[Lando]

Heh heh...I am getting my NEC drive sometime tomorrow....

 

[marios_mar]

thanks akar. It was only the XP i saw not the plus. And by the way i dont buy from ebay.com but from ebay.de. Our current here is 200V so buying from the US is not worth it considering the postage too.

Can you please list the 2X up to 6 or 8X models that do have coaxial out?

Does CDR 502 have?

How much does a Caddy cost?

Does anybody know for how much I could get an ART D/IO in EUROPE or if there is a good DAC or place to find DACs in Europe?

thanks

 

[lan]

Caddy's are ancient now and should be mega cheap. You can probably get a few for 1 dollar/euro.


Update: I added filtered a IEC and sound improved some. I'm going to try using a regulated wall wart to power the 5V on the drive which is for it's electronics.

 

[gastro54]

woohoo my di/o arrived today, and there is an obvious improvement on bass and soundstage. I'll have to listen more, though.

 

[Lando]

My drive was delivered today!

It's the Multspin 3Xp Plus, not the six. Besides the speed difference, it has only one scsi connection, is top loading, and has a headphone jack on the side but no rca jacks on the back. Also, it does not seek through tracks, but that is not very important to me. Without a dac, the improvements I'm hearing are subtle most of the time. However, I have already found a few tracks with fairly noticeable differences. (I'm comparing this to my SB Live, with both sources going through my vintage reciever.)
What I'm hearing with the 3Xp is
A) A smoother presentation (the SB Live sounds somewhat harsh in comparison.)
B) More neutral sound (this is very closely related to item A, as it seems like the less neutral response of the Live magnifies harshness in the midrange.)
C) Wider soundstage (to be precise, a headstage that is both wider and slightly deeper, extending further behind my ears than with the Live.)
D) Better instrument seperation.
E) Possibly better resolution, although this could be a result of items A and B.

I'll listen more and post more impressions later, but I'm quite happy with the drive so far. I'll be even happier when I get an Art DI/O.

Edit #1: The 3Xp uses a wall wart, so upgrading the power supply is as easy as buying a better wall wart. What is difficult is determining which wall warts are better, as the supplied one is both large and heavy. t does not say, but I think it may be regulated. I will have to try to test it later.
Edit #2: The whole transport is mounted on some sort of shock absorber, allowing it to remain stable even if the housing is jarred. I will report more on this after I open 'er up.

 

[soupy]

my 602 came in today. Wow it was dirty. I cleaned the whole thing inside out with some compressed air and alcohol swabs, loooks as good as new now. My DI/O and DH Labs cable hasn't come in yet so I couldn't test that part, but I just tried it out the RCA jacks to my EAR+. Overall it sounded very good for this cheap of a player. The thing that really bothered me was the vocals on this track that I'm used to. It just sounded too....digital. It's dying for a DAC.

I got to admit tho...it looks ALOT smaller in the pictures. It's HUUUUGEE and damn heavy, no wonder shipping was so much. I like the caddy..haha, reminds me of my first 2x sony burner that I paid $250 for way back in the day...

 

[lan]

Yeah it is pretty large for external drive but it's smaller than regular CD players.

Mine doesn't read CDRWs. It can read CDRs fine though.

Unfortunatly I don't have regulated 5V as I originally thought, only 12V and that one doesn't have enough power.

 

[Lando]

Dammit...I just tested it with my vu meter, and the big, beefy looking 12V wall wart that came with my drive is not regulated. I haven't tried cd-rs or rws yet.

 

[Lando]

Okay, I tried a cd-r, and it sucked. It played, but I heard a lot of static and clipping. Then, I burned a fresh cd-r at 4x speed and it played beautifully. It can't read cd-rws at all, which doesn't surprise me. And after a bit of listening, I've decided that it does sound a little too digital through the headphone out, but so far I'm only noticing it with cymbals, rainsticks, etc. Time to call for that Art DI/O.

 

[lan]

I changed the internal digital cable and the sound did improve a bit. It's the same situation with any source in that using a better digital cable and powercord also have their own levels of improvements. Overall I am pleased with this drive.

 

[andrzejpw]

Mine should be here tomorrow.

Ian: are you looking into making the nec a killer transport?

 

[gastro54]

After more listening with the di/o, i have found that it makes the sound less digital and a lot LOT more musical, everything is more controlled... heh i wonder what mods will sound like.

 

[Ctn]

Quote:

Originally posted by Hirsch There's absolutely no reason the same thing couldn't be attempted with a CD-ROM drive. In fact, the overwhelming likelihood is that it already has.

http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/redg.../rgcd5enr.html

Sells for US$2000.

 

[andrzejpw]

The ups guy was REALLY nice to day. He brought not only my nec drive, but also my projector screen.

Anyways, this nec drive, I'm in awe at the microdynamics improvement over my denon. I'll let you guys know more later.

 

[gastro54]

awesome, glad you like it... i think its time fora sig change!