FAO rick @ musicraft

[millerman]

Rick - et al

You recently replied to a post of mine regarding the QBD76. see below. whilst I readily accept your advice on this one the Chord Blu is out of my range. I would be interested in your views (or anyones for that matter) on whether the Cyrus transport would be a good match, one that is likely to give me a better performance than using the NAD as a transport.

I have to say finding a transport is hard. I am not attracted to the idea of using a hard drive as I cant see how this will give me a better sound. I dont want to buy another CD player and use this as a transport as this deveats the object of buying the QBD in the frist place. Granted the hard disk option will provide more flexibility on listening but this quest of mine is about getting the best sound for my money.

many thanks

I think you should also consider Chord Electronics matching Blu transport. By using the Blu's dual data BNC outputs and the QBD76's dual BNC inputs you can use 176.4KHz sampling rate which completely transforms the performance of the QBD76. The Blu transport also negates the need to use the one or four second buffer on the QBD76 as the combination performs best in real time.

The QBD76 already produces superb results on its own however with the Blu transport the transformation of the performance of the QBD76 is simply a massive wake up call. The difference is obvious right across the board and one of the first things to hit the listener is the sheer weight, depth and punch in the bass (not that the QBD76 on its own is shy in this area).

I believe

 

[Messiah]

I would certainly try an audition the Cyrus. I believe that the whole concept of the Servo Evolution was that Cyrus had designed the transport mech. to maximise data retrieval so in theory it should be better and all the positive reviews would seem to back that up.

EDIT - clicky

 

[millerman]

Messiah

Very helpful, thanks. I have heard the counter argument to " a trasport is a trasnport is a transport" is about the amount of data that can be retireved. Until now I have not found anything to back this up, at least not described in lay mans terms (it is often described in some wierd techno langauge that means nothing to me)

So thankyou for your reply

 

[Messiah]

Your welcome!

Hope it has helped.

 

[Craig M.]

i had a cyrus cdxtse on home dem for about a week, stopped listening to it after a couple of days as it wasn't really any different to my mac mini (going into my qbd76 - different story with a cyrus dacx which i suspect doesn't like jitter), and cds all over the place was starting to annoy me. where there was a very, very slight difference, the cdxtse tended to sound a bit rolled off at the top and softer, compared to the mac, but only certain cds seemed to show this.

cyrus might have optimised the se transports for better data retrieval, but they aren't better then a pc in this regard. a pc can read the data on a cd perfectly, it can also read a damaged cd that a cdplayer might not play. the reason a pc can do this, is it can re-read the disc over and over again until it gets the data off correctly. if you think about it, a pc would be nigh on useless if it couldn't, as hardly anything would install due to the drive reading it wrong - just doesn't happen. imo, the cyrus also feels cheap and flimsy considering it's just a transport and its price.

 

[millerman]

Craig

Back to confusion again.

I have just done an experiement - Amazon sent me two copies of Metallica/ aha me thinks I'll put one in my CD Player and one in my lap top and test the difference. There was a huge diffenrece in that whilst the lap top sent all the detail the CD player had ten times the punch.

Hardly a robust experiment I admit but one that pursuaded me against the mac option.

I was tempted to buy a high end transport on ebay however this conversation has brought me to my senses. Spending £2k on flyer is not a clever idea. I do however share your reservations on the Cyrus, having auditioned it once before as a CD player I was not exactly bowled over by it.

I think I'll buy a guitar instead.

 

[Messiah]

millerman:
I have just done an experiement - Amazon sent me two copies of Metallica/ aha me thinks I'll put one in my CD Player and one in my lap top and test the difference. There was a huge diffenrece in that whilst the lap top sent all the detail the CD player had ten times the punch.

If you were playing the CD in real time from the laptop then I would expect the transport to outperform it.

However, have you tried ripping the CD in a lossless format and then playing it back. See how it fares then. I think what Craig is referring to is playing a ripped track. It is in the ripping process that the PC/Mac can re-read the data until it is accurate, not playing a CD in real time.

 

[Frank Harvey]

You need to try the Cyrus in your system, not in a demo room. Also, make sure it's warmed up properly - if not, it just won't impress. If you're thinking of the DAC, make sure you try the transport, and not the CD player.

 

[millerman]

The experiemnet was real time. I will try your suggestion and see what happens. Ill have to do this tomorrow now as the kids keep complaining I play my music too loud.

How cool is that

 

[Frank Harvey]

Also, depending on your budget, try the Bryston BDA1 DAC - awesome.

 

[Craig M.]

err, he's got a qbd76 and is looking at transports!

millerman/messiah, yes - sorry, was referring to playing ripped cds and the fact the cd/dvd drive can read it multiple times while ripping. you also need to make sure your laptop/software isn't messing with the data, easy if you're using mac/itunes, it does it 'out the box', windows might need some settings tweaked (maybe).

 

[DaveyBoy1980]

Craig M.:
easy if you're using mac/itunes, it does it 'out the box', windows might need some settings tweaked (maybe).

I have a Beresford Caiman and have tried all the tips I can find about configuring Windows to send a good signal to it via USB and I just can't get it to work! 🙁 A lot of the time I get heavy distortion and when it does work fine it might only last a track or 2 before it messes up again. And I'm not convinced of the quality when it does work fine. I use MediaMonkey which I have used for years and really like.

I wish Microsoft would release a solution to make it easy to play bit perfect straight from your media player of choice

 

[millerman]

Ok I have ripped the CD (at best quality) and the contest was much closer however the CDP was a relatively easy winner. Again more punch in the drums and bass.

