[Peter]

I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

[[email protected]]

On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Hello there- I have purchased one of those about a month ago- and am
still amazed by the results. I definitively prefer it to its
predecessor, the 9000ES. Most Sony high-end devices have that burly,
turbulent child sound, with seemingly too much slam. This model does
not: very detailed, extremely clean while remaining lyrical at the
same time, dynamic but lean, it's a pleasure to live with. For the
note, it is actually the cheapest piece of equipment in my system- and
I auditioned many other players, settling on this one after a lot of
listening. No regrets yet

Compared to other devices in this price range (NAD M series, Marantz,
Denon, and so on) the Sony is clearly a winner; I even prefer it to
the higher end Marantz players. Compared to the Accuphase, the Meitner
and other real high hitters, it still plays ball and I could not
really pick a winner. I am unaware of the DAC IC used in this player,
and given Sony's habit of using Burr Brown "Current Steering" DACs, I
suspect they went that route again, but I just can't pinpoint the
sound, while I usually recognize those DACs in a few minutes. The
analog board is below the digital board, so it will take me a bit of
time to get to it, but I will... I will

Now, WRT CD playback, I find it very good as well. Does it compare to
the latest Meridian CD808i, $20 000 player? I hope not But I do not
know as I have never heard the Meridian in my system. This said, it is
definitively the best CD player I have owned (and I have owned a few
very nice pieces). For the sake of making an educated decision, I
would compare it to the Cambridge Audio CD840, which is getting raving
reviews. It will not play SACDs however, if this is what you are
after...

Hope this helps!
Cheers,

Cyril Martin

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Hello there- I have purchased one of those about a month ago- and am
still amazed by the results. I definitively prefer it to its
predecessor, the 9000ES. Most Sony high-end devices have that burly,
turbulent child sound, with seemingly too much slam. This model does
not: very detailed, extremely clean while remaining lyrical at the
same time, dynamic but lean, it's a pleasure to live with. For the
note, it is actually the cheapest piece of equipment in my system- and
I auditioned many other players, settling on this one after a lot of
listening. No regrets yet

Compared to other devices in this price range (NAD M series, Marantz,
Denon, and so on) the Sony is clearly a winner; I even prefer it to
the higher end Marantz players. Compared to the Accuphase, the Meitner
and other real high hitters, it still plays ball and I could not
really pick a winner. I am unaware of the DAC IC used in this player,
and given Sony's habit of using Burr Brown "Current Steering" DACs, I
suspect they went that route again, but I just can't pinpoint the
sound, while I usually recognize those DACs in a few minutes. The
analog board is below the digital board, so it will take me a bit of
time to get to it, but I will... I will

Now, WRT CD playback, I find it very good as well. Does it compare to
the latest Meridian CD808i, $20 000 player? I hope not But I do not
know as I have never heard the Meridian in my system. This said, it is
definitively the best CD player I have owned (and I have owned a few
very nice pieces). For the sake of making an educated decision, I
would compare it to the Cambridge Audio CD840, which is getting raving
reviews. It will not play SACDs however, if this is what you are
after...

That's odd. Sony "thinks" that the SCD-XA5400ES is an SACD player and you say
it's not. Hmmmmm........

[Kalman Rubinson[_3_]]

On 20 May 2009 23:08:05 GMT, Sonnova
wrote:

On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Hello there- I have purchased one of those about a month ago- and am
still amazed by the results. I definitively prefer it to its
predecessor, the 9000ES. Most Sony high-end devices have that burly,
turbulent child sound, with seemingly too much slam. This model does
not: very detailed, extremely clean while remaining lyrical at the
same time, dynamic but lean, it's a pleasure to live with. For the
note, it is actually the cheapest piece of equipment in my system- and
I auditioned many other players, settling on this one after a lot of
listening. No regrets yet

Compared to other devices in this price range (NAD M series, Marantz,
Denon, and so on) the Sony is clearly a winner; I even prefer it to
the higher end Marantz players. Compared to the Accuphase, the Meitner
and other real high hitters, it still plays ball and I could not
really pick a winner. I am unaware of the DAC IC used in this player,
and given Sony's habit of using Burr Brown "Current Steering" DACs, I
suspect they went that route again, but I just can't pinpoint the
sound, while I usually recognize those DACs in a few minutes. The
analog board is below the digital board, so it will take me a bit of
time to get to it, but I will... I will

