Alan Parsons wishes it wasn't so. But like it or not, the senior vice president of Pioneer's industrial solutions business group has become a wary foot soldier in the battle over the future of the DVD format. As music blares from a band playing at a nearby exhibit at the 2005 International CES, Parsons sits at a small table in a meeting room contemplating how the next couple of years might play out. He remains relatively reserved, trying not to let his passion for the next-generation Blu-Ray Disc format devolve into vitriol against rival format HD-DVD. "I don't like the rock throwing," he insists. "I just want to excite consumers."
That may be true, but Parsons still finds it hard to resist getting in a few digs on the HD-DVD rival, which at about 15 gigabytes per layer has roughly 40 percent less storage capacity than the Blu-Ray format. "They might end up with something ho-hum," he says. "They're saying that [their capacity] is good, but people used to think that five gigs was good enough." Parsons shrugs his shoulders a bit, wearing a look of calm but certain exasperation. "Why would we limit ourselves to a lower capacity?" he asks.
To be sure, Parsons is among several CE manufacturers backing the Blu-Ray format, which they claim is superior to HD-DVD. But the HD-DVD format has its own backers, who while fewer in numbers, are equally adamant that their format will win out because of its lower transition and manufacturing costs—as well as other technical benefits and its expected quicker time to market. Indeed, either format is a vast improvement over the current DVD design, which maxes out at about 4.7 gigabytes. Even at standard-definition quality, that's barely enough space for a two-hour movie and a few hours of special features. And with that much space, forget about high-definition TV.
VHS vs. Beta all over Again?
Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs enable HDTV reproduction because of their massive storage capacities. Using dual-layer techniques, HD-DVD can store as much as 30 gigabytes of data while a Blu-Ray disc can pack in a whopping 50 gigabytes. In the lab, techies already are working on several-layered discs that could allow more than 100 gigabytes of storage on one disc. That's enough for several HDTV movies, special features and compelling interactive content. Or a content provider could put more than 100 hours of standard-definition quality programming on one DVD. All 180 episodes of Seinfeld on one disc, anyone?
The benefits for backward compatibility are clear: new players will be able to handle both old and new DVD formats in the same machine (outfitted with both red- and blue-laser diodes)—a major consumer benefit that manufacturers hope will drive unit sales.
Blu-Ray and HD-DVD both use blue lasers, which operate at lower wavelengths (405 nanometers) than current red lasers (650 nanometers). That microscopic difference goes a long way. Longer wavelengths suffer more diffraction, which limits their ability to focus tightly on a surface. But a blue laser's shorter wavelength allows it to read and write data over a much tighter surface area, which in turn allows storage of far more data on a disc that's roughly the same diameter of current DVDs. The benefits for backward compatibility are clear: New players will be able to handle both old and new DVD formats in the same machine (outfitted with both red- and blue-laser diodes)—a major consumer benefit that manufacturers hope will drive unit sales.
But while consumers won't have to worry about obsolescence when it comes to their old DVD collections, the format war brewing between new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs does present an age-old problem that evokes the VHS vs. Beta fiasco of the 1980s. The HD-DVD format—like the VHS format that won out over Beta—could become far more widely available to consumers sooner and at a lower price (at least initially) than Blu-Ray discs. That's because the HD-DVD format utilizes manufacturing techniques very similar to those used for the current generation of DVDs. Translation: Third-party duplication houses won't have to retool their factories significantly to make HD-DVDs a reality. That means that HD-DVD discs likely will be the first to market by at least several months, probably by the end of 2005.
On the other hand, Blu-Ray discs require an entirely new manufacturing process with transition costs borne largely by duplicators (unless Blu-Ray backers devise a subsidy system. That, along with other issues, is expected to delay the introduction of Blu-Ray discs until sometime in 2006, which could hand a major advantage to the HD-DVD format. (add hard return here) "In this kind of battle, the guy who is out there first and cheaper is going to be the winner," says Fariborz Ghadar, director for the Center for Global Business Studies at Penn State University. "The more expensive and later one is going to be the loser." (The Blu-Ray camp contends that it will bring manufacturing costs nearly in line with HD-DVD during the next year. Parsons says that HD-DVD's cost advantage will amount to only "pennies" per disc over the Blu-Ray format). (add hard return here as well) "Unlike Blu-Ray discs, HD-DVD discs can be manufactured with similar equipment in the same plants that make current DVDs," said Jodi Sally, vice president of marketing for Toshiba America Consumer Products digital audio video products.
Duking It Out
Still, the nature of the next-generation rollout itself may force consumers to take sides early. Because of the vastly different physical attributes of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, it's cost-prohibitive for manufacturers to produce next-generation players that can handle both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats in one machine. "You would need two pickup heads, and it would be very expensive," explains Stephen Balogh, business development manager at Intel's corporate technology group. So manufacturers have lined up on opposite sides of the fence, ready to produce players that only work with one or the other format. That could spell consumer confusion as buyers fear picking the wrong one and ending up with an obsolete player and content library.
Each side wants to convince consumers that they should avoid the other side's format. HD-DVD backers are planning a "you want it, and we're here now" marketing strategy, whereas the Blu-Ray camp largely plans to adopt a "we won't be first, but we'll be better" campaign designed to warn consumers away from HD-DVD.
So what's the breakdown of forces on each side? On the Blu-Ray side is a large group of CE manufacturers, including Dell, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric), Pioneer, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson. Some content providers also are onboard. In addition to obvious backing from Sony-affiliated movie studios Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the Walt Disney Company and its home-video division Buena Vista Entertainment offered its non-exclusive endorsement of Blu-Ray in December. In addition, video gaming powerhouse Electronic Arts, along with Vivendi Universal Games, both came out for Blu-Ray at the 2005 International CES in January.
Most gaming companies have yet to pick sides, although Blu-Ray's larger storage capacity may win some of them over. "If you show Blu-Ray to a game manufacturer and say you can have an extra 20 gigabytes of storage, it's a drop-dead deal," says Blu-Ray backer Richard Doherty, managing director for Blu-Ray and professional AV at Panasonic Hollywood Labs. Of course, most PC-based games haven't even moved up to the current generation of DVDs from CDs, so it's unclear whether most gaming companies will utilize high-definition DVD formats for some time.
The main backer of the HD-DVD format is Toshiba, which by itself has more market dominance than several CE backers on the Blu-Ray side combined, along with smaller players NEC and Sanyo. Toshiba plans to launch its first HD-DVD players in late 2005. In December, even Thomson—which is actually a Blu-Ray disc backer—announced that it also would sell HD-DVD players by late 2005. And an impressive list of entertainment content companies has thrown their weight behind HD-DVD, including Paramount, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. (along with Time Warner-owned New Line Cinema). All of these studios have already announced a significant amount of titles on HD-DVD to be available at the time HD-DVD players are introduced.
Toshiba is dedicated to the HD-DVD format and executives staunchly believe they will win the marketing battle for consumers even before Blu-Ray gets its format off the ground in 2006. "The key part of this is going to be driven by content," says Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing in Toshiba's storage device division.
He says consumers won't care whether the disc has 30 gigabytes or 50 gigabytes of capacity—only that the content they want is ready and available at a good price. Brzeski questions the Blu-Ray camp's ability to jazz consumers about a format that he says offers little more than a few extra gigabytes of storage. "They're going to be marketing technology, and we're going to be marketing products," he says. "It's hard to sell technology to consumers."
"Our rich heritage in the development of DVD technology means that we are well equipped for the market transition from DVD to HD-DVD," added Sally, who also serves as Vice-President for the Digital Entertainment Group. "With proven backwards compatibility and real software titles available at launch, we are certain that we can deliver the very best solution in HD-DVD technology for both consumers as well as the content providers."
In December, Toshiba and other HD-DVD backers formed the HD-DVD Promotion Group to promote the format, and to ensure early product launches and subsequent market penetration.
Other pros and cons seem to bleed together as both formats offer similar features. For example, while HD-DVD touts the ability to create discs with red-laser standard DVD format on one side and blue-laser HD-DVD standard on the other, a Blu-Ray Disc Association spokeswoman points out that JVC announced in December a disc that allows both standard DVD and Blu-Ray content on a single side of the disc. The Blu-Ray camp has argued that single-sided discs are more consumer friendly.
The Pricing Strategy
In the vital area of picture quality, both formats also have a difficult time differentiating between one another. "Either format can produce a very good image," says Richard Dean, director of technical business development at THX Inc. "To me, it boils down to the price of the equipment and the availability of content."
Dean, who has helped master the DVD releases of the Star Wars trilogy and other blockbuster movies, says that consumers won't notice any real quality difference between the formats. But he says HD-DVD may end up with an advantage if it can under price Blu-Ray discs and players. "I think that's going to play a very large role." As for Blu-Ray's greater storage capacity, "more space is always an advantage," Dean says, "but the question is how much more space is really needed." Notes Parsons: "If you start doing HD bonus features, it will suck up capacity very quickly."
Intel executives, who first got involved in the working groups for next-generation DVD formats to help avoid a format war, already are bracing for an era of consumer confusion as a Blu-Ray-vs.-HD-DVD scenario takes shape. "We didn't want two formats coming out," says Balogh. "Now we have an even standoff, so neither side wants to compromise whatsoever." Making matters worse, he says, the entertainment studios also are split between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, although more big studios have backed HD-DVD at this point.
"The studios will be the kingmakers here," he says. Ultimately, consumers may struggle to figure out what kind of players and media to purchase during the next couple of years. "The most important benefit to the consumer is that the HD-DVD players that we'll be introducing to the market this year will be fully backward compatible with the current DVDs that are already in consumers' homes. With the Blu-Ray formats' backward compatibility isn't so simple," adds Sally.
Still, many are wary. "It would be best if we went to market without two formats," says Panasonic's Doherty. "We're very disappointed that we're in a format war." As the battle heats up in 2005 and well into 2006, consumers will decide which format will succeed.
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/129058.html
Monday, July 30, 2007
Reimyo CDP-777 CD Player
The first thing I noticed about the Reimyo CDP-777 CD player was not its sleekly solid appearance nor, when I hit the Play button, its big, full, transparent sound. It was the price tag of $17,000 USD. That’s 17,000 big ones. Or 1700 $10 bills. Or 850 twenties. Or, if you don’t like carrying duffle bags crammed with greenbacks, 170 hundreds.
In short, that’s a lot of loot for a single-box CD player without SACD or DVD-Audio capability, much less the rest of the alphabet soup of new media options. Yes, there’s upsampling, but no external power supply or other visible accoutrements common to upper-tier high-end equipment.
But sticker shock is something we audiophiles are used to in the rarified reaches of our hobby, and the Reimyo’s not even at the top of the food chain. Burmester’s CD turntable-DAC combination goes for $57,000; the dCS Elgar DAC and upsampler are $23,000; Krell offers a $25,000 one-box CD player-preamp; and a handful of others weigh in above $17,000, including a Goldmund DVD/CD player-DAC combo whose $65,000 price should make it a popular item among Colombian drug lords.
The Reimyo and its pedigree
The CDP-777’s high performance is the result of a collaboration among three powerhouses of Japanese audio who came together in something called High Tech Fusion. JVC contributed the transport mechanism and Extended K2 Processing, the signal-processing elements that subject 16-bit/44.1kHz, "Red Book" CDs to a 24-bit, 4x-oversampling D/A conversion rate to yield 705.6kHz. Design and assembly are by Kyodo Denshi, maker of high-precision measuring instruments. And Kazuo Kiuchi’s Combak Corporation contributed its resonance-control processes.
Kiuchi is one of the high end’s great gentlemen -- a diminutive, softspoken innovator with whose work I’ve been familiar for many years. His array of tuning devices was laughed at when they first landed on these shores. That was when distortion-causing resonances were thought best controlled through massive construction and/or expensive, space-eating panels strategically (and intrusively) placed on or in front of walls and furniture. His quarter-sized stick-on dots were thought to be off the wall until people put them on their walls (and their equipment) and discovered that they worked.
My first audio equipment review was of Kiuchi’s Harmonix RFA-78 Room Tuning Devices. That was back in 1993; for several years -- until my wife decided she no longer wanted her living-room walls to look as if they had measles -- the RFA-78s were both conversation pieces and a remarkably effective way to rid the listening room of unwanted resonances.
Most of the CDP-777’s parts, including the power transformer and circuit, were designed specifically for the player. The Reimyo package doesn’t come with an AC cord (what do you expect for $17,000?), but Combak recommends using the Harmonix X-DC Studio Master power cable, loaned to me for this review. A 2m length will run you only $1305; there’s no need to run to your local hardware store to get a Belden.
I mentioned the CDP-777’s "sleekly solid" looks. That description extends to its well-laid-out remote control, with a silver finish that matches the faceplate of the ’777, whose black side plates and top are broken by a centered window that slides back to reveal the disc bay. After a disc is slipped over the drive’s thick shaft, it’s secured with a neatly finished silver puck. Close the window and play. Forget the puck, and nothing will happen other than a bright "Err" notice on the display.
The front panel is logically laid out, with all the usual suspects in their usual places, but with the added convenience for armchair dwellers of LEDs above key buttons that light up when that function is turned on. The display indicates not only track number but index number as well, harking back to digital’s early days, when tracks were often subdivided. And despite the unit’s thick chassis and rigid aluminum plating, its 33-pound weight shouldn’t cause undue back or groin strains.
Having recently spent time with CD players that triple as video and SACD players, I found the CDP-777’s rear panel refreshingly clean. In place of the puzzling multiple-choice hookup options are balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, digital coaxial and BNC output pins, and the power-cord receptacle. The CDP-777 also comes with a manual that’s as well-thought-out as any I’ve seen. In text and diagrams, it tells you all you need to know about operating the unit, and it’s in understandable English, with none of those ugly translations that drive party humor ("Listen to this line, guys . . . "), and no tech gibberish that only a PhD candidate can figure out.
Setup
I wasn’t prepared for a long break-in period for the CDP-777 -- its importers, May Audio Marketing, said the sample on its way to me had been in use for a while. But the time that unit spent in transit, then sitting snug in its carton waiting for me to finish another review, meant that, once installed in my equipment rack, my review sample sounded decidedly underwhelming, its tonal balance tipped up with a shrill mid-treble. Continuous run-in brought it closer to expectations, and supporting it on Harmonix footers yielded an improvement that was later trumped by installing the Harmonix power cable, which eliminated any system noise and further tamed the treble.
I listened to the CDP-777 through the Wyetech Opal preamplifier, Jadis JA-80 monoblock power amps modified with Siltech internal wiring, and the Von Schweikert VR4 Gen II speakers, replaced in mid-review by the latest model, the VR4 Gen III SEs. Wiring consisted of the Siltech Classic SQ110 interconnects and LS188 speaker cables, which have proven outstanding in keeping noise below audible levels and delivering well-balanced sound with flawless timbral integrity.
