[macdonjh]

I've seen and had some players (especially the mixed media ones like DVD players) that don't do gapless playback, which is why I brought it up. CD-ROM based mechanisms also don't tend to implement gapless playback maybe because they're built for the way computers access data.

I won't ask for my dream feature, which I don't expect anyone to implement these days: index point access within tracks. I've only seen that on some Sony ES players.

I had a couple of players with index access in the late '80s and early '90s. Haven't seen one since (of course, I haven't looked hard). I've actually had only two CDs with index "marks" that I can remember: Gould's Goldberg Variations (CBS Masterworks, I think) and Rush Hemispheres, "La Villa Strangiato", specifically. Are there that many albums out there with index marks?

Tonight's Syn-full song recommendation:

Hoedown-2015 Remaster..... Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

I like both the original and the ELP version. I sure wish the Houston Symphony would perform more Copeland (and Stravinsky, and Hovhaness, and Gould, and...).

 

[Sinister Whisperz]

I'm also finding this oddly fascinating. Probably because it feeds into my speaker fetish.

Looking through TAS Ultimate Directory of Loudspeakers and capping the price at mid 3 figures, for 88+ sensitive speakers, I see not much.

Cabasse has a bunch of sensitive speakers at a variety of price points, some more reasonable than others.
Paradigm has a few.
PSB Alpha P5.
Tekton Mini Lore at 95.
Totem Kin (love my Totem Tribe II as a center channel)

Me, personally, I really want the Fyne Audio Vintage Ten or the Vintage Fifteen! The F301 seems a good deal at 89/$625.

Some amusing asides:
The Oswald Mills Mini is 89lbs (95 sensitivity!). Unusual definition of mini being used there.

(hope no one minds this list)

Thank you, nice list, I kind of like the mini Lore. I've been researching with every free minute for weeks now, my wife is beginning to give me a worried look since past experience says the longer I research the more expensive things I find.

 

[EricDH]

I bought a Cambridge transport to get me through the past two years waiting for Urd… this is going to be very exciting! I’m giddy to hear Urd added to my Yggy/Freya/Tyr set up.

That will be a great set up (already is of course).

 

[EricDH]

I was thinking that maybe I had too much stuff. So, I thought, I will just route all of my digital music through the Oppo DAC. It is supposed to have a really nice dual mono, quad chip setup. How much worse off could I be? And then I could sell the Gumby and have an extra $1000, basically.

So, this morning I put on a CD of the Janacek Sinfonietta. Played a while through the Gumby...then just the Oppo...and then back to the Gumby. The Schiit DAC was MILES more realistic. The experience is well worth the extra money/space/cables/etc.

It is nice to be reminded that you own good Schiit!

Wonderful music from Janáček too!

 

[EricDH]

I hope Urd will have gapless playback. Since Mike is a big classical fan, I'm hopeful it will be in there.

A CD Transport (or player) without gapless playback has no reason to exist.

 

[EricDH]

I’m working on a Yggy but I promised no more purchases till I sell off all the extra equipment. We’ll see how I do on that!

You can always redefine what is "extra".

 

[EricDH]

Looking through TAS Ultimate Directory of Loudspeakers and capping the price at mid 3 figures, for 88+ sensitive speakers, I see not much.

I can't find that on their website. For subscribers I guess.

 

[Plautus001]

I'm also finding this oddly fascinating. Probably because it feeds into my speaker fetish.

Looking through TAS Ultimate Directory of Loudspeakers and capping the price at mid 3 figures, for 88+ sensitive speakers, I see not much.

Cabasse has a bunch of sensitive speakers at a variety of price points, some more reasonable than others.
Paradigm has a few.
PSB Alpha P5.
Tekton Mini Lore at 95.
Totem Kin (love my Totem Tribe II as a center channel)

Me, personally, I really want the Fyne Audio Vintage Ten or the Vintage Fifteen! The F301 seems a good deal at 89/$625.

Some amusing asides:
The Oswald Mills Mini is 89lbs (95 sensitivity!). Unusual definition of mini being used there.

(hope no one minds this list)

Aside from Tekton which is manufacture direct, some dealers may have discounts.

In Canada, Paradigm is a steal. I would contact a dealer and get a discount especially if you live near a border.

$250 US ends up being $435 CDN by the time I pay exchange, shipping, and theft fees... Error... "Handling".

I know find out what my price will be in my hands and go from there.

 

[Timster]

Me, personally, I really want the Fyne Audio Vintage Ten or the Vintage Fifteen! The F301 seems a good deal at 89/$625.

The Vintage 15 would be awesome indeed. Sadly well above my pay scale

 

[thebmc]

Do you have a link? I know gapless is a big thing for Darko. However, I can't think of any disc player from any manufacturer that won't play gapless.

