[Charente]

  ...CD player, new or vintage (preferably both)? 
 

Some years ago when I 'went digital' I got rid of a Marantz CD80...built like a tank. The DAC part quickly became 'state of the ARK' but it was a fantastic transport which served me well for some years after. Wish I never sold it now.

 

[RickB]

  Some years ago when I 'went digital' I got rid of a Marantz CD80...built like a tank. The DAC part quickly became 'state of the ARK' but it was a fantastic transport which served me well for some years after. Wish I never sold it now.

Thanks, I'll look into that one. 

 

[crazychile]

My buddy still has my old Pioneer PD-65 stable platter cd player I bought around 1994 or so. It's still going strong and has the same inverted platter that Theta used in a model or two. It has coax or toslink out that is selectable from the front panel. It's hooked up to my Bimby because I bought a Yggdrasil. My budy is die hard vinyl and this digital apparatus does not offend. If I was looking for a vintage transport, this would be the one.

 

[Ableza]

Find a CD transport that uses a Phillips PRO2 is my suggestion. 

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Any CD transport that has a SP/DIF output and doesn't trigger the "get a better source" LED on your Gumby or Yggy should be ok.
 
JC

 

[wahsmoh]

My buddy still has my old Pioneer PD-65 stable platter cd player I bought around 1994 or so. It's still going strong and has the same inverted platter that Theta used in a model or two. It has coax or toslink out that is selectable from the front panel. It's hooked up to my Bimby because I bought a Yggdrasil. My budy is die hard vinyl and this digital apparatus does not offend. If I was looking for a vintage transport, this would be the one.

Vintage CD players can still produce some convincing sound. I have an old EAD CD-1000 mk3 that is collecting some dust but I might put it back into my stereo system when I get a bigger audio rack. It has two PCM63P-k DAC chips and a large R-core transformer and fully balanced through the digital and audio output. I personally think it would kick my Bimby's ass in PCM playback.
 
I am not super impress with the Bimby TBH but it could be because I am using a USB cable and not S/PDIF playback. I might try that to see if I can get a more convincing 3D soundstage. I tried playing Rust (video game) on my PC with the Bimby and all my sound positioning is screwed up when I try to use it as a DAC.
 
Soon as I switch to my Theta DS Pro progeny v. A DAC that is hooked up to the S/PDIF out of my HT Omega Claro soundcard I get 3D sound again and I am not hearing gunshots in front of me when they are behind me or very stereo L/R imaging and not a very good center image. Something might be wrong with my Bimby or it is crap compared to my 90's DAC. My HT Omega Claro has all DSP settings turned off and it just sending a PCM signal.. nothing else.
 
Tell me why the Bimby cannot provide very good 3D imaging when playing games? Is it because I am using USB and not S/PDIF output?

 

[ColtMrFire]

Why don't you try using SPDIF with the Bimby and find out?

 

[jacal01]

  Baldr, not to put you on the spot, but: would you have a recommendation for a CD player, new or vintage (preferably both)? 
 
Maybe some more general advice about what to look for, if going to thrift shops or eBay? 

 

  Find a CD transport that uses a Phillips PRO2 is my suggestion. 

 
This will get you started.
 
http://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/specials/marantz-philips-classics/the-almost-complete-philips-cdm-range-of-swing-arm-cd-mechanisms/
 
http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/philips_cdm_cd_mechanisme_list/
 
http://www.hegel.com/products/cd/mohican
 
http://www.psaudio.com/products/perfectwave-memory-player/

 

[RickB]

   
 
This will get you started.
 
http://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/specials/marantz-philips-classics/the-almost-complete-philips-cdm-range-of-swing-arm-cd-mechanisms/
 
http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/philips_cdm_cd_mechanisme_list/
 
http://www.hegel.com/products/cd/mohican
 
http://www.psaudio.com/products/perfectwave-memory-player/

Thanks!

 

[wahsmoh]

  Why don't you try using SPDIF with the Bimby and find out?

I will try that soon. I don't have an A/B switcher so it might be hard to do a true comparison. I am just stating that there is something seriously wrong with the Bimby when playing video games. The locations of sounds sound like they are reversed and I have checked my RCA cables and they are hooked up properly. Also the music sound quality isn't anything to die for. The Theta DAC built in 1994-2000 makes it sound bad. Also my Chord Mojo is slightly better than the Bimby though a bit dry and sterile for my taste. I just feel like it is not as high quality of a product as other Schiit DACs.

 

[ColtMrFire]

  I will try that soon. I don't have an A/B switcher so it might be hard to do a true comparison. I am just stating that there is something seriously wrong with the Bimby when playing video games. The locations of sounds sound like they are reversed and I have checked my RCA cables and they are hooked up properly. Also the music sound quality isn't anything to die for. The Theta DAC built in 1994-2000 makes it sound bad. Also my Chord Mojo is slightly better than the Bimby though a bit dry and sterile for my taste. I just feel like it is not as high quality of a product as other Schiit DACs.

