[BANGPOD]

Head-fi'ers --

Anything really good in this department for this price range?
This player must have a good digital out (balanced is no issue).
A little kicker would be if this player is capable of playing HDCD's.
This would be great because my Muse 2 Plus DAC can read them.
I would really like synergy with the Muse 2 Plus that I own.
And I may be looking into a Bel Canto 2 DAC in the future.

So there you have it... $500-1000 CD Transport, HDCD capable.

The only one I know in this price range is the Meridian 500 (used).
Is it even capable of reading HDCD's? How does it compare to redbook?
Percentage wise, how many of today's CD's are encoded in HDCD?
Are most of them Redbook/HDCD or just simply HDCD? Something else?

Sorry for the moronic questions,
BANGPOD

 

[usc goose]

damn, i ain't seen upgraditus this bad since back in the day.

all apoligies for going OT.

 

[BANGPOD]

Quote:

Originally posted by usc goose damn, i ain't seen upgraditus this bad since back in the day. all apoligies for going OT.

usc goose,

Yeah this upgraditis is making me sick... Anyone with a cure?

All apologies for going "OT?" What does it mean to go OT?

Anyways...

Anybody out there have any suggestions for me?
Does anyone else have experience with this price range?
My NEC Multispin is temporary until I get a dedicated transport...

Somebody out there cure my upgraditis!

BANGPOD

 

[usc goose]

OT is off topic. I've been known to do that.

Curing upgraditus? Go to the music forum. Never look back.

(advice stolen from wallijonn of course)

 

[Canman]

Any CD transport you use will be able to pass through the HDCD coding. It is the digital filter in your Muse DAC that does the decoding.

If I were to look at transports in the $500-$1k range, I would check out the Meridian 500, or any of the various units that use the Pioneer stable platter transport.

Get used to your new amp first though. If possible, play around with different digital outputs if you can and see if you can hear any differences.

I am currently testing an experimental medication for upgraditis. So far it has curbed my urge to own more than four headphones, so I think it's working

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Canman, owning an Omega II is an easy, if expensive, way to end upgraditis.

 

[bozebuttons]

Quote:

Originally posted by Iron_Dreamer Canman, owning an Omega II is an easy, if expensive, way to end upgraditis.

Not Really

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Iron_Dreamer Canman, owning an Omega II is an easy, if expensive, way to end upgraditis.

Sure, until you see pictures of blue hawaii and egmont signature amplifiers

 

[BANGPOD]

Quote:

Originally posted by Canman Any CD transport you use will be able to pass through the HDCD coding. It is the digital filter in your Muse DAC that does the decoding. If I were to look at transports in the $500-$1k range, I would check out the Meridian 500, or any of the various units that use the Pioneer stable platter transport. Get used to your new amp first though. If possible, play around with different digital outputs if you can and see if you can hear any differences. I am currently testing an experimental medication for upgraditis. So far it has curbed my urge to own more than four headphones, so I think it's working

Canman --

I didn't know that any CD transport supported HDCD...
Now it makes sense that my DAC needs the HDCD (Bessel) filter!
If it was needed on the player to read HDCD, the DAC wouldn't...

DUH!

Also, several questions I really wanted answers for...

Percentage wise, how many of today's CD's are encoded in HDCD?
Are most of them Redbook/HDCD or just simply HDCD? Something else?
Lastly, what CD transports use the Pioneer stable platter concept?
Obviously Pioneer uses the concept, but what particular models use it?

Thanks for everything,
BANGPOD

 

[tom hankins]

Check out audiogon for either the CD1 or CD2 transport by Audio Research. Should be able to get one used in your price range.

 

[AC1]

Why not try a Muse Model 8 transport? I've talked to Muse before and if you use their special i2s interface, they said it is much more advanced than the s/pdif outs/ins but don't know if the two plus has the Muse i2s interface.

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally posted by BANGPOD Percentage wise, how many of today's CD's are encoded in HDCD?Are most of them Redbook/HDCD or just simply HDCD? Something else?Lastly, what CD transports use the Pioneer stable platter concept?Obviously Pioneer uses the concept, but what particular models use it?

Hey Bangpod,

perhaps 2% of my CD's are HDCD encoded. For the most part, they are all my Grateful Dead discs.

HDCD is an implementation of redbook audio. Theoretically it is supposed to increase resolution of the music by placing code in the least significant bit. This topic has been covered here extensively. Do a search to learn about it in detail.

I believe that the advantage of HDCD's is that more care was taken in the recording process. I don't believe that HDCD decoding offers much if anything at all over non-HDCD recordings as far as sound quality goes.

AC1's recomendation on the Muse transport is a great one as I2S is supposed to be a superior digital interface.

Some transports that use the Pioneer Stable Platter include several in the Pioneer line like the PD-65, PD-S505. Many high end brands like Theta and Wadia have also used this transport in their CD players.

Some claim that modified DVD players make great transports. I honestly don't have much experience in this subject.

 

[AC1]

Quote:

Originally posted by Canman Some transports that use the Pioneer Stable Platter include several in the Pioneer line like the PD-65, PD-S505. Many high end brands like Theta and Wadia have also used this transport in their CD players.

As a transport I've never liked the ordinary iterations of the stable platter. I've had a pd-65 and right now, I am also using a Fostex cr200 cd-writer that uses the stable platter. They pretty much sound the same as transports, but they both bother me since they emphasise the top and have a weak mid on down response where it lacks weight and dynamics.
I've only heard the Wadia 830 player briefly as a player, which sounded good, but can't really recommend the "regular" stable platter machines as transports.

 

[BANGPOD]

Quote:

Originally posted by AC1 Why not try a Muse Model 8 transport? I've talked to Muse before and if you use their special i2s interface, they said it is much more advanced than the s/pdif outs/ins but don't know if the two plus has the Muse i2s interface.

Canman or AC1 --

Could you guys go into this in a little bit more detail?
What exactly is the i2s interface? What does it do?
What kind of advantages does it bring to playing CD's?

Would the Muse Model 8 be better than the Meridian 500?
How would either of these compare to the AR CD1 and CD2?

Canman, what do you mean by more care (concerning HDCD)?
Please elaborate on this, HDCD's advantages have me confused.

Again, sorry for the moronic and equally naive questions...

BANGPOD

 

[jefemeister]

I2S is a bus interface used primarily when multiple systems have to share the same data. In an audio system multiple chips have to hang off the data bus--receivers, DSPs, DACs, filters, etc. i2s is merely an efficient/standard way for all these chips to clock synchronously. The beauty of these types of buses (there are others such as i2c) is that all a designer has to do is connect the dedicated i2s pins from one chip to the other with minimal customization. I personally don't consider i2s a selling point for the consumer.

both Canman and I (and some others) are of the opinion that HDCD discs sound good due to the recording engineering that went into them and not so much because of the HDCD technology itself. ie, a label isn't going to go through the trouble of using HDCD if they don't care about the overall sound quality of the product. Whereas mass-market-get-it-out-as-fast-as-you-can CDs could care less. HDCD takes advantage of the redbook spec to squeeze an extra bit or 2 of information into every sample.

Don't worry about asking questions. Quality audio reproduction is a confusing thing that is often times elusive, hard to describe/understand, and is open to quite a bit of interpretation.