WANTED NAGRA CDC

[Holmz]

There are no WANTED posts in the classified and even though Steve helped, I still cannot seem to get this into the WANTED section.
If any one has a unit, then I am interested.
Needs to be more than a transport as the Mrs wants to be able to put a CD in hit the play button, and not have to work out the DAC as well.

 

[Holmz]

Or am I better off getting say a Jay’s Audio transport, and running that into the existing DAC?

 

[microstrip]

Or am I better off getting say a Jay’s Audio transport, and running that into the existing DAC?

Sorry, what is the existing DAC?

The Nagra CDP is extremely neutral. I owned it long ago, as I could not resist to its appeal and one has shown in the local used market. It is a wonderful high-end piece, compact, extremely solid and built with a swiss clock precision. But to be fair, in the long term I preferred the sound of the tubed Audio Research CD8 in my system. Not as resolved or neutral, but more dynamic, less well behaved. Surely personal, but Nagra has an high audiophile appeal for me. As many other brands, BTW ...

As far I could see the CDP is overpriced in second hand market - many people still in love with it!

 

[Holmz]

Sorry, what is the existing DAC?

I have a couple or RME ADi-2 Pro DACS.
But I have used them more for ADC than as a DAC, however they do both DAC and ADC.

So I suppose any transport could feed them, but I keep reading that the transport can make a difference.
And the mrs wants to be able to shove a CD into something, and hit play.

The Nagra CDP is extremely neutral. I owned it long ago, as I could not resist to its appeal and one has shown in the local used market. It is a wonderful high-end piece, compact, extremely solid and built with a swiss clock precision. But to be fair, in the long term I preferred the sound of the tubed Audio Research CD8 in my system. Not as resolved or neutral, but more dynamic, less well behaved. Surely personal, but Nagra has an high audiophile appeal for me. As many other brands, BTW ...

As far I could see the CDP is overpriced in second hand market - many people still in love with it!

I suppose I can keep waiting and watching.

Thanks @microstrip

 

[mtemur]

I have a couple or RME ADi-2 Pro DACS.
But I have used them more for ADC than as a DAC, however they do both DAC and ADC.

So I suppose any transport could feed them, but I keep reading that the transport can make a difference.
And the mrs wants to be able to shove a CD into something, and hit play.


I suppose I can keep waiting and watching.

Thanks @microstrip

RME ADI-2 pro sounds incredibly good -especially the new 2/4 SE version. They sound better with a transport and switched to internal clock. Don’t forget to use internal upsampling and NOS mode. It is a very good DAC and becomes better when you add LPS.

 

[Mark212121]

Or am I better off getting say a Jay’s Audio transport, and running that into the existing DAC?

Hello, Holmz. I recently changed my dCS Rossini Player to a Lampizator Poseidon DAC, which meant I needed a CD transport (or a CD player that can be used as a transport only). I purchased a Jays Audio CDT 2 Mk 3 transport to feed the Poseidon. I am very pleased with it; it works very well, sounds just as good as streaming from Qobuz, and the remote control is very good too. I'm sure you are aware that it is a top-loader with a large "puck" which is placed on the CD. This means you need plenty of room above the transport, or it needs to be placed on the top of a rack/unit. Good luck with your search.

 

[Holmz]

Hello, Holmz. I recently changed my dCS Rossini Player to a Lampizator Poseidon DAC, which meant I needed a CD transport (or a CD player that can be used as a transport only). I purchased a Jays Audio CDT 2 Mk 3 transport to feed the Poseidon. I am very pleased with it; it works very well, sounds just as good as streaming from Qobuz, and the remote control is very good too. I'm sure you are aware that it is a top-loader with a large "puck" which is placed on the CD. This means you need plenty of room above the transport, or it needs to be placed on the top of a rack/unit. Good luck with your search.

Yeah - the problem I have, or one of them… is that the place for the stereo will have a TV behind it, and there is a TT.
So we sort of want the top to be as clear as possible, and hence a front-loader.

But the Jay’s is looking attractive.

 

[Holmz]

RME ADI-2 pro sounds incredibly good -especially the new 2/4 SE version. They sound better with a transport and switched to internal clock. Don’t forget to use internal upsampling and NOS mode. It is a very good DAC and becomes better when you add LPS.

I have an LPS for it.
I’ll look into the clock settings.
Thx!

Sort of also considering an older OPPO transport, as well as a newer Shendling (or something like that)

 

[mtemur]

I have a couple or RME ADi-2 Pro DACS.
But I have used them more for ADC than as a DAC, however they do both DAC and ADC.

I also use RME for its ADC quality when ripping vinyl.

When using it as a DAC, I recommend the TRS output if you’re going to use RCA connections. The XLR output doesn’t sound as good as the TRS output when the cable is terminated with RCA plugs.

 

[Holmz]

I also use RME for its ADC quality when ripping vinyl.

When using it as a DAC, I recommend the TRS output if you’re going to use RCA connections. The XLR output doesn’t sound as good as the TRS output when the cable is terminated with RCA plugs.

^I believe^

I had a hell of a time with ground loop type of clicks-n-pops when using it as an ADC at first.
Every mouse move or laptop thing was a like a stethoscope into a living laptop.
Once I hooked up a second set of XLRs on the output side, then that quelled the beast.
(My preamp has a set of XLRs and some RCAs.)

A fellow at work has a bunch of 45s of the same band/songs that we have digitised a few of.
The idea is to then combine them into a copy that is the best.
It is conceptually easy to imagine finding scratches and doing some weights average /combining of the multiple signals.

This gets potentially somewhat complicated with holes off centre and motors with less than 100% precise speed control.
So everything needs to be resample to be the same.

I think that the “Platagent process” may be what this is in a commercial sense.
We would just be doing it as a sort of DSP-101, and for a bit of fun.

But it was a shocker to see all the hash on the plots without the needle even yet in the groove.
And the ADC also can some in handy for diddling around with cable and transformer placement etc.
It is sort of nice to see the hash go down, rather than go up, and it doesn’t seem like a sin or a crime to use a scope or display or plot to help work some of that out.