[Robonaut]

Despite what you might think from the title of this thread, I love my Marantz SA8001. But there are a few things that really tick me off about it.

(1) No resume. A lot of times I'll be listening to a CD and get interrupted. I don't want to leave the player on pause for twenty minutes or more so I have to stop it. But the player doesn't remember where I left off!

This is only mildly irritating when you're in the middle of a four minute pop song, but when you are 10 minutes into a 20 minute classical piece, the irritation factor increases exponentially.


(2) Slow-ass fast forward. Oh. My. God. The fast forward on this player must be at a whopping 1.1X normal play back speed--it takes for-freaking-ever to advance through a track. Which rather exacerbates issue #1 above.


(3) Countdown timer. Maybe I'm the only person in the world that does this, but I always leave the time display on my players in countdown mode. Always. Hence it bugs the crap out of me that the SA8001 resets the timer to count UP every damn time I put in a new disc.

Is it really that hard to design a player that remembers how I want my timer set?

I haven't used that many higher-end CD players, but I'm pretty sure all of the ones that I demoed offer these same very annoying "features".


Is anyone aware of good quality SACD player that does NOT do this stuff?

 

[sejarzo]

....shares your same frustration re the slow FF function--but that has been the case with every multiformat player I've owned or demo'ed. Only older CD-only transports seem to offer the very rapid FF that was universally available some time ago. Older classical CD's also made use of the index function to break up long movements, and that seems to be another feature gone by the wayside! I just bought a 1990 version of "Eine Alpensinfonie".....one movement, one track....48:19 long! There are 22 index points in the track, but that's of no value to me now.

As far as a resume function....I've never had a CD player with such a function....and I've owned around 10 since early 1984. Something I read last year indicated that the slow FF on newer players has to do with the use of DVD drives (a necessity to read SACD's). However, video DVD transports seem to have no problem with resuming, so maybe you do have a point....but I don't know if the format of DVD's makes that possible rather than something in the transport.

And re the timer.....likewise, all the players that I have owned operated that way--count up is the default, count down must be selected with every change of disc. I listen primarily to classical, and when liner notes mention timing of particular segments, it's always based on the "count up" standard--so that's not a big deal to me.

Given that I got mine as a truly 10/10 only 3 weeks old for $560, I'm likewise quite pleased with it!

 

[Mister Crash]

I have my own little nit-picky issues with my CD player, an Eastern Electric Minimax. Here are the little things that drive me crazy:

1. The player won't play music at all right after you turn it on. Now, this makes sense from a logistical standpoint: it's a tube-based CD player, and the tubes need some time to warm up. And it doesn't last all that long (it's over thirty seconds, but less than a minute, I believe). But I'm used to turning a player on, putting in a disc, and playing it right away.

2. The player makes an audible clicking sound every time a button is pushed. If you hit the play button, there is a click. If you skip a track, there is a click. When a disc is finished, there is a click. In shuffle mode, it keeps going between different tracks, clicking every time. This is an annoying tendency.

3. Speaking of shuffle mode, this player has the most bizarre shuffle mode I've encountered. Most players that I've experienced have a shuffle mode where tracks are treated like cards in blackjack. The track is played, and afterwards, it pushed off to the side, never to surface again. On this player, it's more like poker, where the deck is reshuffled after every hand. The same track can appear multiple times in one shuffle sequence (e.g., track 2, then track 8, then back to track 2). If you put it on shuffle, I don't think it ever actually ends until you hit the stop button.

4. I'm not a big fan of the greenish display. It reminds me of an Apple //c.

These little issues are the primary reasons I'm looking for a new CD player. I use this as a transport right now, but every time I hear that click, I wonder how much more I can take.

 

[bhjazz]

Sony DVP-S9000ES owner here. The most annoying thing (for me) with this player is that is refuses to play burned CDs. I've read a hundred different reasons why. Still, my 10+ year old Marantz player thinks they're great...

As for things that are good, however, the player DOES have resume. I use it more than I thought I would. Life is like that.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Huh. I'm another SA8001 owner.

I rarely use the countdown timer... never really have a reason to. As for the resume, I haven't seen a CDP with this feature. I've left mine on pause for 15-20 minutes. It doesn't hurt it; what's the problem?

Yeah, the fast forward is slow. I rarely use it, though. If I don't listen all the way through, I skip tracks which goes quickly.

I don't know of another SACD player with those features. But have you thought about vinyl? Great hi-rez source that lets you start and stop anywhere you want and fast-forwarding through a track is faster than any CDP I've seen. Most important, though, the turntable taught me the pleasure of listening to an entire album and rewards patience.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

How about ... not using a cd player? Rip, rip, rip....

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... As for the resume, I haven't seen a CDP with this feature. I've left mine on pause for 15-20 minutes. It doesn't hurt it; what's the problem?

The disc keeps spinning--wear and tear on the transport, I presume?

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif How about ... not using a cd player? Rip, rip, rip....

Because you can't rip SACD.

As big a fan as I am of CD's ripped to FLAC's and played via my 0404 USB, I marginally prefer the sound of the SA8001 on CD--it has the same detail but with more warmth and a wider soundstage.

And hey, I see you still have an Arcam player in your sig!

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhjazz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sony DVP-S9000ES owner here. The most annoying thing (for me) with this player is that is refuses to play burned CDs. I've read a hundred different reasons why. Still, my 10+ year old Marantz player thinks they're great... As for things that are good, however, the player DOES have resume. I use it more than I thought I would. Life is like that.

So maybe my theory that the resume feature could be (or is more easily?) implemented in DVD-drive based machines has some merit?

Likewise, I have a ca. 1990 vintage HK player that plays all types of burned CD's I've put in it.

 

[alleyezon_d]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sejarzo /img/forum/go_quote.gif So maybe my theory that the resume feature could be (or is more easily?) implemented in DVD-drive based machines has some merit? Likewise, I have a ca. 1990 vintage HK player that plays all types of burned CD's I've put in it.

Not sure, if this applies correctly to what you're talking about but, don't most car audio systems use a "resume" feature. I mean when I turn off my car when the CD is playing, and turn it back on, the CD continues playing where it stopped. Doesn't sound like something complicated to implement to me.

 

[sejarzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alleyezon_d /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not sure, if this applies correctly to what you're talking about but, don't most car audio systems use a "resume" feature. I mean when I turn off my car when the CD is playing, and turn it back on, the CD continues playing where it stopped. Doesn't sound like something complicated to implement to me.

[smacks forehead] DOH!.....I forgot about that completely!

If you thus conclude that I usually listen to news and traffic on AM when in the car, you would be quite correct.

 

[Robonaut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif But have you thought about vinyl? Great hi-rez source that lets you start and stop anywhere you want and fast-forwarding through a track is faster than any CDP I've seen. Most important, though, the turntable taught me the pleasure of listening to an entire album and rewards patience.

LOL. Vinyl!

Just kidding!

Vinyl is way too high maintenance and fiddly for me, though. And not exactly convenient to listen to at work.