Marantz M-CR510 experience

[lpv]

ok, so I've got MCR510 now from tuesday.. sound quality compared to PM6004 with rDac? No difference at all. Simple as that. Tested with wide range of music on the same pair of speakers - Q300. Headphone output? Again, no difference. 510 is really plasticy beyond imagination. How come Marantz released such low quality plastic thing in 60th anniversary? No idea.. but I would pay £100 more for more effort. It's this type of equipment one would like to hide on lower shelf and forget. It's possible as 510 can be operated via iDevice. Marantz remote app? Top 3 in the worst app I've seen. Luckily theres Airplay so Spotify's own app can be used with better results.

Everything else - like connectivity, set of features - you'll get from the specs but I can assure you the two amps/ dac's I have compared sounds the same.

 

[lpv]

.. sounds the same and sounds good I should say

 

[chebby]

510 is really plasticy beyond imagination. How come Marantz released such low quality plastic thing in 60th anniversary? No idea.. but I would pay £100 more for more effort.

It's a shame that Marantz stuck to the same pricing of the M-CR602 / 603 at their launch three years ago, rather than adjust the price and spend the extra on (at least) an equivalent level of finish.

Originally their partner brand - Denon - did the all-plastic versions (CEOL range) and Marantz did the 'premium' model.

The M-CR610 / 510 also have clunky styling (actually no styling it seems) and if it weren't for gapless (on FLAC/WAV), I would advise anyone to pick up an M-CR603 whilst some are still out there.

It's a pity they seem to have 'dropped the ball' (at least in terms of build and finish and styling) on the latest incarnation of the Melody series.

I was hoping Marantz would take the M-CR603's replacement further 'upmarket' with even better quality components and materials (and a bit more power), leaving all the budget 'plastic' versions to the Denon side of the business. But I suppose such a product might have threatenend sales of their own budget seperates.

 

[webb204]

Having just upgraded from the 603 to the 610 ,I have to agree that the 603 is a much nicer build,however the built in Spotify is fantastic on the 610 ,the gap less playback a welcome bonus ,as is the wifi,the rear USB is very handy as I can hide my USB hard drive now ,all in all I,m very impressed so far with the 610

 

[magnus78]

Hi Webb204,

Any sound improvement for cd audio on the 610 compared to 603?

Having just upgraded from the 603 to the 610 ,I have to agree that the 603 is a much nicer build,however the built in Spotify is fantastic on the 610 ,the gap less playback a welcome bonus ,as is the wifi,the rear USB is very handy as I can hide my USB hard drive now ,all in all I,m very impressed so far with the 610

 

[penbat]

It really annoyed me that although Random now works on USB it is almost useless as it only operates on the current folder.

 

[webb204]

Hi i havent had chance to try yet

Hi Webb204,

Any sound improvement for cd audio on the 610 compared to 603?

Having just upgraded from the 603 to the 610 ,I have to agree that the 603 is a much nicer build,however the built in Spotify is fantastic on the 610 ,the gap less playback a welcome bonus ,as is the wifi,the rear USB is very handy as I can hide my USB hard drive now ,all in all I,m very impressed so far with the 610

 

[webb204]

Hi i havent had chance to try yet

Hi Webb204,

Any sound improvement for cd audio on the 610 compared to 603?

Having just upgraded from the 603 to the 610 ,I have to agree that the 603 is a much nicer build,however the built in Spotify is fantastic on the 610 ,the gap less playback a welcome bonus ,as is the wifi,the rear USB is very handy as I can hide my USB hard drive now ,all in all I,m very impressed so far with the 610

 

[LuniCycle]

Can anyone confirm that it does gapless playback from a NAS?

Is the GUI a bit quicker and has it stopped doing that thing where it virtually stops responding when it has just changed track?

I am disappointed about the finish perhaps if we wait long enough they will come out with an SE or KI model!

Based on these 1st impressions I think I will stick with the 603 and keep saving for Naim or Linn.

 

[The Fat Priest]

I bought a 610, but it's had to go back:

The CD drawer wouldn't open

It wouldn't connect to a network via an ethernet cable

It wouldn't connect to a network wirelessly

DAB stations it would find were limited to the BBC

FM seek ran at about one change of frequency every two or three seconds

I didn't try and play anything through it from a laptop or USB drive as I was too fed up with it by that point. I'm waiting for another but I'm not optimistic.

 

[Machinemessiah]

I've seen a firmware update for the Marantz NA7004 which gives it ALAC support, 24/192 and gapless playback. Is there not a similar firmware updated for the CR603 to give it this spec?

 

[SiUK]

It really annoyed me that although Random now works on USB it is almost useless as it only operates on the current folder.

Are you certain? On the 610 random works from the root folder just fine. I'd be surprised if was a hobbled feature on the 510.

 

[SiUK]

I've seen a firmware update for the Marantz NA7004 which gives it ALAC support, 24/192 and gapless playback. Is there not a similar firmware updated for the CR603 to give it this spec?

Marantz told me that there'll never be gapless on the 603 because it isn't a firmware issue but a hardware one. That's why I got the 610s.

To someone else who asked, the 610 does gapless over ethernet and USB.

 

[penbat]

It really annoyed me that although Random now works on USB it is almost useless as it only operates on the current folder.

Are you certain? On the 610 random works from the root folder just fine. I'd be surprised if was a hobbled feature on the 510.

