus various integrated players running as transports including Arcam, Marantz, Rocksan etc. In addition, I tried various quality blu ray players. Suffice to say I found dedicated transports audibly, in some cases markedly, superior.
But some of the touted mid price transports were fairly underwhelming, particularly the Audiolab/Leak, and particularly the more expensive Cyrus. In the end I settled on two low mileage second hand transports, the Primare 15 and Moon 260D. The balanced outputs from the Moon into the Gustard are particularly pleasing.
I have come to the conclusion that the quality of the transport implementation, and particularly its isolation, is key. That said, there has been a flurry of new transports so there is nothing to say they won’t be better, and at some point it would be fun to try the Audiolab 9000 and Schitt transports.
Great 👍 thanks for sharing 🙂
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Happy to help👍🏻 Btw I should add that some of the most notable benefits is soundstaging and separation of instruments. What is fascinating, and what belies a lot of the criticism about transports just being transports, is that everything I tried was notably different, even between my two chosen ones, the Primare and Moon. The former is more muscular with good imaging, the latter is more airy with a wider soundstage.
The LAN input on the R26 is the superior input to use. I ended up burning all cds to pc and use roon to play from pc it sounds better than any cd player I tried with the R26
The Marantz CD-63 was legendary, it was an easy go to unit for people coming from the really cheap CD players or portable CD players.
I agree 👍
Kudos to you for this highly thought out and well presented comparison of these three cd players. Many thanks indeed. Per your prompt, I've two cd transports ~ a Cyrus CD-T, and an Olasonic Nano-CD1. Both feed Meridian Director DACs. The CD-T's 44.1KHz sample rate is automatically upsampled to 88.2KHz to take advantage of the DAC's more benign anti-aliasing filter. The Nano-CD1 has selectable bit rates of 44.1, 88.2 or 96KHz. Using the two higher sample rates, it's hard to tell which is better, but both outshine standard Redbook 44.1KHz. I chose Meridian for its non-pre-ringing analog output. It has an Ortofon LOMC-like refined presentation that's easy to listen to and less fatiguing over long listening sessions.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊👍
Another three for one review! Thanks Tarun! Now I only listen to my cds through roon now though.
Thanks Bryan 👍
Tarun I encourage all reviewers to buy a $15 isolation transformer for Coax SPDIF listening it will eliminate ground loops if the manufacturer didn't include galvanic isolation.
Thanks for the review
Thank you 😊
Great review, Thanks! Owned a Marantz cd 63 se (great in reproducing voices), then a MF x-ray (much more analytical). Since a few years I have the x cd 1000 from Advance Paris and upgraded the tube, I'm still surprised by playing older discs from my collection, very happy with it, great value!
That is great 👍 thx 🙂
Thanks Tarun. Very informative. I use an Audiolab 9000 transport into a Pontus II with a Card cable. It's all I need. My big complaint (I'm old, expect it) Is Cd players without direct track access via the remote. Unless you want to listen to every cd all the way through or tediously hit the fast forward button, You need a remote with numbered keys. Seems like the Arcam is lacking this feature. This seems to be fairly common with the Schiit transport among others lacking direct track access. My other gripe is microscopic LED screens. My 9000 is clearly visible from the listening position and sounds excellent.
Understood. Thank you Jim 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Old men shouting at clouds.
Started with a Sony, changed to a Rotel which is still going, 33 years old now Then purchased a Cyrus DAD3Q, ran for 28 years, just replaced with a Cyrus CDI, each upgrade gave better performance, must be lucky that had no breakdowns of any of the listed machines, perhaps if you treat them right you get trouble free performance. All olayers played at least six cd discs per week.
Thx for sharing 😊
I bought one of the first Phillips CD players when they came out in Australia back in the 80's. Then later I bought a Teac followed by a Sony midrange ES series in 1996, which worked flawlessly for 20 years. Stunning build quality and would read any CD that lesser even more expensive players would have trouble with. When it died i purchased a Cambridge Audio CX series transport into my high end DAC. No comparison 😢. Sony mastered the CD format Afterall they along with Phillips invented the Redbook format. I am yet to hear anything better than my old Sony.
Cool 😎 thank you for sharing 👍
Always prefer physical media to streaming (though i use both). A physical collection is part of my musical history/journey that streaming just cant replicate though there is no denying the convenience.
