It is (almost) all in the setup.

We use the Tune Method to evaluate performance

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beck
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It is (almost) all in the setup.

Post by beck »

Returning for the third time to my old £300 NAD cd player to try and get it right I find myself fully content with the result.
I can now without any hesitation start buying cheap second hand cd’s of any kind. Different recording technic does come through differently but going through my collection they all bring me musical joy.

The trick is to find the setup that disturb the signal the least..

I think vibration is key. Power going through a cord or through a board with electronics create magnetic fields when vibrating. We have to find the vibration pattern that creates as little disturbance as possible to the musical signal being “read”.
I also think that is why it is easier to get a musical result with a turntable. The reading of the signal is less disturbed by all kinds of magnetic fields not connected to the signal itself.

My luck has been rubber from a thing like this:

Link removed.

The end result being much denser and together.

Cutting it in small pieces and using it strategically in my setup has made the difference.

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Last edited by beck on 2019-12-03 20:03, edited 1 time in total.
Playing cd’s…………
Charlie1
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Re: It is (almost) all in the setup.

Post by Charlie1 »

Glad you've made progress and are enjoying CD. It's certainly a cheap way to own lots of music. Bargain hunting must be fun. Hard to find any vinyl bargains these days - in the UK at least.
beck
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Re: It is (almost) all in the setup.

Post by beck »

Thank you Charlie1. Going back to when I bought my cd player many years ago it has not been used much. I never really enjoyed it. It has been an eye opener that I could get this far.

For a person like me seeking ever denser and more together sound with less obvious detail digital will always be a challenge.
Playing cd’s…………
Spannko
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Re: It is (almost) all in the setup.

Post by Spannko »

beck wrote: 2019-11-30 19:06
The trick is to find the setup that disturb the signal the least..

I think vibration is key. Power going through a cord or through a board with electronics create magnetic fields when vibrating. We have to find the vibration pattern that creates as little disturbance as possible to the musical signal being “read”.
I also think that is why it is easier to get a musical result with a turntable. The reading of the signal is less disturbed by all kinds of magnetic fields not connected to the signal itself.
I think you’re right beck, vibration can have a really detrimental effect on our systems.

One example is the Music Works G3 mains distribution block which has just been upgraded by the addition of a layer of vibration absorbing plastic and which is retrofittable for around £300. Those who have heard it (I haven’t) think that it’s a good value upgrade. How crazy is that! But apparently, it makes quite a difference.

I do think that there’s more to it, than just reducing vibration, though. I think that it’s important that any vibrations in the system work harmoniously with anything they might effect. Otherwise we could end up with something which vibrates less but is less enjoyable to listen to. Some people think that the evolution of the LP12 is a perfect example.
beck
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Re: It is (almost) all in the setup.

Post by beck »

Half a year since I started this thread. Now I can get so close to the “same kind” of sound I get from analog with my cd’s that I no longer hear a fundamental difference between digital and analog.

I can put any cd into my cd player and get music out be it HD or just redbook. Remastered analog is enjoyable as is AAD, ADD and DDD recordings. I hear differences in mastering and the original recordings. I do not hear any fundamental difference between HD and redbook.

It has however taken some serious work with the setup of my cd player.

To illustrate how sensitive the handling of the digital signal in my setup is I can tell that I have had to fine tune vibrations coming from a second phono cable (not the one from the cd player) into the back of my lk100 to get it right. So sensitive is the digital signal that I sometimes even have to recalibrate.

When the calibration is not spot on I can in my setup hear all kinds of differences between the different formats as well as getting a less musical result.

Digitals worst enemy is our physical world................ at least in my room! ;-)
Playing cd’s…………
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