Audio Note CD Transport/DAC
- Thread starter Neil P
- Start date
JTC
PFM Villager...
Just received mine yesterday. It’s incredible!!!You beat me to it Phil regarding the Audiolab, getting quite a few good mentions of late. Me, if I could afford £2k+, Jay's Audio CDT, I haven't posted a link since to look at it, you'll want it
- it’s built like a very nicely finished tank!I have the CXC. Rounding a lot is the CD5.1 more or less a hundred times better? I know it doesn't read well, but it's a serious question.
Quality CD Transport like Project/Rotel/Denon/Marantz & DAC from SW1X much better value
Products | SW1X Audio Design (sw1xad.co.uk)
CD Box RS2 T – Pro-Ject Audio Systems (project-audio.com)
HiFi Electronics – Pro-Ject Audio Systems (project-audio.com)
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The DACs from SW1X are almost direct copies of Audionote DACs. They even use the same parts.
No, it's based on Ukrainian DAC producer — Abbass Audio https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=abbasaudio&_sop=12
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Salamander
pfm Member
Deleted post
Salamander
pfm Member
daytona600
Registered User
are almost direct copies of Audionote DACs. They even use the same parts.
Kondo , Voyd , Snell , Systemdek did they not copy AN designs
Imitation is a kind of artless Flattery
Kondo , Voyd , Snell , Systemdek did they not copy AN designs
Imitation is a kind of artless Flattery
Really? They look pretty similar to me. Certainly the chassis, plus SW1X are even using Audionote parts (capacitors and resistors)
Audionote DAC:
SW1X DAC:
I am sure people will draw their own conclusions...
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Darren L
Egalitarian
I assume this tongue in cheek as obviously AN copied/bought/and currently produces equipment based on designs from all these companies.
JTC
PFM Villager...
It also easily answers the question of whether cd transports matter (in SQ sense). Absolutely. That being compared (admittedly to aural memory) to the Cambridge CXC. That was very good indeed (into Denafrips Venus II) but the CD2Tmk3 is quite a bit better.
Bob Edwards
pfm Member
Audio Note bought the design rights from Snell. A far cry from Snell copying an Audio Note design.
JTC
PFM Villager...
Nobody forced you to read or participate on this thread, thoughI'm not sure what makes my head hurt more... cd>dac discussion or pc>dac audio ... aaaaaaghhhhhhhh
RichardAusten
pfm Member
Really? They look pretty similar to me. Certainly the chassis, plus SW1X are even using Audionote parts (capacitors and resistors)
Audionote DAC:
SW1X DAC:
I am sure people will draw their own conclusions...
I was reminded of YBA who created a lower-priced sister company called Audio Refinement so that more people could afford to buy the gear. Audio Refinement had an amplifier that was very close to the YBA Integre DT. It's weird to see a company that seems to be flat-out copying Audio Note - they even link to an article about Peter Qvortrup and Kondo San on their technology page. And if they are buying parts from Audio Note in bulk then they must be aware of them.
There's nothing completely new under the sun - Peter noted that his DACs are based on the original CD design. The zero digital and analog filtering they came out with first and have had many many other companies copying the approach from Border Patrol to Zanden to MDHT etc.
RichardAusten
pfm Member
Peter was the UK Importer and close friend to Peter Snell - he bought the speaker rights to the original Snell models when Voecks took over Snell - Voecks changed the speakers anyway so it probably didn't matter to Voecks' Snell at that point. Peter hired Guy Adams of Voyd turntables so the Voyd Reference became the AN TT3 - the current TT3 that I own is a gussied up Voyd Reference - The Voyd was my favourite TT in 2000 when I heard it at my dealer's shop (his personal TT) and the store had thousands of LPs lining the walls. They carried some big brand TTs but the TT3/Voyd Reference beat all of them (Linn LP 12, Clearaudio, Rega, ProJect, Roksan, the Audio Note TT2 (SystemDek based), Oracle. The problem was that there were no more motors available for the Voyd(old TT3) so as good as it sounded - I could not buy it back then. Oh and the price - eesh. The new TT3 in adjusted dollars is a steal IMO - it's my favourite piece of gear in my system.
I happened by the AN dealer here in Hong Kong last week and they were running in the IO Limited cartridge with an external power supply to drive the cartridge - my oh my - glorious - but my oh my the price. I need to marry Lady Gaga before she gets snapped up - she can afford it. I have the beard - with the lights very low (err off) I could pass for Bradley Cooper.
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JTC
PFM Villager...
Certainly - but please be aware I've only had it for a little over a day and so I've barely had a chance to listen to more than a handful of cds.
In a nutshell, the sound is just more 'alive' - in exactly the way that, for all its flaws, there's something believable and 'alive' sounding in good vinyl. I can't really explain it much better than that, although - like vinyl - it does certain things just more 'right' than did its predecessors (or my Node 2i into the same DAC). The leading edge of cymbal taps have a more precise attack - I'm a drummer, I notice stuff like this - which I previously hadn't noticed wasn't all the way there. There's somehow more 'confidence' in where various things sit in the mix, things seem to 'know their place'. And it's terrifically textured and layered. All of this stuff I didn't expect, if I'm honest. I'd hoped for some minor improvements, but mainly I wanted a better quality transport that matched the build quality and finish of my amp and DAC (both of which are of superb construction) and also I fancied a top-loading transport that offered up a particular 'teeing up the vinyl' like experience that encouraged me to listen to albums beginning to end. It's all of that. But sonically - and perhaps this is partly down to using I2S via HDMI rather than digital coax - it's by far and away the most 'alive' sounding CD playback I've heard.
Drawbacks? None thus far. OK, I had to fiddle with the I2S config to get it talking properly to my DAC - misleading info in the manual had me trying I2S mode 000 when in fact it needs I2S 110 (which can be changed at the DAC end); before that it sounded absolutely awful, only just recognisable as music but heavily distorted (but find on coax output so I knew it was a config thing). And it's not cheap, but its construction is truly high-end. And I did get a cheeky discount.
I'm beyond pleased. I'm even wondering if it might - for the first time - beat my P8/Apheta 2 across the board, even on fancy-pants pressings. I'm almost scared to try. It has got me realising that I'm actually there now. I can finally close the hifi chequebook. Honest.