The all new Continental Dual Mono
Aug 31, 2016 at 8:15 PM Post #1,621 of 2,704
Thanks for the input re: wi-if interference. Sounds like I shouldn't have a problem using a CDM in the way I want. I'm imagining having it plugged into my desktop most of the time and bringing it around the apartment or to work when I want to listen to its delicious goodness away from my desk.

I put the CDM on my shortlist based on listening experience with Vinnie Rossi's LIO and previous Red Wine Audio product. I'm still thinking about a purchase, but getting close to pulling out my wallet for a purchase. The specs and reviews sound almost perfect for the way I listen to music.

My only advice would be that if you don't mind a two-piece system is that you might be to wait until the CV5 comes out and then pair it with a Chord Mojo. I prefer the DAC portion of the Mojo to that of the CDM, but then again the amp section of the CDM spanks that of the Mojo (of course IMHO, YMMV, etc.). Therefore the CV5 being just the amp portion without the DAC makes a perfect companion to the Mojo. I've used this pairing during my testing of the CV5 and it is awesome. Also it gives you the option of being more portable, as the CDM is really more transportable. Cheers 
 
Aug 31, 2016 at 8:45 PM Post #1,622 of 2,704
  My only advice would be that if you don't mind a two-piece system is that you might be to wait until the CV5 comes out and then pair it with a Chord Mojo. I prefer the DAC portion of the Mojo to that of the CDM, but then again the amp section of the CDM spanks that of the Mojo (of course IMHO, YMMV, etc.). Therefore the CV5 being just the amp portion without the DAC makes a perfect companion to the Mojo. I've used this pairing during my testing of the CV5 and it is awesome. Also it gives you the option of being more portable, as the CDM is really more transportable. Cheers 


I've thought about two piece systems, but if I were doing that, I think I would probably piece together a full-sized desktop system. The draw of the CDM for me is that it sounds like it offers desktop performance in a transportable form factor. The one-piece simplicity is a huge factor for me there and I think I'd lose some of that with a two piece system.
 
What is this CV5 that I've seen people post about? Is it essentially the amp portion of the CDM?
 
Aug 31, 2016 at 9:18 PM Post #1,623 of 2,704
 
I've thought about two piece systems, but if I were doing that, I think I would probably piece together a full-sized desktop system. The draw of the CDM for me is that it sounds like it offers desktop performance in a transportable form factor. The one-piece simplicity is a huge factor for me there and I think I'd lose some of that with a two piece system.
 
What is this CV5 that I've seen people post about? Is it essentially the amp portion of the CDM?

Exactly. The Continental Version 5 (CV5) is essentially a single-ended version of the CDM amp (no DAC) in the same form-factor as the ALO Rx, so much smaller than the CDM. It also is a single tube versus double and runs much cooler. The circuitry has been updated since the CDM, and some even say it sounds a wee-bit better than the CDM, although others prefer the CDM as well. YMMV. I love both. 
 
Here's what it looks like as part of a three-piece stack with my AK100 as the transport, Chord Mojo as DAC and CV5 as amp. This let's you see the relative sizes, which are very similar across the three pieces. It's portable, but a bit unwieldy (kind of cube-like), although the sound is sublime. 
 

 

 
 
Cheers
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 1:20 PM Post #1,624 of 2,704
Exactly. The Continental Version 5 (CV5) is essentially a single-ended version of the CDM amp (no DAC) in the same form-factor as the ALO Rx, so much smaller than the CDM. It also is a single tube versus double and runs much cooler. The circuitry has been updated since the CDM, and some even say it sounds a wee-bit better than the CDM, although others prefer the CDM as well. YMMV. I love both. 


I guess that's the question, then: which amp section I'd like better. I haven't found any really detailed comparisons, but I guess it's early.

I slept on it and am starting to open up to the two piece system idea. Using a Mojo opens up a few use cases that would be nice since it has coax and optical in.
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 3:51 PM Post #1,625 of 2,704
  Exactly. The Continental Version 5 (CV5) is essentially a single-ended version of the CDM amp (no DAC) in the same form-factor as the ALO Rx, so much smaller than the CDM. It also is a single tube versus double and runs much cooler. The circuitry has been updated since the CDM, and some even say it sounds a wee-bit better than the CDM, although others prefer the CDM as well. YMMV. I love both. 
 