Thank you for sharing 😊
I spend much of my time listening to my Bluesound Node and matching Bluesound Vault. However, I have a Cayin Mini-CD for those times when the internet decides to take time off.
For serious listening, I've returned to the " licorice pizza " of my youth. I'm enjoying all the Jazz I missed while I misplaced my youth listening to rock&roll. 😎
Thx John 🙂
I do love the sound of Arcam but, I had 2 cd players and one blue ray player and each of them went much to early broken. After about 3 years of use the reading device broke down. The AVR receiver that I had from Arcam sounded fantastic and with no technical issues. So for buying a cd player I sadly won’t choose Arcam how good it may sounding. Now I have an Exposure basic model in use that sounds also great but it’s well bild and works for more than 10 years. I only wished that I could find a a dealer for Exposure in Belgium.
Greetings
Ludo
Thanks Ludo 🙂
Excellent perspectives and detailed review. Thank you so much, as always for your time,efforts and very coherent summation of all this technology. Have a great weekend and take care, Sir .
Thank you Simon. Wishing you a great weekend too 🙂👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thank you Sir.
I’ve been enjoying the IOTAvx NP3. Great review.
Thank you 👍
loved the vid mt, you know about my cd player, its still as good as ever m.
Thank you 🙂
@@abritishaudiophile7314 no problemo sir, have a good weekend m.
ace
Still love cd players. I don't use a streamer. I recently bought a Denon DCD-A110 and love it.
Great. Thx Andrew 👍
The USB-C input on the pl200 was intended for it to be use in a desktop environment as a DAC + Headphone amp, especially in a 1 room setup(dac+hpa when working on computer, as a CD player when relaxing) not really for connecting a phone to it.
It can be used for both sources. The pont was that it is an input and not USB output 🙂
Hi Tarun - I subscribed today, I love your A/B comparisons. I've had a Rotel RCD-991 since the late 1990s - a truly fantastic player with a R2R ladder DAC inside it. Now I'm about to put it on eBay because I picked up an (oldish) Unison Research Unico, on Ebay, that's even better than the Rotel. What I've noticed about these two players is the increased sound quality of the balanced XLRs compared to the RCAs, and was interested to see the SMSL has this feature too. I wondered if you ever thought about making a video looking further into the benefits of XLR outputs or are my ears playing tricks on me? 🙃 - Kind regards - Richard in Folkestone.
Thank you Richard. I appreciate the suggestion and will consider it 👍
I bought a detailed oriented Audiolab 9000CDT which virtually never skips, paired with a full sounding Teac NT-503 Dac over a Tubulus Argentus coaxial cable. It is a great front end. If I were to consider an upgrade, the Teac VRDS-701 would be on my shortlist as it has a custom transport and custom Dac chips.
Thanks Connor 👍
I have a Linn Klimax DSM 3 streamer and by accident I rediscovered CD, story for another day. After study & trials I bought the new TEAC VRDS 701 transport into the Linn DAC. SPIF cable is crucial and for that I go to pros, not audiophiles. A 12G UHD SDI Belden 4694R & Neutrik UHD BNC’s 2m cable from D3 for £35. If it is a digitally recorded/mastered for CD 44.1 kHz it significantly betters streaming of the same. Rest of the system is Linn Klimax LP12 & Solos into Kef Blade Two’s.
Thank you for sharing 😊
I just splashed out on a JBL CD350, I've been told it's pretty much the same on the inside as the Arcam CD5 - both brands being owned by the same parent company - the remote controls for the Arcam & JBLs even look the same. Compared to Arcam, the JBL CD350 and accompanying SA550 amplifier (which replaced my Yammy S-A501 & CD-S303) both offer that retro 1970's look, with lovely side walnut veneers, which is just my cup of tea. Really love the sound I get from the CD350, feels warm yet detailed, perhaps helped by the DAC in the SA550, an ESS ES9038K2M (24-bit/192kHz) and my Monitor Silver 100's.
Although sound is key, hifi appearance also matters to some extent, you don't want something ugly set up at one of your room, and the Marantz has never really done it for me in terms of appearance (sorry Marantz fans).
