Daniel - Love your channel. You and I have a lot of very similar equipment and music tastes (Klipsch speakers, tube equipment including my old Dynaco 70, Denfrips Ares 2 Dac) . And I believe I live in the same city. (I saw the Amoeba price sticker). I even have the old Magnavox (ne' Phillips) CD player (a lesser model CDB460, purchased new by me at Target in 1986). I'm a jazz fan and, btw, have quite a few Wes Montgomery LPs and CDs among my collection. I contemplated a CD transport as I am using my 1993 Rotel CD player through my Ares 2. It sounds amazing but.... I'm also trying to use my Cambridge 752BD blu-ray player (with one of those HDMI to I2S/Digital-out boxes from China) through the Ares as well.. Not sure where all that is going to go yet. I want a new cartridge and streamer first. I haven't watched all your videos but it doesn't look like you wandered into the cable quagmire (People apparently say hateful things? Why?) . - Matt
I actually used my blu Ray player and it sounded amazing. It only had an HDMI and optical cable and I used the optical input for stereo and it sounded as good as my magnavox. The reason I went to the Leak is the seamless functionality from the trayless CD slider, complete lack of skipping, ease of use with the remote and better looks. The wood case Leak version looks even nicer.
@@drde4010 It reminds me of an eight track player I got in 1975....in a good way! And my Cambridge Audio Blu-ray hooked up to my Ares 2 though that i2s box is heaven! Beats that Wolfson 8740 Dac it has in it for sure.
Thanks for your advice. BTW nice setup with the Heresey. Same Music taste with Wes and Gene Ammons here :) What I really find strange is, normally there is a better sound quality over RCA digital. What cable did you use? A regular RCA or specific digital one? Sorry for asking, it is just a little weird to me :)
Weird. I own a Leak CDT in silver and wood (still planning on buying a Leak Stereo 130 or 230 in wood). And i don't encounter this problem on any of these devices. Not when connected to the Coaxial input on my Leak Stereo 130 nor on my WiiM Pro Plus. I think it might be a defective Coaxial output on your Leak CDT, a defective Coaxial input on your DAC, a defective Coaxial cable or you are using an analog RCA cable. I keep reading in your replies about a 3ft Blue Jean RCA cable. But nowhere i am reading if it is analog or digital. If it is analog then that is the issue. I also haven't heard any other Leak CDT owners about problems with the Coaxial output. Perhaps not blame a device in advance but look further first... ;-)
Glad that you got the sound you expected with the optical. so, you bought it new and you would have sold it on the used market if the sound didn't work out. You would have taken a $100-300 loss?
from reply below says you used a 3ft Blue Jeans RCA cable. Was it made for analog RCA connections or was it a “digital” cable? They both use RCA connectors but digital is supposed to be a certain 75 ohms etc. I am not sure it would make a difference, as in if it works.. it works, but perhaps an RCA cable made for analog connections will work but sound/detail loss might occur with a digital signal. Anyways, if your summary that coax did not sound the same (and was not as good) then this is a serious flaw with the Leak CDT and also the Audiolab 6000CDT and possibly other transports that use the same coax circuit components. Also wonder about the DAC. It is a great DAC but never heard anyone test its connections to see if they were equally good. So simplest explanation could be RCA cable used when you tested and/or any interference with that cable from nearby equipment or power supplies, etc. Even with the DAC on top of the speaker, was the RCA cable influenced by the speaker magnets/speaker connections?
Hi, thank you for sharing your comments, that's very interesting. I actually had what was a special coaxial digital cable made by Blue Jean but it conked out for some reason before I could use it for this video. I gave it to a good friend to repair and I should ask him for an update since he's had it for a year now. The cable I used was a standard RCA connector from Blue Jean. I have another CD player arriving tomorrow in which I'm going to conduct another video. I will say after reading your comment, you have me very curious. I will contact my friend right away and if this was a cable issue, I will immediately update this video and credit you for this if there is indeed any difference. Thanks again very much for mentioning this!
Wow! I just realized you have Minecraft videos. My son has been driving me crazy to get this game. Would you be able to answer a few questions about it? Sorry to get off topic.
thank you for your kind reply, I believe you did hear a difference and it makes me question getting the Leak or the Audiolab transport to replace my aging Panasonic player. I will need to use coax digital and not optical because the optical port on my DAC is used by my streamer (that only has optical out). Hence all my questions because the Leak looks great!
I was going to suggest a 6 gauge optical cable but first comment should never even be mistaken for mild trolling. But I turned out to be right! :). Always buy the gray one-it helps the ones and zeroes separate into stereo. Here’s yer upthumb.
So I received my CDT and tested it on an RME Dac i can switch within seconds between RCD and toslink, NO difference at all. Both play with the same quality. Internally I checked the route and your opinion makes no sense at all, as it is impossible.
Why don’t you tell us more about you and your setup to put your comments into better perspective. 😊 Some listeners don’t hear differences between DAC’s either.
