2. digital
  3. 130072-84906

Who listens primarily to Redbook CD?

My primary (only, actually) source is a CEC TL5 Transport feeding an Audio Note Kit 1.1 NOS DAC through a Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme AES/EBU digital cable. They are both decked out with CT GE power cords, Synergistic Research Quantum Black fuses, Herbie's Audio Lab Tenderfeet isolation footers, plus other misc. tweaks.

Sounds great, and I have very little desire to add another source. Pretty much all the music I want is available on CD, and is usually quite cheap. I hope to upgrade to an AN factory DAC (3.1x/II, or better, would be nice), and a Teo Audio liquid metal digital cable (I have their Game Changer ICs, and absolutely love them!) in the future.

Who else is happy with Redbook CD as their primary source?
tommylion
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
I tend to listen to redbook, for the most part, but I’m using a ladder or R2R DAC. No delta-sigma single bit DAC here.

Which makes a huge difference, IMO. When folks hear it they keep asking me how to get that incredible sound out of digital.

The answer is to find a good ladder dac and (properly) modify the hell out of it.

Or spend a ton of money ($15-50k) for one of the newer discrete dacs that have emerged.(essentially the same design criteria)

I've also been working on designing that particular digital cable for you (and others). The fluid requires a whole different set of analysis, in design, as compared to 'wire'.
zipost's avatar
zipost
199 posts
 
Tommylion....audionote dac are extremely musical, you should upgrade it to the 4.1balanced better than the 3.1, by a Big Margin.  

Separates are nice to have but without the right digital cables it can make or break a system.   Do yourself a favor and buy the NBS Blacklable digital cables.   You Will Not Be Disappointed! 
erik_squires
16,512 posts
 
The last 5 years I have heard exceptional inexpensive DAC's that play Redbook as well as they play high-res.

I'm not really as interested in hi res/MQA anymore as a result.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,017 posts
 
After reading this thread, it makes me second guess my thoughts towards streaming and just trying out a really good DAC for my SACD player. I can be fickle that way.🤔

All the best,
Nonoise
tommylion OP
874 posts
 
If you’re looking for a dedicated CD Transport, I don’t think you’ll find a better one than the CEC TL5, for the money (around $2000). Here are a couple European reviews:

http://hifipig.com/cec-tl5-belt-drive-cd-transport/

http://www.tg-acoustics.com/tg-acoustics_Review_CEC%20TL5.pdf

I just wish it was easier to get the factory 120V version in the US. The North American distributor in Montreal (Pascal of Mutine Inc.) is semi-retired, and sometimes hard to get hold of. After I got in touch with him, I had to bank wire him payment (no credit cards). He then placed the order, and it was drop-shipped to me from Japan. It was worth the hassle, though. You can order a gray market one from Japan for cheaper, but it is the 100V version, and you have to use a wallwart power adapter. Pascal also orders it with the full size CD stabilizer, that covers the entire disc, rather than the smaller one that comes standard with the TL5. According to him, this makes a significant difference in the sound.
More to discover