Reimyo CDP vs EMM Labs/Meitner

Mike, How would you say the EMM betters the Lin CD12 you once owned?

Thanks much,
Jason

Jason; i got one of the first DAC6/modified Philips and prior to breakin slightly preferred the CD-12 (the CD-12 had a slightly lower noise floor, greater detail and more snap and micro-dynamics.....the emmlabs was more dynamic and had a larger soundstage).

after breakin i would call them a draw.....the emmlabs had come very close to the CD-12 on it's strengths but the emmlabs still had an advantage in dynamics and soundstage.

then i sent the modified Philips in for a change in chips (the original chip in the Philips would only recognize 15 of the 16 bits of redbook). now the emmlabs pulled clearly ahead of the CD-12 as the additional bit lowered the noise floor, improved detail and snap......there was not a huge difference but i clearly preferred the emmlabs on redbook and there was no performance area where the CD-12 was better.

then 18 months later i got the new CDSD transport.....now the performance had improved by a huge factor and now the CD-12 is definitely at a lower level of redbook performance. the emmlabs has much greater presence, lower noise-floor, greater dynamic micro and macro-dynamics and a more weighty and fleshed out soundstage.

the CD-12 remains in the ballpark of any other redbook player i have heard (i haven't heard everything).

the sacd performance of the emmlabs has always been considerably better than the redbook performance.

Thanks much, Mike! I was always wondering about that. Your description leaves me no questions.

Jason

I live in Tokyo so I know well all the aforementioned players and some of their dealers. Since the EMM gear started selling in Japan this year, people are returning their Reimyos, Esoterics etc. They are listening to the new CDSD player, not the Philips 1000. I run the EMM gear with all tubes. In my listening tests, the EMM SACD ON GOOD RECORDINGS is way better than the Remiyo. On CD, it is a toss. The good news is that both players are truly hi end equipment.

Another more subjective test is the annual expos here in Tokyo (much better than NY's poor ones.) EMM consistently is used and the sound produced is always notable. I never heard the Accuphase and got impressed, even their best models and even with the extremely advanced equalizers. I therefore agree with the comments of others earlier.

I have posted info on some of the comparisons I did at a dealer with the top end equipment from Esoteric, EMM and Sony.