Audition of seriously expensive CD player

[Mr_Sukebe]

This Monday I was over in the west country to listen to some kit and took the opportunity to listen to one of these:
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/esoteric_x01.htm

In short, it's a £10k CD player which is simply built like a tank. For comparison, there was a Bel Canto PL1 to hand, also not cheap, but meant to be vaguely similar sounding to my existing CD transport and DAC.
What I really wanted to know was whether the infamous "diminishing returns" would make the X-01 simply an over priced over hyped hulk.
The simple answer was that the X-01 stomped all over the PL1 with better depth, 3 dimensional depth, less grunge. It simply did a better job of putting the band in the same room as you.
Is it worth £10k? My opinion is that if you have a system capable of doing it justice, and £10k to spare, then definitely. Can't say that I have anything like those funds available, but it's an interesting aspirational products.

 

[Jez]

Says in the review that it is US$13k? Thats rather short of £10000. Assuming that £10k is the UK price, then it may be worth trying to incorporate a purchase like this into a US holiday. Would still work out cheaper. Crazy stuff

 

[DRZ]

Did you test it blind against the Bel Canto?

 

[squiffy]

Would be interesting how a PC with digital out to a DAC, albums ripped in EAX FLAC would compare.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

To answer a couple of those questions:
1. Nope, wasn't tested blind, though I did go in without any pre-conceptions. I had no idea which I'd prefer. If anything, I'd have much rather that the BC unit had won the day as it would mean that I'd not want to ever upgrade.
2. I've tried the computer source via DAC against a dedicated transport via the same DAC. The dedicated transport walked all over the computer as a source. As the X-01 was miles better on test than a unit that is similar to my source, it's probably fair to say that the PC fronted system would not come out very well.

 

[clockworks]

Would be interesting how a PC with digital out to a DAC, albums ripped in EAX FLAC would compare.

I did this a few months ago, comparing a laptop playing .wav files (using foobar/ASIO), through a USB "soundcard" and M-Audio Flying Cow DAC, to a £600 Tangent CD player.
We also tried a PixelMagic media player with the same DAC.

The idea was to see which was the best way of spending £600 or so.

The laptop wasn't very good at all. The PixelMagic/DAC combo was slightly ahead of the CDP.

My conclusion was that the software used by PC-based players messes up the timing, and kills the sound. I bought the PixelMagic and the DAC.

 

[FrankJH]

Very interesting indeed, but damn if the CD player is that much the amp and speakers must be seriously expensive also (the speaker cable is probably worth more than my whole "hi-fi" lol)

Also a £600 desktop pc would probably give better sound reproduction than a laptop (remember heat build up in the tiny laptop case will affect what you hear to start with), and usb sound cards arent the best. There are also other reasons why interference will usually be caused inside a pc / laptop case when producing / playing sound but to most people its not heard (including myself)

a cd transport will always run cooler and quieter at any given price (unless you just throw every concievable penny at silencing and cooling a pc) than a pc as its a dedicated unit rather than a jack of all trades - how does F.E.A.R. play on the cdp

 

[clockworks]

Very interesting indeed, but damn if the CD player is that much the amp and speakers must be seriously expensive also (the speaker cable is probably worth more than my whole "hi-fi" lol)

Also a £600 desktop pc would probably give better sound reproduction than a laptop (remember heat build up in the tiny laptop case will affect what you hear to start with), and usb sound cards arent the best. There are also other reasons why interference will usually be caused inside a pc / laptop case when producing / playing sound but to most people its not heard (including myself)

a cd transport will always run cooler and quieter at any given price (unless you just throw every concievable penny at silencing and cooling a pc) than a pc as its a dedicated unit rather than a jack of all trades - how does F.E.A.R. play on the cdp

Arcam AVR350 and Quad L-ites - £1500 and £1000.

Since we were using an external DAC, the "sound" of the PC doesn't really come into it. We used a Phonics USB to coax digital adaptor. It's a piece of semi-pro studio equipment, similar to the M-Audio Transit.

Since the entire path from the file to the coax output is digital, the only way that the sound can really be affected by the PC is by the level of jitter.

While it may be possible to improve the performance by selecting different PC components, we gave it our best shot. My plan was to build a Via uATX PC, with an M-Audio soundcard, but the dedicated media player sounded a lot better. I feel that this must be because of the better jitter performance - the media player uses a "superclock" (TCXO), as used by CD player upgraders.

Don't get me wrong, a PC-based player can be very good (I still use one in my study), but it can't compete with a dedicated player. I'm sure that this will change in the future, if someone produces a dedicated output device, maybe an RME, without the on-board DACs?

 

[FrankJH]

Since the entire path from the file to the coax output is digital, the only way that the sound can really be affected by the PC is by the level of jitter.

Im not completely convinced, I have read threads on here indicating there is still internal pc interferance where there wouldnt be on similar transport - Im no expert but it just seems reasonable

 

[clockworks]

Im not completely convinced, I have read threads on here indicating there is still internal pc interferance where there wouldnt be on similar transport - Im no expert but it just seems reasonable

It's good to be sceptical!

In the field of hifi, take everything with a pinch of salt, and only trust your own ears.