Played a couple more albums, including the same one, that worked just fine. I think it might be volume that is the issue. It started doing weird things when it was louder. Currently still awaiting the Fraim shelf, but I’m skeptical that would solve the issue. Will report back with any findings. Any tips are of course also welcome 
Otherwise, sounding great!
Finally had a bit more time on my hands and, lo and behold, the issue cropped up again in a very low volume section of a completely different album and not in the same location of the physical CD (one was roughly 50 minutes in, this was 27 minutes in). After skipping backwards and forwards, it seemed to be a specific spot where it gets stuck and sometimes (not always) desynchronizes with the nDAC (the light goes out briefly). When I removed the disc the was a bit of a smudge in terms of a fingerprint, but it wasn’t in thr location where the CD started skipping time-wise. After re-loading, it worked normally, even on that time-stamp.
I’m starting to believe the unit I have is faulty. Again, will give it some more time, but so far, I’m not really amused by th Audiolabs unit specifically, especially since I’ve heard people speak so highly of it’s read-ahead buffer and ability to read even heavily damaged discs. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but I highly doubt it 
Just checking, did you allow for the fact that the CD player reads from the inside to the outside of the disc - the opposite direction of an LP?
Indeed I did, but I appreciate the check :). Also double checked the other CD that was behaving oddly, that didn’t have a smudge, so that should not be the issue. It’s puzzling why and when it does skip, so far.
Minor update:
Played the album that skipped before, no skips this time. I DID change the cable, as it was a cheap TOSLINK first, now it’s a cheap coaxial cable. Also a different input channel on the nDAC, due to it having 2 BNC and 2 coaxials where the transport was already on the BNC to make the swap a bit more logical. Still waiting on my Coax to BNC, together with the Fraim shelf.
Still, could be the cable? Input? Feels odd though, neither should matter enough for the transport to skip, I feel. Then again, I’m not versed in these things at all, so what do I know 
So, the Fraim shelf is here, so it feels like it all fits again!
Also feels like a minor uplift in sound quality, mainly feels like it’s more grounded, a bit more dynamic.
Still waiting on the cable though, which feels a little strange for something so simple. Hopefully that’ll improve things even further
Another minor update regarding the skipping of the Audiolab CDT7000: it is seemingly VERY picky about smudges on CD’s. A minor fingerprint will make it go haywire, which I wasn’t expecting, especially after people writing it ‘ate up even scratched CD’s’. Ironically, it does doe that! So, proper clean before play is basically mandatory. Something to take into account when shopping for a player. Otherwise, it does do a pretty good job of making music! 
Sorry for my curiosity but I have seen an old post by you about GENESIS shows you attend in London Earl’s Court Arena (3 shows played 23,24,25 June 1977). Your post about GENESIS “Seconds Out” Live album (mostly recorded from gigs who took place in Paris Palais Des Sports in June 1977). Anyway forgive my curiosity but did you saw in those years in concert also these bands: BAD COMPANY, BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, FREE, GENTLE GIANT, LYNYRD SKYNRYD, RAINBOW ? Thanks for your memories
[begin old git ramble]
I saw Rainbow at The Rainbow with Ozzy on vocals and left early. It was dull. Blackmore didn’t appear to be interested. It felt like some kind of contractual obligation gig and I’ve seen footage from other concerts of that era depicting much more spine tingling performances.
I went to roughly two concerts a month from the mid 70s to the late 80s. Some in huge venues, many in small venues and pubs. I didn’t get to see any of the other artists you mention perform live. There were so many fantastic concerts I’ve lost count but it’s the ones that were truly awful that stick out because they were such let downs and wastes of money.
Including: Stones at Wembley using a PA system that just made noise. When we were queuing up a tout offered my GF and I £50 each for tickets which had cost us £15. We refused. We regretted it. Fleetwood Mac at Wembley, playing out of time, bickering and at one point Buckingham and McVie brawling on stage. Rainbow at the Rainbow going through the motions. Hawkwind when they were AKA Hawklords, possibly Rainbow possibly Hammersmith Odeon, appearing to forget there was a paying audience present. Easy to forgive because I’ve seen them live many times and they were only bland and boring that one time. Yes at Wembley on the 90125 tour with Tony Kay back on keyboards looking very tired and sloppy and the sound was rubbish.