Now, WRT CD playback, I find it very good as well. Does it compare to
the latest Meridian CD808i, $20 000 player? I hope not But I do not
know as I have never heard the Meridian in my system. This said, it is
definitively the best CD player I have owned (and I have owned a few
very nice pieces). For the sake of making an educated decision, I
would compare it to the Cambridge Audio CD840, which is getting raving
reviews. It will not play SACDs however, if this is what you are
after...

That's odd. Sony "thinks" that the SCD-XA5400ES is an SACD player and you say
it's not. Hmmmmm........

It's a floor wax!! ;-)

Of course, it is both a CD player and an SACD player and it does both
very, very well.

Kal

[Steven Sullivan]

wrote:
On Apr 18, 4:27?pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? ?According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Hello there- I have purchased one of those about a month ago- and am
still amazed by the results. I definitively prefer it to its
predecessor, the 9000ES. Most Sony high-end devices have that burly,
turbulent child sound, with seemingly too much slam.


Really. How did you determine this extraordinary characteristic?
Can you be sure you weren't mistaken?



--
-S
We have it in our power to begin the world over again - Thomas Paine

[moobinsikau]

On 21 Mai, 04:48, Kalman Rubinson wrote:
On 20 May 2009 23:08:05 GMT, Sonnova
wrote:





On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Hello there- I have purchased one of those about a month ago- and am
still amazed by the results. I definitively prefer it to its
predecessor, the 9000ES. Most Sony high-end devices have that burly,
turbulent child sound, with seemingly too much slam. This model does
not: very detailed, extremely clean while remaining lyrical at the
same time, dynamic but lean, it's a pleasure to live with. For the
note, it is actually the cheapest piece of equipment in my system- and
I auditioned many other players, settling on this one after a lot of
listening. No regrets yet

Compared to other devices in this price range (NAD M series, Marantz,
Denon, and so on) the Sony is clearly a winner; I even prefer it to
the higher end Marantz players. Compared to the Accuphase, the Meitner
and other real high hitters, it still plays ball and I could not
really pick a winner. I am unaware of the DAC IC used in this player,
and given Sony's habit of using Burr Brown "Current Steering" DACs, I
suspect they went that route again, but I just can't pinpoint the
sound, while I usually recognize those DACs in a few minutes. The
analog board is below the digital board, so it will take me a bit of
time to get to it, but I will... I will

Now, WRT CD playback, I find it very good as well. Does it compare to
the latest Meridian CD808i, $20 000 player? I hope not But I do not
know as I have never heard the Meridian in my system. This said, it is
definitively the best CD player I have owned (and I have owned a few
very nice pieces). For the sake of making an educated decision, I
would compare it to the Cambridge Audio CD840, which is getting raving
reviews. It will not play SACDs however, if this is what you are
after...

That's odd. Sony "thinks" that the SCD-XA5400ES is an SACD player and you say
it's not. Hmmmmm........

It's a floor wax!! * ;-)

Of course, it is both a CD player and an SACD player and it does both
very, very well.

- Zitierten Text anzeigen -

I am currently using a Yamaha DVD S-2700 as a SACD/CD player in my
headphone setup. Does anybody have any idea how the SCD-XA5400ES would
compare to my player ? Although mine is a DVD player - now
discontinued and may be had as a bagain - voila - it has a somewhat
optimized audio section and performs quite accurate and detailled. It
is a bit on the "lean" side I believe, though. Dreaming of an EMM Labs
CDSA SE - although dreaming only before I win the lottery.

[Peter]

On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players at
a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player,
the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the Azur,
even after a week of continual burn-in.

But to make matters worse, when I tried to play my only SACD disc, whose
redbook layer plays fine on the Azur CD player, the Sony player refused to
recognize it at all despite several drawer in and out attempts.

Of course I had no alternative but to return the Sony player to the Sony
store and request a refund.

The Sony SACD player was indeed a factory-sealed brand-new unit, hence I
cannot explain any of the above, unless Sony is having some severere quality
control problems.

