Yamaha CD-S300 and CD-S700

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by George P, Feb 2, 2018.

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  1. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Man, sorry to hear that! I haven't with mine. Used it daily with no problems for almost 4 years. Have you tried unplugging it, turning it on and off again?

    I sure hope not. Maybe it is out of stock due to coronavirus, perhaps production/shipping has declined.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2020
    cdgenarian likes this.
  2. aphexacid

    aphexacid It’s not Hip Hop, it’s Electro.

    Location:
    Illinois
    I bought it in December 2018 I think I’ve play 20 Cd’s tops. When I use it, I play mostly Apple lossless files through it using usb.
     
  3. aphexacid

    aphexacid It’s not Hip Hop, it’s Electro.

    Location:
    Illinois
    I’ve tried unplugging it and leaving it for hours. I’ve tried flipping it upside down to see if it will maybe shake something up inside. Maybe I didn’t use it enough? I don’t even know what to think anymore.
     
  4. Pavol Stromcek

    Pavol Stromcek Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    That's pretty unnerving - I'm sorry to hear it.

    I have a CD-S300 that I bought last summer. I play mostly vinyl, and on average I probably only use it to play about one CD per week. I haven't had any such problems with mine so far, but knock on wood. I did notice one occasion when it took the tray longer than usual to open after playing a CD, which I thought was odd, but I haven't noticed anything like that since.

    I have heard that the CD-S700 had lots of quality control issues; I wonder if there are similar issues with the 300?

    I also wonder if there's a brand/model of CD player out there that's less prone to these sorts of QC issues.
     
  5. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    The CDS300 is one of the most reliable players at any price point and has been since it came out 11 years ago. Unfortunately, sounds like you got a defective one. That sucks.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2020
    cdgenarian likes this.
  6. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Unlikely for the majority of the stuff out there. Most CD players, even many of the more expensive ones, use the same types of cheap transport mechanisms as the cheaper models. There just aren't that many companies making transport drive mechanisms anymore and the audio companies themselves stopped making them in-house many years ago. The drive mechanisms are basically the same thing you get with a $20 DVD-ROM drive for a desktop computer. They all fail eventually. It doesn't matter if they are the top-loader boombox type, the slot loaders, or the tray type.

    On the plus side if there is a drive-related problem it can usually be fixed by swapping in a new mechanism. If the failure is related to something else, then things can get more complicated. The average old school tech isn't going to work on a board full of surface mount components...
     
  7. aphexacid

    aphexacid It’s not Hip Hop, it’s Electro.

    Location:
    Illinois
    I play mostly vinyl, and if I’m not playing records I plug my phone into the CD-S300 and play either my own Apple lossless files, or stream Spotify/ Tidal. I really don’t want to lose this function, it’s very convenient and sounds excellent. But it’s still a CD player so it should, you know....play cd’s.

    I resurrected my Yamaha cdx-730 I’ve had since 1995 and it plays the cd I wanted to play flawlessly, and now that I’m listening sounds better than my s300 did when I played it last.

    Do I get my money back from Best Buy? Or try to get another one of these unit and roll the dice? Do they make a player that just play digital files?
     
    cdgenarian likes this.
  8. Shane K.

    Shane K. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Minnesota, USA
    I'm at about 4+ years of heavy use on my S300, and I've been having this issue with the drawer that seems to be occurring more and more frequently. When a disc is done, I'll click the OPEN button to open the drawer, and the drawer slides out but then immediately goes back in and starts playing the disc again. So then I have to wait for the disc to load, stop the disc and open it a second time. Anyone else experience this? (wonder if there's an easy fix?)
    Sounds minor, but when it starts doing it 80% of the time, it gets to be irritating :)
     
  9. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    I would open it up, use a can of compressed air and spray all of the dust on the inside out, especially around the CD transport.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  10. fogalu

    fogalu There is only one Beethoven

    Location:
    Killarney, Ireland
    Yes - it's rare to hear any complaints about this machine. For that reason, and its performance, I bought two of them within a year of each other. I suppose I could have bought a higher spec model for the same money, but with my system (and ears) I doubt if I'd find the sound any better.
    I wonder (in the case of aphexacid) is it worth while giving the laser a clean (carefully)?
     
    The Pinhead and George P like this.
  11. Modlift

    Modlift Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Hey you lost me. By 301N did you mean the Yamaha CD S300 or CD N301? And did you mean you had both the S300 and S700 and the improvement with the 700 was greater than it vs. the 300 to the more costly S2100?
     
  12. Modlift

    Modlift Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    So guys I've read through this entire thread with interest. The CD S700 catches my interest in that the sound is always described as superior to even the S300 which is already reviewed exceptionally. However the QC defects have me on the fence if it will last many years, and it still commands a pretty penny even used. Also would there likely be any improvements in sound with the S700 vs. S300 if I'm going the optical TOSLINK (direct transport) route to my DAC? Or for that matter is there likely to be any appreciable difference used as a transport to DAC if I'm using a cheap generic CD player vs. a super hi-fi one costing thousands, or even vs. via laptop CD player via USB?

