hYdrociTy Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 About three or four years ago, I laid eyes on this cute(at that time) disc transport and thought of how expensive and useless it was- yet there was something in me that yearned for it ever since. I finally found a mint one in original box with remote and literature and could no longer resist finishing my digital rig. The thing is not cute. It is much bigger than I had ever imagined. It was made before I began middle school. It is just shy of 15 lbs, and is about 14" wide, 6" high, and 9.75" deep. The front panel is clean, with power button, red fluorescent display and buttons made of "flexible aluminum membrane." The controls are very unique feeling. They are light and snappy- in between a touch sensitive button and a regular mechanical one. Transport drawer is quiet and precise and what suprised me is how fast the unit actually recognizes, indexes, and begins playing- roughly six seconds after I press the close button the music arrives on a "typical" cdr with mild scratches across the whole disc. Unfortunately the thing does not read cd-rw which is only fair because the thought of owning a cd recorder in your personal computer was a dream back then, if the thought even crossed anyone's mind. On to the internals. As you can see, vibration dampening is used liberally. The front panel is 1/4" thick and the metal chassis is very dense heavy, and rigid in construction. The transport in the isolated lower half of the unit is the reputable Sony CDM14 which is common in this class of transport. More vibration dampening spotted down here. Notice there are rca line outs. There is a 1-bit dac inside for "emergency" cd player duty. The sound out of the machine is very smooth quite detailed but lacks dynamics. Midrange is full and the the whole musical presentation is natural and palpable. Extension is good for what it is- but with the external processors (DTI2 -> DDE3/Entech 203.2) the bass is very low and impactful and does the CKKIII justice. Here are shots of the pcb. The power section: "Needs upgrades." I bet some new and better caps, diodes, or a whole new acutally-a-power-supply with rectifiers and the such would be nice. It would certainly benefit the included dac and analog out...or not... In action! All in all a ludicrous bang-for-the-buck deal, especially since the supposedly pos included analog out does not disappoint. It does not sound like pcdps or other low end irritating digital sources. The sound is thick, huge, and fairly detailed, but then again it was born a transport, and will serve me well in that regard for as long as I can find those Sony replacement ribbon cables that supposedly snap now and then
Knuckledragger Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqSM2rfeWD8
Augsburger Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 My office is five minutes from where they used to have their facility. I remember stopping in to buy one of their cdps about nine months before they closed shop. Dusty and a few of the employees opened shop as Channel Islands Audio in Oxnard CA so if you ever have a need to contact them, you now know where to go. They don't seem to be too interested though in talking to anyone about AA legacy equipment so you may find them unreceptive, but then again you may get lucky.
Dusty Chalk Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 Didn't they used to sell upgrade power supplies to the old AA and MSB gear? (I think it's the same pin-out on the DIN.)
hYdrociTy Posted July 10, 2008 Author Report Posted July 10, 2008 Yea I emailed both ci and monolitic and got only a terse reply back from monolithic.
Augsburger Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 "terse reply" is good, I got a sneer. Perhaps it is a sore subject or someting with them.
Filburt Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 Looks like a Sony CDP-291/391 put into a different chassis. For example, SONY CDP-291 COMPACT DISC CD PLAYER - eBay (item 110269440424 end time Jul-14-08 18:46:50 PDT) The text isn't clear but it says 'High Precision D/A System' and under that it says 'Servo Stabilizer Circuit'. As you can see, put behind a red plastic window, the display would look just like that of the DDS III.
Jon L Posted July 10, 2008 Report Posted July 10, 2008 Audio Alchemy DDS Pro transport is another fine CD-only transport sound-wise. A rude awakening for those using run-of-the-mill DVD player as CD transport, I'm sure, especiallly for dynamics and bass authority..