I would be interested to know if anyone else had a similar experience to
mine.

[Kalman Rubinson[_3_]]

On 24 May 2009 14:50:17 GMT, "Peter"
wrote:

On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players at
a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player,
the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the Azur,
even after a week of continual burn-in.

Very system dependent, of course. I think it is definately more
balanced than the 840c (which I have only heard briefly) on both of my
systems.

But to make matters worse, when I tried to play my only SACD disc, whose
redbook layer plays fine on the Azur CD player, the Sony player refused to
recognize it at all despite several drawer in and out attempts.

You need to set the default priorities with the switches. As
delivered, the 5400 defaults to SACD.

The Sony SACD player was indeed a factory-sealed brand-new unit, hence I
cannot explain any of the above, unless Sony is having some severere quality
control problems.

Certainly possible. As you, I have only one sample from which to
judge.

Kal

[Andrew Barss[_2_]]

Peter wrote:
: On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
: (in article ):

: On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
: wrote:
: I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
: player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
: reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

: Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players at
: a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
: share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player,
: the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the Azur,
: even after a week of continual burn-in.

Two questions:

a) how can a non-defective CD player not transmit all the highs
(and lows) present on the digital signal on the disc? Is there a filter
in there someplace?

b) How could burning it in/breaking it in improve this? It's a
digital device, not a pair of shoes!


Just curious,


Andy Barss

[Kalman Rubinson[_3_]]

On 24 May 2009 22:05:01 GMT, Andrew Barss
wrote:

Peter wrote:
: On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
: (in article ):

: On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
: wrote:
: I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
: player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
: reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

: Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players at
: a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
: share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player,
: the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the Azur,
: even after a week of continual burn-in.

Two questions:

a) how can a non-defective CD player not transmit all the highs
(and lows) present on the digital signal on the disc? Is there a filter
in there someplace?

b) How could burning it in/breaking it in improve this? It's a
digital device, not a pair of shoes!

There are subtle differences in tonal balance among players via their
analog outputs which can be magnified depending on the systems in
which they are used. I do not think that Peter was implying that
certain frequencies were actually "lost." Some of us emphasize these
differences in discussion, disproportionate to their real magnitude.

I agree with you about break-in.

Kal

[[email protected]]

On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

With redbook cds the performance of the SCD_xa5400es is warm and
detailed, but if you play an SA-CD of, for example, Living-Stereo
label, you'll jump into the analog sounding dsd audio... and if you
any time listened to a turntable analogue recording, you'll know what
I mean with "analog soundin" : realistic, non-fatigating, hiper
detailed and very warm reproduction...

[[email protected]]

On May 22, 5:48*pm, moobinsikau wrote:
On 21 Mai, 04:48, Kalman Rubinson wrote:
On 20 May 2009 23:08:05 GMT, Sonnova
wrote:
On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):
On Apr 18, 4:27*pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? *According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

[ Excessive quoting deleted. -- dsr ]

Now, WRT CD playback, I find it very good as well. Does it compare to
the latest Meridian CD808i, $20 000 player? I hope not But I do not
know as I have never heard the Meridian in my system. This said, it is
definitively the best CD player I have owned (and I have owned a few
very nice pieces). For the sake of making an educated decision, I
would compare it to the Cambridge Audio CD840, which is getting raving
reviews. It will not play SACDs however, if this is what you are
after...

That's odd. Sony "thinks" that the SCD-XA5400ES is an SACD player and you say
it's not. Hmmmmm........

It's a floor wax!! * ;-)

Of course, it is both a CD player and an SACD player and it does both
very, very well.

- Zitierten Text anzeigen -

I am currently using a Yamaha DVD S-2700 as a SACD/CD player in my
headphone setup. Does anybody have any idea how the SCD-XA5400ES would
compare to my player ? Although mine is a DVD player - now
discontinued and may be had as a bagain - voila - it has a somewhat
optimized audio section and performs quite accurate and detailled. It
is a bit on the "lean" side I believe, though. Dreaming of an EMM Labs
CDSA SE - although dreaming only before I win the lottery.