The Earls Court gig was a magical experience in comparison. I managed to get some photos of that concert.
I must have seen 10 superb gigs and maybe 2 absolutely amazing ones for every duffer. I’ve seen Peter Gabriel many times and on two occasions, Earls Court and Hammersmith, the concerts were beset by technical problems. They played well and did their best to work around the bugs. Not bad concerts, just bad wiring.
ELO, when Roy Wood was with them were playing at a small venue local to me when everything cut out. It took about one to one and a half hours to fix during which time the band stayed on stage for the most part. A practice amp was rigged up on some sort of power supply and through one microphone they told jokes, sang quartets, and played acoustic pieces and improvs on a variety of instruments. When the power was resorted, they played until the police turned up to order us to leave. That’s value for money and true professionalism.
It’s impossible to name an all-time favourite. Too many talented and hardworking people, some famous, some never heard of again, delivering top quality entertainment. It would be unfair to single anyone out, but since you mentioned Genesis in your post I’ll mention Six Of The Best, the Genesis and Peter Gabriel reunion concert (to bail out Gabriel from WOMAD debts) at Milton Keynes Bowl. I’d only got around to seeing Genesis post Gabriel so had missed what were some of the greatest performances in first part of the band’s career. The sound wasn’t brilliant and Gabriel had forgotten some of the lyrics to The Lamb songs, probably because he had only toured them once. It pissed down with rain all day long and all through the headline performance that evening. We were soaked through and past our ankles in mud. We didn’t care. When Steve Hackett walked on for the encore you would have thought it was the second coming from the crowd’s reaction. One of the better performances I’ve ever seen, bugs, rain, mud and all, and worth a hundred smashed millionaires playing badly and swearing at each other on stage (take note John and Lindsey, not that you would care).
At the time it never occurred to me how lucky I was to be able to attend so many concerts, including some of the big ones. Or how magical it was to walk into a pub or small local venue to see bands including Chicken Shack, Suzi Quatro, Dr Feelgood, Steve Hillage, Dave Edmonds, The Jam, Mott The Hoople, Manfred Man’s Earth Band, Curved Air, ELO, Fruupp, Hawkwind, Medicine Head, Edgar Broughton, Soft Machine, to name a few bands I saw up close playing small venues. We took it for granted. I don’t know how much it would cost to attend a big concert today and what the chances would be of getting tickets. Too much for me to stomach I suspect. We still nip out for the odd local-ish gig when someone comes to town or a nearby town. It’s difficult. We’re getting on a bit.
[old git ramble off]
Thanks for your memories ! I suppose you would say RAINBOW with DIO on Vocals (not Ozzy Osbourne), gigs you saw were at Rainbow Theatre in November 1977 (11, 12, 13, 14 4 shows there). Amazing YES pictures ! Thanks ! Thanks again !
The gig I attended when Rainbow played The Rainbow featured Ozzy Osbourne on lead vocal. As I recall it was a brief association for a few live performances between Dio and Bonnet. It’s possible that Ozzy was struggling to remember the lyrics. I can’t remember the date, I’d guess '79 to '81.
I had to ask my Yes guru friend when they played Earls Court as I couldn’t find details when they played there. This was his reply.
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the pictures were taken on the tormato tour named tourmato 1978/79 ,four gigs at wembley Oct 78 including two on the Saturday afternoon and evening,the round stage cost £50,000 and broke down on the first night in America,the people in the front rows pushed it around manually for the whole show .
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Edit
Yes have never played at Earls Court.
Mine were taken Nov 78. No stage breakdowns (that I know of) at Earls Court.
This has gone so somewhat off-topic. Feel free to start a dedicated thread. Thanks.
The final bit has come in in the form of the Chord Clearwater RCA to BNC. It’s a big step up from the super cheap cable that I was using in the meantime and there is definitely more definition, separation and calm in the signal. It’s not the most high quality cable one could find, but this worked well on shirt notice happy with the results!
OK Sorry