Interesting stuff. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Great video Tarun. No one has reviewed an Accuphase CD player , I’d love to know what the high end has to offer
Thx. Great suggestion 👍
Both vinyl and CD have similar problems in that I find it's a rare album where I like more than 2 or three tracks. There's so much faff with changing albums (even more with vinyl than CD, of course) and I was forever up and down and rummaging amongst my CD collection to find the next thing I wanted to listen to.
So I was very grateful to discover CD ripping to FLAC, and now have a collection of all my favourite tracks on HD that I can listen to and search through much faster. I don't stream, because as someone else mentioned, I like to own my music.
One thing I've always wondered is whether ripping to FLAC depends on the quality of the CD player used. I mean, I just use the one in my desktop PC -- probably a £20 item at most. Can you Tarun, or anyone else, provide the answer? TIA. 🙂
In my opinion a cheap CD drive can make bit-perfect rips if suitable software is used which verifies the data. The two I am familiar with are DB Poweramp and Exact Audio Copy ( EAC) and I use the latter. Having got bit-perfect rips stored on your computer, it’s then down to how you play that data - I’ve found a network streamer to give better results than a USB DAC.
@@simonupstone4924 Thanks for the reply. I use Wondershare Uniconvertor software to rip, and go from laptop to Singxer Su-2 DDC and from there via I2S into my Gustard R26 DAC. Sounds like it should be okay.
I also use DB Poweramp to get a verified rip of CDs in lossless WAV. That is closest to the original CD encoding. Sounds great to me 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 DB Poweramp and Wondershare Uniconvertor cost around the same, so I'm hoping they're about the same quality -- but Wonderhare has lots of other features too. I don't rip to WAV because to my ears there's little difference and my music library is that much smaller. I may give the free trial of DWP a go to see if I'm missing anything.
I converted the discs and records to flac and wav files (using Exact Audio Copy) for the same reason: albums with more than 2 or 3 tracks I like are rare. I started with a test using an evaluation set of tracks. Played on a Denon DCD-1650AR (a capable CD player) or from wav and flac using a laptop and RME ADI-2 FS DAC, the latter combination sounded slightly more detailed. So that's good, the discs could all be ripped, sold, the flac & wav files backed up, and playlists implemented on the collection of best tracks. Some playlists take the listener through the best tracks of a band over their entire history without interruption. And the 'best-of' subcollection can easily be copied to be used in multiple rooms or in the car, the copies also being each other's backups.
I mostly think latest dac technology is irrelevant, especialy aftet the hearing the suberb Sugden dac that uses an ancient Philips DAC chip and also having a TAG DAC20 fully refurbished.
Implementation is definitely more important than the 'latest dac'.
Sometimes there can be too much focus on the latest DAC chip 😊
That SMSL unit looked pretty nifty, had excellent components and interface options. I wouldn’t discount the Bluetooth though, some folks (like on of my sons) love it. They’re ready to party with a Bluetooth speaker -except where there is no internet coverage. This unit might have saved one of our family reunions held at a remote site. 🙂
Edit: Bluetooth is all my son used to listen to music in his home. Just saying.
Thx for sharing 😊
My main cd setup is a Jay's Audio Cd2 mk 3 transport with Denafrips Terminator Plus Dac and it sounds great. But for my AV system I recently picked up a Denon 2900 cd/sacd/dvd flagship player from 2003 for about £100. It is built fantastically well and sounds great with its own dac or as a transport. I think there is a lot to be said for buying second hand cd players. Often the transport mechanism is far superior to the players available today. Yes, lasers fail, but replacements are often easy to come by and fit.
Thank you Jim 👍
I owmed a arcam alpha 9 cd player, currently I have an Oppo 105 which is good multi-player. I really regret passing on the arcam as the dCS based DAC was fantastic with redbook cds.
Thx for sharing 😊
I’ve struggled with less expensive CD players primarily because they seem to have issues tracking well. They seem to skip randomly even on clean unscratched or very lightly scratched cds. I started looking at more expensive CD players and started reading the one star reviews. I even looked at a review for a $6000 MacIntosh and people were complaining about skipping. I decided to go with a nice 4k Blu-ray and an external DAC. I’m happy with it and it has the added flexibility of being able to play SACDs and Blu-ray audio, not that I’m planning on building a huge collection of those types of media.
After several weeks planning the purchase of a CD for my stereo, finally today arribed my new Sony XB800M2 BluRay player.
