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High End Red Book CD Player Opinions? - Page 16

post #226 of 251
7/23/06 at 3:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyeteeth
My understanding is that that should make a major difference. My room is possibly lousy. Actually, sometimes everything sounds lousy if I'm not in the mood to have my disbelief suspended. I can't say I'm going to devote much more money or effort into it (pissing in the wind?). I'm not too interested in how extended are the frequency extremes or pin-point imaging. It is what it is, and right now it's not fantastic in my view, it's OK. The primary musical message is communicated honestly and unharmed and that's enough for me.

Digital room correction is a fantastic road to take and I wish high-rez digital would establish it's self so we could all benefit from both technologies.
Acoustics are half the picture. Unfortunately there are very few people, if any, that will ever have an ideal listening environment. I don't get too wrapped up in high or low end extension either. Nevertheless, the dramatic improvements to imaging, soundstage and low end coherence are so overwhelming, I really can't ever go back to non-corrected listening. It is a revelation that I do hope more people get the opportunity to experience.

Right now, consumer products like the Denon receivers use very basic room correction that does not address time alignment. They simply don't have the processing power to do the kind of correction that systems like TACT and DEQx can do. The learning curve would also be far too burdensome for the average consumer. When those issues are fully resolved I think it will become a common feature in digital pre/pros.
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post #227 of 251
7/26/06 at 3:44am
Thread Starter 
^
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post #228 of 251
7/26/06 at 1:02pm
Quote:
It takes between 5 - 14 seconds to load a CD depending on the amount of data stored. Red Book CDs load faster than Orange Book CD-R/RW discs especially if multi-session recording was finalized. Everything is smooth and quiet. The transport is dead silent. On occassion, I will need to reload a disc before playing, but those only happen for my 3+ year old CD-R/RW discs. Track to track access is eye blinking fast. You press forward or back and the song plays half a millisecond later. The remote control sucks.
Uh-oh. I have A LOT of CD-Rs, so incompatibility will be a major issue for me. Welly, what CD-R brands have you used with the Ayre and which worked fine, and which did not? Does it *really* take up to 15 seconds for the Ayre to recognize a disc and then play it?

This is my major beef with audiophile-grade sources by small brands-- they always seem to forget about basic operation. They can be ergonomic nightmares. Seems to me, when paying that kind of money for something that is supposed to be high-quality, and to have a remote that barely works, extremely limited functionality, and insanely long loading times seems borderline unacceptable.
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post #229 of 251
7/26/06 at 2:23pm
MarkL,

Quote:
Seems to me, when paying that kind of money for something that is supposed to be high-quality, and to have a remote that barely works, extremely limited functionality, and insanely long loading times seems borderline unacceptable.
The loading time on both of my SCD-1 and modified SCD-777ES is about 35 to 40 secs, and I don't really mind...b/c of sense joy when the music begins. B/f I switched over from the SACDmods C555ES to these two players, I was worried about the 5 Disc convenients, but my headphone rig is by my bedside, therefore, it was not a biggie. Morevoer, loading a CD/SACD on these two units are so much fun.


Welly,
I'm glad that you are having a great time with your new source.
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post #230 of 251
7/26/06 at 4:52pm
looks like u picked the right source welly
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post #231 of 251
7/26/06 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by markl
This is my major beef with audiophile-grade sources by small brands-- they always seem to forget about basic operation. They can be ergonomic nightmares. Seems to me, when paying that kind of money for something that is supposed to be high-quality, and to have a remote that barely works, extremely limited functionality, and insanely long loading times seems borderline unacceptable.
Reading the latest chapter in HP of TAS hifi exploration, I find it astounding that $30,000 CD players need to have their power cord yanked from the wall for a reboot! Incredible!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianS
looks like u picked the right source welly
It certainly seems to be an all-round excellent choice and probably the safest bet among players of it's price range. I'd put up with slow loading times. Given the instability of the digital landscape, I've decided to wait a little longer and see what's around the corner. It may be that a plateau in redbook performance has been reached and the Ayre will still be right there in years to come.

If there is still better performance to come....well then those close to Welly had better get ready to go into action!

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post #232 of 251
7/27/06 at 3:48am
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post #233 of 251
7/27/06 at 4:25pm
My CX-7e takes an average of 8-10 seconds to load a disc and be ready to play.

The C-5xe is an awesome sounding player which I auditioned when I auditioned the Stax. Out of my price range at the time as it was twice the cost of the CX-7e.

On the subject of direct track access, I can punch in track x and press play and it plays. However, once it is playing, I can't press the number for another track and play that. I have to skip forward or back. I believe the metal remote control has direct track access.

Simon
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post #234 of 251
7/31/06 at 3:34am
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post #235 of 251
8/2/06 at 3:11am
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post #236 of 251
8/2/06 at 3:20am
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post #237 of 251
8/5/06 at 10:12pm
I bought this 'un:







Hope to have it on Wed. of next week!
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post #238 of 251
1/1/07 at 8:33pm
Thread Starter 
I decided to change focus based upon some new priorities in my life. I am selling my Ayre CX-7 Evolution soon. Ayre does not make any type of source component with any type of inputs. I need a CDP with both analog and digital inputs.

SO, I took a good hard look at Resolution Audio. I find the RA Opus 21/XS appealing. I need to buy a new desktop PC this year because my old Toshiba laptop stopped working. I plan to convert my CD collection into compressed lossless files, listen to Internet radio stations, download podcasts, and buy online music tracks along with viewing DVD-Videos. With the RA Opus 21/XS, I can integrate my computer with my CDP. At the time I was considering the Ayre CX-7E, RA had not come out with the XS.

I will post impressions and a full review in a couple of weeks.
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post #239 of 251
1/1/07 at 8:36pm
The Opus 21 pops up fairly often on audiogon so just be patient. I haven't seen the XS on audiogon yet, it's $1500 new if i remember correctly.
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post #240 of 251
1/1/07 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
I think I will just get a new Opus 21/XS. Thanks.
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