To be fair it does warrent a more sophisticated test. But so far it has not done enough to convince me that a computer will out perform a dedicated CDP set up.

As ever I am willing to be proved wrong

 

[Craig M.]

hmmm, that's not my experience at all. what format are you ripping to? and is your laptop setup for bit-perfect playback? if you'd like to explore a pc as source a bit more, might be worth a post in the computer audio section to make sure you have everything setup right.

 

[millerman]

Craig

In fairness this needs a more sophistacated test than the one I gave it. My laptop ripped the entire album of which 5 tracks were unsuccessul, This hardly gives me confidence that my laptop is up to this test. I plan to visit my hifi shop and do a proper test. I may even check out the chord blus to determine what my kit is ultimately capable of

 

[MUSICRAFT]

millerman:
Rick - et al

You recently replied to a post of mine regarding the QBD76. see below. whilst I readily accept your advice on this one the Chord Blu is out of my range. I would be interested in your views (or anyones for that matter) on whether the Cyrus transport would be a good match, one that is likely to give me a better performance than using the NAD as a transport.

I have to say finding a transport is hard. I am not attracted to the idea of using a hard drive as I cant see how this will give me a better sound. I dont want to buy another CD player and use this as a transport as this deveats the object of buying the QBD in the frist place. Granted the hard disk option will provide more flexibility on listening but this quest of mine is about getting the best sound for my money.

many thanks

I think you should also consider Chord Electronics matching Blu transport. By using the Blu's dual data BNC outputs and the QBD76's dual BNC inputs you can use 176.4KHz sampling rate which completely transforms the performance of the QBD76. The Blu transport also negates the need to use the one or four second buffer on the QBD76 as the combination performs best in real time.

The QBD76 already produces superb results on its own however with the Blu transport the transformation of the performance of the QBD76 is simply a massive wake up call. The difference is obvious right across the board and one of the first things to hit the listener is the sheer weight, depth and punch in the bass (not that the QBD76 on its own is shy in this area).

I believe

Hi millerman

It can be difficult finding a cd transport for the QBD76 which will offer a worthwhile difference. Chord Electronics superb engineering/technology in the QBD76 helps minimise the effects of jitter etc. and thereby greatly narrows the performance differences between most cd transports/players used from other manufacturers with the QBD76. There is an exception to this and from Chord Electronics themselves in the form of their dedicated Blu cd transport which needs to be connected appropiately, with correct settings applied and used in real time with the QBD76. The performance immediately helps justify Chord Electronics efforts and the Blu's price tag.

Anyway leaving the Blu aside if you wish to improve upon the C542 than the ONLY other tranports which i have used with the QBD76 that offer a worthwhile improvement (without spending a small fortune) are Yamaha's own designs used in the CD-S1000/CD-S2000 players. These cd players are superbly built and feature good old solid and massive cd tranports which are also importantly RELIABLE.

I hope this helps.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[millerman]

RIck

Thanks your comments are very helpful. I am doing some auditioning tomorrow with a number of cdps and I will do a proper listening test with a computer and digital set up. I am having 10 Cds loaded onto a PC tonight so it will be an interesting test.

Once I have done this I will then compare the best of this bunch with the Chord Blu.

thanks for you reply

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi millerman

Your welcome and i look forward to reading your views.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[millerman]

So after spending most of yesterday auditioning different things..........

The first test - a PC with a collection of CDs ripped to the best quality against my NAD and Chord dac.

This was reasonably close but the PC lost its edge losing punch and sharpness against the CDP. Not a great deal of difference but a significant difference nonetheless. Having spent so much money on my kit so far there seems little reasosn to take a backward step. I quickly dismissed this as a viable option for my next upgrade

Next up - will a better quality transport make a difference?

First up was a £1k Rocksan CDP. Hardly any difference if at all when compared against the NAD. So we upgraded to a £3kish German sounding CD (whose name I can't remember) yes there was s difference the higher quality CD brought the music forward much more presence and sounded sweet, - but, this wasn't a £3k difference in performance. Both I and the shop where very impressed that the NAD is holding its own. This little player is just fantastic.

So after 1 and half hours of listening I am thinking my system requires no upgrade as it sounds pretty good. Anyway, whilst I am here - I said- let me listen to the pre and power amp version of the Musical Fidelity amp M6 I bought at Christmas.

Here we go - a big difference, a bigger more authoritative sound, but its out of my price range. Let me talk to the missis. Thankfully she want to buy something frivolous too so Now I have the pre and power amp on a home demo. It sounds good, very good.

So having slept on it I have now fired up this kit and WOW it is simply stunning. This is like having a band in the same room. I cant get over the difference in sound. By the time I trade in my 6month old amp and buy a couple of connectors this is £3k plus. Now don't get me wrong, this is a lot money and you really have to like this hobby of mine to justify this outrageous expense.

So whilst I wrestle with my conscience over this I want to try one more thing and that is a Musical Fidelity dedicated transport. There does come a point whereby upgrading becomes detatched from price and sensibility. IF I do go down the pre amp route I must be close to it by now. At least I hope.

Regards all

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi millerman

Thanks for your feedback.

This is why i have extensively used the C542 with the QBD76. If its convenient for you than please also have a try of Yamaha's CD-S1000/CD-S2000 as they do offer a wothwhile improvement over the C542 without cost a small fortune.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft