lonergan2468
pfm Member
You're making me want to buy more CD's
I did a review over on hIFI WIGWAM..
Check Amazon for CDs, I never buy them from the main stores, also E Bay is reasonable. I want to try some HD type CDs....
At last... (Audiolab) - part III
- Thread starter MrScott
- Start date
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I did a review over on hIFI WIGWAM..
Check Amazon for CDs, I never buy them from the main stores, also E Bay is reasonable. I want to try some HD type CDs....
lonergan2468
pfm Member
This is the review that I posted on the WAM.
Cdq review
I have had the CDQ for almost a week now; Our Audio innovations (S500) arrived back last Monday, after a complete service by David Wright, all caps changed, Russian valves, new volume pot. So really; this has been a confusing time. The Audio innovation has now started to run in nicely, and it really does need running in as MR Wright did advise that this could be a few weeks. The CDQ arrived the next day. Everything was dull, flat, edgy... I left everything running on a continual basis, overnight etc....BUT on Friday night I placed Tania Maria (best of) Manteca label in the CD. I fell asleep; a few Bacardi’s an Pepsi max to help with the listening session. I woke up as my fav track was playing, 8, "Granada" this is a live track. I was stunned, the last time I heard this was when we demod the Electrocompaniet CD player and amps here at home, and I liked what I heard then despite the fact that the speakers supplied then were not suitable as they are intended for the prelude range. I am using Mission 752F with the AI500. The atmosphere was incredible, dynamics, scale, transient and timberal response excellent. I was delighted, the running in was going very well indeed. DECISIONS......DECISIONS..... What filter should I use, I have opted for OP/Trans, The volume on the CDQ around 0, however I want to use my volume pot on the AI at around the nine o clock position in order to push the amp, an engineer advised me one to do this.
I have switched between digital and analogue mode, and now back at the digital mode. With the OP/Trans, there are other choices such as OP/Trans XD, DD, however for now I am happy with standard OP/TRANS. The manual states that SMD modulation can be altered, this is not available, and so don’t try and look for it in the menu. Vocals are special, and a joy to hear each singer’s signature as such. Shirley Horn “you won’t forget me" my fav track 11, "if you go" here she is at her most intense, and this was portrayed beautifully, dynamic, great scale, her gasps are so apparent. Timberal aspects are top notch, cymbals stand out when they SHOULD do so, drum taps sound like drum taps. One thing that really grabbed my attention, and with particular regard to piano, on the Tania Maria album, the lower aspect of the piano keys are simply stunning...and decayed beautifully. The piano sounded just as a REAL piano should sound; this is not horrible synth stuff. Tania Maria does actually play the piano as well. I found a Linn SCD cd, was not really impressed with the classical selection, though some nice jazz tracks. The CDQ can deliver very good bass. I tried some John Martyn CDS, again, very impressed as I now have more insight to his beautiful voice, his duet with Phil Collins "sweet little mystery" better than ever, in fact I heard more of Phil as he came in from the background. Timing, start, stop...this is something that has grabbed my attention, and I have not experienced this in quite a while. I could go on and on here.. . The update does not enhance sound quality. I think most people will just want to read down to earth honest reviews of the CDQ sonic abilities, that’s all. I bought a USB cable for connection to PC, however I will give this a try, really just to see what it is about, and I cannot be bothered to do this just now. I have purchased a pair of Snell JII loudspeakers and hopefully should have these by Tuesday, be interesting to see the comparison with the Missions. The headphone amp has a nice touch, a trim volume, and this can be accessed via the menu when the phones are in. I have not really listened to the headphones much, but my son has, so perhaps he can up date this aspect. I have yet to try some of my Mahler CDs, especially the adagio on one album, I can never recall the name. The Von Karajan Adagio CD set was quite nice, however I must return to these as they are complicated, massive in structure, and a CD player and amp running in will not reproduce adequately. I am looking forward to this.
Verdict: The CDQ is one of the most stunning CD players available, and a bonus with a natural sound, with great weight and authority, yet a classy performer.it communicates with the listener, and at a sensible price. I have waited thirty years, been through a lot.......one of my fav being the Shanling, however the CDQ is leaps and bounds ahead in its detail retrieval.
Cdq review
I have had the CDQ for almost a week now; Our Audio innovations (S500) arrived back last Monday, after a complete service by David Wright, all caps changed, Russian valves, new volume pot. So really; this has been a confusing time. The Audio innovation has now started to run in nicely, and it really does need running in as MR Wright did advise that this could be a few weeks. The CDQ arrived the next day. Everything was dull, flat, edgy... I left everything running on a continual basis, overnight etc....BUT on Friday night I placed Tania Maria (best of) Manteca label in the CD. I fell asleep; a few Bacardi’s an Pepsi max to help with the listening session. I woke up as my fav track was playing, 8, "Granada" this is a live track. I was stunned, the last time I heard this was when we demod the Electrocompaniet CD player and amps here at home, and I liked what I heard then despite the fact that the speakers supplied then were not suitable as they are intended for the prelude range. I am using Mission 752F with the AI500. The atmosphere was incredible, dynamics, scale, transient and timberal response excellent. I was delighted, the running in was going very well indeed. DECISIONS......DECISIONS..... What filter should I use, I have opted for OP/Trans, The volume on the CDQ around 0, however I want to use my volume pot on the AI at around the nine o clock position in order to push the amp, an engineer advised me one to do this.