Sound
My listening sessions consisted of a variety of CDs new and old, ranging from vintage historical reissues to state-of-the-art audiophile favorites, and included a wide range of classical music, jazz, and blues. I spent considerable time just getting accustomed to the CDP-777’s sound; only after I felt thoroughly familiar with it did I move from listening for pleasure to focusing on selected items, pen and notebook in hand.
The first thing that caught my attention was the wall of sound thrown by the Reimyo. This player projected life-sized images. When I played JVC’s CD reissue of the 1959 Mohr-Layton RCA "shaded dog" LP [LSC-2341] of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony 3 [JMCXR0002], the Boston Symphony had a tactile, wall-to-wall presence in my room. That huge orchestral picture was staggering; so, too, was the way the Boston strings positively glowed with warmth in the poco adagio, and the heretofore unsuspected range of organ colors in the last movement. There was no exaggeration of the organ vis-à-vis the orchestra, and as the movement progressed, the passage with two pianos was well-detailed and scaled just right -- the pianos embedded within the orchestra, not in front of it.
If the Saint-Saëns sounded a bit better than my 1S/1S copy of LSC-2341, JVC’s new reissue of Solti and the Chicago Symphony’s recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring [JVCXR0225] turned out to be far superior to the London LP [CS6885]. This analog fancier found JVC’s XRCD transfers equal to or better than the original LPs without falsifying the originals, and in this instance the Decca bass is still not ideally defined (though improved over previous releases). But what this disc drove home was the Reimyo’s ability to reproduce complex orchestral passages with unusual transparency and detail. I could also clearly hear the different microphone techniques employed by the RCA engineers and their Decca counterparts.
Being able to hear more deeply into the music can change one’s estimation of a performance. I used to think Solti’s Rite exciting but not among my favorites. I had to revise my judgment after hearing the JVC reissue through the CDP-777, with its huge dynamic range and transparency. For the first time, I was able to connect with Solti’s Rite on an emotional level.
That kind of visceral involvement was also present as I listened to a superb performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony 5 that’s in danger of being overlooked because it’s on a small import label and performed by a conductor and orchestra known to few on this side of the ocean: Oleg Caetani leading the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra of Milan on a well-engineered CD [Arts 47668]. The CDP-777’s tight, extended bottom end did justice to the extraordinarily realistic balances captured by the engineers. Finally, in a Shostakovich recording, the cellos and basses hold their own against the violins, precisely as they do in the concert hall. Again, the Reimyo reproduced massed string sound that was warm, but with ample bite in the violins.
What convinced me that the CDP-777 was a truly special musical instrument was a brief passage in the Britten Violin Concerto [EMI 57510]. There’s a moment in the Vivace when Maxim Vengerov’s violin sings in its highest register; then, at about the three-minute mark, it’s joined by a solo flute for a brief duet. Through most CD players and/or systems it can be difficult to tell that not one but two instruments are playing; even when they go their separate ways, one needs to listen closely to distinguish them. But with the CDP-777 there was never any doubt -- the player’s separation and transparency allowed me to hear an effect I had previously heard only in the concert hall, one too often muddled even by good systems.
I often check on a new piece of equipment’s handling of recording flaws such as the relatively small one that slightly mars tenor Werner Güra’s Schumann song recital [Harmonia Mundi HM 901766]. He’s well-recorded, but there’s a sibilance that can be bothersome in some songs, such as "Im Rhein," from Schumann’s Dichterliebe, where s sounds, especially at the beginnings of words, sound disturbing through several models of CD player. Through the Reimyo, those sibilants were less intrusive -- and, as a bonus, Güra’s lovely lyric tenor was reproduced with greater weight and density, the voice surrounded by more room sound and air.
That observation held true for massed voices as well. A recent favorite is the superb set of Bach’s Leipzig Christmas Cantatas led by Philippe Herreweghe [Harmonia Mundi HM 8017181/82]. My pleasure was greatly enhanced by the three-dimensionality of solo voices, the tonal colors projected by the chorus, and the CDP-777’s transparency, which let me clearly hear each of the three high-voiced soloists in the "Suscepit Israel" section of the great Magnificat, and easily trace the lines of the fugue in "Sicut locutus," in the same work.
The CDP-777 displayed similar virtues with jazz and blues recordings. Playing Junior Wells’ Come On In This House [Telarc SACD-63395], it projected a wall of sound from the electric slide guitar, drum kit, and wailing small band. Listening through the CD layer, Wells’ piercing harmonica and gravelly voice were captivating, and the CDP-777’s deep, firm bass was especially welcome on the shuffle blues "Tin Goat," in which the acoustic string bass and visceral power of the drums made it hard not to bounce along with the band. Our British colleagues are fond of referring to "slam" as a defining characteristic of a unit’s rhythmic precision. The Reimyo had "slam."
It also had delicacy. Whether listening to Bill Evans’ live chamber jazz and delicate piano filigree on Sunday at the Village Vanguard [JVC JVCXR0051] or Sonny Rollins’ classic Way Out West [VICJ60088], I heard nuances I hadn’t been aware of through other players. The sheer variety of timbres produced by Shelly Manne’s cymbals and rim shots in "I’m an Old Cowhand" amazed me, and at the same time confirmed the Reimyo’s speed and ease with transients. So, too, the warm, fur-wrapped sound of Rollins’ tenor sax in "There Is No Greater Love" confirmed the accuracy of the CDP-777’s tonality. There as elsewhere, the Reimyo’s presence gave the illusion of watching Ray Brown’s fingers moving along the strings of his bass.
Any flaws? Perhaps just one, and it’s not really a flaw but an indication of the Reimyo’s extended frequency response and a neutrality that’s uncolored, accurate, and at times ruthless. On some early digital recordings -- those peddled at a time when the suits bragged about "perfect sound forever" -- mid-treble peaks were closer to chalk on a blackboard than LPs ever managed. Well, dig some of those out of the closet and you’ll hear the harshness and glare that more forgiving units gloss over. What you get with the Reimyo is the complete, unfalsified, unsweetened truth. As we all know, the truth can sometimes hurt.
Conclusion
I love my music so much that any piece of equipment that reveals it in all its glories is worth getting excited about, and my time with the Reimyo was terrifically exciting if somewhat frustrating. The frustration came solely from its price, which puts it far out of my reach, even as its sound fed my fantasies of ownership. To paraphrase Mae West’s famous line about conscience, the Reimyo’s price was the only thing that hurt when everything else felt wonderful.
Except for those early CDs, or otherwise flawed recordings that often fare better on systems that roll off the nasties, the CDP-777 made every CD played through it sound better than I’d heard it in the past. On great recordings, the Reimyo’s soundstaging, transparency, detail retrieval, and tonal integrity enabled natural, relaxed listening sessions characterized by my forgetting about audio and becoming fully involved in the music itself. Because of all that, my enthusiasm for the Reimyo CDP-777 is strong.
The importer’s website claims that the Reimyo CDP-777 is "the best-sounding CD player there has ever been!" I can’t say that, partly because I haven’t heard them all; in fact, this was my first test drive of a five-figure CD player in my home system. But I can say of the Reimyo what a grande dame of the Gilded Age once wrote of a different pleasure: "A private railroad car is not an acquired taste. One takes to it immediately."
http://www.ultraaudio.com/equipment/reimyo_cdp777.htm
In short, that’s a lot of loot for a single-box CD player without SACD or DVD-Audio capability, much less the rest of the alphabet soup of new media options. Yes, there’s upsampling, but no external power supply or other visible accoutrements common to upper-tier high-end equipment.
But sticker shock is something we audiophiles are used to in the rarified reaches of our hobby, and the Reimyo’s not even at the top of the food chain. Burmester’s CD turntable-DAC combination goes for $57,000; the dCS Elgar DAC and upsampler are $23,000; Krell offers a $25,000 one-box CD player-preamp; and a handful of others weigh in above $17,000, including a Goldmund DVD/CD player-DAC combo whose $65,000 price should make it a popular item among Colombian drug lords.
The Reimyo and its pedigree
The CDP-777’s high performance is the result of a collaboration among three powerhouses of Japanese audio who came together in something called High Tech Fusion. JVC contributed the transport mechanism and Extended K2 Processing, the signal-processing elements that subject 16-bit/44.1kHz, "Red Book" CDs to a 24-bit, 4x-oversampling D/A conversion rate to yield 705.6kHz. Design and assembly are by Kyodo Denshi, maker of high-precision measuring instruments. And Kazuo Kiuchi’s Combak Corporation contributed its resonance-control processes.
Kiuchi is one of the high end’s great gentlemen -- a diminutive, softspoken innovator with whose work I’ve been familiar for many years. His array of tuning devices was laughed at when they first landed on these shores. That was when distortion-causing resonances were thought best controlled through massive construction and/or expensive, space-eating panels strategically (and intrusively) placed on or in front of walls and furniture. His quarter-sized stick-on dots were thought to be off the wall until people put them on their walls (and their equipment) and discovered that they worked.
My first audio equipment review was of Kiuchi’s Harmonix RFA-78 Room Tuning Devices. That was back in 1993; for several years -- until my wife decided she no longer wanted her living-room walls to look as if they had measles -- the RFA-78s were both conversation pieces and a remarkably effective way to rid the listening room of unwanted resonances.
Most of the CDP-777’s parts, including the power transformer and circuit, were designed specifically for the player. The Reimyo package doesn’t come with an AC cord (what do you expect for $17,000?), but Combak recommends using the Harmonix X-DC Studio Master power cable, loaned to me for this review. A 2m length will run you only $1305; there’s no need to run to your local hardware store to get a Belden.
I mentioned the CDP-777’s "sleekly solid" looks. That description extends to its well-laid-out remote control, with a silver finish that matches the faceplate of the ’777, whose black side plates and top are broken by a centered window that slides back to reveal the disc bay. After a disc is slipped over the drive’s thick shaft, it’s secured with a neatly finished silver puck. Close the window and play. Forget the puck, and nothing will happen other than a bright "Err" notice on the display.
The front panel is logically laid out, with all the usual suspects in their usual places, but with the added convenience for armchair dwellers of LEDs above key buttons that light up when that function is turned on. The display indicates not only track number but index number as well, harking back to digital’s early days, when tracks were often subdivided. And despite the unit’s thick chassis and rigid aluminum plating, its 33-pound weight shouldn’t cause undue back or groin strains.
Having recently spent time with CD players that triple as video and SACD players, I found the CDP-777’s rear panel refreshingly clean. In place of the puzzling multiple-choice hookup options are balanced and unbalanced analog outputs, digital coaxial and BNC output pins, and the power-cord receptacle. The CDP-777 also comes with a manual that’s as well-thought-out as any I’ve seen. In text and diagrams, it tells you all you need to know about operating the unit, and it’s in understandable English, with none of those ugly translations that drive party humor ("Listen to this line, guys . . . "), and no tech gibberish that only a PhD candidate can figure out.
Setup
I wasn’t prepared for a long break-in period for the CDP-777 -- its importers, May Audio Marketing, said the sample on its way to me had been in use for a while. But the time that unit spent in transit, then sitting snug in its carton waiting for me to finish another review, meant that, once installed in my equipment rack, my review sample sounded decidedly underwhelming, its tonal balance tipped up with a shrill mid-treble. Continuous run-in brought it closer to expectations, and supporting it on Harmonix footers yielded an improvement that was later trumped by installing the Harmonix power cable, which eliminated any system noise and further tamed the treble.
I listened to the CDP-777 through the Wyetech Opal preamplifier, Jadis JA-80 monoblock power amps modified with Siltech internal wiring, and the Von Schweikert VR4 Gen II speakers, replaced in mid-review by the latest model, the VR4 Gen III SEs. Wiring consisted of the Siltech Classic SQ110 interconnects and LS188 speaker cables, which have proven outstanding in keeping noise below audible levels and delivering well-balanced sound with flawless timbral integrity.
Sound
My listening sessions consisted of a variety of CDs new and old, ranging from vintage historical reissues to state-of-the-art audiophile favorites, and included a wide range of classical music, jazz, and blues. I spent considerable time just getting accustomed to the CDP-777’s sound; only after I felt thoroughly familiar with it did I move from listening for pleasure to focusing on selected items, pen and notebook in hand.
The first thing that caught my attention was the wall of sound thrown by the Reimyo. This player projected life-sized images. When I played JVC’s CD reissue of the 1959 Mohr-Layton RCA "shaded dog" LP [LSC-2341] of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony 3 [JMCXR0002], the Boston Symphony had a tactile, wall-to-wall presence in my room. That huge orchestral picture was staggering; so, too, was the way the Boston strings positively glowed with warmth in the poco adagio, and the heretofore unsuspected range of organ colors in the last movement. There was no exaggeration of the organ vis-à-vis the orchestra, and as the movement progressed, the passage with two pianos was well-detailed and scaled just right -- the pianos embedded within the orchestra, not in front of it.
If the Saint-Saëns sounded a bit better than my 1S/1S copy of LSC-2341, JVC’s new reissue of Solti and the Chicago Symphony’s recording of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring [JVCXR0225] turned out to be far superior to the London LP [CS6885]. This analog fancier found JVC’s XRCD transfers equal to or better than the original LPs without falsifying the originals, and in this instance the Decca bass is still not ideally defined (though improved over previous releases). But what this disc drove home was the Reimyo’s ability to reproduce complex orchestral passages with unusual transparency and detail. I could also clearly hear the different microphone techniques employed by the RCA engineers and their Decca counterparts.
Being able to hear more deeply into the music can change one’s estimation of a performance. I used to think Solti’s Rite exciting but not among my favorites. I had to revise my judgment after hearing the JVC reissue through the CDP-777, with its huge dynamic range and transparency. For the first time, I was able to connect with Solti’s Rite on an emotional level.
That kind of visceral involvement was also present as I listened to a superb performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony 5 that’s in danger of being overlooked because it’s on a small import label and performed by a conductor and orchestra known to few on this side of the ocean: Oleg Caetani leading the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra of Milan on a well-engineered CD [Arts 47668]. The CDP-777’s tight, extended bottom end did justice to the extraordinarily realistic balances captured by the engineers. Finally, in a Shostakovich recording, the cellos and basses hold their own against the violins, precisely as they do in the concert hall. Again, the Reimyo reproduced massed string sound that was warm, but with ample bite in the violins.
