Any thoughts on the most analogue sounding CDP for around 1500. Tried a little research but came up with nothing, seems that analogue and CDP dont go together very well. Any and all thoughts welcome.
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Analogue sounding CDP
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Hi Ray,
I would check some Rega players. I've got the Planet 2000, which was much cheaper than £1500, and it sounds quite analogue to me.
The Apollo and Saturn are the current models, I believe.
Hedgehog
I would check some Rega players. I've got the Planet 2000, which was much cheaper than £1500, and it sounds quite analogue to me.
The Apollo and Saturn are the current models, I believe.
Hedgehog
John Duncan
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The Primare CD31 is meant to be very smooth and detailed. That was the first thing that sprang to mind when you said analogue sounding but I have no idea why!
chebby
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I know exactly what Ray means.
I have only ever owned three CD players before my current one (Denon DCD-1100, NAD something-or-other BEE, and the CD player section of an Arcam Solo-Mini) and lost interest in all of them within weeks and went back to Vinyl and FM.
I can recommend the Naim CD5i. It satisfies my 'analogue' biased ears.
I have played this CD5i for about 10 ten times longer than all the previous CD players put together in terms of discs played and I have only had it since April!
However (and this may be significant) Naim developed and 'voiced' the CD5i to be a natural partner to the Naim Nait amplifier so I don't know how it would get on in your system.
Naim have just re-jigged the CD5X and launched it as the CD5XS. You may like to look into those models too. (Especially if there is a CD5X on offer ex-dem somewhere.)
I have only ever owned three CD players before my current one (Denon DCD-1100, NAD something-or-other BEE, and the CD player section of an Arcam Solo-Mini) and lost interest in all of them within weeks and went back to Vinyl and FM.
I can recommend the Naim CD5i. It satisfies my 'analogue' biased ears.
I have played this CD5i for about 10 ten times longer than all the previous CD players put together in terms of discs played and I have only had it since April!
However (and this may be significant) Naim developed and 'voiced' the CD5i to be a natural partner to the Naim Nait amplifier so I don't know how it would get on in your system.
Naim have just re-jigged the CD5X and launched it as the CD5XS. You may like to look into those models too. (Especially if there is a CD5X on offer ex-dem somewhere.)
chebby:
I certainly don't read 'analogue' as meaning smooth. I immediately think 'exciting'.
...here lies the problem...
I certainly don't read 'analogue' as meaning smooth. I immediately think 'exciting'.
...here lies the problem...
chebby
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igglebert:..here lies the problem...
How so?
'Exciting' is not necessarily (and depending on the material) loud or bassy or harsh or bright or lacking in details or imagery.
It is to do with immediacy and engagement. Does it 'grab you' (sorry to go 1960s) or does it soothe you.
How so?
'Exciting' is not necessarily (and depending on the material) loud or bassy or harsh or bright or lacking in details or imagery.
It is to do with immediacy and engagement. Does it 'grab you' (sorry to go 1960s) or does it soothe you.
I mean the same as JD, what does "analogue sounding" really mean? I suspect different people think of different things because I'm not sure that there can actually be a definition. Maybe a sound with more distortion...
John Duncan
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Yeah, in my system, analogue means 'more sibilant and annoying with voices'. If the OP wants something 'rounder, fuller, coloured even', then that may be a different def. of analogue than 'perfect timing', and might be influenced as much by speaker or amp as by CD player.
I guess I'm asking what's wrong with the sound he's getting at the moment.
I guess I'm asking what's wrong with the sound he's getting at the moment.
I think you're right to say that terms such as 'analogue' are hard to define.
What I had in mind is a certain form of immediacy. When I replaced a cheap Marantz CD player with the Rega Planet I felt that a layer of polish had been removed from the sound. It sounded more immediate and real and less as if it was presented to you in a certain way.
This had the result of making certain albums sound worse, but I concluded that it made them sound as they really sound.
Those are the characteristics that I always have associated with 'analogue' sound, though this is on limited experience of it.
At the end of the day the OP will have to listen to our suggestions and decide which sound 'analogue' to him.
Hedgehog
What I had in mind is a certain form of immediacy. When I replaced a cheap Marantz CD player with the Rega Planet I felt that a layer of polish had been removed from the sound. It sounded more immediate and real and less as if it was presented to you in a certain way.
This had the result of making certain albums sound worse, but I concluded that it made them sound as they really sound.
Those are the characteristics that I always have associated with 'analogue' sound, though this is on limited experience of it.
At the end of the day the OP will have to listen to our suggestions and decide which sound 'analogue' to him.
Hedgehog
d_a_n1979:Rega Apollo
IMO, Say no more
Great for the price but can be bettered with the OPs budget. As suggested before, Saturn maybe.
IMO, Say no more
Great for the price but can be bettered with the OPs budget. As suggested before, Saturn maybe.
matengawhat
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I assume by analogue you mean vinyl (or tape) as the DAC ouputs an analogue signal.
Whilst I loved the sound of my Linn LP12 i also recognised it was not as accurate or as revealing of tonal structure than CD. But there is a rhythmical "bounce" to vinyl that is beguiling. I have never found it more or less exciting as CD, which has a wider bandwith and superior dynamics and detail, but somehow just ever so slightly less involving. I often couldnt decide whther to listen to the LP or the CD of the same album (and I had doubled up about 1/3 of my LP collection)
Whilst I loved the sound of my Linn LP12 i also recognised it was not as accurate or as revealing of tonal structure than CD. But there is a rhythmical "bounce" to vinyl that is beguiling. I have never found it more or less exciting as CD, which has a wider bandwith and superior dynamics and detail, but somehow just ever so slightly less involving. I often couldnt decide whther to listen to the LP or the CD of the same album (and I had doubled up about 1/3 of my LP collection)
I dunno if this helps but Thaiman recommended a cairn fog a few weeks ago to someone else. Put the following into google:
Cairn FOG v2 SOFT
Its being sold second hand and supposed to be analogue sounding (about 5 down). Good reviews too. I would try if I could.
Hope this helps.
Lee
Cairn FOG v2 SOFT
Its being sold second hand and supposed to be analogue sounding (about 5 down). Good reviews too. I would try if I could.
Hope this helps.
Lee
Anecdotally speaking (as I've never owned a record player!), I'd also suggest something from Rega - the Saturn is the obvious one if you're buying new. Rega take no small amount of pride in being one of the last hi fi manufacturers to build a CDP...and as I'm sure you know, they make some very well regarded decks, arms, phono stages and cartridges too!
I can certainly vouch for my Apollo 35th Anniversary being an absolute slayer of a player 😀
Alternatively, you could try picking up a older generation Apollo or Planet to see if the 'house sound' gives you what you're looking for. The used market for Rega CDP's is pretty strong so you'll probably get your stake back if you decide it's not for you sound wise.
I can certainly vouch for my Apollo 35th Anniversary being an absolute slayer of a player 😀
Alternatively, you could try picking up a older generation Apollo or Planet to see if the 'house sound' gives you what you're looking for. The used market for Rega CDP's is pretty strong so you'll probably get your stake back if you decide it's not for you sound wise.
For a cheap solution try the Musical Fidelity V-DAC. Otherwise, there's the Rega players as have been suggested or something like the Unison Research players, which use tubes in their output stages.
That said, the only thing that really sounds like analogue is analogue, so you might be better off learning to live with the pluses of digital, which are many.
That said, the only thing that really sounds like analogue is analogue, so you might be better off learning to live with the pluses of digital, which are many.
chebby
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Of course £1500 will buy a lot of nice analogue.
£20 - £25 + postage for good FM tuner from ebay.
(A lovely Creek CAS-3040 went for £20 the other day and there is a piece of sheer 1970s Denon analogue hifi 'porn' going for £75 "buy it now" right now in the shape of a near-mint TU-332 with backlit tuning scale, signal strength meter and flywheel tuning dial!).
£100 (tops) to have a half decent FM aerial installed on your roof mast.
£560 will get you a Rega P3-24 and Rega Fono-Mini and Elys 2 cartridge factory fitted.
This will leave you about £800 from your budget for vinyl LPs.
£20 - £25 + postage for good FM tuner from ebay.
(A lovely Creek CAS-3040 went for £20 the other day and there is a piece of sheer 1970s Denon analogue hifi 'porn' going for £75 "buy it now" right now in the shape of a near-mint TU-332 with backlit tuning scale, signal strength meter and flywheel tuning dial!).
£100 (tops) to have a half decent FM aerial installed on your roof mast.
£560 will get you a Rega P3-24 and Rega Fono-Mini and Elys 2 cartridge factory fitted.
This will leave you about £800 from your budget for vinyl LPs.
leenorris78:
I dunno if this helps but Thaiman recommended a cairn fog a few weeks ago to someone else. Put the following into google:
Cairn FOG v2 SOFT
Its being sold second hand and supposed to be analogue sounding (about 5 down). Good reviews too. I would try if I could.
Hope this helps.
Lee
Indeed Lee, Fog 2 is a bargain at the typical 2nd hand price of £550ish (new was £1,600 but the brand name lacking kudos! so a big price drop). However if £1,500 is the budget then we can have more fun, analog sounding?
New. Marantz SA11S1, Sugden A21 SE, Meridian G06
Ex demo. Opera Audio CDP 5.0, Unison research Unico (newer model with digital inputs), Cairn Fog 3 (preamp/DAC/CD player in 1!)
2nd hand. (may be £100 off either way depending on condition) Orpheus Labs Zero, Naim CDX 2, Audionet ART V2, Wadia 301 and the almighty Marantz CD 7 (if you can find one there is no better analog sounding CD player this side of £5K!)
I dunno if this helps but Thaiman recommended a cairn fog a few weeks ago to someone else. Put the following into google:
Cairn FOG v2 SOFT
Its being sold second hand and supposed to be analogue sounding (about 5 down). Good reviews too. I would try if I could.
Hope this helps.
Lee
Indeed Lee, Fog 2 is a bargain at the typical 2nd hand price of £550ish (new was £1,600 but the brand name lacking kudos! so a big price drop). However if £1,500 is the budget then we can have more fun, analog sounding?
New. Marantz SA11S1, Sugden A21 SE, Meridian G06
Ex demo. Opera Audio CDP 5.0, Unison research Unico (newer model with digital inputs), Cairn Fog 3 (preamp/DAC/CD player in 1!)
2nd hand. (may be £100 off either way depending on condition) Orpheus Labs Zero, Naim CDX 2, Audionet ART V2, Wadia 301 and the almighty Marantz CD 7 (if you can find one there is no better analog sounding CD player this side of £5K!)
I would describe 'analogue' as warm and well-rounded. Or is that my girlfriend?
I'll get me coat....
I'll get me coat....
Thanks for the replies so far...some interesting options. Let me try to explain what I meant by analogue.....
With all the continuing, and very interesting talk about the general superiority (precieved or otherwise) of the analogue sound of turntables over CD, I was asking which CDP's would be considered to give the closest sound to that of a turntable. Doesnt matter if that sound would be considered coloured or against everything that a CDP stands for (accuracy of data extraction etc etc). Is it possible to get the analogue experience from a CDP within the quoted budget or are the two worlds so far apart that the only way to get the analogue experience is to buy a turntable. Purists would answer that a turntable was the only way to go but does anyone think otherwise.
With all the continuing, and very interesting talk about the general superiority (precieved or otherwise) of the analogue sound of turntables over CD, I was asking which CDP's would be considered to give the closest sound to that of a turntable. Doesnt matter if that sound would be considered coloured or against everything that a CDP stands for (accuracy of data extraction etc etc). Is it possible to get the analogue experience from a CDP within the quoted budget or are the two worlds so far apart that the only way to get the analogue experience is to buy a turntable. Purists would answer that a turntable was the only way to go but does anyone think otherwise.
The sound is different as you say, but I'd hesitate to say one is necessarily better. Either do as Chebby says (but get a Technics SL1200) or invest in an MF v-dac, which is as close as you'll come and similar sounding to the early Rega Planets, themselves designed to give an analogue feel to the music.
Tarquinh:The sound is different as you say, but I'd hesitate to say one is necessarily better. Either do as Chebby says (but get a Technics SL1200) or invest in an MF v-dac, which is as close as you'll come and similar sounding to the early Rega Planets, themselves designed to give an analogue feel to the music.
It just so happens that I have a VDAC which I was using on my headphone system. I noted the point you made in an earlier post, I just havent got round to trying it yet. Got some new cables coming so I thought I would wait till they arrive and just pull the whole lot out from the rack just the once........I'll give it a go. THX
It just so happens that I have a VDAC which I was using on my headphone system. I noted the point you made in an earlier post, I just havent got round to trying it yet. Got some new cables coming so I thought I would wait till they arrive and just pull the whole lot out from the rack just the once........I'll give it a go. THX
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