I have switched between digital and analogue mode, and now back at the digital mode. With the OP/Trans, there are other choices such as OP/Trans XD, DD, however for now I am happy with standard OP/TRANS. The manual states that SMD modulation can be altered, this is not available, and so don’t try and look for it in the menu. Vocals are special, and a joy to hear each singer’s signature as such. Shirley Horn “you won’t forget me" my fav track 11, "if you go" here she is at her most intense, and this was portrayed beautifully, dynamic, great scale, her gasps are so apparent. Timberal aspects are top notch, cymbals stand out when they SHOULD do so, drum taps sound like drum taps. One thing that really grabbed my attention, and with particular regard to piano, on the Tania Maria album, the lower aspect of the piano keys are simply stunning...and decayed beautifully. The piano sounded just as a REAL piano should sound; this is not horrible synth stuff. Tania Maria does actually play the piano as well. I found a Linn SCD cd, was not really impressed with the classical selection, though some nice jazz tracks. The CDQ can deliver very good bass. I tried some John Martyn CDS, again, very impressed as I now have more insight to his beautiful voice, his duet with Phil Collins "sweet little mystery" better than ever, in fact I heard more of Phil as he came in from the background. Timing, start, stop...this is something that has grabbed my attention, and I have not experienced this in quite a while. I could go on and on here.. . The update does not enhance sound quality. I think most people will just want to read down to earth honest reviews of the CDQ sonic abilities, that’s all. I bought a USB cable for connection to PC, however I will give this a try, really just to see what it is about, and I cannot be bothered to do this just now. I have purchased a pair of Snell JII loudspeakers and hopefully should have these by Tuesday, be interesting to see the comparison with the Missions. The headphone amp has a nice touch, a trim volume, and this can be accessed via the menu when the phones are in. I have not really listened to the headphones much, but my son has, so perhaps he can up date this aspect. I have yet to try some of my Mahler CDs, especially the adagio on one album, I can never recall the name. The Von Karajan Adagio CD set was quite nice, however I must return to these as they are complicated, massive in structure, and a CD player and amp running in will not reproduce adequately. I am looking forward to this.
Verdict: The CDQ is one of the most stunning CD players available, and a bonus with a natural sound, with great weight and authority, yet a classy performer.it communicates with the listener, and at a sensible price. I have waited thirty years, been through a lot.......one of my fav being the Shanling, however the CDQ is leaps and bounds ahead in its detail retrieval.
lonergan2468
pfm Member
Thanks, nice one. Yes it does indeed have a natural quality.
pwiles1968
pfm Member
Hi lonergan2468. I enjoyed your review. The natural and musical sound of the CDQ certainly got me hooked. As regards Mahler - I have Bejamin Zander's 5th, I found it hard to listen to in the past, now the music shines through so much more and its a pleasure, even with the humbleness of the rest of my system.
I would be extremely interested in how you get on with the Snell JIIs and the CDQ, and also what amp are you using with them? After hearing Audio Note for the first time at the Bristol show I think I know the direction I want to head in and a pair of JIIs might be a more affordable option on the speaker front. Then it's just the amp... Hope to hear how you get on.
Cheers,
Phil.
I would be extremely interested in how you get on with the Snell JIIs and the CDQ, and also what amp are you using with them? After hearing Audio Note for the first time at the Bristol show I think I know the direction I want to head in and a pair of JIIs might be a more affordable option on the speaker front. Then it's just the amp... Hope to hear how you get on.
Cheers,
Phil.
lonergan2468
pfm Member
AMP: Audio Innovations Series 500...completely serviced.
lonergan2468
pfm Member
I connected the USB cable to day, no problem, drivers loaded. I was able to stream music across from spotify .com. I have downloaded FOOBAR, but I am having problems with the asio plugin. I open foobar and get to components and drag the folder (ASIO) in there. When I reopen foobar/file/preferances I cannot see "ASIO virtual devices" Can anyone help please
Cheers
Cheers
lonergan2468
pfm Member
My lap top battery ran out, ok, i replaced the power cord, strange, I can hear intermittint tick noise, and the CD display states error when this happens...????????
cromodora
foshfishfie
.Drag or copy the dll files from the Asio sub folder to the components folder.
.Confilgure Asioforall as per the CDQ owner's manual foobar section.
.Restart Foobar
.Asioforall should appear under pref>playback>output>device
.Asio virtual devices submenu tag will be added after >device.
.Edit and comnfigure for left and right channels.
Heh heh.Just got m hands on the last cdq available from a Singapore retailer and came across your post just after completing my install.
I don't see why John will be personally giving instructions to all Audiolab hifi dealers
i don't know also but this was announced by Bartlett's today.
JohnW
pfm member
Hi Everyone,
Very nice to meet everyone who popped down to the Bristol show and met with us.
Ill like to apologise, as Ill be difficult and unreliable to reach for the next couple of weeks as very sadly my father passed away this Monday, so as you can imagine I'm trying to balance family needs, with AudioLab support etc.
Pls. bear with me for the next couple of weeks,
John
Very nice to meet everyone who popped down to the Bristol show and met with us.
Ill like to apologise, as Ill be difficult and unreliable to reach for the next couple of weeks as very sadly my father passed away this Monday, so as you can imagine I'm trying to balance family needs, with AudioLab support etc.
Pls. bear with me for the next couple of weeks,
John
pwiles1968
pfm Member
Condolences John.
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