What convinced me that the CDP-777 was a truly special musical instrument was a brief passage in the Britten Violin Concerto [EMI 57510]. There’s a moment in the Vivace when Maxim Vengerov’s violin sings in its highest register; then, at about the three-minute mark, it’s joined by a solo flute for a brief duet. Through most CD players and/or systems it can be difficult to tell that not one but two instruments are playing; even when they go their separate ways, one needs to listen closely to distinguish them. But with the CDP-777 there was never any doubt -- the player’s separation and transparency allowed me to hear an effect I had previously heard only in the concert hall, one too often muddled even by good systems.
I often check on a new piece of equipment’s handling of recording flaws such as the relatively small one that slightly mars tenor Werner Güra’s Schumann song recital [Harmonia Mundi HM 901766]. He’s well-recorded, but there’s a sibilance that can be bothersome in some songs, such as "Im Rhein," from Schumann’s Dichterliebe, where s sounds, especially at the beginnings of words, sound disturbing through several models of CD player. Through the Reimyo, those sibilants were less intrusive -- and, as a bonus, Güra’s lovely lyric tenor was reproduced with greater weight and density, the voice surrounded by more room sound and air.
That observation held true for massed voices as well. A recent favorite is the superb set of Bach’s Leipzig Christmas Cantatas led by Philippe Herreweghe [Harmonia Mundi HM 8017181/82]. My pleasure was greatly enhanced by the three-dimensionality of solo voices, the tonal colors projected by the chorus, and the CDP-777’s transparency, which let me clearly hear each of the three high-voiced soloists in the "Suscepit Israel" section of the great Magnificat, and easily trace the lines of the fugue in "Sicut locutus," in the same work.
The CDP-777 displayed similar virtues with jazz and blues recordings. Playing Junior Wells’ Come On In This House [Telarc SACD-63395], it projected a wall of sound from the electric slide guitar, drum kit, and wailing small band. Listening through the CD layer, Wells’ piercing harmonica and gravelly voice were captivating, and the CDP-777’s deep, firm bass was especially welcome on the shuffle blues "Tin Goat," in which the acoustic string bass and visceral power of the drums made it hard not to bounce along with the band. Our British colleagues are fond of referring to "slam" as a defining characteristic of a unit’s rhythmic precision. The Reimyo had "slam."
It also had delicacy. Whether listening to Bill Evans’ live chamber jazz and delicate piano filigree on Sunday at the Village Vanguard [JVC JVCXR0051] or Sonny Rollins’ classic Way Out West [VICJ60088], I heard nuances I hadn’t been aware of through other players. The sheer variety of timbres produced by Shelly Manne’s cymbals and rim shots in "I’m an Old Cowhand" amazed me, and at the same time confirmed the Reimyo’s speed and ease with transients. So, too, the warm, fur-wrapped sound of Rollins’ tenor sax in "There Is No Greater Love" confirmed the accuracy of the CDP-777’s tonality. There as elsewhere, the Reimyo’s presence gave the illusion of watching Ray Brown’s fingers moving along the strings of his bass.
Any flaws? Perhaps just one, and it’s not really a flaw but an indication of the Reimyo’s extended frequency response and a neutrality that’s uncolored, accurate, and at times ruthless. On some early digital recordings -- those peddled at a time when the suits bragged about "perfect sound forever" -- mid-treble peaks were closer to chalk on a blackboard than LPs ever managed. Well, dig some of those out of the closet and you’ll hear the harshness and glare that more forgiving units gloss over. What you get with the Reimyo is the complete, unfalsified, unsweetened truth. As we all know, the truth can sometimes hurt.
Conclusion
I love my music so much that any piece of equipment that reveals it in all its glories is worth getting excited about, and my time with the Reimyo was terrifically exciting if somewhat frustrating. The frustration came solely from its price, which puts it far out of my reach, even as its sound fed my fantasies of ownership. To paraphrase Mae West’s famous line about conscience, the Reimyo’s price was the only thing that hurt when everything else felt wonderful.
Except for those early CDs, or otherwise flawed recordings that often fare better on systems that roll off the nasties, the CDP-777 made every CD played through it sound better than I’d heard it in the past. On great recordings, the Reimyo’s soundstaging, transparency, detail retrieval, and tonal integrity enabled natural, relaxed listening sessions characterized by my forgetting about audio and becoming fully involved in the music itself. Because of all that, my enthusiasm for the Reimyo CDP-777 is strong.
The importer’s website claims that the Reimyo CDP-777 is "the best-sounding CD player there has ever been!" I can’t say that, partly because I haven’t heard them all; in fact, this was my first test drive of a five-figure CD player in my home system. But I can say of the Reimyo what a grande dame of the Gilded Age once wrote of a different pleasure: "A private railroad car is not an acquired taste. One takes to it immediately."
http://www.ultraaudio.com/equipment/reimyo_cdp777.htm
Kenwood DPC-MP922 Portable MP3 CD Player Review
Editor's Note: Kenwood has recently discontinued this product. Although this is the case, you might find this unit around on the web.. Crutchfield still has it up for $179.99.
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Is this the MP727?
Kenwood recently released the new DPC-MP922 MP3 player, but it looks remarkably the same as the MP727. What I wondered at first was whether there is a real difference, so I borrowed my friend's MP727 and compared the difference. As you might expect from the manual alone, they should operate in the exact same way since they share the same manual. So what was the purpose of a new model? Well, taking a look at the product specifications, it seems as though the new model has 2 differences: car cassette adapter and car power adapter, and the price reflects this as well since you are paying an extra $20 for it. So, if you want all the accessories, then you can pitch in for the new model otherwise the MP727 will be adequate. Actually, what I would have liked instead of the car adapters is a remote control and a nice pair of AA Ni-MH batteries. You would think that for the price of the unit, you would get some nice batteries.
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed about the Kenwood MP922 upon glancing at it, was the physical design of the player. In my opinion, I feel that the design team could have made it more attractive. It is too conservative and boring for the MP3 listening crowd out there. The buttons are small and too close together to distinguish them easily, so most of the time you have to look at the buttons in order to do what you want. Furthermore, the expansion battery adapter makes the unit even worse. You get more playing time, but what you get is an even bigger and uglier system. I think Kenwood just decided to go for a safe design and I think the unit suffers in that sense because of it. Another aspect that I don't particularly like is the thickness of the unit. I feel they could have tried to make a smaller unit if possible. I think that always gives CD players out there bonus marks. Overall, I would give the design average marks.
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/kenwood_mp922/
Car CD Player -- What To Look For
Car audio cd players are on the rock. To get the best in the world of music and sound, you need to have a cd player. There are many manufacturers of car audio cd players. They are . . .
• Kenwood
• Pioneer
• Goodmans
• Sony
• Boss
Most decent CD players have a detachable faceplate. I will not recommend buying one that does not have this (They are usually the lowest models offered by any company). The last major item to consider is whether the unit will fit in your dash.
Look for a control layout that you are comfortable with. Generally a simple layout is better for finding buttons quickly. A crowded and busy display looks great in the showroom but can be confusing and dangerous when driving at highway speeds. Beyond these basics, you need only worry about which features you wish to have to in your cd player.
Since the head unit is the most noticeable part of your system, most CD player manufacturers have designed several ways for you to express yourself in the dash. Many receivers or players feature motorized and fully detachable drop-down front panels. They also come with wireless remote controls, front and rear RCA outputs and a dedicated sub woofer output as well.
Features that are usual in a CD player . . .
1. ISO DIN mounting.
2. Multicolor vacuum fluorescent display
3. Fully detachable front panel motorized, slide-down, for easy access.
4. PLL synthesized tuner
5. Station presets
6. Illuminated control buttons
7. Quartz digital clock for you
8. CD changer controls
9. CD Mute and track repeat
10. CD-R and CD-RW compatibility
11. Subwoofer output
12. Anti-skip mechanism
13. Balance and fader controls
14. Dual RCA outputs with loudness control
There are more. You can look around if you need other features. Car audio product manufacturers are going overboard these days. Who knows, you may even find one that allows you to read your emails.
Visit car-audio-products-and-accessories.com to read more car audio articles. Check CarAudioPlus for your car audio products and accessories.
Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Car-CD-Player----What-To-Look-For&id=377791
• Kenwood
• Pioneer
• Goodmans
• Sony
• Boss
Most decent CD players have a detachable faceplate. I will not recommend buying one that does not have this (They are usually the lowest models offered by any company). The last major item to consider is whether the unit will fit in your dash.
Look for a control layout that you are comfortable with. Generally a simple layout is better for finding buttons quickly. A crowded and busy display looks great in the showroom but can be confusing and dangerous when driving at highway speeds. Beyond these basics, you need only worry about which features you wish to have to in your cd player.
Since the head unit is the most noticeable part of your system, most CD player manufacturers have designed several ways for you to express yourself in the dash. Many receivers or players feature motorized and fully detachable drop-down front panels. They also come with wireless remote controls, front and rear RCA outputs and a dedicated sub woofer output as well.
Features that are usual in a CD player . . .
1. ISO DIN mounting.
2. Multicolor vacuum fluorescent display
3. Fully detachable front panel motorized, slide-down, for easy access.
4. PLL synthesized tuner
5. Station presets
6. Illuminated control buttons
7. Quartz digital clock for you
8. CD changer controls
9. CD Mute and track repeat
10. CD-R and CD-RW compatibility
11. Subwoofer output
12. Anti-skip mechanism
13. Balance and fader controls
14. Dual RCA outputs with loudness control
There are more. You can look around if you need other features. Car audio product manufacturers are going overboard these days. Who knows, you may even find one that allows you to read your emails.
Visit car-audio-products-and-accessories.com to read more car audio articles. Check CarAudioPlus for your car audio products and accessories.
Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Car-CD-Player----What-To-Look-For&id=377791
Sanyo X200 - Portable MP3/VCD Player Review
You may wonder, why I reviewed this product. Yes, We found Sanyo X200 CD Player as the best, when we compared this with all other Panasonic and Sony CD Players.The main advantage of this player is, it's only Rs.3000, while Panasonic SLM V60 costs Rs.4500 and Sony NF800 costs Rs.6000. The sound and product quality is also amazing when compared to other players.
It is thin and compact comparing to other portable players and we wonder hearing the sound clarity with it's inbuilt headphone. We have also tested the Panasonic and Sony players, but both results poor clarity.
And with it's extra Bass Xpander, you can get the best possible Bass, you can imagine. It supports MP3, ACD, VCD, CD-R and even CD-RW.
You can attach this player with your TV using the bundled AV Cable to watch VCD movies. The video quality is also good.
It also features an ANTI Shock system of 100 seconds for MP3 and 40 seconds for other formats. The earphone attached with this player is looking very professional and the remote control is also thin and compact.
http://www.itportal.org/News/Reviews/Sanyo_X200_-_Portable_MP3%10VCD_Player_Review/
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Bandmaster Stack-O-Matic Phonograph
Bandmaster Stack-O-Matic Phonograph, the yesterday’s record players with today’s quality features. The belt-driven turntable plays 33-1/3, 45 and 78 RPM records and features full-range stereo speakers. It can stack up to six records at a time and with the fully-automatic swinging motion, the arm reaches the stack and drops your next favorite gracefully on the turntable.
It also includes a CD player and a FM radio. There’s an LED display for your track and you can also find a headphone jack. It is made of solid hardwood and hardwood veneer with a lustrous hand-rubbed finish. The Bandmaster Stack-O-Matic Phonograph is available for $269.
http://www.2dayblog.com/blog/2007/07/09/bandmaster-stack-o-matic-phonograph/?lang=en
Will DRM-free tracks kill the CD once and for all?
With EMI Group PLC (LSE: EMI)'s announcement Friday that its new Digital Rights Management technology-free tracks now available for sale on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iTunes Store are performing well, will the compact disc finally go to the grave, as has been speculated for the past few years? Coolfer, a music industry site, notes that this may be one explanation, but can this truly be the case? Certainly the quick growth of DRM-free tracks is impressive, but is it long-term or simply a new service that consumers have embraced quickly and will cool?
For this listener, the differences in DRM-free tracks, "regular" iTunes tracks, and CD tracks are indiscernible, so the advantages between $1.29 iTunes Plus tracks versus CDs are nil. It is my belief, and this is strictly from someone who cannot let go of physical albums, that the curiosity with DRM-tracks has led to slight CD sales drops for specific EMI albums but these will not be permanent. After all, this new service is just another in a long line of "new services" that has challenged CD sales, and the CD is still with us. No, it is not in the same position it may have been 10 to 12 years ago, but it refused to die, or rather we refuse to truly kill it.
I am of the opinion that digital sales will eventually destroy prominent CD sales, but as long as the audio CD is manufactured, someone will purchase it. Even so, the CD as a tool, not simply as a device to hold music, will survive. After all, it is not always advantageous or simple to play music in a car from an iPod or other mp3 device. The transmitters to transfer the iPod signal to car radios exist, but the CD player still often comes "standard" in so many cars (I have a base-model car and it came with a CD player, so I'm using that as my example).
To think about the CD in these terms is not unlike talk about the cassette tape or the eight-track from previous generations and how those formats were replaced. DRM-free tracks act as the CD to the cassette and the LP, but even that similarity does not mean the end of the CD. The new iTunes Plus service is an EMI-product-only service right now, which makes the long-term effects of this growth very visible. If other music labels join EMI and offer DRM-free tracks, then the issue of CD sales dropping would be more prominent and lasting. As it is, Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) is staunchly committed to DRM and Universal Music Group is interested in beta testing without it to model the financial possibilities. SonyBMG seems content to remain with the business model it has, switching only if more than one company drops the technology.
The interesting notion about the quick growth of DRM-free tracks is whether other companies that intend to use the EMI tracks will enjoy the same popularity with the service that Apple has with iTunes Plus. When Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) opens its digital tracks store later in the year, will the "fervor" over DRM-free tracks have cooled or still be as hot? That is the real change to look forward to and then study. If Amazon's own iTunes Store can succeed while Apple has offered the same products for many months, then the possibility of CD destruction will be larger. Of course, it all depends on the other record companies.
Sales of DRM-free tracks from only one record label cannot kill the CD, but the sales could destroy CD sales for that company. How would the other labels view that and would it entice those companies to drop DRM, especially if they are committed to the technology? Watch for answers to these questions, especially as Apple enjoys much growth this summer.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/06/23/will-drm-free-tracks-kill-the-cd-once-and-for-all/
For this listener, the differences in DRM-free tracks, "regular" iTunes tracks, and CD tracks are indiscernible, so the advantages between $1.29 iTunes Plus tracks versus CDs are nil. It is my belief, and this is strictly from someone who cannot let go of physical albums, that the curiosity with DRM-tracks has led to slight CD sales drops for specific EMI albums but these will not be permanent. After all, this new service is just another in a long line of "new services" that has challenged CD sales, and the CD is still with us. No, it is not in the same position it may have been 10 to 12 years ago, but it refused to die, or rather we refuse to truly kill it.
