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From time to time I wonder if my 12 year old Audio Research CD3 is giving me everything I can get from my CDs.
I spoke to a retailer today who carried both the La Scala and PS Audio Direct Stream DACs. His view was that either would be a huge improvement over what I have now.
Is he just trying to sell me these DACs, or is he right? Lets just consider what the DACS will do for my CDs.
I have included a link to the AR CD3 which was $11K in Australia 12 years ago, and was the best sounding CD player I could find at the time.
Thanks John.
Follow Ups:
The draw for me is that La Scala employs four Burr Brown PCM 1704-K chips that are said to be fine sounding R2R ladder DACs. Other well-liked products that use these chips are way out of my price range, so prolly will get La Scala although it's not inexpensive for me.
I haven't read much good about the other two DACs and I'm skeptical about their sound.
I'm trying to make time to take my AR CD3 into a dealer that stocks the new Yggdrasil DAC for a bit of a comparative listen. Sadly no auditions at home.
The Yggdrasil I believe is also a R2R ladder DAC (correct me if I'm wrong) whereas the CD3 is a Crystal Semiconductors 24 Bit Delta-Sigma, albeit one that has had a superb implementation.
I will report back with my findings.
:)
I have the opportunity to compared my Audio Research CD3 MkII against the Krell Cipher SACD player when I had it in my listening room courtesy from a friend of mine when he let me borrow it for 2 months last year.
From my first impression the Cipher sounded much better than the Audio Research with much better resolution, dynamics and very wide and holographic sound staging especially when playing the SACD disc. But after comparing the overall sound of the two units back and forth, I find that the Audio Research had the uncanny ability to render the instruments and vocals in a more wholesome way as if they were almost real. Everything sounds big as opposed to Krell where it sounded a little lean.
But definitely the Krell sounding more refined overall. But for half of the price of Krell, I thought the Audio Research hold its own rather nicely.
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
I would expect Redbook playback through the DirectStream to be a major improvement...and every other higher-res format, as well.
Paul's demos generally start with playback of regular old CDs through the DirectStream--and many listeners find it hard to believe they're not hearing hi-res.
Then the hi-res stuff is played--and the real fun begins. ;->
As others have said--try it in your system. I would expect the difference from your current setup to be huge, in terms of low-level resolution, soundstage, and just the overall "realness".
Lay a credit card down and take it home for a weekend. Many dealers will charge an audition fee, but it's worth it to hear the DAC in your own environment.
Yes home audition is how I selected the CD3 and the interconnects between it and the amp.
I remember being amazed at the difference the interconnects made to the sound of the CD3.
On the other hand the $1000 power cord I had borrowed sounded no different to my home made power cords. But then we do have 240VAC over here :-)
John
or did it?
Excellent suggestion- JeffH.
"Is he just trying to sell me these DACs, or is he right?"
Well, his job is to pump and jump.
It won't be a huge improvement, more like a very subtle one.
Edits: 10/24/15
Getting everything from your CDs? I have a lot of experience using some of the best CD transports/players (including owning 2 samples of the Marantz CD7 player mentioned below by Jusbe). To be honest the best result by far that I have heard from CDs has been by ripping them to a dedicated server using dbpoweramp, Windows 10 and JRiver 21. I don't mean a slight improvement either but major stuff. The cost is inexpensive compared to a state of the art transport too. However to achieve this result the DAC still needs to be top of the line.My current take on your question would be to buy a very good DAC and abandon the optical/mechanical transport except for when visiting guests want to hear something that hasn't yet been ripped (so keep your CD3 for this). There are a few comparatively cheap things to do in order to optimise the rip/DAC setup which I would be happy to pass on to you should you choose this route.
Edits: 10/23/15
If anything, you might get a different sound form the newer DACs, especially the La Scala (in relation to the CS4396 DAC you're running). But the CD3 should still be musically satisfying, no?
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
would be what is he going to be using for a transport with a DirectStream DAC?
From what I understand of the DirectStream DAC, - it, the Chord, and APL, are some of the closest we have to garbage in, great sound out.
I would love to compare.
As I strive to leave using commercial computers, I see that it's much more expensive to optimize a commercial computer for the transport, than it is to just buy a network file player, - for commensurate SQ. Of course, - there are levels within levels of optimizations.....
Comparing the AR to a Transport/Directstream DAC is the RIGHT test to conduct IMO.
Cheers,
"Asylums with doors open wide,
Where people had paid to see inside,
For entertainment they watch his body twist
Behind his eyes he says, 'I still exist.'"
Yes still very musically satisfying.
You have a well made player, that would serve as a great platform for experimenting with other DACs.According to this resource , your CD player has a Philips CD-Pro (VAU1252) transport with the DAC being a CS4396. This the same transport that was used in the legacy Marantz CD7 player. Hang on to it, it's a good-un!
If I were you, I would audition alternative DACs at your leisure, but hang on to the CD3 as long as possible. Personally, I think the La Scala might be a great example of a sound that's different from your current bitstream DAC. Have fun.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Edits: 10/22/15
The ARC cd players are still relevant. I would get a shop or in-home demo on any other gear that you are considering.
have significantly quieter circuitry (114 dBA vs 96 dBA. That can certainly help low level resolution.
Perhaps you might plan beyond mere Redbook and think about higher resolution formats. I enjoy the benefits of 24/96 through my ARC DAC7.
"have significantly quieter circuitry (114 dBA vs 96 dBA. That can certainly help low level resolution."
If the CDs are encoded with dither (most of them are), the noise level will be roughly -90 dB to -93 dB. Negating any advantage mentioned above.
Can you haul your CD3 up to his shop and see for yourself? If so, then you will know for sure.
Dave
John is your CD3 still making you smile? :-)
If so keep your $$$ and enjoy and listen. Maybe a newer DAC will sound "different" maybe not better but you would have to hear it yourself and decide.
Keep us posted.
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