I did an A/B comparison betwen my SCD-XA5400ES and the Yamaha CD-S2000
(you know the yamaha fat metal player) and with redbook (normal) cds
the sony sounded warmer and more powerfully detailed but when you turn
to SA-CD you jump into the "analog sounding" high res field, the
sony's sound here is way, way more detailed

[Steven Sullivan]

wrote:
On Apr 18, 4:27?pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? ?According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

With redbook cds the performance of the SCD_xa5400es is warm and
detailed, but if you play an SA-CD of, for example, Living-Stereo
label, you'll jump into the analog sounding dsd audio... and if you
any time listened to a turntable analogue recording, you'll know what
I mean with "analog soundin" : realistic, non-fatigating, hiper
detailed and very warm reproduction...

IME LP is anything but 'hyper detailed' compared to digital, given
their comparative noisiness.

And listening to CDs doesn't fatigue me; listening too loud does.

No two-channel format I've used sounds 'realistic' to me, but surround
mixes can come closer.

--
-S
We have it in our power to begin the world over again - Thomas Paine

[Steven Sullivan]

Kalman Rubinson wrote:
On 24 May 2009 22:05:01 GMT, Andrew Barss
wrote:

Peter wrote:
: On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
: (in article ):

: On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
: wrote:
: I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
: player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
: reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

: Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players at
: a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
: share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player,
: the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the Azur,
: even after a week of continual burn-in.

Two questions:

a) how can a non-defective CD player not transmit all the highs
(and lows) present on the digital signal on the disc? Is there a filter
in there someplace?

b) How could burning it in/breaking it in improve this? It's a
digital device, not a pair of shoes!

There are subtle differences in tonal balance among players via their
analog outputs which can be magnified depending on the systems in
which they are used.

Has this been demonstrated with anyting other than reviewer ears?
Have Stereophile measurements of analog output, for example, generally shown
FR or other variations that would likely be audible on various
systems, and if so, which systems?

I do not think that Peter was implying that
certain frequencies were actually "lost." Some of us emphasize these
differences in discussion, disproportionate to their real magnitude.

Some of us suspect they likely weren't *really* audible in the first place,
except for easily-corrected overall level mismatches.





--
-S
We have it in our power to begin the world over again - Thomas Paine

[Sonnova]

On Thu, 4 Jun 2009 01:53:03 -0700, Steven Sullivan wrote
(in article ):

Kalman Rubinson wrote:
On 24 May 2009 22:05:01 GMT, Andrew Barss
wrote:

Peter wrote:
On Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07:08 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

On Apr 18, 4:27 pm, "Peter"
wrote:
I wonder if anyone has had an opportunity to audition this new Sony CD
player, especially with standard "Redbook" CDs? According to some of the
reviews it is supposed to be outstandingly good.

Based on Mr. Rubinson's recommendation, I ordered one of these CD players
at
a local Sony Style store, and unfortunately I must report that I cannot
share his enthusiasm because compared to my Cambridge Azur 840C CD
player,
the Sony to my ears seemed more "closed in" with less highs than the
Azur,
even after a week of continual burn-in.

Two questions:

a) how can a non-defective CD player not transmit all the highs
(and lows) present on the digital signal on the disc? Is there a filter
in there someplace?

b) How could burning it in/breaking it in improve this? It's a
digital device, not a pair of shoes!

There are subtle differences in tonal balance among players via their
analog outputs which can be magnified depending on the systems in
which they are used.

Has this been demonstrated with anyting other than reviewer ears?
Have Stereophile measurements of analog output, for example, generally shown
FR or other variations that would likely be audible on various
systems, and if so, which systems?

I do not think that Peter was implying that
certain frequencies were actually "lost." Some of us emphasize these
differences in discussion, disproportionate to their real magnitude.

Some of us suspect they likely weren't *really* audible in the first place,
except for easily-corrected overall level mismatches.

My Sony SCD-XA777ES SACD players has several "filter" positions for Redbook
playback. I can guarantee you that as one switches through them, they each
sound different -mostly in the upper midrange and treble. So, depending on
what the manufacturer decides to do, CD players CAN sound quite different.
Also, I suspect, that without any kind of filter, all of them would sound
pretty much the same.