I am of the opinion that digital sales will eventually destroy prominent CD sales, but as long as the audio CD is manufactured, someone will purchase it. Even so, the CD as a tool, not simply as a device to hold music, will survive. After all, it is not always advantageous or simple to play music in a car from an iPod or other mp3 device. The transmitters to transfer the iPod signal to car radios exist, but the CD player still often comes "standard" in so many cars (I have a base-model car and it came with a CD player, so I'm using that as my example).
To think about the CD in these terms is not unlike talk about the cassette tape or the eight-track from previous generations and how those formats were replaced. DRM-free tracks act as the CD to the cassette and the LP, but even that similarity does not mean the end of the CD. The new iTunes Plus service is an EMI-product-only service right now, which makes the long-term effects of this growth very visible. If other music labels join EMI and offer DRM-free tracks, then the issue of CD sales dropping would be more prominent and lasting. As it is, Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) is staunchly committed to DRM and Universal Music Group is interested in beta testing without it to model the financial possibilities. SonyBMG seems content to remain with the business model it has, switching only if more than one company drops the technology.
The interesting notion about the quick growth of DRM-free tracks is whether other companies that intend to use the EMI tracks will enjoy the same popularity with the service that Apple has with iTunes Plus. When Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) opens its digital tracks store later in the year, will the "fervor" over DRM-free tracks have cooled or still be as hot? That is the real change to look forward to and then study. If Amazon's own iTunes Store can succeed while Apple has offered the same products for many months, then the possibility of CD destruction will be larger. Of course, it all depends on the other record companies.
Sales of DRM-free tracks from only one record label cannot kill the CD, but the sales could destroy CD sales for that company. How would the other labels view that and would it entice those companies to drop DRM, especially if they are committed to the technology? Watch for answers to these questions, especially as Apple enjoys much growth this summer.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/06/23/will-drm-free-tracks-kill-the-cd-once-and-for-all/
Monday, July 23, 2007
Why Do I Prefer My Alarm Clock Cd Player Over My Old Alarm Clock Radio
The short answer is that the sound quality that the alarm clock CD can supply is far superior to that of the alarm clock radio. If there is one thing that I prefer about my alarm clock CD over my old alarm clock radio it is simply the sound quality.
My old clock radio was great and I had good choice as to how I could use it but the quality of sound left much to be desired. The sound repetition was very trebly if you know what I mean. Like the sound you would make banging an empty tin can. Yes these gadgets will wake you up in the morning. But not with the full bass and full rounded tones of a good quality alarm clock CD. I am sure you would feel a lot better hearing the rich base sounds of your favorite piece of music over the scratchy hollow sound of the clock radio. There is really no credible choice between the two for me. The bonus difference between the two is that you can select a particular piece of music with the CD player but you can’t do that with the radio.
So technically what makes the difference? They both function as radios, they both function as clocks. Well as I said earlier it’s the quality of the sound. You see in my opinion in clock radios the signal comes through very small speakers whereas the technology incorporated in systems that play CD’s have much more up to date Bose style technology. It’s this technology that is good enough to be described as being of decent quality stereo sound.
We have just discussed a little bit about the technicalities but really in making a decision you need to balance desirable features against purchase cost. I mean what do you really want? Do you just want to be woken up in the morning-then get an alarm? There are many mechanical and electrical ones and they’ll both do the job for you. Do you want to be woken up in the morning to the news or the radio station of your choice that happens to sound a bit tinny? Well get a clock radio alarm. The clocks and the alarms are reliable but the radio is at best average. Or do you want to be woken up in style with the rich sounds of Mozart or Beethoven that are well balanced between bass and treble. Then get yourself a good quality alarm clock CD.
When purchasing an alarm clock CD player you need to balance features against cost. Good luck and good hunting!
Visit our website to see other interesting articles on alarm clock CD players.
There are other helpful articles on CD players Radio Alarms and house alarms to visit our website click here
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Do-I-Prefer-My-Alarm-Clock-Cd-Player-Over-My-Old-Alarm-Clock-Radio&id=533416
My old clock radio was great and I had good choice as to how I could use it but the quality of sound left much to be desired. The sound repetition was very trebly if you know what I mean. Like the sound you would make banging an empty tin can. Yes these gadgets will wake you up in the morning. But not with the full bass and full rounded tones of a good quality alarm clock CD. I am sure you would feel a lot better hearing the rich base sounds of your favorite piece of music over the scratchy hollow sound of the clock radio. There is really no credible choice between the two for me. The bonus difference between the two is that you can select a particular piece of music with the CD player but you can’t do that with the radio.
So technically what makes the difference? They both function as radios, they both function as clocks. Well as I said earlier it’s the quality of the sound. You see in my opinion in clock radios the signal comes through very small speakers whereas the technology incorporated in systems that play CD’s have much more up to date Bose style technology. It’s this technology that is good enough to be described as being of decent quality stereo sound.
We have just discussed a little bit about the technicalities but really in making a decision you need to balance desirable features against purchase cost. I mean what do you really want? Do you just want to be woken up in the morning-then get an alarm? There are many mechanical and electrical ones and they’ll both do the job for you. Do you want to be woken up in the morning to the news or the radio station of your choice that happens to sound a bit tinny? Well get a clock radio alarm. The clocks and the alarms are reliable but the radio is at best average. Or do you want to be woken up in style with the rich sounds of Mozart or Beethoven that are well balanced between bass and treble. Then get yourself a good quality alarm clock CD.
When purchasing an alarm clock CD player you need to balance features against cost. Good luck and good hunting!
Visit our website to see other interesting articles on alarm clock CD players.
There are other helpful articles on CD players Radio Alarms and house alarms to visit our website click here
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Do-I-Prefer-My-Alarm-Clock-Cd-Player-Over-My-Old-Alarm-Clock-Radio&id=533416
Friday, July 20, 2007
CD player looks good inside and out
Struer, Denmark--Just by looking across the room, could you tell the difference between your VCR, tape deck, receiver, or CD player? They're all in flat black boxes with controls--usually too many--on the front.
Nobody could mistake Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 9000 for anything but what it is: a sleek CD player.
"BeoSound 9000 is a revolt against indifference and black boxes," says David Lewis, award-winning designer for Bang & Olufsen. "The way things have become, you can hardly tell whether you are looking at a toaster or a typewriter."
Launched this summer, the BeoSound 9000 can be positioned seven different ways, such as vertically on a floor stand, horizontally on the wall, or placed on a shelf. No matter how you orient the unit, you can unplug and turn around the concealed operating panel for your convenience. The 12-character display flips to read the way the control panel does.
The CD carriage contains the playing mechanism. Press the button for CD 6, and the carriage whisks quickly yet silently to that disk. It moves so fast that you need wait no more than 4.5 seconds from the current song to one selected on any other disk. In fact, the carriage would hit sports car speeds of 100 km/hour within 5.8 seconds, if the rails were only long enough.
Best of all, the BeoSound 9000 lets you choose your CD music visually. Not only can you see which discs are loaded, you can replace the discs not being played without stopping the music. And, after playing a song, the carriage replaces the CD to within one degree of how you placed it in the holder. You can store this position, as well as the name of the disc and your favorite tracks, in the system's 200-disc memory.
The visual appeal of the player disguises the high level of technology that makes this performance possible. Eight digital servo systems, five microprocessors, five dc motors, six digital-to-analog converters, and 15 IR sensors work behind the scenes to bring you a music system that appeals to the eye and the ear.
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA151171.html
Nobody could mistake Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound 9000 for anything but what it is: a sleek CD player.
"BeoSound 9000 is a revolt against indifference and black boxes," says David Lewis, award-winning designer for Bang & Olufsen. "The way things have become, you can hardly tell whether you are looking at a toaster or a typewriter."
Launched this summer, the BeoSound 9000 can be positioned seven different ways, such as vertically on a floor stand, horizontally on the wall, or placed on a shelf. No matter how you orient the unit, you can unplug and turn around the concealed operating panel for your convenience. The 12-character display flips to read the way the control panel does.
The CD carriage contains the playing mechanism. Press the button for CD 6, and the carriage whisks quickly yet silently to that disk. It moves so fast that you need wait no more than 4.5 seconds from the current song to one selected on any other disk. In fact, the carriage would hit sports car speeds of 100 km/hour within 5.8 seconds, if the rails were only long enough.
Best of all, the BeoSound 9000 lets you choose your CD music visually. Not only can you see which discs are loaded, you can replace the discs not being played without stopping the music. And, after playing a song, the carriage replaces the CD to within one degree of how you placed it in the holder. You can store this position, as well as the name of the disc and your favorite tracks, in the system's 200-disc memory.
The visual appeal of the player disguises the high level of technology that makes this performance possible. Eight digital servo systems, five microprocessors, five dc motors, six digital-to-analog converters, and 15 IR sensors work behind the scenes to bring you a music system that appeals to the eye and the ear.
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA151171.html
5 Great Reasons for Choosing an MP3 Audiobook
In a recent survey by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) nearly 25% of the US population is listening to audio books. This is backed up by sales figures for 2005 of $871 million. Some experts are predicting sales for 2006 to come in as high as $2 billion. This massive leap in sales is largely due to the increasing popularity of MP3 audio books in digital download format.
So, why are audiobook versions a more convenient way to "read" a book?
1) You save time, because you can listen to an audio book anywhere and everywhere, and you can even do other things at the same time. You can listen when driving to and from work, when walking the dog, cycling, gardening, working around the house or at the computer, exercising at home or at the gym, and so on. The possibilities are endless.
According to a recent survey, in the USA a person is driving an average of 1 hour and 13 minutes daily, which means over 440 hours a year for each driver, or 11 full-time working weeks. This is huge! Imagine how many things you could learn during this time by simply having your MP3 player with audio books at hand.
2) If you love reading but don't have enough time, audio books can give you the opportunity to read many more books than you would otherwise have time for. Audio books are a great way to fill the "dead" moments we all have in our lives.
With the compact size of modern MP3 players, compared to CD or cassette players, you always have room to take your mp3 player with you. Plus you don’t have to worry about losing or changing cd’s or tapes either.
3) Audio books are good for older, ill or recovering people and can be a wonderful gift for someone in a nursing institution. This is a gift they can remember and enjoy time after time. The massive market place for audio books ensures that everyone can find a topic or subject that appeals to them.
4) Audio books can be a blessing for blind people, disabled people or people with impaired vision. Everyone should have the chance to experience and enjoy a book and in many cases, this is the only way for such persons to do it.
Spoken books can help these people improve their education, help them develop new hobbies and habits and greatly enrich their life, both personally and professionally.
5) Probably the most important skill a child can ever acquire is the ability to read, and audio books can be easily used to stimulate literacy in children. Children can follow the story in a paper book whilst listening to it being dramatically read aloud. Or they could listen just to gain and improve vocabulary and communication skills. If you want to instil in your child the love of reading, audio books can be an excellent start.
There are many more benefits of using audio books, but even these few reasons should be enough to convince you to enter the exciting world of the spoken books.
http://www.articlecube.com/Article/5-Great-Reasons-for-Choosing-an-MP3-Audiobook/69075
So, why are audiobook versions a more convenient way to "read" a book?
1) You save time, because you can listen to an audio book anywhere and everywhere, and you can even do other things at the same time. You can listen when driving to and from work, when walking the dog, cycling, gardening, working around the house or at the computer, exercising at home or at the gym, and so on. The possibilities are endless.
According to a recent survey, in the USA a person is driving an average of 1 hour and 13 minutes daily, which means over 440 hours a year for each driver, or 11 full-time working weeks. This is huge! Imagine how many things you could learn during this time by simply having your MP3 player with audio books at hand.
2) If you love reading but don't have enough time, audio books can give you the opportunity to read many more books than you would otherwise have time for. Audio books are a great way to fill the "dead" moments we all have in our lives.
With the compact size of modern MP3 players, compared to CD or cassette players, you always have room to take your mp3 player with you. Plus you don’t have to worry about losing or changing cd’s or tapes either.
3) Audio books are good for older, ill or recovering people and can be a wonderful gift for someone in a nursing institution. This is a gift they can remember and enjoy time after time. The massive market place for audio books ensures that everyone can find a topic or subject that appeals to them.
4) Audio books can be a blessing for blind people, disabled people or people with impaired vision. Everyone should have the chance to experience and enjoy a book and in many cases, this is the only way for such persons to do it.
Spoken books can help these people improve their education, help them develop new hobbies and habits and greatly enrich their life, both personally and professionally.
5) Probably the most important skill a child can ever acquire is the ability to read, and audio books can be easily used to stimulate literacy in children. Children can follow the story in a paper book whilst listening to it being dramatically read aloud. Or they could listen just to gain and improve vocabulary and communication skills. If you want to instil in your child the love of reading, audio books can be an excellent start.
There are many more benefits of using audio books, but even these few reasons should be enough to convince you to enter the exciting world of the spoken books.
http://www.articlecube.com/Article/5-Great-Reasons-for-Choosing-an-MP3-Audiobook/69075
Numark Intros MP102 Rackmount MP3 CD Player
Designed for mobile DJs and club owners in search of a cost-effective, rackmountable solution to a wide variety of music playback requirements, the new MP102 plays both standard CD audio and MP3 CDs, provides buffered Anti-Shock memory protection, delivers seamless looping, pitch control with a pitch bend wheel, stereo RCA and digital outputs, balanced outputs, and an EQ section.“The new MP102 is a feature-packed unit and the perfect solution for mobile DJs and clubs in search of a comprehensive player offering MP3 support,” said Numark CEO John O’Donnell. “With its rackmount capability, the MP102 can be transported easily or secured in a club’s equipment cabinet. ”
With the ability to play both standard audio CDs and MP3 CDs, the new MP102 provides outstanding versatility. With support for the MP3 media format, DJs can now fit substantially more music onto a single CD; dramatically reducing the volume/weight of the music library they transport—making their work easier. The MP102 also features buffered Anti-Shock memory protection to ensure the music plays exactly as it should, even when the dance floor is packed. And DJs will appreciate the ability to create seamless loops—for both CD audio and MP3 files as well as true buffered instant start and stutter start capability with settable stutter points.
The unit features a large, easy-to-read, backlit LCD that includes text display for identifying song names, BPM counters, and other pertinent information. The user-friendly MP102 also provides ± 8/16% pitch bend capability via its pitch bend/jog wheel. For programming music sets, the MP102 supports true continuous playback and is also track sequence programmable. With support for both folders and ID3 tags, locating and identifying tracks is easy. This unit also provides balanced and unbalanced output capability, plus a digital output for interfacing with external digital equipment.
