till now my studer d730 is by far the best cdm + digital out i have. my gustard dac is 1-2 levels above dac7. the gustard dac is the digital sound which we wanted to have 40 years ago. my studer +gustard DAC sounds way better than my computer. so, i don't care about dsd 10 gb files etc. i'm interested in cdp which has a better philips swing arm + digital-out than a studer d730. yep, a730 is less. oja, cdm1 sucks= have emt 981 is far less than studer d730. so, is there a cdp which is better? only need swing arm+ digital out
I am confused - are you interested in CD players with Philips swing-arm mehanism which outpweforms Studer D-730? What do you mean by 'better philips swing arm' Philips but not CDM1?
studer d730 has cdm4 and has studer modifications. i don't like the cdm-1, it's sound is less than cdm4. the cdm4 is more precise. is there a swing-arm + digital-out cdp, which is better than a studer d730?
There is a lot of models with CDM3, CDM4 and CDM9 swing-arm, single-beam laser mechanisms. Folks did put Studer D730 against the competition (that's how D730 got its legendary status), but this kind of tests were happening 25-30 years ago, and not all of those who did the listening are still among us I had no idea that laser mechanism itself can have a following, like single-ended triode amps or horn speakers. CD player which opened my eyes (or rather ears; but my wife says - my wallet!) was Naim CDS-1 from 1995. It had CDM4/25 mechanism, but I never listened to it side-by-side with Studer. Since CDS-1 does not have Digital-Out, lets presume that Studer D730 is 'better' There is a good chance that modern CD player with VRDS-Neo mechanism ($5k for just the mechanism) will sound better than any spinner with CDM4. This is because modern CDs are pressed (and I mean pressed, not mastered) to much lower standards than CDs from 30 years ago. I have quite a few CDs from the 80-s which look like a starry night-sky when held against the light, but at least none of them were pressed so off-center as to make Discman jump on the desk. No one in his right mind is going to play any Discman against D730, but the thought that some CDs make the whole CDM4 vibrate like an unbalanced centrifuge pushes me towards Esoteric transports
the philips swing-arm was and is still the standard. only very expensive-rare transports can be better.would love to find a 20 year old rare transport for cheap. but that vrds-neo of yours is still commanding high prices. + i dont know if these mechanisms are still being repaired. philips alot of those are to find and build to last. must admit, the most beautiful is cdm-o, this one is also better than a cdm-1. cdm-3 has issues. i think cdm9-pro was the last great philips one.
@19lexicon78 - try Krell KPS-20i: CDM-9 Pro laser mechanism, as you requested, stabilizing puck (VRDS for cheap), looks almost as ugly (or stunning?) as Studer D730. The thing I love about Krell is that, like my favorite Naim Audio company, they have their own 'house sound'. Only your ears can tell if KPS-20i is better than D730. I had Krell SACD Standard for a few years, and I liked it very much... but in the end realized that analogue-like, 'fluid' digital is not for me, I had Linn Sondek for that experience. I like my digital snappy and borderline edgy (some call this PRAT, or Flat-Earth). some fun read from my good friend here: https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/classics/digital-classics/cd-mechanism-masterpieces-krell/
heh, you have a linn cd12? krell: that's a nice looking monster. love that one..!!! i'm going to watch for that one. there is also only driver: kps-20T, perhaps that one is more cheap. i only need a drive. my gustard x16 DAC is 2 levels better than a dac7. best thing of it all, most people are dumping cdp's, only the classics are still commanding high prices. i'm looking for cdp's which nobody knows and gets dumped for cheap. oja, sacd, always looked at the sony scd1? how does it sounds? had listened to a couple of other sony's, but i don't like the sony transports. i prefer philips.
if all you need is a swing-arm and digital-out then CDB650 may work, and it can be bought for the price of shipping over the years I had a few SACD players. Krell SACD Standard was the first, followed by Ayre C-5, Linn Akurate, McIntosh MCD-201, and finally Wadia 781i To my ears, none of them on SACDs sounded any better than my workhorse Naim CDS3 on CDs
the philips nor the naim has digital out. i need digital out to use gustard dac, otherwise it's a no. also i prefer balanced cdp
