I grew up with records and got back into them around 2000. Three years ago I sold them, a lot of them here, before an out of state move. I cleaned every new and used record on my Okki Nokki RCM and they went into a clean MFSL sleeve. I kept albums in resealable outer sleeves. I was really picky about my records. Scratches on CDs isn't acceptable either. I paid more for a black triangle Abbey Road than I did a NM -1/-2 Abbey Road. Collectable CDs can get expensive too. I like the redbook layer on the MFSL hybrid SACDs too and they're $30 each, more for OOP titles. I can understand what you mean though if vinyl is your main format. My Audiolab works great, it gets a lot of use but I'd toss it if it started scratching CDs.
Has anybody used or compared the Primare DD-15 slot loader to the Audiolab 6000CDT? I like the looks of it. It's been around for a while.
That's my point, why if some care a lot for scratches on Vinyl and put care on Vinyl (I do), don't do the same for CDs? I give the same respect to the condition, no matters the format, condition is everything when collecting is. So a player can can scratch or leaves minimal marks is not accepted (at least for me). Recently I can't believe what a I read a facebook group that many considerate a CD as MINT even when have tons of scratches or even when is scuffed with those machines that "remove" scratches, why? because some claims that if the CD plays well and not skip, is MINT. After read that, I understand now why Discogs is plagued of sellers that overgrade, due they don't need add pics to Discogs, they can "hide" the real condition, I myself was scammed for some of those sellers, now I ask for pictures before to buy on Discogs. By the way down on price today for $478 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HS2PDBM?tag=camelalertsizer-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1&language=en_US
I’m probably 50/50 on CD & vinyl purchases as vinyl prices have gone up. I enjoy SACDs with a recent addition of a 2008 Sony CD/SACD 5-disc changer. I have issues with hybrid SACDs as sometimes the SACD layer can’t be read. So I target single-layer SACDs as a work around. Some of those can get expensive.
Well I ordered one of these on Wednesday and paid $549. Now I see it went down again to $479. Doesn't look like there's anyway to get a partial refund through Amazon anymore for lower prices like there used to be. I might try my credit card company but these things happen every so often. I'm not sweating it. Anyway, it will be here Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it after reading this thread.
Got it, love it's looks, and enjoying it as writing this. Was using a Topping E30 with my last cd/blu ray combo player, but the Topping had issues with this transport. Or should I say it's chip did. It had issues with another pure cd player of mine awhile back, but I figured it was the cd player and that's when I started using the CD/BR. But after a little research I see that it's a well known issue with the E30's chip and cd players/transports. So I put in my SMSL SU-8 and now it works like a charm. Liked it so much saw that a fellow Hoffman member was offering the SU-9 at a nice price, so figured why not make a little upgrade? And I did. Will have that in a week or so, but for now my cd needs are completely met.
I have CDs from 1986 that are used several times a month since then and they aren’t scratch, so having a CD player or transport with a drive that can do that simply puts me off. I imagine that someone who buys a dedicated CD transport will use it a lot, so the mechanics must be flawless as can be. For me it is the first and foremost thing that should not happen and I don’t understand why Audiolab (being aware of the problem) don’t release a MkII with a drawer (and a AES/EBU output) and enlarge the sales even more. The Cambridge CXC (that I use) must be commended for the quality of the drive mechanism and drawer at that price point. The annoying thing to me is that perhaps the Audiolab is even a better performer than the CXC.
Has everybody who have used the Audiolab suffered the scratching issue on this thread? I haven’t read it all but my impression it was not the case. FWIW I played several cd’s yesterday and looking carefully didn’t notice any scratching or markings afterwards looking at them under strong light. I’ll be honest and state that cosmetic issues with cd’s have never concerned me as long as normal play is not an issue. I’ve had/have thousands of cds over the years and have only inspected a small percentage mostly because of play issues. I realize for some it is a big issue and I agree that a player shouldn’t leave markings but for me the performance of the player is really all that matters as long as the discs remain perfectly playable.
I don’t normally care about how either a cd or a record looks as long as they play as expected. For a cd that means no skips. For records it’s different. I tolerate a lot more noise then others although excessive skips/noise gets on my nerves. I get that cosmetics are important to some because of resale value but my media is not purchased with that in mind. I tend to hold onto everything and whenever it becomes necessary to downsize I’m not going to worry about getting the most for everything. I haven’t noticed any scratching yet from my new Audiolab and would prefer it didnt but as long as I can play them perfectly I’m not going to obsess about it.
I guess my preference of vinyl over everything else is going to be taking a back seat to my shiny new toy the next few days. I love this thing! Time to pay a visit to the catacombs
Anybody have any issues with the remote turning the unit on? I unplugged it today as I was moving things around, then plugged it back in and turned on the power. The little red light came on but it took a couple of minutes of pressing both the standby button on the remote, then the unit itself, until finally it turned on and accepted a disk. Maybe I'm not following the correct protocols but I think I am according to the directions. Also having an issue that when I press the stop button on the remote it doesn't stop the disc. Any thoughts on issues with the remote, or how I should be using it correctly?
Also, when the disc is paused, and I press the center button to resume, it goes back to track 1. That can't be right.
How long did you leave it paused? It stops the disc after an unreasonably short period of time such that it doesn't allow you to resume where you paused.
Maybe 10 minutes. I have set the stand by mode to "Never", so it's not in standby but in pause mode when I return to it. I press the play/pause button and it goes back to track 1. Or at least it did just now. So trying it now after removing the batteries and putting them back in the above issues have seemed to resolve themselves. Weird. Maybe just new gear gremlins. Anyway would still be interested if anybody else have had remote issues, or can comment if I'm doing anything incorrectly. Otherwise, the unit continues to perform beautifully.
Mine does this when I leave it paused to take a call or whatever (so after about 5 minutes, it loses the spot and will restart at track 1 when play is pressed). It's the most annoying aspect of this player to me!