The MP102 rackmountable CD player is will be available Q2 of 2006 with a suggested retail price of $399.
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2006/01/27/numark-dj-cd-player/
Compact Disc Player
Background
A compact disc, also popularly known simply as a CD, is an optical storage medium with digital data recorded on its surface. A compact disc player is a device that reads the recorded data by means of an optical beam and accurately reproduces the original information (music, pictures, or data). Because the player reads the information by optical means, there is no physical wear and tear on the disc. The basic technology used in all compact disc players is essentially the same, whether the player is designed for audio, video, or computer applications. This article will focus on players designed for audio (specifically, home audio) applications.
The history of the compact disc system can be traced back to the early 1970s, when rapid advancement in digital electronics, laser optics, and large scale integration (LSI) technologies took place. Many companies started exploring the possibility of storing audio signals in optical form using digital rather than analog means. A practical method of modulating the audio signals was found using theories published in 1948 by a scientist named Claude E. Shannon. This method, known as Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), samples audio signals during a short time interval and then converts the samples into numerical values for storage in digital format.
The storage of audio in digital format (known as audio encoding) requires large amounts of data. For example, storing one second of audio information requires one million bits of data. Optical discs capable of storing billions of bits of data in a very small area were found ideal for such applications. An optical disc can store up to one million bits of data on an area as small as a pinhead. Once the technologies for recording and storing digital audio were found, manufacturers started looking for ways to read and process the data stored in such a small area. Experiments with laser devices (a laser emits a very narrow beam of light capable of focusing on a very small area) proved quite successful. The development of LSI techniques meant that the huge amount of data stored on the disc could be processed fast enough to provide continuous music. The stage was now set for the development of a complete compact disc system.
Although many companies participated in early research and experimentation with the various technologies involved in a compact disc system, two companies—Sony of Japan and Philips of the Netherlands—are credited with successfully merging these technologies into a complete system. The two companies collaborated to develop specific standards for the compact disc system, and a consortium of 35 manufacturers agreed to adopt these standards in 1981. The first compact disc players were introduced in the European and Japanese markets in late 1982 and in the United States in early 1983.
Raw Materials
A compact disc player is a very sophisticated piece of electronic equipment. The simple exterior contains complex interior mechanisms to read and process audio signals into very clear and crisp music. The various components include a housing cabinet, an optical pick-up assembly, and printed circuit boards (PCBs), which contain microchips that direct the electronic processes of the system.
The cabinet that houses the maze of components is usually made of light, reinforced aluminum. The laser is a small glass tube filled with gas and a small power supply to generate a laser beam, while the photodiode—a semiconducting part that the light that is reflected from the compact disc into an electrical signal—is generally made of silicon or germanium. The lenses and mirrors in the optical pick-up are made of highly polished glass or plastic. This assembly is housed in its own plastic enclosure. The majority of the electronic components—resistors, transistors, and capacitors—are contained on microchips attached to PCBs. The base material of these components is usually silicon. The hardware that connects the various subassemblies together consists of a variety of metal and plastic nuts, screws, washers, pulleys, motors, gears, belts, and cables.
Design
A compact disc is a 4.75 inch-diameter (12.065 centimeters) polycarbonate plastic disc containing approximately 74 minutes of audio information. Not all the information on the disc is music; some of it is used for error detection, synchronization, and display purposes. Information on a CD is encoded on a spiral track in the form of indentations called lands and pits that represent binary highs and lows. It is these indentations that the CD player's laser "reads."
Conceptually, the design of a CD player resembles that of a phonograph (record) player. Like a record, the compact disc is rotated on a turntable, and the audio is read by a pick-up device. However, unlike a record player, the motor does not rotate the turntable at a constant speed but adjusts it in accordance with the distance of the pick-up from the center of the turntable. Furthermore, the pick-up device in a CD player is not a mechanical stylus (a needle) but an optical laser beam that does not come into physical contact with the compact disc. This laser focuses its beam on the disc track that contains the lands and pits, and the CD player's detector (the photodiode) senses the difference between the light reflected from the lands and that reflected by the pits. The photodiode turns this reflected light into an electrical signal. Relayed to the electronic circuit board, this signal is then converted back to sound.
There are basically three subassemblies in a compact disc player: the disc drive mechanism assembly; the optical pick-up assembly; and the electronic circuit board assembly, which coordinates the other systems inside the player and which includes the servo mechanism and data decoding circuitry. By sending signals to the servo mechanism, the circuit board adjusts the motor speed, focusing, and tracking of the optical pick-up; manages the flow of data to the decoding circuitry; and provides display information in response to the various buttons on the control panel.
The disc drive mechanism consists of a spindle that holds the CD and a motor that rotates it. The motor, called the spindle motor, is mounted underneath the plastic disc loading tray or turntable. A separate motor mounted on the chassis (the base or frame of the CD player) moves the loading tray in and out of the player; this is done by means of a gear that is attached to the motor and that also operates a larger gear to raise and lower a clamp for holding the disc in place.
The optical pick-up consists of a laser, a photodiode, and various lenses and mirrors. The entire subassembly slides back and forth on rails and is controlled by the servo mechanism that receives directing signals from the circuit board. The optical pick-up is usually located underneath the clamp that positions the disc, while the motor that moves the assembly is mounted on the chassis close to the rails. The mechanism works by directing a laser beam through lenses and mirrors onto the underside of the compact disc. The lenses and mirrors keep the beam properly focused. If the beam hits a pit on the disc, no light is reflected and the photodiode remains disengaged. If the beam hits a land, light is reflected back through the lenses and mirrors onto the photodiode, which then generates an electrical signal. This signal is transferred to the electronic circuit board assembly, where it is converted by the data decoding system into audio signals for playback.
The electronic circuit board assembly consists of printed circuit boards that contain the circuitry for the servo mechanism, which operates the optical pick-up system, data decoding, and control system. There are many integrated circuits chips, microprocessors, and large scale integrated components on the board assembly.
A key assembly in a compact disc player is the optical pick-up assembly. It is situated on rails so that it can move back and forth underneath the compact disc. It works by directing a laser beam at the CD; if the laser hits a land, the reflected light then travels to the photodiode, which generates an electrical signal. In turn, the signal moves to the CD player's circuit board, which converts the signal into music.
A key assembly in a compact disc player is the optical pick-up assembly. It is situated on rails so that it can move back and forth underneath the compact disc. It works by directing a laser beam at the CD; if the laser hits a land, the reflected light then travels to the photodiode, which generates an electrical signal. In turn, the signal moves to the CD player's circuit board, which converts the signal into music.
The Manufacturing
Process
In today's manufacturing environment there is no single method of manufacture and assembly. Products are increasingly made as subassemblies and brought together as larger subassemblies or as the final product. Robotics and computer run lines allow for virtually any part to be installed in any state of the subassembly at any point in the process. The sequence can be changed in minutes to allow for modifications or quality control check points. The manufacturing process detailed here, therefore, follows a similar approach to the actual manufacturing process used in the industry. The process is first described in terms of the various subassemblies and then the description details how the various subassemblies are brought together to make the final product.
Optical pick-up subassembly
* 1 Purchased from outside contractors, the laser and the photodiode are installed beneath the disc clamp. The various lenses and mirrors in the assembly must be properly spaced and aligned so that they can focus and direct light as necessary. The whole assembly is then housed in a plastic case. The case is made by the one of the usual plastic forming processes such as extrusion or injection molding, while the lenses and mirrors (usually silicon) are cut into the proper shape and then finely polished with abrasives. The semiconducting photodiode is made by preparing and polishing a substance such as silicon or germanium and then adding impurities to create layers. Electrical contacts are then added. After the optical components are in position, the gears and belt that will help to position the optical pick-up are put in place.
Disc drive subassembly
* 2 Next, the motor that will move the optical pick-up is connected to the gears and belt and placed on the chassis. The loading tray is now centered, and the spindle motor that will rotate the disc is installed. After the clamp to which the optical pick-up has been attached is positioned adjacent to the loading tray, the tray, clamp, and pick-up motor are installed in the loading drawer, which is placed in the CD player's cabinet.
Electronic circuit board subassembly
* 3 Last to be assembled are the electronic components. Designed by engineers using computer-aided design (CAD) packages, the circuit boards consist of a copper-clad base that has a pattern transferred onto it(masking) through screen printing or a similar method. After being coated with a photosensitive material, the patterned areas are etched away chemically to create a multi-layered board—the layers comprise the various transistors and capacitors that make up the circuits. The tiny microchips (usually made of silicon) that are mounted on the board are made in the same way, except on a much smaller scale. Depending on the manufacturer, the CD player may have one large circuit board or several smaller boards. After they have been attached to the panel or panels, the circuits are attached to the CD player's front control panel, the switch assembly, and finally the power supply.
Final assembly
* 4 Once the various subassemblies are ready, they are connected and interfaced together to complete the final assembly. Most of the work performed at this stage is done by human workers. The CD player is now tested and sent for packaging.
Quality Control
As previously noted, a compact disc player is a very sophisticated device, and strict quality control measures are adopted from the initial to the final stage of the manufacture to ensure the proper functioning of the player in accordance with industry standards.
Because so many of the components in a compact disc player are made by specialized vendors, the player manufacturer must depend on these vendors to produce quality parts. Some of the most crucial elements are those in the optical pick-up assembly. The lenses and mirrors used in the laser pick-up, for instance, are made of high quality glass, and human contact must be avoided during the manufacturing process to keep their surfaces clean and smudge free. Similarly, the electronic circuit components must be made in a "clean room" environment (containing special air filters as well as clothing requirements), because even a single dust particle can cause malfunctioning in the circuitry. The circuit boards and chips are tested at many levels by diagnostic machines to pinpoint faults in the circuits.
As for quality control by the player manufacturer, the disc drive assembly is inspected for proper alignment of the motor, spindle, loading tray, and the various gears. In addition, the optical pick-up is checked for proper alignment of lenses and the laser beam. Once the subassemblies are tied together in the cabinet, all wiring connections are inspected for proper electrical contact and correct interface with the other components. Visual inspections to check belts, pulleys, and gears are an integral part of the quality control process. The final inspection consists of playing a test disc that generates special signals and patterns, enabling workers to track down faults in the system. In addition, the various front panel switches and buttons are checked to ensure that they perform the functions indicated and display the appropriate information on the panel.
The Future
The CD system technology has come a long way in the last few years, and new applications for compact disc systems are being discovered every day. The market has already seen the introduction of CD-ROMs, CD-Videos and CD-Interactive. The latest product to attract consumer attention is Kodak's Photo-CD, which can display photographs on television and computer screens. These pictures can be edited or cropped by the user, just like clip art images.
Audio CD systems will see the introduction of many new features in the coming years. Players featuring advanced remote control functions are now in the development stage.
The housing for a CD player includes a top cover or "bonnet' and a front control panel. The compact disc rests on a loading tray that slides in and out of the player.
The housing for a CD player includes a top cover or "bonnet' and a front control panel. The compact disc rests on a loading tray that slides in and out of the player.
These functions will allow the user to display information on the remote control unit itself, such as song titles, artist names, and the actual lyrics of the songs. Compact discs capable of both recording and playback, like a cassette tape, are also in the works. The CD's vast storage capabilities also lend itself to many broad-based multimedia applications, and it is quite possible that compact discs will become the common medium of data exchange for all audio, video, and computer applications.
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Compact-Disc-Player.html
A compact disc, also popularly known simply as a CD, is an optical storage medium with digital data recorded on its surface. A compact disc player is a device that reads the recorded data by means of an optical beam and accurately reproduces the original information (music, pictures, or data). Because the player reads the information by optical means, there is no physical wear and tear on the disc. The basic technology used in all compact disc players is essentially the same, whether the player is designed for audio, video, or computer applications. This article will focus on players designed for audio (specifically, home audio) applications.
The history of the compact disc system can be traced back to the early 1970s, when rapid advancement in digital electronics, laser optics, and large scale integration (LSI) technologies took place. Many companies started exploring the possibility of storing audio signals in optical form using digital rather than analog means. A practical method of modulating the audio signals was found using theories published in 1948 by a scientist named Claude E. Shannon. This method, known as Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), samples audio signals during a short time interval and then converts the samples into numerical values for storage in digital format.
The storage of audio in digital format (known as audio encoding) requires large amounts of data. For example, storing one second of audio information requires one million bits of data. Optical discs capable of storing billions of bits of data in a very small area were found ideal for such applications. An optical disc can store up to one million bits of data on an area as small as a pinhead. Once the technologies for recording and storing digital audio were found, manufacturers started looking for ways to read and process the data stored in such a small area. Experiments with laser devices (a laser emits a very narrow beam of light capable of focusing on a very small area) proved quite successful. The development of LSI techniques meant that the huge amount of data stored on the disc could be processed fast enough to provide continuous music. The stage was now set for the development of a complete compact disc system.
Although many companies participated in early research and experimentation with the various technologies involved in a compact disc system, two companies—Sony of Japan and Philips of the Netherlands—are credited with successfully merging these technologies into a complete system. The two companies collaborated to develop specific standards for the compact disc system, and a consortium of 35 manufacturers agreed to adopt these standards in 1981. The first compact disc players were introduced in the European and Japanese markets in late 1982 and in the United States in early 1983.
Raw Materials
A compact disc player is a very sophisticated piece of electronic equipment. The simple exterior contains complex interior mechanisms to read and process audio signals into very clear and crisp music. The various components include a housing cabinet, an optical pick-up assembly, and printed circuit boards (PCBs), which contain microchips that direct the electronic processes of the system.
The cabinet that houses the maze of components is usually made of light, reinforced aluminum. The laser is a small glass tube filled with gas and a small power supply to generate a laser beam, while the photodiode—a semiconducting part that the light that is reflected from the compact disc into an electrical signal—is generally made of silicon or germanium. The lenses and mirrors in the optical pick-up are made of highly polished glass or plastic. This assembly is housed in its own plastic enclosure. The majority of the electronic components—resistors, transistors, and capacitors—are contained on microchips attached to PCBs. The base material of these components is usually silicon. The hardware that connects the various subassemblies together consists of a variety of metal and plastic nuts, screws, washers, pulleys, motors, gears, belts, and cables.
Design
A compact disc is a 4.75 inch-diameter (12.065 centimeters) polycarbonate plastic disc containing approximately 74 minutes of audio information. Not all the information on the disc is music; some of it is used for error detection, synchronization, and display purposes. Information on a CD is encoded on a spiral track in the form of indentations called lands and pits that represent binary highs and lows. It is these indentations that the CD player's laser "reads."