Here's what it looks like as part of a three-piece stack with my AK100 as the transport, Chord Mojo as DAC and CV5 as amp. This let's you see the relative sizes, which are very similar across the three pieces. It's portable, but a bit unwieldy (kind of cube-like), although the sound is sublime. 
 

 

 
 
Cheers

Great combination! CV5 say that this is also the most powerful of the CDM .. although I love this CDM machines are spectacular both construction and sound .. I think that each of them has the right combination an object that contains dac + amp is more practical but separated you can achieve better results and have more freedom of choice of sound!
 
regards.
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 4:23 PM Post #1,626 of 2,704
I guess that's the question, then: which amp section I'd like better. I haven't found any really detailed comparisons, but I guess it's early.

I slept on it and am starting to open up to the two piece system idea. Using a Mojo opens up a few use cases that would be nice since it has coax and optical in.


Practically speaking, if this system will be your main rig for desktop and portable listening, you do have more flexibility when using pure DAC and pure amp as separate components. If this is strictly going to be portable for you, my experience trying this on a phone/Vorzuge/Mojo combo was terrible. Sound was awesome, but on a plane, on a train, or even in a car I rarely found a good enough listening environment where I could really tell the difference between this an a more integrated stack. Furthermore, carrying multiple chargers and cables is no fun and at least speaking for myself, practically guarantees I will lose a cable or 2 on the road. I am now hesitant taking my CDM on the road since I will have to take an extra charger and OTG cable with me. I'm actually finding the new Audioquest Dragonfly Red, more than adequate for my portable needs. No charger needed and no much bigger than a thumb drive.
 
Just sharing my personal experience. Had someone told me this before, it would have saved me a good deal of money as I have sold off my multi-stack components at a loss.
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 4:30 PM Post #1,627 of 2,704
Practically speaking, if this system will be your main rig for desktop and portable listening, you do have more flexibility when using pure DAC and pure amp as separate components. If this is strictly going to be portable for you, my experience trying this on a phone/Vorzuge/Mojo combo was terrible. Sound was awesome, but on a plane, on a train, or even in a car I rarely found a good enough listening environment where I could really tell the difference between this an a more integrated stack. Furthermore, carrying multiple chargers and cables is no fun and at least speaking for myself, practically guarantees I will lose a cable or 2 on the road. I am now hesitant taking my CDM on the road since I will have to take an extra charger and OTG cable with me. I'm actually finding the new Audioquest Dragonfly Red, more than adequate for my portable needs. No charger needed and no much bigger than a thumb drive.

Just sharing my personal experience. Had someone told me this before, it would have saved me a good deal of money as I have sold off my multi-stack components at a loss.


Lucky your IEM's play well with the dfr, mine became way too harsh and bright sounding and lacking bass. Plus the terrible clicking hiss sound with the dfr, returned two for this reason, I'll stick with the mojo for now.
 
Sep 2, 2016 at 10:02 AM Post #1,628 of 2,704
Hey Guys,

We have found that the CDM can work with the new AK70 using a USB micro to micro OTG cable to take the digital signal off the player and feed to the CDM's internal dac!  However what needs to be done is a slight modification of the resistors located at R90 and R91. It's really simple - you need to solder a jumper wire across R90, and one across R91 (effectively making the resistor a zero ohm resistor).  We have incorporated this change in all our current production CDMs.  This change also makes certain iPhone high resolution apps more stable.  Please see the location and images below.
 
If your happy with your CDM and don't plan to use the AK70's digital output, then you need not perform this operation.  However if you do want to do this I cannot stress enough that you have to be super careful with soldering and not make any shorts to the components on the PCB.  And just like with tube rolling in the CDM, make sure you first unplug the battery and are well grounded to avoid static discharge on the board.    
 
- If you live in the USA and are not comfortable with doing this mod please use the attached .PDF worksheet, follow the instructions, and to send me your CDM and I will do it for you free of charge.  
 
- If you are in HK or China please, contact ECT.  If you are in Japan, please contact Mixwave.  If you live elsewhere I can still do this operation for you for free, but you have to pay shipping (both ways).
 