@@drde4010 Right! My setup so far: Roon over bridge to RME Dac to Unison Research Class A SET Amp to Cornwall 4. Next to that I am running a TT TD124 Thorens to ifi iphono black label and now the CDT to Dac. As far as I can say, the Cornwall 4 shows me every single microchanges, they are very honest when it comes to changes. Steve Guttenberg said the same thing about his CW4, it is undeniable. Cables, no difference. Dac make differences. My RME has the best steady clock solution and a very neutral DSP. I can make room corrections, but the sound never changes at all. It has a unique loudness setting too. This particular Dac is on the colder side, so in my system there is a perfect synergy, as the signal goes into a warm tube amp. I would not use an RME with an SS amp imo. The Leak CDT is an extremely good transport in terms of being dead quiet, fast and solid build quality. I have tested many things in my chain and all I can say is, it is all about synergy. The CDT has only one job, to spin the CD the best way possible, that's what the CDT does.
@@postalisches I realized I hadn’t responded to your initial comments so my apologies. Sounds like you have a nice setup. When I get back to the listening room, I’ll take another look at the types of cables. I’ve never been much into worrying about cables too much as long as they are reasonably solid and work nice. In my video you may have noticed that I mentioned that I wasn’t too concerned about the intricacies as to why the digital cable would sound any different than the RCA. Part of the reason that I prefer to stay out of the technical aspect of audio is because I believe it influences peoples minds and causes them to convince themselves of one thing vs another. I see this happen a lot in audio. Amir at at ASR is a prime example of someone who’s wrapped up in tech and has horrible listening skills. He doesn’t match components properly and takes matters completely out of context. Sound can not be judged by looking at graphs. I just go based on what my ears tell me. Everyone’s listening environment is their own and the experiences one has may be different for others. I can only go based on what I hear.
@@drde4010 I totally agree with you. Next to our setups, our ears are different. With age it changes too, we are not aware of. I do have expensive cable but second hand so I did not pay much. It is all about a better feeling for myself but I do not hear any difference. I am not speaking of cheap standard RCA but about my initial question, I was thinking you might have used a regular cable instead one for digital. That would make a difference imo. I was not sure about that so I asked. For myself I only judge my hearing experience but most of the times, I do look at reviews before I buy that gives me a direction of what might work in my system. For example the RME wüI heard is on the cooler side so I knew that if I am using it with my tupe amp, it won't be much of a concern for me. I appreciate your answer thank you!
They are digital, the same information is fed to the same dac, a sound difference is only possible if one is a bad cable or a defect unit. It‘s physics, I am not an audiophile.
SORRY, but if it doesn't have a draw or you can place it on top... I will never stick a cd in a slot....no way.....i have like 2500 cds and 1000 albums....
Useful video, thanks!
Daniel - Love your channel. You and I have a lot of very similar equipment and music tastes (Klipsch speakers, tube equipment including my old Dynaco 70, Denfrips Ares 2 Dac) . And I believe I live in the same city. (I saw the Amoeba price sticker). I even have the old Magnavox (ne' Phillips) CD player (a lesser model CDB460, purchased new by me at Target in 1986). I'm a jazz fan and, btw, have quite a few Wes Montgomery LPs and CDs among my collection. I contemplated a CD transport as I am using my 1993 Rotel CD player through my Ares 2. It sounds amazing but.... I'm also trying to use my Cambridge 752BD blu-ray player (with one of those HDMI to I2S/Digital-out boxes from China) through the Ares as well.. Not sure where all that is going to go yet. I want a new cartridge and streamer first. I haven't watched all your videos but it doesn't look like you wandered into the cable quagmire (People apparently say hateful things? Why?) . - Matt
I actually used my blu Ray player and it sounded amazing. It only had an HDMI and optical cable and I used the optical input for stereo and it sounded as good as my magnavox. The reason I went to the Leak is the seamless functionality from the trayless CD slider, complete lack of skipping, ease of use with the remote and better looks. The wood case Leak version looks even nicer.
@@drde4010 I like the look of the Leak with the wood case. It completely reminds me of the stereo gear I was buying in the 70's as a teen!
@@mattharwood4413 I ended up getting the wood model after all! You are right!
@@drde4010 It reminds me of an eight track player I got in 1975....in a good way! And my Cambridge Audio Blu-ray hooked up to my Ares 2 though that i2s box is heaven! Beats that Wolfson 8740 Dac it has in it for sure.
Hmm, interesting, specially when most people agree on coax sounding better than optical. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.
Thanks for your advice. BTW nice setup with the Heresey. Same Music taste with Wes and Gene Ammons here :) What I really find strange is, normally there is a better sound quality over RCA digital. What cable did you use? A regular RCA or specific digital one? Sorry for asking, it is just a little weird to me :)
Have been looking at these units
They’re great IMO.
Weird. I own a Leak CDT in silver and wood (still planning on buying a Leak Stereo 130 or 230 in wood). And i don't encounter this problem on any of these devices. Not when connected to the Coaxial input on my Leak Stereo 130 nor on my WiiM Pro Plus. I think it might be a defective Coaxial output on your Leak CDT, a defective Coaxial input on your DAC, a defective Coaxial cable or you are using an analog RCA cable. I keep reading in your replies about a 3ft Blue Jean RCA cable. But nowhere i am reading if it is analog or digital. If it is analog then that is the issue. I also haven't heard any other Leak CDT owners about problems with the Coaxial output. Perhaps not blame a device in advance but look further first... ;-)
You are correct. It was the cable. I acquired the proper cable, so I was wrong. I need to update this. Thanks for sharing.