    My setup is a Qutest DAC from Chord Electronics with is similar in performance to their Hugo 2 and my idea is to test whether or not I can get better / more preferable sound from either the CD players' RCA output to my headphone amp or direct transport to my DAC, vs. my usual method which is using my laptop's CD player into the DAC. I do however have a series of 3 USB components to enhance the signal from my USB (Wyrd + iFi iPurifier + Singxer SU-1) and use ASIO bypassing Windows Audio for a pretty bitperfect datastream and my DAC is not cheap so the comparison between this and a standalone CD player in analog vs. direct transport would be interesting. Opinions would be helpful, thanks!
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2020
  13. Greg Fox

    Greg Fox Member

    Location:
    Boston
    I finally settled on a Moon 260d with the optional DAC. Expensive, Yes, but it has transformed my system. It has made me see god, even through an old Phase Linear 2000 series 2 and adcom GFA-555. I can't be happier. My revox lasted 20years, so I can divide the $3000 over a similar period (10year warranty too)
     
    Sneaky Pete likes this.
  14. poppop

    poppop Member

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    My CDS300 get stuck every time I open / close the disc tray so I have to use finger pull / push it manually...
    Any fix?
     
  15. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Open the hood and inspect the operation of drawer mechanism. It may be a case of dried up grease that needs to be cleaned off, and new lubricant that needs to be put in. It could also be something else. Be careful when opening the CD player and do not touch anything while it is plugged in. If you have any doubts or reservations, or do not know what you are doing, take it to a professional.
     
  16. Joseph.McClure

    Joseph.McClure Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    My CD-S300 has a terrible gear grinding sound when the tray goes back in with no CD. It doesn't sound good.
     
  17. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Spot on ! And don't overdo the greaing of the rails, or the excess WILL end up on the playing side of your CDs. Ask me how I know !
     
  18. Gretalel

    Gretalel Member

    Location:
    Lithuania
    Hey, I am looking for the help. Maybe someone can help me what kind of USB should I have to play music with YAMAHA CD-S700 disc player?
     
  19. aphexacid

    aphexacid It’s not Hip Hop, it’s Electro.

    Location:
    Illinois
    Mine came back to life after I left it unplugged for a few days. There’s a Yamaha repair center in Chicago they wanted to send me to since it was under warranty. I plugged it back in and it’s been playing cd’s and usb function just fine. I bet this thing has something in its firmware that makes it freak out.
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  20. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    Yeah, my USB was buggy on my CD-S300. I would have to unplug the USB and plug it back in from time to time to get it to work.
     
  21. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portugal
    No problem using my CD-S300 USB with put on my age-old iPod Classic using a run of the mill USB cable.
     
  22. matrix-6

    matrix-6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    So, I did a little digging and I thought I would share this. If you couple a Yamaha CD-S300 (digital coax out) with a Yamaha R-N602 you get a CD-S700 minus the reliability issues. The CD-S300 uses a Burr Brown PCM54HP, while the CD-S700 and R-N602 use a Burr Brown DSD1791. If the DAC is responsible for the sound difference between the CD-S300 and CD-S700, there you go...

    Sources:
    CD-Player-DAC-Transport List
    http://www.hififorum.nu/forum/pop_printer_friendly.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=88894

    R-N602 with DSD1791
    R-N602 - Features - Yamaha - United States
    https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/sles072b/sles072b.pdf?ts=1616551333077&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

    I couldn't find ti.com's data sheet for the PCM54HP - apparently it has been discontinued:
    https://e2e.ti.com/support/data-con...forum/599729/obsolete-dac-replacement-pcm54hp

    Funny side note is it was used in the Roland D50 synthesizer?

    So, just thought I'd through this out there for anyone interested.
     
  23. George P

    George P Notable Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    NYC
    The CD-S300 uses a PCM 1780 chip.
     
  24. matrix-6

    matrix-6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Edit: cleaning this thread up.

    You are correct. My mistake. If you search for PCM54HP CDS-300 you'll see the references that threw me off. Thought they might be the same chip.

    To recap, with corrections, in case someone can delete my original thread above:

    So, I did a little digging and I thought I would share this. If you couple a Yamaha CD-S300 (digital coax out) with a Yamaha R-N602 you get a CD-S700 minus the reliability issues. The CD-S300 uses a Burr Brown PCM1780, while the CD-S700 and R-N602 use a Burr Brown DSD1791. If the DAC is responsible for the sound difference between the CD-S300 and CD-S700, there you go...

    Spec sheets for comparison:

    DSD1791
    https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/sles132b/sles132b.pdf?ts=1616559235524&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

    PCM1780
    https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/sles132b/sles132b.pdf?ts=1616559235524&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2021
    George P likes this.
  25. matrix-6

    matrix-6 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    OK, I A/Bed them. CD-S300 --> R-N602 --> A-S1100 --> Harbeth P3ESR. No audible difference from what I can tell. I have the CD-S300 hooked up with both the analog and coax to the 602. I just switch between them with the remote, so it is near instantaneous. My wife and daughter can't hear a difference either. So... If you have a CD-S300 and were wondering how it's DAC compares sonically to the CD-S700 DAC, they sound the same to me/us. Maybe the transport and wiring on the S700 is better? I don't know, but if it's just the DAC that's responsible for the sound then they likely sound the same.
     
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