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At last... (Audiolab) - part III

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I agree - impressive service by JW!!
So if I should get any problems with my CDQ, I expect John to fly to Singapore and fix it ;-) and any other electronics with problems - reminds me, got a rice cooker thats broken..

So far I have zero problem with the CDQ other than the hiss which I solved by going to balanced out. It will be matched up with some hi-end (in my opinion) speakers in a few weeks and planning some blind testing on the local forum to try out cables etc
 
I agree - impressive service by JW!!
So if I should get any problems with my CDQ, I expect John to fly to Singapore and fix it ;-) and any other electronics with problems - reminds me, got a rice cooker thats broken..

:D:D:D

Made me chuckle that did.

I'd like to add to the admiration for job well done, above and beyond.

Quite astonishing in fact, and having J and D prepared to answer questions and take some flack on here is top notch. 10/10 to you both. :D Cheers.

Also have my new black CDQ up and running now through my shiny new Adams and even from cold and brand new I'm delighted. And I know there's more to come as the last one 'warmed up' or 'broke in' quite nicely after about 5 days (25-30hrs).

I'm a very happy chap this evening, can't keep the grin off my face. :p
 
I agree - impressive service by JW!!
So if I should get any problems with my CDQ, I expect John to fly to Singapore and fix it ;-) and any other electronics with problems - reminds me, got a rice cooker thats broken..

So far I have zero problem with the CDQ other than the hiss which I solved by going to balanced out. It will be matched up with some hi-end (in my opinion) speakers in a few weeks and planning some blind testing on the local forum to try out cables etc

Hi Dane, want to pop by my place to try out your cdq with my Adam compact 3? We can also try using my transport and see if there is any difference in sound. Will be fun to report it back here. I wonder how some here do PM though.
 
littletoast - pm'ed you

edit - i think i did.. keep getting logon screen after pressing send on pm's..
 
Dominik

I've just set my turntable back up with new Jico SAS stylus for my V15 mkiii and a new Project Tubebox phono stage. This is into the aux input on the CDQ.

I want to get just my favourite bits of vinyl onto the computer to make cds for the car and for convenience into playlists etc.

Is there any way to use the CDQ's adc to create my FLAC files via the usb connection.
It seems crazy to have to use my inferior soundcard for this. I use Alpinesoft Vinylstudio and can pick up the source to record from but the CDQ does not appear as a option.

I can pick up the SPDIF on my Asus D2X soundcard and can connect this to the CD out on the CDQ but there does not appear a way to get the aux input to be output here in digital form.

In case anyone is interested the Tubebox into the CDQ preamp is a huge upgrade on the phono section in the 8000C preamp it has replaced. Some of that will be the Tubebox and it's valves but the pre amp also seems to be more relaxed. There have not been many comments on the pre amp section here other than people trying to avoid using it. Anyone care to comment on how good the preamp sounds where they are using it as intended.

Norrie
 
Hi Norrie,

There is no ADC in the CDQ! Analogue inputs stay in analogue domain all the time. They are converted to balanced and from there follow the same path through the analogue preamp as the DAC outputs do (when in analogue pre mode). Digital pre mode skips the whole analogue preamp and goes straight to the output jacks.

People seem to comment favorably about the analogue pre - every time headphone output is being mentioned it is a testament to the analogue preamp as that's what drives it.

Dominik
 
I expect John to fly to Singapore and fix it ;-) and any other electronics with problems - reminds me, got a rice cooker thats broken..
That gave me a good chuckle too! :D:D Honestly, JW is probably the most helpful guy I have ever met. Astonishing.

By the way, in the last hour I've just got my SB touch. Out of the box, the CDQ locks on over USB, but no sound. In fact the SB does not appear to play the song. However, I do get control over the SB using the CDQ handset (back, forward, play, pause etc), so all is not lost.

Early days. I will report back.
 
Timr,
So the designer of your newly purchased cd came to your house and fixed your... Amp?! Wait, what? Well done, is all I can say!

To cut a long story short, between me reporting the CDQ problem and JW coming over to the UK, one of the channels failed on my power amp, an Audiolab 8000X7. Even though I had a workaround (this is a 7ch amp, and I only need 5 channels) John was absolutely brilliant and dropped it off at IAG the next day, then bought it back on his way home. He just wouldn't take no for an answer!

He had also noticed a hum on the amp (i must say, it wasn't something I'd notced), and this has been fixed too.

Top that!

John, next time you're over, please let me buy you a beer.
 
