Best CD drive mechanism

[Hyldal]

Does anybody know whitch CD drive mechanism is the best. Is there any meassurements anywere on whitch drive reads most corectly the data on the CD?

What characterize a high class drive?

[poynton]

There are so many differences of opinion as to what is "the best".

Your "best" option is to search the forum.

This topic has been raised MANY times.

Andy

[anatech]

Hi Hyldal,
An easy answer to that.

The one that has the least digital errors. You can look at the eye pattern and the one with the most stable eye pattern with the cleanest traces is the best drive. The information coming off a CD is an analog rf signal. No ifs, ands or buts.

-Chris

[georgehifi]

Originally posted by Hyldal
Does anybody know whitch CD drive mechanism is the best. Is there any meassurements anywere on whitch drive reads most corectly the data on the CD?

What characterize a high class drive?

I have had the opportunity to hear a lot of different transports with the XO clocks I install, and the ones that consistently shine listening wise, are the Teac VRDS ones, always sound more vibrant yet with good body to the lower mids good extention and excellent bass control, mind you all this is magnified once a good clock is installed again.

Cheers George

[anatech]

Hi George,
Start by preselecting based on eye pattern. Then apply the tricks.

To be honest, nothing helps a transport that can't recover a clean signal. If you start with good data, then it's worth improving the rest of the flow.

The thing is, a clock will not help the transport. It's mechanical and no way will it respond to even gross jitter in your clock. Picture a freight train rolling slowly while a conductor runs back and forth waving his watch. The train is too heavy to respond to anything that conductor does - even if he throws himself under the wheels. Your CD transport will only respond to average trends. Long averages.

-Chris

[georgehifi]

Originally posted by anatech
Hi George,
Start by preselecting based on eye pattern. Then apply the tricks.

To be honest, nothing helps a transport that can't recover a clean signal. If you start with good data, then it's worth improving the rest of the flow.

The thing is, a clock will not help the transport. It's mechanical and no way will it respond to even gross jitter in your clock. Picture a freight train rolling slowly while a conductor runs back and forth waving his watch. The train is too heavy to respond to anything that conductor does - even if he throws himself under the wheels. Your CD transport will only respond to average trends. Long averages.

-Chris

Then the Teacs must have the best eye pattern, as they sound the best to me and others, I have looked at the eye patterns but never had the chance to directly compared them, and they are very clean on my 400meg Tek, but on my frequency counter I notice that standard clocks all vary a little up and down, once the Tent clock and supply are installed the frequency is rock steady (frozen)

Transports in every case have been improved with the Tent XO3 and their XO Supplies, all my customers have said that the sound becomes bigger and more relaxed, yet with big dynamics and not fired out thin dynamics, which is the way I describe it also.
It's like listening to a good A/B amp then turning up the bias on the same amp so it runs in more Class A, (with good cooling and keeping everything still in spec. especially the transformers) The sound becomes bigger smoother more transparent, less squeezed out dynamics, and more washed over you from ceiling to floor, this sort of sound can be listened to for hours, the other only a couple of tracks then your ready for a break.

Cheers George

[anatech]

Hi George,
The clock is not affecting the transport in any way. It's a fact. It's the rest of the electronics that you are playing with.

Also, I didn't mean to imply the Teac transports were bad - they aren't. Sony heads normally.

It's like listening to a good A/B amp then turning up the bias on the same amp so it runs in more Class A, (with good cooling and keeping everything still in spec. especially the transformers)

I can demonstrate that higher bias than necessary increases THD. I plan to demo that at Burning Amp. Believe it.

-Chris

[Peter Daniel]

CD drive mechanism that really impressed me recently is the one pictured below. It can be bought for $15, yet implemented in a CDP it rivals CEC TL0 and ML31.5 (in certain ways).

[georgehifi]

Originally posted by anatech
Hi George,
The clock is not affecting the transport in any way.
-Chris

It may not affect the transport mechanism in any way, but it does affect the VRDS-T1 Transport as a whole unit.

A year and a half ago I had purchased 4 x Teac Transports VRDS-T1 "NOS" from Teac Australia all demo show units that were used at the launch of that model, they were boxed up and forgotten about in a corner of Teac's warehouse until the service manager sold them to me.
All sounded identical. Then one was given a Tent clock system. Customers were given A/B's, the option of standard or Tent clocked when I resold them, all the customers paid the extra to have the Tent installed after hearing the difference. The price difference went from $1000aud standard to $1590aud clocked. I doubt very much that they heard no improvement.

Cheers George

[454Casull]

A/Bs, huh?