Conceptually, the design of a CD player resembles that of a phonograph (record) player. Like a record, the compact disc is rotated on a turntable, and the audio is read by a pick-up device. However, unlike a record player, the motor does not rotate the turntable at a constant speed but adjusts it in accordance with the distance of the pick-up from the center of the turntable. Furthermore, the pick-up device in a CD player is not a mechanical stylus (a needle) but an optical laser beam that does not come into physical contact with the compact disc. This laser focuses its beam on the disc track that contains the lands and pits, and the CD player's detector (the photodiode) senses the difference between the light reflected from the lands and that reflected by the pits. The photodiode turns this reflected light into an electrical signal. Relayed to the electronic circuit board, this signal is then converted back to sound.
There are basically three subassemblies in a compact disc player: the disc drive mechanism assembly; the optical pick-up assembly; and the electronic circuit board assembly, which coordinates the other systems inside the player and which includes the servo mechanism and data decoding circuitry. By sending signals to the servo mechanism, the circuit board adjusts the motor speed, focusing, and tracking of the optical pick-up; manages the flow of data to the decoding circuitry; and provides display information in response to the various buttons on the control panel.
The disc drive mechanism consists of a spindle that holds the CD and a motor that rotates it. The motor, called the spindle motor, is mounted underneath the plastic disc loading tray or turntable. A separate motor mounted on the chassis (the base or frame of the CD player) moves the loading tray in and out of the player; this is done by means of a gear that is attached to the motor and that also operates a larger gear to raise and lower a clamp for holding the disc in place.
The optical pick-up consists of a laser, a photodiode, and various lenses and mirrors. The entire subassembly slides back and forth on rails and is controlled by the servo mechanism that receives directing signals from the circuit board. The optical pick-up is usually located underneath the clamp that positions the disc, while the motor that moves the assembly is mounted on the chassis close to the rails. The mechanism works by directing a laser beam through lenses and mirrors onto the underside of the compact disc. The lenses and mirrors keep the beam properly focused. If the beam hits a pit on the disc, no light is reflected and the photodiode remains disengaged. If the beam hits a land, light is reflected back through the lenses and mirrors onto the photodiode, which then generates an electrical signal. This signal is transferred to the electronic circuit board assembly, where it is converted by the data decoding system into audio signals for playback.
The electronic circuit board assembly consists of printed circuit boards that contain the circuitry for the servo mechanism, which operates the optical pick-up system, data decoding, and control system. There are many integrated circuits chips, microprocessors, and large scale integrated components on the board assembly.
A key assembly in a compact disc player is the optical pick-up assembly. It is situated on rails so that it can move back and forth underneath the compact disc. It works by directing a laser beam at the CD; if the laser hits a land, the reflected light then travels to the photodiode, which generates an electrical signal. In turn, the signal moves to the CD player's circuit board, which converts the signal into music.
A key assembly in a compact disc player is the optical pick-up assembly. It is situated on rails so that it can move back and forth underneath the compact disc. It works by directing a laser beam at the CD; if the laser hits a land, the reflected light then travels to the photodiode, which generates an electrical signal. In turn, the signal moves to the CD player's circuit board, which converts the signal into music.
The Manufacturing
Process
In today's manufacturing environment there is no single method of manufacture and assembly. Products are increasingly made as subassemblies and brought together as larger subassemblies or as the final product. Robotics and computer run lines allow for virtually any part to be installed in any state of the subassembly at any point in the process. The sequence can be changed in minutes to allow for modifications or quality control check points. The manufacturing process detailed here, therefore, follows a similar approach to the actual manufacturing process used in the industry. The process is first described in terms of the various subassemblies and then the description details how the various subassemblies are brought together to make the final product.
Optical pick-up subassembly
* 1 Purchased from outside contractors, the laser and the photodiode are installed beneath the disc clamp. The various lenses and mirrors in the assembly must be properly spaced and aligned so that they can focus and direct light as necessary. The whole assembly is then housed in a plastic case. The case is made by the one of the usual plastic forming processes such as extrusion or injection molding, while the lenses and mirrors (usually silicon) are cut into the proper shape and then finely polished with abrasives. The semiconducting photodiode is made by preparing and polishing a substance such as silicon or germanium and then adding impurities to create layers. Electrical contacts are then added. After the optical components are in position, the gears and belt that will help to position the optical pick-up are put in place.
Disc drive subassembly
* 2 Next, the motor that will move the optical pick-up is connected to the gears and belt and placed on the chassis. The loading tray is now centered, and the spindle motor that will rotate the disc is installed. After the clamp to which the optical pick-up has been attached is positioned adjacent to the loading tray, the tray, clamp, and pick-up motor are installed in the loading drawer, which is placed in the CD player's cabinet.
Electronic circuit board subassembly
* 3 Last to be assembled are the electronic components. Designed by engineers using computer-aided design (CAD) packages, the circuit boards consist of a copper-clad base that has a pattern transferred onto it(masking) through screen printing or a similar method. After being coated with a photosensitive material, the patterned areas are etched away chemically to create a multi-layered board—the layers comprise the various transistors and capacitors that make up the circuits. The tiny microchips (usually made of silicon) that are mounted on the board are made in the same way, except on a much smaller scale. Depending on the manufacturer, the CD player may have one large circuit board or several smaller boards. After they have been attached to the panel or panels, the circuits are attached to the CD player's front control panel, the switch assembly, and finally the power supply.
Final assembly
* 4 Once the various subassemblies are ready, they are connected and interfaced together to complete the final assembly. Most of the work performed at this stage is done by human workers. The CD player is now tested and sent for packaging.
Quality Control
As previously noted, a compact disc player is a very sophisticated device, and strict quality control measures are adopted from the initial to the final stage of the manufacture to ensure the proper functioning of the player in accordance with industry standards.
Because so many of the components in a compact disc player are made by specialized vendors, the player manufacturer must depend on these vendors to produce quality parts. Some of the most crucial elements are those in the optical pick-up assembly. The lenses and mirrors used in the laser pick-up, for instance, are made of high quality glass, and human contact must be avoided during the manufacturing process to keep their surfaces clean and smudge free. Similarly, the electronic circuit components must be made in a "clean room" environment (containing special air filters as well as clothing requirements), because even a single dust particle can cause malfunctioning in the circuitry. The circuit boards and chips are tested at many levels by diagnostic machines to pinpoint faults in the circuits.
As for quality control by the player manufacturer, the disc drive assembly is inspected for proper alignment of the motor, spindle, loading tray, and the various gears. In addition, the optical pick-up is checked for proper alignment of lenses and the laser beam. Once the subassemblies are tied together in the cabinet, all wiring connections are inspected for proper electrical contact and correct interface with the other components. Visual inspections to check belts, pulleys, and gears are an integral part of the quality control process. The final inspection consists of playing a test disc that generates special signals and patterns, enabling workers to track down faults in the system. In addition, the various front panel switches and buttons are checked to ensure that they perform the functions indicated and display the appropriate information on the panel.
The Future
The CD system technology has come a long way in the last few years, and new applications for compact disc systems are being discovered every day. The market has already seen the introduction of CD-ROMs, CD-Videos and CD-Interactive. The latest product to attract consumer attention is Kodak's Photo-CD, which can display photographs on television and computer screens. These pictures can be edited or cropped by the user, just like clip art images.
Audio CD systems will see the introduction of many new features in the coming years. Players featuring advanced remote control functions are now in the development stage.
The housing for a CD player includes a top cover or "bonnet' and a front control panel. The compact disc rests on a loading tray that slides in and out of the player.
The housing for a CD player includes a top cover or "bonnet' and a front control panel. The compact disc rests on a loading tray that slides in and out of the player.
These functions will allow the user to display information on the remote control unit itself, such as song titles, artist names, and the actual lyrics of the songs. Compact discs capable of both recording and playback, like a cassette tape, are also in the works. The CD's vast storage capabilities also lend itself to many broad-based multimedia applications, and it is quite possible that compact discs will become the common medium of data exchange for all audio, video, and computer applications.
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Compact-Disc-Player.html
Recovering Scratched CDs
Every user has had trouble with a scratched CD. In the case of data CDs (CD-ROM), the drive cannot properly read the CD, giving rise to reading errors. In the case of audio CDs, the CD skips when we play it.
The first thing to do when coming across a CD with a read error is to clean it, to check whether it the error is not being caused by a dirty surface. You can even wash the CD gently with a little detergent, using your fingers to clean it (avoid sponges, since they can scratch the CD). If the error persists, try reading or playing the CD on another drive. If another drive (or CD player, in the case of audio CDs) gives the same result (read error or skipping, in the case of audio CDs), it will mean that the CD is scratched.
Looking against the light, the recording surface (the flip side of the label) of a CD with this kind of trouble will allow you to easily see one or more existing scratches. A CD's data is recorded on a metal layer inside it, a silvered layer on commercial CDs, which is usually golden on CD-Rs. This metal layer is inset in a transparent plastic covering (polycarbonate), used to protect the CD's metal layer and allow printing a label on the side not used for reading.
A CD-ROM drive or CD player utilizes a laser beam to read the metal layer. This laser beam crosses the plastic layer and reads the metal layer. If the plastic layer is scratched, the beam will be unable to pass through it, resulting in a read error or skipping the music. In other words, the data to be read are still in the CD, the trouble lies in the layer of plastic.
As the CD's contents are preserved, a scratched CD can be recovered by polishing its plastic surface. If, after carrying out the above cleansing, the CD persists in giving reading errors, just polish the CD with toothpaste. That's right, toothpaste. It works wonders, and you won't spend a fortune buying professional cleaning kits. Polish the scratches with a cotton swab, rubbing gently the paste-imbued swab over the scratches until they disappear or until you notice that you have removed them as far as possible. Sometimes the paste may cause new scratching, but it will be merely superficial and easily removed. After clearing the scratches, wash the CD in water.
If there are still scratches that the toothpaste has not managed to removed, use a metal polish (Brasso) in the same way as described above. Finally, rub Vaseline on the CD, very gently (do not press hard), from moving out from the centre to the rim.
The last step will be testing the CD. If it starts working properly, great. If not, repeat the above procedure, looking for the scratch that is causing the error and concentrating your polishing efforts on it.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/77
The first thing to do when coming across a CD with a read error is to clean it, to check whether it the error is not being caused by a dirty surface. You can even wash the CD gently with a little detergent, using your fingers to clean it (avoid sponges, since they can scratch the CD). If the error persists, try reading or playing the CD on another drive. If another drive (or CD player, in the case of audio CDs) gives the same result (read error or skipping, in the case of audio CDs), it will mean that the CD is scratched.
Looking against the light, the recording surface (the flip side of the label) of a CD with this kind of trouble will allow you to easily see one or more existing scratches. A CD's data is recorded on a metal layer inside it, a silvered layer on commercial CDs, which is usually golden on CD-Rs. This metal layer is inset in a transparent plastic covering (polycarbonate), used to protect the CD's metal layer and allow printing a label on the side not used for reading.
A CD-ROM drive or CD player utilizes a laser beam to read the metal layer. This laser beam crosses the plastic layer and reads the metal layer. If the plastic layer is scratched, the beam will be unable to pass through it, resulting in a read error or skipping the music. In other words, the data to be read are still in the CD, the trouble lies in the layer of plastic.
As the CD's contents are preserved, a scratched CD can be recovered by polishing its plastic surface. If, after carrying out the above cleansing, the CD persists in giving reading errors, just polish the CD with toothpaste. That's right, toothpaste. It works wonders, and you won't spend a fortune buying professional cleaning kits. Polish the scratches with a cotton swab, rubbing gently the paste-imbued swab over the scratches until they disappear or until you notice that you have removed them as far as possible. Sometimes the paste may cause new scratching, but it will be merely superficial and easily removed. After clearing the scratches, wash the CD in water.
If there are still scratches that the toothpaste has not managed to removed, use a metal polish (Brasso) in the same way as described above. Finally, rub Vaseline on the CD, very gently (do not press hard), from moving out from the centre to the rim.
The last step will be testing the CD. If it starts working properly, great. If not, repeat the above procedure, looking for the scratch that is causing the error and concentrating your polishing efforts on it.
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/77
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Chrysler New Yorker CD Player
Q. I have a 1994 Chrysler New Yorker that has a premium Infinity sound system. Well the unit went bad so I went to our local junk yard and purchased a 1998 Infinity CD unit for way too much $$. The unit plugs right in however the CD does not work, radio works fine, speakers and everything, but it's like the CD isn't even there.
Chrysler New Yorker CD Player
Well the one wire in the back of the new unit that I could not find a place for is suppose to go to the BCM unit, would this prevent the CD player from functioning? If so is there a work around or a connection on the 1994 BCM that will work?
Thanks,
Al
Cottage Grove, MN
A. I wish I could help you with this, but there are five different sound systems that went in that car. It might have helped if I knew what color the wire was and what kind of car it came out of.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl234g.htm
Chrysler New Yorker CD Player
Well the one wire in the back of the new unit that I could not find a place for is suppose to go to the BCM unit, would this prevent the CD player from functioning? If so is there a work around or a connection on the 1994 BCM that will work?
Thanks,
Al
Cottage Grove, MN
A. I wish I could help you with this, but there are five different sound systems that went in that car. It might have helped if I knew what color the wire was and what kind of car it came out of.
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl234g.htm
Linn Sondek CD12 CD Player
A funny thing happened to Linn Product's Brian Morris when he attempted to bring Linn's new Sondek CD12 through Customs as hand-luggage:
Customs agent: "What's in the box, sir?"
Brian: "A CD player."
Customs agent: "Value?"
Brian: "$20,000."
Customs agent: "Who are you trying to kid? I know what CD players are worth—I've got one. Go stand over there until we sort this out."
It took a whole day, Linn's customs broker, and a flurry of phone calls, but eventually Brian did bring the CD12 into this country and deliver it to me in Santa Fe. But the customs agent's question was actually a good one. CD technology is now fairly mature. In fact, some might argue that, with the increased data-storage capacity of the DVD, not to mention the impending DVD-Audio standard, the CD might even be entering its twilight phase. Who on earth would bring a $20,000 CD player to market now?
Linn Products, obviously. As a company, Linn has always gone its own way—at its own pace—and if the idea of producing a no-holds-barred CD player at this particular moment strikes some people as foolhardy, the folks at Linn just don't care. They point out that there are millions and millions of CDs out there that will benefit from a player like the Sondek CD12, and that it will be years before there's anything like that selection on DVD, or whatever the next digital music medium will be. Besides, they point out, the typical Linn customer already has a substantial investment in software and is anxious to extract from it as much musical pleasure as possible, even if that means spending an amount less obsessed observers would label ludicrous.