Can read CDa, CDR/RW, SACD, DVD, bluRay, Flac's on my NAS, and view Live DVD/BluRay Concerts on my Stereo and TV.
Connected the COAX output from the Sony to the COAX input of my Elicit MK5 Using the bluRay as transport.
265 € at home and some bucks on my pocket.
Can't be happier :)
That’s the very same Blu-ray player I bought. Wish it had a front display but I’ve already gotten used to it.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
My solution as well.
Audiolab 9000CDT has read ahead error correction and has never skipped on my CDs.
I love my SMSL AO300, which shares the same aesthetic and is presumably intended as coming from the same line. It's got some quirks but it's got a terrific sound -- gob-smacking, even, considering the price -- and I've no intention of upgrading that part of my system anytime soon.
That is great 👍
Excellent comparison and much appreciated! Struggling with a decision between a dedicated player or a transport, it now leaning toward a transport. Would love to get your impressions of a few transports in a similar priceline. Shanling ET3 seems a nice one there 🙏🏼
Thank you kindly. I hope to do just that 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 awesome! 😎
Last summer I decided to move away from streaming to CD, after having borrowed a CD-player in the same price category as my Node. After a comparison I concluded that CD simply sounded better. I eventually bought the Denon DCD-1700ne and I'm using it both as a transport and with the built in DAC. External DAC is the Eversolo Z8, I prefer it when listening to complex and fast music as it keeps things together while still managing to sound relaxed and effortless. From the complexity and weight of the piano in Chopin's second piano sonata, to the insane sonic landscape of Lorna Shore. I prefer the DAC inside the Denon for jazz, and some less complex metal and rock. Lorna Shore is almost unlistenable on the Denon, it's like trying to make sense of the movement on an anthill - despite my treated room. The soundstage of the Z8 is smaller and less 3D, but the sound signature sounds more real and as mentioned, well-composed and kept together. The soundstage of the Denon is quite a bit bigger, and is more out into the room. The sound has less bass and a more energetic midrange, older jazz sounds vivid and just fantastic. But the sound has a sort of artificial tone to it. If this was photography the Denon would be a film camera producing images with a distinctive 60's-70's vibe,. The Z8 would be modern digital photography. This is also why I think voices sound better on the Z8, but less present and "there". I would love the sound of both their stengths put together, the size and presence in the room of the Denon with the composure and effortlessness of the Z8. So the pursuit of the perfect sound goes on :) PS. Putting weights on the Z8 elevated the sound quality substantially! Clearer notes, blacker background. Currently I have 5kg on top. More, and it would look even more ridiculous... So I won't even try, haha.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 You're welcome, and thank you for reading! I now realize my comment escalated into some sort of review.. 😅 I guess we all have a need to talk about our gear. It's not like my friends are lining up to hear about my new cable! Have a great day
@@filipviljamaasvensson thank you. This hobby can sometimes feel like a solitary experience 😉
I'm still strictly cd, love them, currently using Denon DCD 800ne & an Arcam dv 88+ players, was hoping you would include Denon DCD 900ne with sabre chipset in this test, can't be bothered with all this streaming business, will add an external dac when the need to upgrade kicks in again, if it ain't on your shelf, then you don't really own it, is my way of thinking, bands get a pittance from these streaming companies etc etc, nice to see a vid on CD players all the same👍
Thank you for sharing 😊
I use a Sony S9000es. The build quality is exceptional. Copper chassis, dedicated analogue power supply, killer dac with a slow filter that sounds analogue. 20+ years old and when it gives up the ghost I’m going to be devastated.
Thank you 😊
Great vid as usual! I don't own any super hi end stuff, but I do have a MArantz nd8006 Combination streamer/cd player and I love it. I'm not sure why they discontinued this type of combo device. I literally can switch between playing the same track on Amazon HD music and also CD for comparisons. If you can find one used for under $1000 I would take the risk!
Thank you 🙂
Thank you again for a nice review personally I have the Marantz CD 6006 as it is a great little machine fantastic sound with Cambridge AXA 35 and emotiva B1 plus bookshelf so I tried Marantz CD 6007 which was definitely not as good and I tried the cd60 to my surprise NOT as good not as real, detailed, smooth sounding although the Sound Stage was much larger. Is the dac not as good as the cyrus logic used in cd6006? I just want to thank Taryn for the recommendation Cambridge AXA 35 fantastic amplifier. I also purchased the cambridge cxa61 but have not tried it yet as the cxa35 is SUPERB.I get such realistic sound from this little Dynamo. I don't feel I am missing ANYTHING. WOW!
