Rotel CD11 Tribute Disc Reading Difficulties

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by rockin_since_58, Aug 6, 2021.

  1. John3655

    John3655 Infinite input

    Location:
    Hampshire UK.
    I would read the release notes before applying firmware not only is it difficult to do you need as rs232 cable but also the firmware probably just tweeks features and stuff I doubt it does anything to affect reading of CDs, there's no acknowledged issue to fix. V1.01 just affect cd text nothing else.
     
  2. Marcev

    Marcev Sit back, Relax, and Enjoy the Music

    Location:
    New York
    @John3655 , what I was bringing up was that my very recently purchased unit has 1.02, not the 1.01 which is all they have on the site. With 1.02, mine has none of the issues his has. Kind of a Hail Mary to see if he can first get it from support and then if he can apply it. Since it came with my CD11, I have no idea what it fixes... You can order the cable from amazon and the software to upgrade runs on Windows.
     
    Gizmo90 and John3655 like this.
  3. Classicrock

    Classicrock Senior Member

    Location:
    South West, UK.
    Modern CD players are chip based and have a memory similar to computers. I managed to put my CXC into some kind of random shuffle after using a different remote control. Jumped tracks mid way in no particular fashion. It only sorted itself after unplugging and leaving it without power for a few hours. Presumably this allowed any stored commands to electrically discharge from memory.
     
    moops likes this.
  4. Rich-n-Roll

    Rich-n-Roll Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington State
    Sounds like the old girl has seen her days
     
    moops likes this.
  5. tonymichaels

    tonymichaels Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Long Island
    You could consider trading or selling it, they're are solid players out there. My CD player with zero issues sounds better than do my Apple lossless files into the same integrated with a respectable internal dac
     
    Marcev likes this.
  6. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Le Froidtown

    Does your CD player and your Apple Lossless files enter your Integrated on the same interface type? SPDIF, USB?
     
  7. tonymichaels

    tonymichaels Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Long Island
     
  8. tonymichaels

    tonymichaels Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Long Island
    USB out from mac mini into USB on integrated.
     
  9. Bob J

    Bob J Forum Resident

    The more I read about some current day CD players, the harder I cross my fingers that my old Technics player doesn't crap out on me.
     
  10. John3655

    John3655 Infinite input

    Location:
    Hampshire UK.
    Couple of times I've put a cd in and it hasn't quite settled centrally then there's been some misreading. Eject and reload fine.
     
    rockin_since_58 likes this.
  11. John3655

    John3655 Infinite input

    Location:
    Hampshire UK.
    Oh hey don't be put off, this thread is only here because people care about this player. There might be a handful of faulty ones amongst thousands sold. Some of the issues are non issues like the click at the start and end of playback it's just a relay switching on the outputs and is a sign of quality. All my chord DACs have made a similar click at far higher cost. Cheaper players use a transistor that doesn't click but isn't so good for the signal path. The drive tray auto retracting is just a feature that sometimes isn't convenient but it's not a big deal. This player wipes the floor with anything sub £1000.
     
  12. Giobacco

    Giobacco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    he only has to set repeat off on the remote, it'll never do it again...it seems the strange repeat last track function in on by default.
    By the way this player sounds incredible...
     
    MikeJedi and Benfica like this.
  13. Giobacco

    Giobacco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    I agree. I've just never been happier with a CD player. It's utterly incredible for its price.
     
    MikeJedi likes this.
  14. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    It did not originally do that, so it is not a default setting.
     
  15. Giobacco

    Giobacco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    On mine it was...so I just selected off and it never happened again (firmware version 1.2)
     
    F1nut likes this.
  16. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Interesting. I have an amp I'm repairing for him, so I'll check that feature when I return the amp.
     
    Giobacco likes this.
  17. Marcev

    Marcev Sit back, Relax, and Enjoy the Music

    Location:
    New York
    1.2 firmware for a CD11? Wow, I thought mine was recent at 1.02? According to the manual, the repeat feature resets to off when the disk is ejected so if that setting was sticky something might be up with the player... There is no system menu setting for repeat, just the remote button.

    "NOTE: The REPEAT function is automatically cancelled when the disc is ejected." (from the manual)
     
    F1nut likes this.
  18. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Thanks for that!
     
    Marcev likes this.
  19. Giobacco

    Giobacco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Italy
    I apologize, my version is the same, 1.02. Having read this forum, when I first turned it on I tried to see if it repeated the last track, and it did. Then I selected repeat off from the remote button and since then it never repeated the last track. This from day 1. So on my device that weird function was there by default somehow.
     