If this argument sounds familiar, it's because Linn has said the same thing before—specifically, 17 years ago, when, in the pre-dawn of the CD age, people were predicting the demise of the turntable and the vinyl disc. Here we are, nearly two decades into the digital era, and there are more high-end turntables for sale than there ever were during the analog era. No, the LP hasn't exactly triumphed, but there are still a lot of music lovers out there who love their records and are willing to spend "ludicrous" amounts to hear them played properly.
http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/86/
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The GamuT CD-3 CD Player
My first reaction to seeing ads for GamuT in the magazines was, “Where have they been hiding?” My first meeting with GamuT gear was at a New York Stereophile Show about ten years ago. The company had a run of success with their original CD-1 CD player and their line of solid state amplifiers. Both their amps and CD player met with a wide body of critical approval in the audio press and were sought after by many. The CD player, as well as the amps, went through various upgrades and improvements to address some lingering criticisms as to relating to performance in the frequency extremes, for the CD player and, for some, their amplifiers sounding a little too analytical and sterile. The company has since changed hands -- Lars Golar is now in charge and is the design and spiritual leader of this Danish company. He believes in using solid science as the basis for his designs and in the end, like any designer worth his salt, he listens.The CD-3 is quite large and heavy with well ordered cosmetics. The symmetrical arrangement of function buttons has written words on the brightly lit display, which has three settings: full on, reduced and off. Of course when 'off' is selected you can't read any of the disc information or functions. At least the remote, rather skimpy at this price level, has the usual function symbols. The CD-3's face plate is of a substantial solid piece of clear anodized aluminum, about a half inch thick, and the unit's footers have three silicon beads each to further isolate the player from vibration induced distortion.
The CD-3 arrived and I couldn't turn it on. I contacted David Stevens of Rhythm Marketing (US distributor) and he told me that the on/off switch is on the underside of the CD player, near the front at the right side. I found this a very odd location, not intuitive at all. I later found this mentioned on the inside rear page of the manual. Once I turned on the unit I proceeded to let the unit, burn in for the recommended two hundred hours with a variety of music and the XLO burn-in disc, as well. The burn-in also included a pair of balanced GamuT interconnects which the manufacturer sent along (but are not included with the unit). These are a twisted pair of silver plated copper interconnects that retail for $500.00 for a one meter pair. Therefore, my review also takes into account these interconnects. The power cord was of the standard variety and the manual encouraged the use of after market cords.
Before I get started with sonic impressions, I want to briefly describe some of the technical properties of the CD-3. The CD player is internally separated, by a stainless steel inner chassis, dividing the player into three distinct inner cabinets. This division isolates the separate digital and analogue power supplies from the suspended transport mechanism and dac, as well as, isolating the amplification section. The non magnetic stainless steel inner cabinet, running down the center of the unit, effectively prevents minute electrical signals and currents from intruding and contaminating the final signal and introducing unwanted distortions resulting in loss of detail retrieval and a smearing of the final sound. A 24 bit 192 kHz asynchronous sample rate converter was used to generate the up sampled signal for the 24 bit Burr-Brown PCM 1792 converter.
My first full listening session was with the supplied power cord and the supplied GamuT interconnects. Reading my notes, they were as follows: dead quiet background, grain free, very dynamic, deep soundstage with excellent transparency and more detail of which I've been accustomed. Frank Sinatra's and Holly Cole's voices had great immediacy and palpability. Imaging was excellent. Inner detail and voice textures were further revealed. On large orchestral works, string sections were more completely defined. I was hearing more of the individual instruments, the bows being drawn across the strings if you will, rather more like the experience one gets at a live concert sitting in the first few rows of the concert hall. The interplay between sections was also easier to follow. In general, images were more distinct across the board, in all soundstage dimensions. Clarity and resolution were there in spades with more air and separation around instruments. This player drew more detail out of the bits than I've previously experienced. That stainless steel isolation must really be working. On the negative side, I noticed a slight bass shyness and a tendency of voices to be leaner and cooler then I thought they should be. Also, the images seemed unnaturally sharp, as if there was too much, borrowing a term from the video world, 'edge enhancement'. Was this effect the result of the player, the interconnects, or the power cord? It was now time to further investigate. Ah, more fun.
My first change was replacing the power cord with my reference, Acoustic Zen's Absolute power cord. Immediately, images took on more body and weight and the 'edge ehancement' was reduced with, if anything, a gain in inner textures. The images seemed more natural in their presentation. The leanness I had heard was now almost gone. Soundstage depth, already excellent, improved as well. Voices seemed to be richer and fuller. Anyone who thinks power cords don't make a difference should reexamine those assumptions. It brought out more of what this CD-3 was capable of. It clearly pays to experiment with power cords and at this price level you're doing yourself a disservice not to. Now it was time to try examining interconnects.
I used Wasatch's excellent Ultama, Acoustic Zen's Silver Reference II and Acoustic Zen's Absolute. All had their individual characteristics but the Absolute really proved to be the best and offered the most complete improvement in the quality of sound. The bass performance further improved with greater weight and articulation. The soundstage seemed to grow in size with greater depth while the sound became noticeably smoother. It further improved localization of instruments and voices in the soundstage. High frequency performance also improved and cymbal strikes had more impact with greater definition with an even further clarification of low level detail. I now felt that this player was reaching heights I had not experienced from a CD player before.
My ultimate criterion for evaluating a component is how close its ability to convey the feeling of the live performance. The GamuT CD-3, with an appropriate level power cord and interconnects achieves this more completely than any other CD player I've had in my system. The combination gives a vitality and immediacy that signifies 'live'. Audiophiles all have differing points of view as to how something should sound and I won't tell you it will satisfy everyone. As I indicated earlier, the CD-3, gives the listener (at least in my system) an upfront presentation of the music. System matching would be key. If one likes a 'soft', 'tubey' sound this might not be your cup of tea. If you're looking to liven up a soft sounding system that is lacking in detail and dynamics, look no further. GamuT's CD-3 can perform magic. Highly recommended. I will miss this player. Keep listening.
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/CD_Players/reviews/gamutCD3.htm
The Lector .6 mk2 CD Player
A friend owns the Lector 7, a 2-box CD player. I have visited him several times. I have been told that the .6 CD player shares many of the attributes of the 7. As a consequence of my search for a CD player and my favorable impression of the Lector 7, I decided to review the .6 mk2. Although the mk2 version represented an “upgrade” of the original .6, I was unprepared for the presentation I experienced. I believe the original player had a 20 bit chip, while the current version uses a 24 bit chip. The distributor of Lector products, Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports, contrasted the difference between the original and mk2 as one being somewhat euphonic, the other accurate. The player is priced at $2190.00 and offers the following features: 1) Film foil output caps manufactured by Lector. 2) 2 Burr Brown PCM 1704 DAC chips 3) A simple toroidal power supply 4) No op amps 5) Short length of .999999996 ofc stranded copper from pcb out to panel/RCA 6) Transport manufactured by Lector based upon Phillips/Sharp design 7) All parts manufactured by Lector 8) tube buffer stage using 2 12AT7Listening Sessions
The manufacturer provides 2 Chelmer 12AT7 tubes. I substituted several pairs of NOS tubes, including Mullard, Amperex and RCA. I selected the RCA grey plate, vintage 1960's, as it seemed to present the most linear frequency response. My preferences lean toward harpsichord and piano music from the baroque and renaissance periods. It would come as no surprise that I would select a Scarlatti sonata, XVII, K119, performed by Sophie Yates, harpsichord, from Chandos 0635. The clarity and focus enabled one to appreciate the expert musicianship of the artist. Following the attack of the keyboard, a short decay was observed. However, there was greater emphasis upon the percussive quality, relative to the body of the instrument, suggestive of a dip in the lower midrange.
Steely Dan, AJA, MCAD 37124, could be the subject of a term paper in the field of sociology. My favorite track on this disc is “Deacon Blues”. Donald Fagen's voice evinced his characteristic lisp and treble harmonics were never exaggerated. During a tenor sax solo, the upper register, upper mid/lower treble had a slight peak. However, the minor deviation from neutrality did not interfere with the enjoyment of the music. Holly Cole Trio, DON'T SMOKE IN BED, is often used as a test disk for evaluating stereo systems. Track one, “I Can See Clearly Now”, presents an ensemble of voice, bass and piano. The articulation of the bass was very controlled and yet there was a natural balance between the sound of the strings and the wood body. The voice is close-miked and the sibilance that one expects was not softened. It is not a pleasant experience to listen to this overemphasis of the letter “s”. While not minimized, it would seem that there was no exaggeration of this phenomenon.
A depiction of Paris in music, “Gaite Parisienne”, JVCXRCD 0224, track 1 is a good example of the scale of a symphony orchestra. The strings were positioned behind and at the edge of the left speaker, while the snare drum could be heard in the background, at the rear of the orchestra. The sound of the string ensemble exhibited no edge. The triangle, although positioned in front of the wood block, did not exhibit the separation I have experienced from other CD players. Moreover, the sound of the triangle was deficient in texture and weight compared to what I hear when listening to my reference CD player. Another test of spectral balance is track 3 from the CD TWO OF A KIND, Music Heritage Society 5162443. At the beginning of this track, “Sandstorm”, a cymbal is struck several times. The sound of the cymbal is timbrally incorrect. The density or thickness does not provide the aural cues of brass. Rather, what is portrayed is a metal thinner than brass. Although one would identify the instrument heard as a cymbal, the resulting timbre is different from what one would expect when listening to a typical brass cymbal. Shortly thereafter, Earl Klugh is heard playing acoustic guitar. The nylon strings sounded a bit steely and the wood body was understated, indicative of a dip in the lower midrange and possibly a peak in the upper midrange/lower treble.
Conclusion
My listening sessions revealed a component capable of resolving and not obscuring musical and non-musical details present on a recording. There was no warmth or other euphonic coloration. There were observed discrepancies from flat frequency response in areas I have noted before, often typical of current-production tube products, namely a dip in the lower midrange and a slight elevation in the upper midrange/lower treble. I would say that the aforementioned errors are typical of current tube designs and some of the 24/192 chips, especially the Burr Brown. It is possible that selecting a non-upsampling 16 bit chip instead of the Burr Brown 24/192 chip might lessen the extent of deviations from neutrality. Thus, the Lector is a tube player without the sound of tubes, having the aforementioned strengths and weaknesses of modern tube circuitry and 24/192 DAC chips. During my listening sessions I could hear inaccuracies in timbre, but they did not prevent me from enjoying the music. Since no component is perfect, a potential purchaser should decide if observed flaws are, or are not, objectionable, prior to purchase.
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/CD_Players/reviews/lectorCD.htm
The Navison Audio SE MK 1 Preamplifier
The Navison Audio room was one of my favorite exhibits at the 2007 SHOW. A single ended amp, a tube preamp, the Ayre CD player and a pair of Tannoy speakers produced the classic tube sound. Since I was looking for a preamp, I decided to review the preamp I heard. In fact, the review sample was the very preamp I heard in the room. Navison products are designed in California and manufactured in Viet Nam. The preamp is priced at $3900.00 and the chassis is constructed of barian kingwood, found in Viet Nam. Here are the salient technical details: 1) Design goal : warmth with a certain level of detail 2) Wiring: silver plated copper 3) Connectors: RCA females are rhodium coated copper 4) Op amps: none 5) Transformer: low noise toroidal 6) Caps : Jensen oil filled 7) Gain control: DACT 24 step attenuated-2 db per step 8) Tubes : 8 6H1-EB 9) Phase inverting.Listening Sessions
My favorite instrument is the harpsichord. It provides a window on the frequency response in the upper midrange/treble region. My first selection was a Chandos release of Scarlatti's Sonata XVII, K119, performed by Sophie Yates, Chandos 0635. The presentation was a touch forward. The attack and release of the keyboard was heard without exaggeration, warmth or softening. The timbre was very realistic but a bit closer in position than I experienced with other preamps. From a woman's touch to a woman's voice, I next selected the Holly Cole Trio, DON'T SMOKE IN BED, track 1, Alert Z2 81020. The resonance of the body of the acoustic bass and the plucking of the strings were rendered in proper proportion. The voice was close-miked and exhibited sibilance which would be expected from such a microphone placement technique. I did not observe an exaggeration or softening of the sibilance.
Steely Dan, AJA is, in my opinion, their best work. My favorite track on the CD is “Deacon Blues”, track 3, MCAD 37214. Donald Fagen's voice was easy to recognize. One could hear his characteristic pronunciation of consonants. Voice and cymbals were spectrally balanced. However, the sound of the tenor seemed slightly deficient in lower midrange energy, with a bit more emphasis upon the upper midrange/lower treble. The resulting timbre was somewhat suggestive of an alto. Continuing in the jazz mode, an acoustic jazz ensemble is featured on the CD TEST RECORD1, Opus 3 7900, track 12, W.C. Handy, “Ole Miss”. This track provides a suitable test of timbre provided by a clarinet, trumpet and trombone. Of the three aforementioned instruments, the clarinet presented the most natural timbre. The trumpet lacked body as a result of an over emphasis of the upper midrange/lower treble frequencies. The trombone was fuller sounding than the trumpet but one could hear a slight imbalance between the lower midrange and upper frequencies. While it is impossible to reproduce the scale of an orchestra in a modest sized listening room, certain facets of stereo system performance are tested using such source material.
A classic recording in this repertory is “Gaite Parisienne”, conducted by Arthur Fiedler, JVC XRCD 0224, track 1. Immediately one is aware of the power of an orchestra with a crescendo at the beginning of the track. This preamp is capable of conveying the dynamic range of a crescendo. Two short solos from a wood block and a triangle ensue shortly thereafter. The triangle is in the foreground and the wood block was positioned slightly to the right and behind the triangle. A sense of space between the instruments was noted. One could observe the decay of the triangle even as the wood block was struck. The triangle possessed its typical sparkle without egregious frequency response errors.
Conclusion
While I expected the classic sound, I experienced the modern sound of tubes. I have mentioned the term “modern sound” in other reviews. The attributes implied by this term include the resolution associated with solid state, a lack of warmth and a presentation closer to truth than beauty. My personal exposure to modern tube components suggests that their imperfections are generally opposite those of older tube designs. Thus, designs in the '70s and '80s rolled off the treble and had a peak in the lower frequencies, while such products were replaced by components which have a peak in the “brightness” region and a dip in the upper bass/lower midrange. The differences between current designs are a matter of degree. Some have more annoying flaws, while others are slight, yet nevertheless, audible. With regard to the Navison preamp, deviations were slight, as previously indicated. I have heard other preamps and amplifiers whose errors have been more significant as to their effects upon the enjoyment of music. I expect that if one listens to a component long enough, it is possible to observe some level of coloration. Until perfection is achieved, one hopes that flaws can be overlooked and one does not dwell on them to the detriment of enjoying one's recordings. I had no problem appreciating the musicianship and enjoying my favorite recordings in spite of the aforementioned shortcomings.