Here's a link to a forum where owners talk about it: https://emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/59406/erc-choosing-marantz-rotel-cambridge

 

[rkw]

I had a couple of players with index access in the late '80s and early '90s. Haven't seen one since (of course, I haven't looked hard). I've actually had only two CDs with index "marks" that I can remember: Gould's Goldberg Variations (CBS Masterworks, I think) and Rush Hemispheres, "La Villa Strangiato", specifically. Are there that many albums out there with index marks?

CD index marks are potentially useful, but I think the reality was that consumers were confused about the difference between tracks and index marks. There was no consistent way for how the record labels should use index marks, and it wasn't long before both the record labels and CD player manufacturers gave up on the idea. I have the original CD release of the Glenn Gould Goldberg Variations, where the entire CD is a single track with 32 index marks. Within a couple of years, I saw that CD release had been changed to 32 tracks, an acknowledgement that index marks didn't gain acceptance in the marketplace.

 

[Erratic Gravy]

I'm also finding this oddly fascinating. Probably because it feeds into my speaker fetish.

Looking through TAS Ultimate Directory of Loudspeakers and capping the price at mid 3 figures, for 88+ sensitive speakers, I see not much.

Cabasse has a bunch of sensitive speakers at a variety of price points, some more reasonable than others.
Paradigm has a few.
PSB Alpha P5.
Tekton Mini Lore at 95.
Totem Kin (love my Totem Tribe II as a center channel)

Me, personally, I really want the Fyne Audio Vintage Ten or the Vintage Fifteen! The F301 seems a good deal at 89/$625.

Some amusing asides:
The Oswald Mills Mini is 89lbs (95 sensitivity!). Unusual definition of mini being used there.

(hope no one minds this list)

As always useful research is most welcome

 

[Chucked]

A Bob Dylan song of course.

The attached image is a homage to ORT, Paladin79 and Bcowen. I am aquiring a collection of Wohler LED and Benchmark Media Sp320x meters. Looking at them puts a smile on my face. In these times we need all the smiles we can get. I can't thank you folks enough, I received a sch-remote digital VU from Ebay today. It looks like a really cool device for a favorable price from the videos, I will update when I get it working. The hypers and a review.

https://sch-remote.com/Color-LCD-to...alyzer---Envelope---Goniometer-PID-EVOR04.php

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1755999183...UhoWNs8Cddaqups9jltFDNlA==|tkp:Bk9SR4iJia39YQ

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...emote-digital-vu-spectrum-meter-review.44010/

​

 

[cricket]

In the spirit of DIY, this is SPLAAR, my Stepped Passive Logarithmic Audio Attenuator with Remote.

Inspired by several events:

• When Schiit discontinued the original Freya and I couldn’t get one.
• Finding a stepped logarithmic attenuator calculator webpage.
• When Schiit re-released Freya and I found out how good the passive stage sounds.
• The release of Schiit’s small footprint amps and the realization my future basement shop system would need a preamp.
• Retirement.

The board is my own design and measures a tiny 3.6 inches by 2.5 inches (a standard playing card is 3.5” x 2.25”). I originally used an Adafruit Itsybitsy M0 for the controller and decided it was way overkill for the job. The ubiquitous ATMEGA328 is a good alternate in this application, plus it simplifies assembly by eliminating several headers.

SPLAAR responds to Freya and Yggdrasil remotes and can easily work with a rotary encoder. There is no touchscreen, bluetooth, or IOT. There is no app. Power switch? None!

Limitations? This has a single input. OK, there’s a third gen design with two inputs, but the added real estate for RCA connectors adds 30% to the bare board cost.

These will not be for sale. Not gettin' into that. I think, however, Schiit should design their own and market them as Step-Sys.

Bare and loaded boards, first and second generations:

Board installed in enclosure:

Front of enclosure:

 

[StimpyWan]

I had a couple of players with index access in the late '80s and early '90s. Haven't seen one since (of course, I haven't looked hard). I've actually had only two CDs with index "marks" that I can remember: Gould's Goldberg Variations (CBS Masterworks, I think) and Rush Hemispheres, "La Villa Strangiato", specifically. Are there that many albums out there with index marks?


I like both the original and the ELP version. I sure wish the Houston Symphony would perform more Copeland (and Stravinsky, and Hovhaness, and Gould, and...).

My old Denon DCD-1520 CD player had index point access. A hard button for access and a display to show the index points. I'm not sure if I've seen a modern player that still offers that feature?

Technically, the CD format supports 99 tracks, and allows up to 99 index points within a track. I've never seen a disc that utilized all of those points. But, we did receive a 1630 U-Matic master tape, that had over 600 track and index ID's, within the Table of Contents. It took my engineering co-worker about 3 hours to type in all of those TOC ID's...! I'm still glad that I didn't get that master tape on my schedule, to set all those PQ points...!