I was also curious about computer audio and the learning curve was steep. With a good quality coax cable from Cerious Technologies-a Graphene Matrix and a decent power cord from Analysis Plus-I was in business. It’s a cheap point of entry for those who swear by such old school designs, including the Audio Note DACs, which are highly regarded for their musicality. There’s no shortage of high end DACs, among them some that use discrete resistor ladders, but I wasn’t going to write the big check without a little experimentation.Īfter talking with Gary Dews, of Border Patrol, whose small, relatively inexpensive NOS DAC was based on an old chip, a substantial power supply and the ability to use a tube rectifier in the power supply stage, I bought the Border Patrol SE (which has the beefier power supply) without the USB input, just coax. The whole NOS ladder DAC thing fascinated me-people using old chips and eliminating digital filtering claimed that they were getting better tonality and less artificiality using these devices. Remember, I’m not only a die-hard vinyl guy, but I’m attracted to antediluvian technologies- SET amps, horns and the like- stuff that may not “spec” well, but sounds good. Of course, I couldn’t go out and buy the latest DAC technology. I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy another (optical) transport for CDs. It’s a top loader, no drawer, and comes with a pretty substantial disc weight, so it vibes “CD turntable,” rather than consumer electronics. It’s easy to operate and built to a high standard. No, it won’t play SACDs, but that’s not a big concern given my needs- I can get higher res material through downloads, but to play Redbook, a dedicated Redbook player of high quality is all I need and the C.E.C. gets me into a big league CD transport for reasonable, not crazy money. Though I have not fully broken it in (the US distributor recommends 600 hours), it sounded far different than the Oppo universal player I was using as a temporary transport-nothing wrong with the Oppo-to the contrary, it is huge bang for the buck and I’m sad to see that company leaving the (universal player) market. TL 5, which has a reputation for a relaxed, analog-like delivery, owing in part to its belt drive transport and quality construction.
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hi-res, or other issues that consume the audiophile fora, I have nothing to add, and no position at this point that’s not a “no comment” but more of “I’m still exploring.”ĭespite the good advice of a few friends who have gone down the road before me, I opted to buy a quality Redbook transport, since much of what I’m hunting was released on CD, if at all-and from what I’ve been able to discern, a lot of the more obscure hard rock and between the cracks music I like simply isn’t available on the audiophile download sites. But, I’ve crossed a barrier that I’ve maintained far too long and am having quite a bit of fun.Īs to the merits of digital v. I’m still caught looking for the better sounding copy of the CD where I can, so the quality of the original recording as well as the mastering still matters.
Plus, with the current Death of CD™, I find it appealing to go through the bins-used records are in many cases overpriced and improperly if carelessly graded. Then there are recordings that were only released on CD, or newer music that was natively recorded in digital. But, in some instances, CDs were made early on during the initial growth of the medium and offer a good, sometimes surprisingly good, way to hear the music. Some of these vinyl rarities are now in four figure territory which puts them out of reach for most some have never been reissued on vinyl, digitally sourced or otherwise. Why the change? Many of the reissues of rare old albums are taken from digital copies of the master tapes though I like “all analog,” it simply isn’t realistic if you want to have access to a broader array of music. Although I was aware of the improvements wrought by better players, DACs and hi-res, I succeeded in ignoring the audiophile digital side, until now. Why? I didn’t have a very good impression of the sound of CD when it was first introduced. Not for all purposes, all the time, but I resisted the pull of digital media in my main system until now.
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