Great Giant Killer Wolfsen DAC Dedicated CD player-Onkyo C-7030

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by The Beave, Jul 5, 2014.

  1. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    It looks to have a nice little amp circuit right on the headphone jack, so I'm not surprised it sounds great.
     
  2. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    You mean a goof thing ?
     
  3. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    After over 50+ hours burn in and a long listening session with the Onkyo today it was time to start the comparisons. This will drag on for over a week, bear with me as I'm going to compare it to 5 different players.

    My initial impression is it's quiet in operation, controls are logical to use, & well constructed at the price point offered, and it looks very nice too.

    I didn't hear any sins of commission from it, no tizzy highs but rather smooth if not a bit mellow on the top end, no flabby bass, it's got reasonable heft and authority to it. The mids sound neutral making voices natural in their presentation. The soundstage/detail resolution is good, not jaw dropping astounding, but still rather convincing, tail of reverb is presented good but I've heard better.

    I'm going to start with what I would guess to be the worst contender I own against the C 7030, a Pioneer Elite DV 48 AV multi player. I use it mainly for a few rare DVD-A discs that are not on CD & the few SACD discs I have.

    Both players were hooked up with very short half meter Monster interlink 800 cables. They have very heavy RCA's with a tight fitting split center pin and VERY tight fitting outer ground connection, it's near impossible to unplug them once they are in.

    I'll keep this short and to the point, I listened to quite a bit of varying music, jazz, rock, pop, fusion, blues, my torture test CD Roland Shaw Orchestra Themes For Secret Agents London Phase 4.

    To make a precise point I listened several times to The Manhattan's Kiss And Say Goodbye, this cut has wonderful air around the vocals, and at 4:10 very light ooohhhh background vocal breaths just before the main background vocals, I like to hear exactly how that is presented, the Onkyo gave good detail and air along with a good presentation of the reverb.

    Picking up the Pioneer and looking at it you have to laugh, this thing weighs 5 pounds at best, and it plays DVD, CD, SACD, DVD-A and so on, list was about $400, street price plummeted to $99. It has Burr Brown 192/24 DACs.

    Right off the bat with the Pioneer on Kiss And Say Goodbye the bass lacked authority compared to the Onkyo, what first seemed like air on the top end revealed itself to be a bit of excess tizzy emphasis on the high end, my critical 4:10 very light ooohhhh background vocal breaths test was buried much deeper in the mix than with the Onkyo.

    But this was not the worst, I swore the Pioneer had an upper mid range "honk" to it. Audio memory is very short but I was pretty sure that's what I was hearing. In an attempt to confirm this aberration I pulled out 2 sets of 2 identical CD's, took time to sync them up as close as possible to exact run times and then did some A/B listening. This made the upper midrange honk way more obvious.

    At this point it made no sense to continue, the Pioneer went down in flames. What's it problem? Looking inside the transformer is the size of the very SMALL one inside the Onkyo. My guess is the power supply in the Pioneer is simply too unstable to run all of the circuits properly, it sags and droops and the result is the sound I heard. The 192/24 Brown DAC could not save this thing.

    Chalk up round 1 win to the Onkyo.

    Next up will be a Yamaha CD-C600 "Natural Sound" 5 disc changer 2009 release still for sale, MSRP $380 I paid $250, it's another Burr Brown 192/24 DAC player, but build quality is right up there with the Onkyo.

    Should be much more interesting.
     
  4. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2014
  5. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    If you look at the description they are for audio as well. I think these cables are great for the money, very neutral.
     
  6. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Yup I saw that in the description. And they are priced per cable. Thank you.

    I'm just not used to seeing Audio/Video in an audio interconnect description. It's usually one or the other.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2014
  7. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    The LINK SERIES from Mogami is very flexible cable, both physically and electronically! The impedance is true 75 ohms, hence it is appropriate for analog audio, coax digital audio (won't de-latch!), component or composite video, and subwoofer use. Here's one cable that just about does it all, and for surprisingly low prices. How do they do it?

    Mogami has been around since the early 70s. It is a family owned company in Nagano, Japan with about thirty employees. Koichi Harabayashi started the company and still runs it. Mogami is Mogami. Mogami doesn't buy cables from a generic wire house and slap labels on them. The LINK Series starts with oxygen free copper, .99997%!

    Here's what is special about the LINK Series in addition to the impedance spec mentioned above. LINKs use a 100% spiral rolled shield. Most companies use a braided weave for the ground, which effectively only shields 80%. They aren't as impervious to interference as the LINKs. Further, the type of ground used (Mogami uses equally pure copper) and the amount of shielding helps Mogami achieve a neutral sonic balance and silent background. The center pins are slightly oversized so you always get a good fit. The flanges of the RCA jacks are tight, but not brittle. The result is the ground is always reliable. Many connectors are not contiguous in their connections. Hence, you slip the connector on and it only grips near the chassis. As you pull it off, you can actually feel the gaps in the grip! With Mogami you can feel as you pull the connector off the jack on the chassis, the ground flanges contact very evenly, with a unique, almost supple feel. Mogamis' are soldered and treated with molded booting to prevent the oxygen free copper from becoming tarnished over the years.
     