- Please note that we will try to turn these around and back to you as soon as possible but have a up to 2 weeks turn around time depending on work load. 
 
Thank you,
 
Ken


[ATTACHMENT=3201]CDM-ModificationWorksheet.pdf (121k. pdf file)[/ATTACHMENT]








Thanks Guys,

Ken
Hi kb, curious as a new firmware for the 300 series AK's has opened up the usb audio out however ive only been successful using my ak320 with the sony pha3 via usb! The ak will not "see" the cdm upon a micro to micro connection, this and the use of an otg cable may solve thaf issue and allow the cdm to be used via usb with the the AK 300 series daps! Think im going to have to test this theroy over the holiday weekend!

Maybe you have this answer already? If not would you like me to send the results to you?

Thanks as always for all your great products!!
 
Sep 2, 2016 at 10:32 AM Post #1,629 of 2,704
Hi kb, curious as a new firmware for the 300 series AK's has opened up the usb audio out however ive only been successful using my ak320 with the sony pha3 via usb! The ak will not "see" the cdm upon a micro to micro connection, this and the use of an otg cable may solve thaf issue and allow the cdm to be used via usb with the the AK 300 series daps! Think im going to have to test this theroy over the holiday weekend!

Maybe you have this answer already? If not would you like me to send the results to you?

Thanks as always for all your great products!!

HI Wfanning1,
 
I think you will find that it will work, I have not tried it because I do not have a 300 series. I did see a photo from my friend at iRiver who showed a photo of a 300 series DAP working with the CDM. Please let us know.
 
Thanks
 
Ken
 
Campfire Audio Campfire Audio - Nicely Done. Stay updated on Campfire Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.campfireaudio.com/ Support@campfireaudio.com
Sep 2, 2016 at 10:32 AM Post #1,630 of 2,704
Hi kb, curious as a new firmware for the 300 series AK's has opened up the usb audio out however ive only been successful using my ak320 with the sony pha3 via usb! The ak will not "see" the cdm upon a micro to micro connection, this and the use of an otg cable may solve thaf issue and allow the cdm to be used via usb with the the AK 300 series daps! Think im going to have to test this theroy over the holiday weekend!

Maybe you have this answer already? If not would you like me to send the results to you?

Thanks as always for all your great products!!

HI Wfanning1,
 
I think you will find that it will work, I have not tried it because I do not have a 300 series. I did see a photo from my friend at iRiver who showed a photo of a 300 series DAP working with the CDM. Please let us know.
 
Thanks
 
Ken
 
Campfire Audio Campfire Audio - Nicely Done. Stay updated on Campfire Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.campfireaudio.com/ Support@campfireaudio.com
Sep 3, 2016 at 10:04 AM Post #1,631 of 2,704
Practically speaking, if this system will be your main rig for desktop and portable listening, you do have more flexibility when using pure DAC and pure amp as separate components. If this is strictly going to be portable for you, my experience trying this on a phone/Vorzuge/Mojo combo was terrible. Sound was awesome, but on a plane, on a train, or even in a car I rarely found a good enough listening environment where I could really tell the difference between this an a more integrated stack. Furthermore, carrying multiple chargers and cables is no fun and at least speaking for myself, practically guarantees I will lose a cable or 2 on the road. I am now hesitant taking my CDM on the road since I will have to take an extra charger and OTG cable with me. I'm actually finding the new Audioquest Dragonfly Red, more than adequate for my portable needs. No charger needed and no much bigger than a thumb drive.

Just sharing my personal experience. Had someone told me this before, it would have saved me a good deal of money as I have sold off my multi-stack components at a loss.


Have to say I've really been enjoying the DFR out of my iPhone 6 to my JH13 CIEMs. Had to get a slight fit adjustment on my Layla's and expect results there will be great when they come back my way. I did pop for the CV5 pre-order. If it's too much hassle for portable use, I can still use it when I reach my destination, and it should be much lighter and cooler than was the CDM so less weight in the carry-on:blush:
 
Sep 4, 2016 at 10:49 AM Post #1,632 of 2,704
  My only advice would be that if you don't mind a two-piece system is that you might be to wait until the CV5 comes out and then pair it with a Chord Mojo. I prefer the DAC portion of the Mojo to that of the CDM, but then again the amp section of the CDM spanks that of the Mojo (of course IMHO, YMMV, etc.). Therefore the CV5 being just the amp portion without the DAC makes a perfect companion to the Mojo. I've used this pairing during my testing of the CV5 and it is awesome. Also it gives you the option of being more portable, as the CDM is really more transportable. Cheers 


So now with CV5 pre-orders shipping, I'm intrigued by this idea (but still liking the one-box, dual mono balanced config of the CDM). How would you compare the sound of the mojo+CV5 to the CDM?
 
Sep 4, 2016 at 3:15 PM Post #1,633 of 2,704
So now with CV5 pre-orders shipping, I'm intrigued by this idea (but still liking the one-box, dual mono balanced config of the CDM). How would you compare the sound of the mojo+CV5 to the CDM?


IMHO the addition of the Mojo adds more resolution but with warmth and musicality versus being clinical. You hear more but still want to tap your toes and feel immersed in the music. It's like the difference between a delta-sigma DAC and an R2R DAC, although in reality while the CDM does have a DS chip the Mojo is its own beast as a FPGA chip with highly customized "code" running on it. Has to be heard to really understand. Hope this helps. Cheers
 
Sep 6, 2016 at 12:21 PM Post #1,634 of 2,704
HI Wfanning1,

I think you will find that it will work, I have not tried it because I do not have a 300 series. I did see a photo from my friend at iRiver who showed a photo of a 300 series DAP working with the CDM. Please let us know.

Thanks

Ken


Hi ken,

Heres an update to my original therory of using the ak300 series with the cdm. Pictures are included and or will follow!

Let me start out by saying that it was quite the interesting weekend trying to make the cdm work with the ak3xx's!
After updating my ak320 with the latest firmware to allow usb audio out, i proceeded to first make a male to male micro usb cable. This was the first attempt at connecting the two together and needless to say did not work. Next, i made an otg cable the was male to male micro. This brought me to try number 2 with no luck making the two work.
As i wasnt ready yet to open up my cdm and jumper r90 and r91, i stopped for a bit and did some more research only to find alot of unhappy ak owners who were in tge same boat as i was!
Ok then, final attempt, lets open the cdm and do some micro soldering!! After successfully jumping r90 and r91, i grabbed my newly made otg cable and tried my last attempt to make my ak320 and cdm talk via usb. As they say, third time is the charm!!! Wouldnt ya know it,,,, they were happy and talking as they should!!? Cdm leds lite up proper on different files and the ak has its usb icon lit up!
So in the end it qas a combo of 3 things to make this work and they arw: newest ak firmware, jumper r90 and r91 and finally a good otg cable!!
I am including pics to show my work and the end reaults!
Thanks again ken for the cdm jumping info and to ak for opening up usb out as it should have had all along!
 
Sep 6, 2016 at 12:24 PM Post #1,635 of 2,704
Hi ken,

Heres an update to my original therory of using the ak300 series with the cdm. Pictures are included and or will follow!

Let me start out by saying that it was quite the interesting weekend trying to make the cdm work with the ak3xx's!
After updating my ak320 with the latest firmware to allow usb audio out, i proceeded to first make a male to male micro usb cable. This was the first attempt at connecting the two together and needless to say did not work. Next, i made an otg cable the was male to male micro. This brought me to try number 2 with no luck making the two work.
As i wasnt ready yet to open up my cdm and jumper r90 and r91, i stopped for a bit and did some more research only to find alot of unhappy ak owners who were in tge same boat as i was!
Ok then, final attempt, lets open the cdm and do some micro soldering!! After successfully jumping r90 and r91, i grabbed my newly made otg cable and tried my last attempt to make my ak320 and cdm talk via usb. As they say, third time is the charm!!! Wouldnt ya know it,,,, they were happy and talking as they should!!? Cdm leds lite up proper on different files and the ak has its usb icon lit up!
So in the end it qas a combo of 3 things to make this work and they arw: newest ak firmware, jumper r90 and r91 and finally a good otg cable!!
I am including pics to show my work and the end reaults!
Thanks again ken for the cdm jumping info and to ak for opening up usb out as it should have had all along!
A few other pics that didnt upload for sime reason? and another one more if want others or more detail please message me and i will be happy to help!

Thanks again
 

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