 
I don't know if the Bimby is the same way, but my Modi multibit's Coax input is much better than USB.  You are rprobably not doing the Bimby any favors judging it solely by its USB performance.  I would test the Coax before coming to any conclusions about that DAC.

 

[Byronb]

I will try that soon. I don't have an A/B switcher so it might be hard to do a true comparison. I am just stating that there is something seriously wrong with the Bimby when playing video games. The locations of sounds sound like they are reversed and I have checked my RCA cables and they are hooked up properly. Also the music sound quality isn't anything to die for. The Theta DAC built in 1994-2000 makes it sound bad. Also my Chord Mojo is slightly better than the Bimby though a bit dry and sterile for my taste. I just feel like it is not as high quality of a product as other Schiit DACs.

 

I would say everyone hears things differently, and you are definitely entitled to your opinion. But, I have heard nothing anywhere near the Bimby's price point that even gets close to it. I have not used it for gaming, so I can't comment on that aspect.

 

[artur9]

  Yeah, I picked up a BDP-1 relatively cheaply to try out this USB vs AES thing a bit more.  I need to let it warm up for a few days before critiquing it.  It has all the "bulkier and more expensive" power and clock regulation, I think.

In the interest of science (hah! more science-y, if you ask me) I recorded the same piece through my SMS-200 and my recently acquired .pdf]BDP-1.  SMS-200 through TOSlink and the BDP through AES into my preamp and from there to the DAC.  DAC is an UberFrost.
The source is a upmpdcli running on a linux box.  It targets either the SMS-200's MPD or the BDP-1's MPD.  The control point is Linn Kazoo.
The file is served by minimserver which is set to upsample everything to 96/24 wav via sox.  I do that because my preamp "converts" everything to 96/24 anyway so this way I'm using some vetted software to do it instead of the vagaries of whatever the preamp uses.
The original file is a 96/24 recording of Vivaldi's Spring from the HDTracks 2014 sampler.
Recorded in mono using a UMIK on my 2011 Macbook Pro with Audacity from my 2-channel system.
 

 


Needed to convert these to PNG to upload.  The original TIFF may show a bit more detail.
 
In any case, I don't hear any particular difference and doing a "flicker test" on the two spectrographs show one or the other with a bit less noise at the highest frequencies.
 
Functionality-wise, they both suit just fine since I just send files to mpd with minimserver.  The BDP-1 is a standard audio component form factor, supports a remote, and saves me 3 electrical outlets vs the SMS-200.  The three outlets are SMS-200, LANRover, Wyred4Sound uLink.  The BDP also saves me needless worrying about USB cleaning

 

[GearMe]

All the Coax, etc. vs USB talk on this and some other threads got me interested in learning more. FWIW, I have no sound quality issues when I listen through USB on the Bimby.

Found this older exchange (below) posted on another thread that was between Jason and another guy...makes me wonder if/why Coax is better than a well implemented USB. My take-away from Jason's comments is that sonic improvements in the Schiit lineup won't come from switching to Coax from USB but from upgrading to better design/implementation. That said, I believe Baldr prefers Coax!? :blink:


"I got this from Jason at Schiit on July 9th, 2013:

Keeping in mind that I would most likely not need balanced / XLR connections on any other component and that our computer is a 4.5 year old Dell Inspiron 530 PC running Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit … which is the better way to go (or the preferred-by-you way to go) for better sound ?

Option 1.
Buy one of your Bifrost’s with the Gen 2 USB input upgrade and the Uber Analog upgrade with an M2Tech HiFace Two USB to SPDIF converter (that plugs directly into one of the computer’s USB ports so there would not be an interconnect cable between it and the computer) and a Kimber Kable or Audioquest digital / coaxial cable out of the HiFace Two into your Bifrost’s digital / coaxial input ?

JS: “Actually, if you get the Gen 2 USB input, you don’t need the HiFace–and our USB implementation is superior to pretty much any affordable USB-SPDIF converter out there.”

OR

Option 2.
Buy one of your Gungnir’s with the Gen 2 USB input upgrade (built in I think) and use a Kimber Kable or Audioquest high quality USB cable directly from one of the computer’s USB ports without any USB to SPDIF converter ?

JS: “Same here. Gungnir will be better than Bifrost across the board, even from the RCA outs….”"

 

[Clemmaster]

Jason just said that the Bifrost USB 2 module is superior to any affordable USB to SPDIF converters.

He's not saying that USB is better than coax.

Also, affordable DDC have come a long way in the last 3 years.