This is customer services response to my question relating to this issue:<p>

"Does the USB operate in the same way in the M-CR610 ? In which case as the M-CR610 also has CD-audio, FM & DAB it would be impossible for you to argue that the M-CR610 is primarily a network device and therefore the USB a "secondary additional bolt on"."

The same USB feature set operates across all of our usb enabled network products in Marantz, from the entry level up to the top end NA11S1 network receivers. There are no products in our portfolio that are sold exclusively with USB being their primary feature ; USB playback is always regarded as a secondary or additional feature. The M-CR610 is primarily a network receiver, with the additional feature set of including a CD player, radio tuner for convenience, and USB also. Many users in requirement of the functionality (both on our products and many other manufacturers), will create a duplicate folder of music, with all the music from different artists in one folder called random.

 

[penbat]

They categorically accept that Random doesnt work properly on the 510, they say because of the limitations of the chipset. They are also heavily implying that its the same for the 610. How many levels of folder do you have ? I have 2 levels although that shouldnt make any difference.

 

[SiUK]

Well they've got it wrong then because it works on the 610! I was playing music all day the other day on random/shuffle. I selected the folder Artists in the root and pressed play and then when it is playing the first track selected random/shuffle and off it went all day.

USB drive:

Artists

artist 1

album 1

album 2 etc.

artist 2 etc.

album 1

album 2 etc.

Classical

artist 1

album 1

album 2 etc.

artist 2 etc.

album 1

album 2 etc.

MP3

Artists

artist 1

album 1

album 2 etc.

artist 2 etc.

album 1

album 2 etc.

comedy

artist1

artist 2 etc.

audio books

book1

book 2 etc.

High Res

blah

 

[webb204]

You definitaly got a bad one there,mines been flawless out the box so far,hopefully your replacement will be fine

 

[penbat]

Blimey, i'll have to link Marantz customer support to this conversation. In your example, did it Random play all files on your USB or just anything in or below your Artists folder ? Was the 1st file played actually at the "Artist" folder level or a lower level folder ? Also were u using front or Rear USB ?

 

[malifact]

I received my Marantz M-CR610 and I am very satisfied so far. It sounds great paired with Monitor Audio RX1s in Sound Direct mode. I'm also pleased that functions such as the Media Server and iPod functions startup much quicker than the M-CR603. The Spotify function works well as well, although it won't play local files that you've imported from a playlist.

I personally don't find the plastic body as bad as other posters. Yes, the M-CR603 is more attractive but I'm happy with the trade-off of having other features such as gapless playback. The one thing that seriously needs an overhaul is the Marantz Remote App. It really is terrible and I'm using a combination of the remote and the PlugPlayer app instead.

 

[penbat]

If you have a USB memory stick can u check out Random on some mp3s in folders. cheers.

 

[SiUK]

Penbat

You'll have to trust me on this one, if Marantz say that the 610 can't do random then they have got it wrong: the 610 definitely does shuffle/random and it does it via the front and rear USB ports. You'll have to try it out and or get someone with a 510 to do it as well to confirm this as I don't know about the 510 but I am assuming it would be no different..but could be wrong of course but why is the button on the remote if not? No CD drive on the thing..

Via front USB (flash drive inserted) select the folder that contains all the music you want to play and press play. Wait till the first track actually begins playing and then press the random/shuffle button on the remote. It may take a few seconds to register when it is first indexing the drive contents so wait a second if the shuffle icon doesn't immediately show up on the OLED display. Via the rear USB with a portable drive attached it is exactly the same process.

Your music (or the music you want included in random playback) must be under a single folder in the root and then subfolders under it. You can't shuffle the drive contents only a root folder. As you can see in my previous post I organise my music so that not all music is included when I choose shuffle. I could though put everything under one folder called 'Music' and play everything but that would include audio books, and other test files etc which I don't want included in random play...and I wouldn't organise it like that anyway.

 

[SiUK]

Correction:

I was in error. The 610 WILL actually play the contents of a whole drive randomly, not just the contents of root folders. I had a USB stick in the front USB port playing files randomly (I was busy and just left it playing after testing for Penbat) and later switched to the rear port with my 500gb portable drive attached and after it had finished 'loading' it began playback straight away, but from a subfolder within a folder called Ectoplasm.com in the root and then from a subfolder within the Classical folder in the root etc. So, yeah, it will even shuffle the entire contents of a connected drive if you need that.

 

[penbat]

Thanks. I currently have:

USB drive:

artist 1

album 1

album 2 etc.

artist 2 etc.

album 1

album 2 etc.

i could change it to:

USB drive:

Music

artist 1

album 1

album 2 etc.

artist 2 etc.

album 1

album 2 etc.

But I only have music files (Mp3s) in the album folders. Where is the file you first play positioned ? Do you have to have at least 1 file in the folder (Music folder in my example) immediately below the root ?

 

[penbat]

Thanks but i still need clarifcation of the positioning of the 1st file played that initates the Random. Can it be absolutely anywhere or does it have to be in a folder directly below the root (Music in above example) but not a subfolder ? Anyway ill be testing this out on my 510, may take an hour or so to organise.

 

[SiUK]

That is, you then select the 'music folder' and press play not any particular file

Try it and you'll understand. You hit play when the folder is selected. As stated already it will be the first file in the first folder...whichever of your artists is first...that'll be the one. Unless you happen to switch from the front USB to the rear USB with random play already on and then it could be anything on the drive. That's as much as I can offer you, sorry.