hYdrociTy Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Posted July 11, 2008 Looks like a Sony CDP-291/391 put into a different chassis. For example, SONY CDP-291 COMPACT DISC CD PLAYER - eBay (item 110269440424 end time Jul-14-08 18:46:50 PDT) The text isn't clear but it says 'High Precision D/A System' and under that it says 'Servo Stabilizer Circuit'. As you can see, put behind a red plastic window, the display would look just like that of the DDS III. The display is exactly the same, and so is the remote I believe. The logo seems to be added on where it probably says Sony before. The remote function buttons are labeled exactly the same as the front panel buttons on the 291. Both the pcb and the power section pcb are typical Sony style- green with almost industrial strength solder for the main board and sand colored 70's era board for the power. I'm tempted to get pissed because I remember the Goldmund/Pioneer jip, but in this case and price point I think it was a good implementation of existing technology. Well now at least I can hoard parts too Audio Alchemy DDS Pro transport is another fine CD-only transport sound-wise. A rude awakening for those using run-of-the-mill DVD player as CD transport, I'm sure, especiallly for dynamics and bass authority.. I think the DDS Pro with the Pioneer Stable Platter was designed ground up as an i2s output transport which should be the epitome of transport purity- reflected in modern reference transports such as the North Star one. In the future I may get a DDS Pro followed by a DTI Pro32 and finally another DDE3 powered by a sigma22 Right now I'm happy with my setup though, and don't foresee that maximum rig coming my way till maybe next year
hYdrociTy Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Posted July 11, 2008 have you thought about suicide bombing them, in retaliation? aim for a weekend. I cannot do that because of the following reasons: -I love the word Monolithic. -He was a former member of the holy audio company. -The case design and font is just beautiful imo. -Lot's of dual mono on everything. As an aside, Steve Temmel who was an AA tech is selling off sweet gear on ebay- DDS Pro, DTI Pro32, DDE3, and the OM150 power amp. For probably ~1000usd the three box source would be an awesome treasure. The DDE3 really need new opamps though..
Pars Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 <snip> The DDE3 really need new opamps though.. More like its screaming for a decent (discrete) output stage. Why fuck around with opamps?
hYdrociTy Posted July 11, 2008 Author Report Posted July 11, 2008 toole audio discrete i/v ftgdmfjcsobw
Dusty Chalk Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 I don't care what anyone else says about you, you rock.
jinp6301 Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 As an aside, Steve Temmel who was an AA tech is selling off sweet gear on ebay- DDS Pro, DTI Pro32, DDE3, and the OM150 power amp. For probably ~1000usd the three box source would be an awesome treasure. The DDE3 really need new opamps though.. uhh you sure that link leads to the right place? and you think everything needs new opamps!
grenert Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 Looks like a Sony CDP-291/391 put into a different chassis. For example, SONY CDP-291 COMPACT DISC CD PLAYER - eBay (item 110269440424 end time Jul-14-08 18:46:50 PDT) So I guess those guys at AA had a different definition of "Designed and Assembled in USA" than I have... What did this cost when it was new? And that extra cost was for, uh, some sheets of damping material
Filburt Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 More like its screaming for a decent (discrete) output stage. Why fuck around with opamps? Discrete would make more sense if it were i-out; plus it's more complicated, and far more costly, and there is more of a risk of permanent damage to the device due to its design. If I can find out what the voltage is at the rails for the op-amps, though, I can probably make a reasonably good suggestion on what to replace what look to be NJM4556s on there. Plus, the money, time, etc. involved in a discrete stage is better spent on the DDE. grenert - No idea what their costs were or what the MSRP was. Only reason I recognised it was that I've seen the CDP-291 around a few times. You can find them at junk/thrift stores sometimes, otherwise eBay will probably have them fairly reliably.
Pars Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 Discrete would make more sense if it were i-out; plus it's more complicated, and far more costly, and there is more of a risk of permanent damage to the device due to its design. If I can find out what the voltage is at the rails for the op-amps, though, I can probably make a reasonably good suggestion on what to replace what look to be NJM4556s on there. Plus, the money, time, etc. involved in a discrete stage is better spent on the DDE. grenert - No idea what their costs were or what the MSRP was. Only reason I recognised it was that I've seen the CDP-291 around a few times. You can find them at junk/thrift stores sometimes, otherwise eBay will probably have them fairly reliably. Sorry, the DDE was what I was talking about. I wouldn't bother with modding the DDS. Was the DDS positioned by AA as a transport, or as a CDP? Or both? Just curious. The DDE interests me...
Filburt Posted July 11, 2008 Report Posted July 11, 2008 Sorry, the DDE was what I was talking about. I wouldn't bother with modding the DDS. Was the DDS positioned by AA as a transport, or as a CDP? Or both? Just curious. The DDE interests me... DDE could definitely use it. I heard that it uses a passive i/v scheme stock, which is fail. So, replacing that would probably be a good thing to prioritise, if so. Then again, probably a good thing to prioritise, anyway.
hYdrociTy Posted July 12, 2008 Author Report Posted July 12, 2008 Sorry, the DDE was what I was talking about. I wouldn't bother with modding the DDS. Was the DDS positioned by AA as a transport, or as a CDP? Or both? Just curious. The DDE interests me... I think they are primarily meant for use as transports, since there was already a line of cd players that they made (ADC 1, 2, 3) This thing was introduced only a few years after the Sony player came out so it it's not like they were stuffing a 15 dollar thrift shop thing inside- the sony was most likely 1/3 the cost of the DDS. The only reason they had rca outs was because of the integrated nature of the Sony cd player- the one pcb performed all the functions, and since it was already there, why not include the analog out function?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now