Hello all,
Abstract:
Scored a *very* clean Nakamichi CD Player 3 at a thrift store for $25. Normally that'd be a bit high for an 'as-is' purchase, but this player is exceptionally clean, has no scratches anywhere on the case, and included the remote. It's a 6 CD changer, and it has a surprisingly robust transport with really only a tray belt as a weak spot. It will read any burned CD I can feed to it, it has a fairly powerful headphone amp, and it has a very high build quality, aside from a couple of voltage regulators that could really use heat sinks. It has an actual ladder DAC, the Burr Brown PCM1700. It has no digital output.
The Rub:
It sounds like ass. I mean, it's not as harsh as some of the early Sony monstrosities or anything like that, but it has a really bad harshness. The PCM1700 is noted by some to have a bad zero-crossing glitch that may or may not be to blame. Here's the interesting part - the player has MSB adjustments for each channel. If I listen to a passage as it fades out with the factory adjustment, the sound is appallingly dithered sounding. You hear artifacts that sound almost like low-quality MP3. If I adjust the MSB pots fully CCW, the artifacts at fade out disappear completely, but really the overall sound isn't much improved.
Now, I am willing to accept that this DAC might not be the best DAC in the world or be up to modern standards, but can it really be THAT bad, and could the MSB adjust have such a dramatic effect without something else being wrong? The voltages seem to be in order, but I have not dug much further.
I really like this player as a transport or as a player for a spare room, but not if it sounds like this. I need to either figure out a way to improve this thing or perhaps to add a digital output.
Anyone have any experience with this gear, or have any ideas? It's a nifty player and hell, it's a Nak. It would be a shame if it were doomed to sound like complete crap...
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Topic - Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Sherwood Forest 01:35:45 08/30/16 (11)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - knewton 06:41:38 07/30/17 (0)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Sherwood Forest 21:31:06 07/21/17 (3)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - fantja 16:22:14 07/22/17 (2)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Sherwood Forest 22:52:11 07/22/17 (1)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - fantja 04:20:08 07/23/17 (0)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - KanedaK 13:02:26 09/08/16 (1)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - belyin 00:11:58 07/23/17 (0)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - fantja 15:52:52 08/30/16 (0)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Crazy Dave 05:20:19 08/30/16 (2)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Sherwood Forest 12:04:12 08/30/16 (1)
- RE: Nakamichi CD Player 3 - How do I make it useful? - Crazy Dave 15:37:29 08/30/16 (0)