    Dino and bluemooze like this.
  8. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Yes, slip of the keyboard.
    the beave
     
  9. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    Heeeyyyyyyyyy, now... :p
     
    moops likes this.
  10. beavis

    beavis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayre, Pa. USA
    Thank you 'The Beave', my long lost brother (heh,heh,heh,heh) for directing all of us to the Onkyo at such a ridiculously low price! As I stated earlier I'd been watching this unit for two years (?) and now I've got it!

    Break-in is essential on this piece.....I went 30 hours before the bass began to bloom and the soundstage widen and deepened....now we are almost there! The Onkyo creates a very analogy presentation and may not appeal to those who want to be blown out of their chairs or wowed instantly. Discs are reproduced almost as a good record should sound.

    As far as interconnects are concerned I have tried Morrow Audio, Cardas, Audioquest, and Straightwire brands that I had on hand but the best bang for the buck are the ICs from a fellow in PA who advertises on USAudiomart under 'interconnects'..."Silver for the price of copper"....his ICs are superb when it comes to digital.

    Further reports as they become available....back to listening and burning this baby in.....
     
  11. RonW

    RonW Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Speaking of burn in. Yes I noticed many changes in the first 1/2 hr. The player was veiled at first play then slowly opened up in soundstage with increasing high end. I only have about 5 hrs. on her so I can no way speak to the end all but it was a lot of fun hearing her open up a bit in the first hour. I'm looking forward to more.
     
  12. ddarch

    ddarch Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Mine is here. Very solid packing/presentation. Agreed on the heft for $139.

    Burning in using Stereophile Test CD#3, Track 20 on endless repeat. Will be using Kimber Kable PBJs...something I've been using for various cd players for at least ten years.

    Excited to hear how this deck will sound in comparison to my NAD C542.

    Dave
     
    RonW likes this.
  13. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    I just received my player and it certainly sounds good right out of the box. I did a quick comparison playing "Honky Cat" off the MFSL CD of Elton John's "Honky Chateau on my Denon DVD-1940CI and the Onkyo C-7030. First thing I noticed was spectacular clarity on the high end and an overall balanced presentation that was lacking on the Denon. The Denon really pushed the bass too much, the Onkyo seemed just about right. I'm letting it burn in and look forward to even better performance. When I have time I'll also compare it to my 1989 Belgian built Philips CD-50.
     
    RonW likes this.
  14. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Very True. Again, we're dealing with a special xmas present to all audiophiles on a budget. It isn't every day we get a piece of gear that delivers MORE than it's supposed to!
    the beave
     
  15. cathare34

    cathare34 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels,Belgium
    Will receive mine tomorrow will be comparing the c-7030 with my Rotel RCD-06.....
     
    RonW likes this.
  16. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Oh Good Lord this should be interesting to say the least! An Onkyo against a Rotel.
    Good God!
    the beave
     
  17. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    I've been enjoying this player immensely today. Anyone on the fence should jump at this great bargain, you won't regret it. Thanks for the tip!!!
     
  18. beavis

    beavis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayre, Pa. USA
    Around 40 hours on it now.....very nice; quite analog in its presentation, warm, yet detailed. Perhaps the closest I've heard to my analog front end (Technics SP-15, Audio Technica ATP-12T, and Ortofon SPU GME).

    Again, ICs will be an important part of the equation.....
     
  19. OnTheRoad

    OnTheRoad Not of this world

    Are you guys using the optical or coaxial output of this unit ?

    I have one...and only have used the RCA outs...and those sound fine to me. But I'd sure like to have an amplifier with coax or digital inputs !
     
  20. Jerryb

    Jerryb Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    I use the RCA outs on mine. I don't know much about this stuff but wouldn't using the optical or coax out on this player defeat the whole purpose of the unit?
     
  21. theron d

    theron d Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore MD
    late to the game, is there a similar version that also includes SACD too? thanks in advance...
     
  22. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    That's what I was thinking. Don't you use the optical/digital coax to connect to a DAC, bypassing the Onkyo's onboard DAC?
     
    Jerryb likes this.
  23. OnTheRoad

    OnTheRoad Not of this world

    Well....realizing the Wolfson DAC is the GEM here...yeah, the analog out would seem to be the premier feature....but wouldn't a direct optical digital out be pure and primo as well ?

    I've been reading the 'Is your cd player too hot' thread...and the voltage out of the analog outs mismatch mine, and I dare say most, basic receiver/amps out there. The digital outs are of a more seemingly 'compatible' level...so that's what made me wonder too.

    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/is-your-cd-player-changer-too-hot.350381/

    http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/is-your-cd-player-changer-too-hot.350381/page-3#post-10752241
     
    mikeyt likes this.
  24. cathare34

    cathare34 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brussels,Belgium
    ...10 hours on it for the moment and i am quit surprised the quality allready, i am switching with my Rotel RCD-06 and the 7030 sounds very analog close to my Rotel. I think de new generation "Wolfson Dac" makes all the difference in this player. For the moment i am quiet satisfied to have this little gem of a cd player (i paid 202 euros for it).

    The only thing is the stock powercord attached to the cd-player i expected a powercord that was removable.

    I like the cd-tray it comes out slowly very well built.

    More testing the coming weeks.
     
  25. The Beave

    The Beave My Wife Is My Life! And don’t I forget it! Thread Starter

    Yes it would!
    Very astute of you to know that.
    Now play on. And enjoy the music.
    the beave
     
    Jerryb likes this.

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