Great 👍
For some time I used my venerable Toshiba SD-100e, as a CD transport, but sadly after 24 years, it has started to show its age, so last year, I bought the Arcam CDS50, which is both a CD player and streamer.
Sound wise the CDS50, sounds very neutral, similar to my Topping DX3 Pro+. Currently, I mainly use it as a transport to my Roksan K3 amp. Of course, the party piece of the CDS50, is its ability to stream, but sadly, Arcams Musiclife app, has far too many issues to be a practical solution, though you can (and I do), use mconnect instead, which works much better, but does not work when the device used goes into sleep mode which is a real pain.
As a CD player the CDs50 is much better, than a streamer, but the convenience of a streamer means I mainly use it the streamer function which is instead, which is not ideal. It is getting to the point where I am considering getting Wiim, or maybe another Bluesound node, just because they work, but at the moment I am holding off.
Thx for sharing your experiences 😊
Some rambling (sorry!) thoughts about CD players. I've dived back into CDs about a year ago. All of that has to do with my living situation, which is completely different from 15 years ago.
I watched the video with interest, first, what to think about when looking for a new player (fortunately I don't have to do that right now), second, there was a Marantz in the test.
When emigrating, I brought c 250 CDs with me, some of them I have to admit, downloads from piratebay.
And a Marantz SR14, and a Marantz DV8300. I had them both looked after and repaired last fall, so I was totally in to playing my CDs again. And, filling in the gaps in the collection.
Gaps? In the 70s I had vinyl of course, so I managed to find CDs of Little Feat, the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Cream, etc.
So, yes, I'm into enjoying music much more than the hardware so to speak.
Back to the CD players. I'm into Marantz, as you may have noticed. Why? Build quality, sound quality, looks.
I was a little disappointed by the CD60, for those reasons. I can't know how it would compare to the DV8300, in my set up, although I suspect the mechanics of that 20 year old thing are as good as the modern CD60. Add to that the copper plated chassis.
I can use the DV8300 with an external DAC (SMSL DO300), sound is noticeably different, but is it better? In my set up, to my ears!
Anyway, ramblings. It's a good thing I don't have to make choices now. Btw, I do 'streaming', from tablet/TH-cam to DAC to SR14. Pretty good!
Thx for sharing your experiences 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 from Sony 707ES integrated amplifier + 555ES CD player I evolved to the two Marantz units. I've always loved the solid feel of those 90s/2000s Japanese hi-fi products. The good old days!
CDs are great for high level recordings especially during quiet passages , but i still love the rough sound of a tape player for raucous rock and pop.
Thx for sharing 😊
Another interesting Video! I think transports are the way to go. However, S/PDIF and AES/EBU have their flaws with the clocking, for I2S there is no clear definition and HDMI is very uncommon for pure audio. So from my persepctive, USB may be the way to go but there is only a limited number of transports with USB-Out available. Maybe you could share your thoughts in one of your next videos! ✌️
Thank you. It has to be taken on a case-by-case basis. Implementation is key 🙂
My first CD player was an early Technics (can’t remember the model but it was late 80’s) an entry level model that was highly rated at the time. I then moved onto an original Arcam Alpha player (obvs lol) and then to a Linn Genki… when that eventually started misreading I moved sideways to an Audiolab 8200.. my current player being a Rega Saturn R… that is playing up after just 3 years ownership (grr) Rega have it at the moment but I am considering jumping ship.. possibly to an Arcam CD5 as money is a bit tight and i don’t really want to shell out around 1500 on a Cyrus!
Sitting on the fence at the moment though.. I may also look at the new Creek 4040 player too?
Thx for sharing 😊
T, Cambridge AXC35 and my DO200 dac are pretty hard to beat. Won't be getting a streamer any time soon. Best, D.
Thx for sharing 🙂
@@abritishaudiophile7314 p.s. l get beautiful sound quality from a ifi Zen blue (Cinnamon optical) and my phone. T, Your videos are always helpful on this tr!p. D.