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

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

  1. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    I took the plunge. Looking forward to comparing the 7030 to my ancient-yet-reliable-and-built-like-a-tank SONY CDP-302, as well as my good-bang-for-the-buck OPPO DV-970HD. I don't have a dedicated DAC (so far), so I'll be using the on-board Wolfsen DAC for now.

    Interested to see if the difference in sound is subtle or substantial based on my other modest CDPs.
     
  2. The Beave

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

    And belated thanks to Sid. Really a community effort.
    One thing on my last post, I must have been wrong with my memory as the photos from Amazon clearly show the inside circuit boards mounted in a floating configuration. I must have been thinking of the Marantz players, which are made in china. And also the NAD, which has some of the worst cases of screws being loose. So my apologies on that.

    One more thing then I have to get back to work:
    The 7030 seems to have a very robust error correction/laser assembly/circuitry.
    I recently bought an original Led Zeppelin 1 disc and over the first two songs it had three area's where the aluminum did not get
    stuck to the plastic correctly-causing a 'clear' hole (around 1mm big) at those three area's. At the time I still had my Marantz CD6005 hooked up and when I played it in that player once the laser hit the first of the 'holes' digital hickup loop.
    (keeps doing digititus sounding funky noises and never gets past the 'fault'). Well, when I put the 7030 back into play a few weeks ago I still had the LZ1 on my playlist and popped it in and listened. Did NOT miss a beat. No audible sign of the defects-just music flowing. It played the disc like it wasn't defective at all. So again, not taking anything away from the $499 CD6005-but it threw up on those three 'holes' whereas the Onkyo, at less than 1/2 the price of the Marantz, ate through the defects like they were nothing. And again, I was listening VERY carefully to see if I could detect any 'error correction' noise......None.
    So just to put it out there what my recent experience was.
    Now it's back to work.
    Take care.
    the beave
     
  3. DigMyGroove

    DigMyGroove Forum Resident

    Ordered!
     
  4. Upinsmoke

    Upinsmoke Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SE PA
    So agreed. I'm trying to be good and not buy anything else for the time being. The VPI TT set me back quite a bit.
     
  5. The Beave

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

    Upinsmoke, nice set of teeth on your dog there!
    the beave
    I wish mine were that perfect.
     
  6. Upinsmoke

    Upinsmoke Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SE PA
    lol Thanks. I tried to get my own Irish Jack to give me a shot like that but never quite turned out. She knows better to growl at me. Very similar to my own dog in color though.
     
  7. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    I had the CD6005, kept the Onkyo C-S5VL; one day swapped 'em out, the Onkyo sounded at least as good if not better. Plus it does SACD!

    I like Onk!
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  8. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    Do different DAC chips by the same company have different sonic characteristics or does it come down to the way the chip itself is implemented in the design of the player ? I have a Cambridge player that uses a pair of Wolfson 8740 24/192 DACs, have Onkyo chosen a different Wolfson DAC due to it's functionality or would it be for sonic properties ?
     
  9. The Beave

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

    It's down to how it's implemented in the deck Moops. You can have the same DAC in two different decks with differing Output filtering and come up with different sonics, if that's what the designer is looking for. For me, I compared the Wolfson in the 7030 with the Cirrus Logic in the Marantz's CD 6004/6005 and the Sherbourn 'Analog Device' DAC and I couldn't pick one over the other. They ALL sounded wonderful and very analog like.
    the beave
     
    moops likes this.
  10. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    This would depend on which chips came first. If you're comparing 10 year old DACs to new DACs, there is definitely a difference.
     
    LeeS likes this.
  11. The Beave

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

    Tullman, can you elaborate please?
    the beave
     
  12. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
  13. moops

    moops Senior Member

    Location:
    Geebung, Australia
    Just curious really, DACs have become the rock stars of the digital world it seems over the last few years, but they're all pretty much doing the same thing.
     
  14. frank3si

    frank3si Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Castle DE USA
    Thanks for this tip! I had a need for two CD players and this will do for certain - including one that will be running through a Onkyo AV receiver with controls that match this CD player. Perfect! :righton:
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  15. The Beave

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


    See my post #4.
    Now keep in mind all these players I've had are under $1000. But when you look at the results I got, I DO think the bar has been significantly lifted to where you'd have to go a whole lot higher in price to hear a 'significant improvement' in the DAC/Player.
    the beave
    learning to spell his name right

    One more thing after one more thing. Look again at those Amazon photo's, especially the Plotted graphs. You really can't get a realistic flatter response than that. And THAT is what's coming out of the 7030's DAC.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2014
  16. Jvalvano

    Jvalvano Senior Member

    Location:
    NH
    Arrived today. Sounds great, right out of the box. Far superior to the CD player I was using. Nice and hefty, nice build quality.

    Thanks again for the heads up, this unit was exactly what I was looking for for my bedroom. Something good quality but also inexpensive.
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  17. The Beave

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

    bhazen likes this.
  18. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Mine is scheduled to deliver this Friday.:bdance:
     
    bhazen likes this.
  19. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    Arrived today. Hope to put it through its paces over the weekend. :righton:
     
    bhazen likes this.
  20. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    What Onkyo amp "matches" the 7030?
     
  21. The Beave

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

    AV5sl
    the beave
     
    bhazen likes this.
  22. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I've already lined up my 2010 Yamaha CD-C600 changer ($380 MSRP/disc. $245), & 2008 Pioneer Elite DV-48 AV multi player DVD/SACD/DVD-A CD player ($400 MSRP/$99 closeout) for the first round of comparisons. Both have Burr Brown 192/24 DAC's. Not sure if they are the same DACs, I should check the part numbers.

    Later I'll pull out my vintage players for a compare.
     
  23. Not the A-9050 ?
     
  24. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    Looking very much forward to your thoughts on your comparisons. I hooked up my new 7030 tonight, and listened to a couple CDs I'm very familiar with. I didn't do any head to head comparisons yet - just a casual listen to the player right out of the box. First impressions are favorable - wider soundstage pretty apparent, very smooth highs, very organic mids, just overall laid back and analogue-y.

    More listening this weekend when I have more time.
     
    bluemooze, mikeyt and bhazen like this.
  25. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Started pulling out the vintage players tonight, spent some time with my 1989 Sansui CDX711 w/16 bit DAC, & 1988 18 bit DAC Pioneer Elite PD91. Both were killer players in their day.

    MAN......why did I ever pack these away??? .... (they won't play CD'r WAS the main reason). :crazy:

    Hell, if these were all I ever had I'd be pleased as a pickle.

    Both of these older units kick the arses of my 2010 Yamaha CD-C600 changer ($380 MSRP/disc. $245), & 2008 Pioneer Elite DV-48 AV multi player DVD/SACD/DVD-A CD player ($400 MSRP/$99 closeout). Both of those have Burr Brown 192/24 DAC's. Not sure if they are the same DACs, I should check the part numbers, but in their defense those 2 older players were well over $1000 back when new. Built likes tanks, they weigh in excess of 20 pounds.

    At this point I'm not expecting much out of this Onkyo after this session.:doh:
     
    bluemooze likes this.

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