  20. Thelonius Monk

    Thelonius Monk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario
    This is my 2nd Tribute, bought it in June 2021, one year warranty, it already was acting up after about 6 months, but very rarely, skipping/clicking on 1rst track only. Sometimes not loading. But so rarely I lived with it.
    1rst one had problems, but mechanical things, it got fixed a few times, I was addicted to the sound quality of this player.
    Last time it broke I bought a new one.
    Just before the warranty on the new one was about to expire i called the shop I bought it from, Trutone, I wasn't keen on driving out to them and not having it for many weeks, and the problem was so random and infrequent.
    Later I got in touch with the company that distributes Rotel here and tried to communicate with their Rotel tech guy, but couldn't get him on the phone, so many emails, would have had to ship or drive the unit an hour out of the city, decided not to. And because the problem was so intermittant, I had little faith they'd solve it.
    Lately the problem has gotten really worse, just won't load. Either get an error message and eject or the Cd gets locked in the unit. At first this got solved by just turning it off for 12 hours.
    Reading this thread, I decided to unplug and see.
    I'm wondering if this is worth trying to get fixed by an electronics guy that managed to fix my old one.
    Thoughts? I can see the posters on this thread have way way WAY more technical knowledge than I do.
    I don't want to give up on this player, but I'm so frustrated with it!
     
  21. Gizmo90

    Gizmo90 Ashes to ashes, funk to funky

    Location:
    Las Vegas
    Hey, @Thelonius Monk

    Good news I think if you can update the firmware and it might solve this issue!
    Read about it here:
    Rotel CD1572 vs CD11 Tribute

    You need a RS232/USB cable. You can get them online from you retailer of choice.
    You need to load the latest firmware from the CD11mkII. It still works on the Tribute just fine.

    This solved my issues and my CD11 Tribute is working perfectly now.

    Hope this helps! I also love the sound of this player too. It's funny this player even beats DACs in the $700+ range IME.
     
  22. Thelonius Monk

    Thelonius Monk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario
    Thanks!
    IT's a bit beyond my technical know-how but I'm going to show this to the guy who fixed my old one.
    Would this also explain the other intermittent problem I have--skipping on the first track. That seemed more like the laser?
     
  23. Gizmo90

    Gizmo90 Ashes to ashes, funk to funky

    Location:
    Las Vegas
    I think so! I thought it was the laser too.
     
    Thelonius Monk likes this.
  24. Thelonius Monk

    Thelonius Monk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario
    I'm back! Tribute driving me nuts.

    After studying this thread and the other on the Tribute I planned to update firmware, but unplugging overnight worked so well I didn't bother. But the problem always comes back (took 3 weeks the first time, then just two days the second time) the problems being
    1) won't load. CD gets locked in machine and nothing responds.
    2) sometimes skipping, especially on the 1rst track.
    The skipping problem started about 6 months after I got the player, but was so rare i didn't take it in under warranty--they had to have it for about 3 weeks which I found too long at the time. Was also concerned that with such an intermittent problem, they wouldn't find the problem.
    Now the loading problem is driving me nuts because I never know when it's going to happen, and then the machine is down overnight. A short unplug doesn't work!

    So as I wrote before I'm not tech savvy and don't feel confident doing the firmware update myself. I called a repair guy who fixed my previous Rotel (was that also an 11? the machine looked identical, it also broke a lot, but not so soon after purchase, this one had problems 6 months after buying) and he said he doesn't do software updates, and anyway (he said) it isn't the software. He said all CD players will temporarily fix themselves with a reboot for reasons of power supply, so this rebooting thing didn't prove it was software-related.
    He said it was the laser, and the laser would also explain the loading problem, as well as the skipping problem. He said new lasers could be anywhere from $150 to $500.
    I don't want to downgrade the unit with a cheap laser, and I don't want to spend $500 on a machine that's only 2 years old!

    So, what do knowledgeable posters think of his comments?

    I read so many posts here saying their similar problems ended with a software update, and I am going to try it. I just need a tech savvy friend to help me. If that doesn't work, then I guess I need to take into a repair shop for the laser.

    MY other question is: if I follow the excellent instructions on the other thread by Mau Pre

    Rotel CD1572 vs CD11 Tribute

    is there any chance we could screw things up even worse?
    And if the software update doesn't work, is it necessary to buy top of the line laser to preserve the sound quality of the unit?


    I would be interested to hear from all who solved their problems with the software update! Or any comments to shed further light ...
     
  25. John3655

    John3655 Infinite input

    Location:
    Hampshire UK.
    I don't know the history and I don't know your finances but if it's driving you nuts to the degree that you're writing essays on it, I'm inclined to say get something else.
    Lasers should last many years and often get the blame when there's nothing wrong with them.
    You should check your current version it's in the menus. I really doubt the firmware does anything to the very low level servos etc that control the tracking. It's more likely fixes to higher cosmetic functionality but it's really very annoying Rotel don't give any detail of what the update contains, downright useless description.
     

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