Digital Drive: REVIEW: Opera Audio cd-120L CD Player/Recorder by Ping

Model:	cd-120L
Category:	CD Player/Recorder
Suggested Retail Price:	$995
Description:	cd player
Manufacturer URL:	Opera Audio

Review by Ping on October 28, 2007 at 10:17:02
IP Address: 72.85.32.162 Add Your Review
for the cd-120L

Technical:
Been buying and moding old cd-players from the golden age of cd players(late 1980's)for a long time. In so doing, I've learned alot about cd players and what sound I like and why I like it. Some of these early players possessed such natural sound that I have to conclude that the problems with early digital reproduction were due entirely to the recording and mastering of music and not the pcm format.

I've found that the best sounding players were from the philips family of players. Specifically players using chips like the tda1543 and tda1541 with transports such as cdm12 or other philips transports. So when I heard about a cd player that uses a vintage philips chip set in a NOS circuit, for a very reasonable sum, I suddenly became interested in a new production cd player.

The designers of this cd player have paid alot of attention to power supply design, with numerous regulators, most discreet types like lm317. Tantalum capacitors on the twin dac power supplies which happen to be the most musical types i've found in that position. Wima capacitors are also some of the best film capacitors for music as well and they are used throughout. Wow! the parts are actually done right for music.

Listening:
This player does 2 things about as good as it gets. Timing and midrange communication. I've read the tnt-audio review and agree with most of what is said by the reviewer. I do think he misses one thing and it's pretty big. The midrange has a completeness that sounds like good analog. Namely, the voices sound like human beings, with all of the emotional content intact. A solo voice will sound like the person. When you couple this to excellent timing the effect is dramatic.

The bad stuff about the player occurs in the realm of "absolute sound" or whatever you want to call it. Some "air" is missing, midrange isn't as "palpable". Macrodynamics are really good but not amazing. But for me "Air" is important in the conveyance of space and this player is so organic in it's portrayal of space its amazing. "Palpability" is important for midrange communication. This player conveys that in another way, by sounding "human". So it needs to be judged on it's own terms I think because it defies the usual standard.

I listened to all kinds of music from classical to classic rock. It always captured the emotional content and the essence of the music.

System:
creek headphone amp, grado sr80s.

Product Weakness:	none at price
Product Strengths:	analog sound<br><br>

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: creek headphone amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): none
Sources (CDP/Turntable): opera audio cd-120 Linear
Speakers: grado sr80 headphones
Cables/Interconnects: generic
Music Used (Genre/Selections): numerous
Type of Audition/Review: Home Audition

Amplifier:	creek headphone amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	none
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	opera audio cd-120 Linear
Speakers:	grado sr80 headphones
Cables/Interconnects:	generic
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	numerous
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition