Big digital

Just a little Hifi thread, cause there are only instruments ones, and it miss!

So, i would present the new cd playing system i just bought myself on occasion not long ago.
I'm very happy with it!

Here it is:

Drive Sonic Frontiers SFT-1 (the biggest of the brand-it's the device on the top of the shelf):



Goldmund Mimesis 14 converter:



Nordost digital cable

It's a american/swiss combination.

Goldmund is Swiss.

And it destroys little integrated cd players, in term of dynamic, image, high, low, details, transparency,precense, everything!
It sounds much more analog, even if it's still far from a very good turntable.

I listen to prog primarily on my computer. I ripped all the CDs to mp3 - VBR 64-192kbps (avg. 160kbps). I'm currently re-ripping some of my favorites in WMA Lossless, as it really sounds much better.

I have a good sound card (Audigy 2), and it's connected to a Harman Kardon HiFi amplifier. I'm thinking about buying a Logitech THX sound system though, so that I can enjoy my 5.1 DVDs properly ...

I don't know what to think about your system ... generally, I think it makes sense to use an analog amp, Class A if possible. But I won't invest thousands of dollars/euros to improve the sound just a little bit. It also depends on your place ... if you have your own house, you may be able to listen to music at the necessary volume to appreciate the dynamics of a really good amplifier, but in my flat I have to be careful not to annoy the neighbors too much.

First, a good drive with a serious mechanic is needed to extract all the info contained in the CD. Second, a good converter makes a HUGE difference! The conversion circuits need to be good, and the output analog stage after needs also to be good also not to ruin the result, just before it goes to the preamp.

The difference with a little integrated player is HUGE, on a good transparent system with tubes amps in the highs, and everything (see others hifi threads for details):

-Huge improvment in term of dynamic (sometimes it's like the music is played two times faster!!!!)
-Huge improvment in term of image (soundstage), precense.
-Huge improvment in term of transparency, details (it goes with the dynamic: i re discover all my records, i hear instruments i've never heard on albums i've played hundreds of times!!!!).
-Highs are MUCH more softer and detailed, (when you put a good converter, it becomes much more softer), it's much more analog. You can listren hours without being tired. Very hard in numeric technology!
-Lows are much more tighter, faster, it doesn't "dribbles", like with a little player.

the only pb is that it reveals the bad recordings!
And you realize that classical and jazz records are much more better than rock ones!
Fortunatly there are good rock ones...

I agree about the D/A converters ... they can make a huge difference.

But the CD transport doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the extracted information. Sorry to break this to you, but the CD drive (ALL drives) are able to perform data validation and error correction. When I run CDex in panic mode and it rips the tracks and says "ok", I can be absolutely certain that EVERY bit was extracted properly.

The D/A converters on PC soundcards are not good ... but that problem can be easily solved by using digital interfaces to get the music to the amp ... and this would be what I'd do to improve my sound. Get a Class A amp that has a digital input.

I know that there are very expensive CD players ... but there really is no difference between the data ripped by ANY CD player using error correction and the data read by a high end CD player.

But listening to music using cheap equipment and/or computers does have the problem of the noice created by the devices.

I know it's hard to believe in theory, but the result is here!! obvious when you listen an average drive to a great one. (and this is not only a price issue)

TEAC Vibration-free Rigid Disc-clamping System (VRDS)

It is a fact of life that mass-manufactured discs are not perfectly flat and yet a perfectly flat disc is the ideal for the perfect reproduction. TEAC chose to move away from increasingly complicated electronic cures and address the problem at its mechanical source. The result is TEAC VRDS . The whole disc is clamped tightly against a solid precision-machined turntable to establish a flat surface. In addition, the use of ultra-dense materials damps vibration and resonance. Tight and deliberate control of every movement within the mechanism is the key to accurate and precise reproduction of music from the disc. Presented with a flat disc surface, cocooned from the outside world, the laser beam tracks the disc with unerring accuracy - thus it can trasmit the purest bit stream to the machine’s fascinating of esoteric electronic systems.

oliverstoned wrote: TEAC Vibration-free Rigid Disc-clamping System (VRDS) It is a fact of life that mass-manufactured discs are not perfectly flat and yet a perfectly flat disc is the ideal for the perfect reproduction. TEAC chose to move away from increasingly complicated electronic cures and address the problem at its mechanical source. The result is TEAC VRDS . The whole disc is clamped tightly against a solid precision-machined turntable to establish a flat surface. In addition, the use of ultra-dense materials damps vibration and resonance. Tight and deliberate control of every movement within the mechanism is the key to accurate and precise reproduction of music from the disc. Presented with a flat disc surface, cocooned from the outside world, the laser beam tracks the disc with unerring accuracy - thus it can trasmit the purest bit stream to the machine’s fascinating of esoteric electronic systems.

That's what it is - esoteric. The text is obviously optimized to convince vinyl users ... it is just a good piece of technology, that's for sure. But the laser of a CD drive is not compareable to the needle of a record player - the bits are either read or not, there's no further difference.

But, what is sure, is that vibes affects DRIVE, cause when i put a carbon/kevlar plate with teflon/metal vibes cancellers below, it's NIGHT and DAY. So vibes affect cd reading somehow! it's the principle of the VRDS system!