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/Preamps/reviews/navisonpreamp.htm
The Melody CD M10 CD Player
I have been looking for a backup CD player for several months. I became aware of the Melody CD M10 as a result of a conversation with Brian of Venus HiFi. I decided to spend more time than usual at the Melody exhibit at the CES. I auditioned the CD player in the context of an all tube-based Melody stereo system. Based upon my brief exposure, I decided to review this player. At 78 pounds, it may be the heaviest one-box CD player in current production. At a cost of $2500, the price per pound is $32, a good value compared to other players whose price exceeds $1000. For those who are technically inclined, the following may be of interest: 1) transport: Sony 2) Dac chip: Burr Brown PCM 1792, 24/192 3) caps: Mundorf metal film 4) power supply CD type with Z7 material as the core 5) clock: 16.9344 6) tube rectifier: 5AR4 7) buffer stage: 2 6SN7
Listening Sessions
Prior to evaluation, I left the player on and fed a signal from the analog outputs for a period of about 300 hours. There has been a running commentary on Audiogon concerning the subject of break-in. I have no personal opinion on this subject. Each time I receive a component for review, it receives about 250 hours of a signal, before I give it my serious attention. This is standard operating procedure for me. I auditioned the CD player with 3 preamps: The Nobis Proteus, the Mapletree and McIntosh. Unless otherwise stated, my comments imply the presence of the Nobis preamp in the stereo system. I will cite the effects of the other preamps in a brief general statement, later in the review.
My favorite instrument is the harpsichord. Scarlatti and JS Bach are my co-favorite composers from the baroque period. Thus, I began my review with music of Scarlatti, Sonata XVII, K119, performed by Sophie Yates, Chandos 0635. You can learn a lot about a stereo system when listening to a harpsichord. What did I hear? The sound was spectrally balanced, but slightly forward. The treble harmonics were not exaggerated. The attack and release of the keys were not blunted or softened.
If you have read several of my reviews, you will recognize this selection, Offenbach, “Gaite Pariesienne”, conducted by Arthur Fiedler, JVC XRCD 0224, track 1. One experiences the full force of an orchestra. I noticed no deficiency in dynamic range. The articulation of the strings was reduced, compared to what I usually experience. The sound was a bit rounded. The wood block and the triangle exhibited realistic separation, the triangle in the foreground and the wood block positioned in the background. The treble frequencies produced by the triangle were slightly attenuated. Lest one conclude that this player is soft sounding, I observed a different presentation using the other preamps. Using the Mapleshade, there was greater extension and clarity, with less emphasis on the lower midrange. Using the McIntosh, there was more resolution and extension than that of the Mapleshade.
The contrast in the effects of the different preamps continued when I listened to the CD DON'T SMOKE IN BED, the Holly Cole trio, track 1, Alert Z2 81020. When there was an acoustic bass solo, the bass notes were clear, but the balance favored the body of the instrument. Hence, there was a slight emphasis upon the lower midrange or upper bass. Sibilance and vocal presentation were softened, creating a pleasant coloration. When using the other preamps, resolution increased and the sibilance was more pronounced.
Steely Dan, AJA, “Deacon Blues”, MCAD 37214 presents a challenge to any stereo system. The tenor sax can sound like an alto if a stereo system is not spectrally balanced. Donald Fagen's voice was slightly veiled in its presentation and the treble harmonics produced by the cymbal were somewhat attenuated. The tenor sax possessed a very natural timbre-realistic even in the upper registers. Using the other preamps removed the veil, but the McIntosh presentation of the tenor was somewhat unbalanced, favoring the lower treble.
Two of a kind, especially a pair of aces is often a winning poker hand. The CD TWO OF A KIND, track 3, Musical Heritage Society, 5162443 is a valuable tool when evaluating stereo systems. The front cover displays an ace of clubs and an ace of hearts. Cymbals and acoustic guitar were the focus of my attention. There was a slight attenuation heard at the beginning of the track when a cymbal was struck. However, the density of the cymbal reminded me of the sound of brass, rather than the sound of steel which I have observed on other stereo systems. The strings of the guitar exhibited the characteristics of nylon-thick and textured. I heard the body of the guitar resonate as the strings were plucked. I brought this CD to the CES last Jauuary. On many of the stereo systems I visited I could barely hear the presence of the wood body.
Conclusion
This component embodies the attributes of the modern tube sound: An absence of the “classic tube” colorations, a highly detailed and relatively neutral spectral balance and, therefore, a tendency toward truth rather than beauty. The sound of the stereo system changed significantly as I introduced each of three preamps. Its qualities of resolution and speed were readily apparent when I used the McIntosh preamp. I believe the combination of the 24/192 dac chip and the Mundorf capacitors are responsible for the clean, quick and relatively neutral presentation. The fact that the sound of the stereo system transformed from a somewhat colored to a relatively uncolored window on the music as I changed preamps is a testament to the relatively transparent nature of this CD player. However, beware of recording quality. Since this player presents none of the buffers between the listener and the source which one may experience using older tube products, a stereo system which includes this player should be configured with care to ensure synergy.http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/CD_Players/reviews/melodyCDM10.htm
The Gilmore Raptor 500D Monoblock Power Amplifiers
Individuals who were music lovers before anything else created the high-end or specialty audio industry. The products that they did and still produce were created with music as the main focus. If it were up to the large multi national corporations whose focus is the bottom line, we would be listening to a very different level of gear.Mark Gilmore, founder of Gilmore Audio can be added to the long list of high end innovators. Mark has been a life long music lover and guitarist. He also went on to become an aerospace, digital and computer engineer. All of these abilities came together when Mark founded his company, Gilmore Audio. The first products created by Gilmore Audio were the very distinctive Model 2 and the smaller Model 3 loudspeakers. Each of these is a four woofer, full ribbon planar dipole design. While I have yet to hear them, I hope to do so soon. Among their other products are the Raven stereo power amp and the six channel Dragonfly amp, both are rated at 250 watts per channel. The Dragonfly is built to order and is delivered within one month. The Blackbird preamplifier is a class “A” balanced differential design with individually buffered inputs. New to the lineup is the soon to be available 400 WPC Puppy stereo power amp with a mono block version to follow. The Puppy is a full class D design with a switching power supply. As you would expect from Mark Gilmore, this will be anything but a “typical” class D design. The early word is that it will be a highly modified proprietary design that will deal with the noise generated by most class D amps. The Mega Raptor is a 1000 watt version of the Raptor. It too is made to order, like the Dragonfly, and is delivered within one month. Finally there are the Raptor 500D monoblocks, the subject of this review.
Background
Recently, there have been a number of class D power amplifiers that have come to market creating quite of bit of industry buzz along the way. From the look of things, that number is growing. While many performance claims have been made for them as a whole, they still remain very controversial. I find it interesting to note that many of the detractors usually comparing them to class A/B amps that cost two to three times or more. While the Raptors are digital amps, they could be described as 'class “D” with a twist'.
The Raptors measure 12” X 12” X 4” high. While they are fairly compact given their power output, their size makes a much lower demand for precious shelf space than a typical class A/B amp of comparable power. Along the front panel, there is large mute switch and a LED to indicate status. The mute switch does just that, mute the output. There is no on/off switch since the amps are intended to be left on and powered up at all times. Given the efficiency of these amps, the LED consumes more power than the amps do with no input signal. From left to right along the rear panel are the speaker binding post, the balanced input, high or low gain switch , RCA input, fuse holder, power cord socket and voltage setting switch. Each amp sits upon high quality composite feet made by EAR that provide additional chassis dampening.
The chassis is built from 1/2 inch machined T-6061 aircraft aluminum. It should be noted that this is true aircraft grade aluminum. This grade of aluminum is much harder and is more difficult and expensive with which to work. There are sixteen hex nuts around the top plate of the chassis in addition to special internal locking clips that secure the top plate. The unit is sealed making it impervious to dust. The amp must only be opened by a Gilmore Audio technician. In fact, if you open the chassis, not only will you not be able to properly reassemble it, you also will void the warranty
Earlier I said that these amps were class D with a twist. While these amps contain proprietary class D circuitry, it is coupled to an analogue (non-switching) power supply employing a huge and expensive toroidal transformer; hence the 37 pound weight. The circuitry utilizes a highly modified, very high sampling rate ICE digital engine. This is not the same off-the -shelf, engine that is typically used in many other amplifiers. Rather, it is highly modified and unique to the Raptors. The proprietary circuitry, analogue power supply, digital filtering and chassis design all combine to reduce the RFI that would normally be created by these amps to ravishingly low levels. In this regard, these amps can be considered hybrids. This is a solid approach when dealing with high amounts of RFI that class D amps produce. The high rates of RFI created by the switching power supplies of some class D amps, can result in serious sonic consequences if it is picked up by other components and fed back through your system. Finally, according to the manufacturer, the circuit boards are of equally high quality and, are populated with high grade components.
Setup
The hardest part of setting up the Raptors is hefting their 37 Lbs into place. The inputs are clearly marked and well spaced, so making the necessary connections is a breeze. I particularly liked the Cardas speaker binding post. They are very high quality and provide a very large surface area for securely connecting spade lugs. Even the thickest spade lugs are easily accommodated. I understand that the amps currently in production are being outfitted with even better speaker binding post that will provide more uniform pressure on the speaker wires spade lugs and make it virtually impossible to short out the amp by making a bad connection.
I especially liked the high/low gain feature. It is a very useful to be able to tailor the gain to different preamps since some of them can have a very high output. The plain box styling will appeal to some and not to others. Personally, I find their unobtrusive styling to be quite welcome.
The Sound
According to Gilmore, one of the design goals for these amps is that they have no sound of their own. I have heard this claim made for other components, only to find that brightness was being passed off as neutrality and worse, treble extension. In this case, these amps really have no sound of their own; so, how do you describe how they sound? Since it is futile to try to describe “No sound”, the best way to approach this is by describing what these amps do and not do. Their sonic presentation has a total lack of edge or hardness, (Thank You). There is also a lack of any electronic hash or haze with the sound. As far as being warm or cool, these characteristics do not apply to the Gilmores. Any warmth or coolness has to be laid at the feet of other components upstream. In short, these amps are very revealing of associated equipment while they remain as close to “neutral” as I have heard in any amplifier to date.
The music is presented with a very high degree of clarity yet, there is a total lack of brightness. This is something that I hear all too often with much of the gear that I have come across of late. I believe that this is in large part due to their very low noise floor. While the music comes from a dark background, it is not the anechoic black hole sound that to me is very unnatural sounding. This is testament to the careful design of the power supply. It is difficult and quite expensive to achieve a quiet power supply using a toroidal transformer. One of the by products of these transformers is noise unless they are very well made (expensive). The old ear to the tweeter test revealed a very low level of hiss that turned out to be tube noise from the pre-amp rather than any noise from the amplifiers.
Really good recordings have a presence and vibrancy that went un-noticed previously. Two that stood out were “A Night in Copenhagen”, by the Charles Lloyd Quartet, Blue Note [ST85104]. This is a live, not necessarily audiophile pressing, that was well none-the -less, well recorded. I noticed that the low level hall cues that give a sense of the space the musicians are performing in were more prominent but still sounded quite natural .
Another recording in the same vane is “Friday Night at the Blackhawk, vol. 1” by Miles Davis, [Columbia Cl 1669]. This is an original six-eye original pressing. These amps allow the presence and vibrancy of this recording to flow out of the speakers as I have never heard before from my system. I readily
understand why original pressings are so often highly prized.
Treble extension is quite good. Where it exists in the recording, cymbals have bigness, shimmer and decay that create an illusion that is much closer to the real thing. The high degree of resolution allows the tumbrel differences between different cymbals as well as triangles to be heard much more clearly than with my Bel-Canto amps.
The mid-range tends to be a touch on the dark side. This characterization is usually taken to be a negative criticism. That is not in any way my intention here. To be clear, this “darkness” is in comparison to other gear that I find to be somewhat bright in this area. The Raptors present instrumental timbres with a fullness and richness that to my ears mimic real instruments. I have to admit that this is much to my liking. Pianos sounded weightier with less emphasis on the initial transient but more on the body of the notes. Keith Jarrett's “Up For It”, [ECM 860B0000406-021] is a good example. Here again, the shimmer and decay of the notes were very good. The emphasis is on the body of the notes as opposed to razor sharp transients. It is not as if this was an artifact that is added on rather, it's just that these amps allow these qualities to come through the speakers unimpeded.
The mid to upper bass is handled quite well. It is tuneful and well detailed. The lower bass is another area that I was impressed with. These amps can go deep but they also do so with weight and authority. Large orchestral pieces are no problem for the Raptors. Aaron Copland's “Fanfare for the Common Man”, from his Third Symphony, [Reference Recording RR-93CD] is a case in point. This piece was reproduced with the appropriate size, dynamics and tumbrel weightiness that make for a realistic presentation.
Conclusion
The reason that this review took so long to write is that these amps compelled the kind of listening that had me revisiting much of my record collection. Because the way these amps performed, far more time was spent listening rather than trying to isolate, describe and write about the usual sonic checklist of audiophile attributes or artifacts. Mark Gilmore has combined a unique class “D” circuit design with a very high quality analogue power supply and, it works exceptionally well in this case. The design focused on only those elements that resulted in an audible improvement; Hence, the lack of fancy graphics and other unnecessary add-ons. The result is a musical presentation that I can best describe as whole cloth analogue as opposed to the spot lighted digital sound that is so common today. I find them highly engaging and they make listening most pleasurable over the long term.Mark Gilmore and Glacier Audio are so confident in their products that they come with a very liberal one month in home auditioning period before making the final purchase. I don't think that you will run into this deal very often. In addition, should you convince a friend to purchase a pair of Raptors, you will receive a $500.00 finder's fee, ($250.00 for a Raven.) Once you spend some time with the Raptors, you will understand why they have the confidence to make these kinds of offers.
The Gilmore Raptor amplifiers may not be as well known as a number of other entries in their class at present; I believe this will soon change. Never the less, considering their excellent build quality and performance, they are being offered at what I judge to be a reasonable price. Keep in mind that the price would be much higher if you had to purchase them through a dealer. If you are in the market for a pair of amps in this price range, do not overlook the Raptor monoblocks. These amps are true winners.
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/Solid_State_Amps/reviews/gilmoreamp.htm
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