By the way, in the last hour I've just got my SB touch. Out of the box, the CDQ locks on over USB, but no sound. In fact the SB does not appear to play the song. However, I do get control over the SB using the CDQ handset (back, forward, play, pause etc), so all is not lost.

Out of the box the USB out will not have digital out. This requires an alteration to a file in the SB. See the link in previous posting. With this "hack" you'll loose signal from the other outputs.

I've plans following this path. To me this seems the ideal path. The Stereophile article mentioned an unsurpassed sound quality (in combination with an Ayre DAC) I do not plan to alter my setup so just using USB out will be fine for me.

Soon I'll have the money and hopefully there is a dealer here in the Netherlands where I can audition the CDQ. I'm still a bit worried about the hissing and I have no plans buying a power amp that does have balanced inputs soon.

Dominik: I've asked this question before to Dominik so I hope you don't mind me asking again: is it possible to mute the output signal if no input signal is offered after a firmware udate?
 
. Dominik: I've asked this question before to Dominik so I hope you don't mind me asking again: is it possible to mute the output signal if no input signal is offered after a firmware udate?

Not sure this is the solution you are after, but I think switching to analog pre and turning down the volume will be equivalent to muting the output
 
Not sure this is the solution you are after, but I think switching to analog pre and turning down the volume will be equivalent to muting the output

That is a possible solution and so is switching off my power amp after listening. It's just that I was hoping for a more elegant solution. If the hissing could be countered with a firmware alteration, the CDQ would be an ideal piece of equipment for me.

Is there anyone that can explain what causes the hissing? Is it noise only not heard when louder material masks it? etc etc.
 
He just wouldn't take no for an answer!

He had also noticed a hum on the amp (i must say, it wasn't something I'd notced), and this has been fixed too.

Top that!

When he left, did he go by car or fly off into the sky? ;)


JW.jpg
 
hahaha!! great one!

to dre: switching off the CDQ will also kill any hiss unless it comes from your power amp..
how noticeable the hiss is depends on how effective your speakers are and the gain of your power amp.

my guess/hope is that JW+Dom will find a solution and implement in future production
 
Thanks Dominik that makes sense and I realised after I'd posted. I'm more used to fiddling with soundcards than amps. I've not really looked at the CDQ yet in detail just listened to music and the talk of choosing the digital pre over the analogue was where my confusion came from.

Thanks again for a great product, for the first time in years I just want to actually listen to my music again rather than just play it in the background.

Norrie
 
That gave me a good chuckle too! :D:D Honestly, JW is probably the most helpful guy I have ever met. Astonishing.

By the way, in the last hour I've just got my SB touch. Out of the box, the CDQ locks on over USB, but no sound. In fact the SB does not appear to play the song. However, I do get control over the SB using the CDQ handset (back, forward, play, pause etc), so all is not lost.

Early days. I will report back.

Hi Tim, have you applied the softmods as in the link i posted earlyer? I have tried the mods but I think there may be a problem if you are running the latest firmware, they dont seem to be working on my system so i am trying to downgrade to 7.5.2. not having much luck at mo, hacking the touch is a doddle.
 
Tonight I did some more critical listening. Started to toggle the filter settings beyond OS and OT (standard). Of these two I preferred the OS most when the recording was devoid of digital sharpness (more ambiance as stated before) and would use the OT to get rid of that when the recording had that typical digital signature (less listening fatigue as the manual correctly states). However, after some time the Slow Roll-off filter slowly but surely won me over. Not dry, not sharp, but in between and very dynamic for that! Just wonder if anybody else has experienced this? This filter was not considered "high-end" for what I've read. However, I'll keep this filter for the time being. Sounds great! That's the good part of this posting.

Previously reported about the OPU being on the sensitive side with CD-R's (remember, I am one of those who uses the CDQ as CD player only, with upgrading only in mind). I mentioned that 1 out of 10 CD-R's would skip or not be read at all (reading-error). That may be a conservative number. What's worse: my CDQ is also sensitive with regular CD's :(. I experience ticking and skipping in individual tracks. Again, a conservative estimate would be that this happens with 1 out of 10 CD's. It is sooo annoying when you have to switch of a recording that you're enjoying anew! Of course, I cleaned CD's thoroughly by wiping. Didn't help. The same CD's are read without problem by my 1993 Sony player (mind you, it's laser block that I replaced costed 150 euro on it's own). Now: am I the only one experiencing this?
 
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