A bit of fun! - Project CD Box E / NDS

Hi-Fi Corner
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So I’ve just purchased a CD player. The reason being to play some albums that were never release on vinyl and also a few albums that I’m not prepared to pay a premium for (Like Roger Waters - Amused to death).

My budget was £200 so I looked at older players like the Marantz CD63 SE Ki Sig. with digital output to use as a transport into my NDS. I eventually decided on the Project as it was brand new.

I’m comparing it with Spotify so this is in no way a scientific experiment but it’s what I listen to. The result? I can’t call it. They are different, Spotify seems to have a bit more bass but is slightly louder than the digital input which I can’t explain unless it’s coded in the stream. I’m left with the same feeling as when I had Tidal on 30 day trial.

So if you have a very limited requirement for CDs and don’t want to spend a lot, I can recommend the CD box E into a Naim DAC for a bit of fun.

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The digital RCA cable I used is just an old Monster I found in a cupboard :grin:

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This isn’t even CD quality, I would have hoped you could distinguish the Project player quite easily!

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You would definitely think so wouldn’t you? Maybe I need to upgrade the power supply :joy:

Seriously though, I expected the Project to disappoint but it hasn’t which is why I think it’s worth a punt for low volume users. Listening to Spotify thru a high end system? Well that’s just me. Tidal wasn’t enough to make me change and Spotify has by far the best App.

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On my bedroom system Spotify sounds fine. That’s because the speakers cannot show details.

On my living room system Spotify is near unlistenable. That’s because the speakers show the difference.

Something is playing a trick on your system I’m afraid.

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Possibly. You do need to set the WiFi streaming media quality to “Very high” though to get 320kbps. Many forget this bit :blush:

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Let me doublecheck that tonight!

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Unless the device you are streaming from uses Spotify Connect in which case it streams as fast as the device is set to. For instance a Naim streamer needs the Spotify bitrate to be set to 320kbps rather than 96 or 160. You do however need a premium subscription for Connect.

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Just to be clear. I wasn’t intending this to be a Spotify thread :grimacing:

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After listening to a few cds I was finding the sound harsh in many ways so I swapped the Monster cable for the Denon that came with my Blu-ray player. Massive improvement, but not perfect. I’ve ordered a Chord Clearway.

Can’t quite believe Ive become a cable guy. Don’t understand, it’s just 0s & 1s innit :grinning_face:

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Well thats true or false :slight_smile:

On topic: I tend to go for the standard cables which usually gives best expected performance. There certainly is better, but it’s a bit of a gamble.

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So the Chord Clearway is now in place, 3rd time lucky as the first one purchased from eBay turned out to be wrongly described and was an analogue RCA. Sent it back. 2nd I ordered was the wrong length 0.5m rather than 1m. That went back. Now all is well. Sounds proper and identifiable as the CD over Spotify 320bps although unless you A-B them, Spotify is still very satisfying. The only issue I have is that the rrp of the cable is more than half the cost of the player. I got it for a substantial discount luckily :blush:

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