@@drde4010 😮💨😉🙏🏻👍🏻
@@drde4010 After seeing your video, I had half a mind to buy an Audiolab 9000 CDT. But I'll stick to my original choice: the Leak.
I had the Phillips version of this a long time ago and regret selling it.
Yea it was also marketed under Phillips. 👍
@@drde4010Philips owned Magnavox. The Magnavox CD player is a Philips CD player. 😊
Glad that you got the sound you expected with the optical. so, you bought it new and you would have sold it on the used market if the sound didn't work out. You would have taken a $100-300 loss?
No I bought it from crutchfield and I still very happy with it. They would have taken a refund had I requested it but I did not.
@@drde4010 OK, good to have that option. u must have been freaking out when u heard it for the first time and it sounded off. WOWW!!
from reply below says you used a 3ft Blue Jeans RCA cable. Was it made for analog RCA connections or was it a “digital” cable? They both use RCA connectors but digital is supposed to be a certain 75 ohms etc. I am not sure it would make a difference, as in if it works.. it works, but perhaps an RCA cable made for analog connections will work but sound/detail loss might occur with a digital signal. Anyways, if your summary that coax did not sound the same (and was not as good) then this is a serious flaw with the Leak CDT and also the Audiolab 6000CDT and possibly other transports that use the same coax circuit components. Also wonder about the DAC. It is a great DAC but never heard anyone test its connections to see if they were equally good. So simplest explanation could be RCA cable used when you tested and/or any interference with that cable from nearby equipment or power supplies, etc. Even with the DAC on top of the speaker, was the RCA cable influenced by the speaker magnets/speaker connections?
Meant CDT on top of speaker, not DAC - sorry
Hi, thank you for sharing your comments, that's very interesting. I actually had what was a special coaxial digital cable made by Blue Jean but it conked out for some reason before I could use it for this video. I gave it to a good friend to repair and I should ask him for an update since he's had it for a year now. The cable I used was a standard RCA connector from Blue Jean. I have another CD player arriving tomorrow in which I'm going to conduct another video. I will say after reading your comment, you have me very curious. I will contact my friend right away and if this was a cable issue, I will immediately update this video and credit you for this if there is indeed any difference. Thanks again very much for mentioning this!
@@elementalkingofficial5485
Wow! I just realized you have Minecraft videos. My son has been driving me crazy to get this game. Would you be able to answer a few questions about it? Sorry to get off topic.
thank you for your kind reply, I believe you did hear a difference and it makes me question getting the Leak or the Audiolab transport to replace my aging Panasonic player. I will need to use coax digital and not optical because the optical port on my DAC is used by my streamer (that only has optical out). Hence all my questions because the Leak looks great!
I was going to suggest a 6 gauge optical cable but first comment should never even be mistaken for mild trolling.
But I turned out to be right! :). Always buy the gray one-it helps the ones and zeroes separate into stereo.
Here’s yer upthumb.
So I received my CDT and tested it on an RME Dac i can switch within seconds between RCD and toslink, NO difference at all. Both play with the same quality. Internally I checked the route and your opinion makes no sense at all, as it is impossible.
Why don’t you tell us more about you and your setup to put your comments into better perspective. 😊 Some listeners don’t hear differences between DAC’s either.
@@drde4010 Right! My setup so far: Roon over bridge to RME Dac to Unison Research Class A SET Amp to Cornwall 4. Next to that I am running a TT TD124 Thorens to ifi iphono black label and now the CDT to Dac. As far as I can say, the Cornwall 4 shows me every single microchanges, they are very honest when it comes to changes. Steve Guttenberg said the same thing about his CW4, it is undeniable. Cables, no difference. Dac make differences. My RME has the best steady clock solution and a very neutral DSP. I can make room corrections, but the sound never changes at all. It has a unique loudness setting too. This particular Dac is on the colder side, so in my system there is a perfect synergy, as the signal goes into a warm tube amp. I would not use an RME with an SS amp imo. The Leak CDT is an extremely good transport in terms of being dead quiet, fast and solid build quality. I have tested many things in my chain and all I can say is, it is all about synergy. The CDT has only one job, to spin the CD the best way possible, that's what the CDT does.
@@postalisches I realized I hadn’t responded to your initial comments so my apologies. Sounds like you have a nice setup. When I get back to the listening room, I’ll take another look at the types of cables. I’ve never been much into worrying about cables too much as long as they are reasonably solid and work nice. In my video you may have noticed that I mentioned that I wasn’t too concerned about the intricacies as to why the digital cable would sound any different than the RCA. Part of the reason that I prefer to stay out of the technical aspect of audio is because I believe it influences peoples minds and causes them to convince themselves of one thing vs another. I see this happen a lot in audio. Amir at at ASR is a prime example of someone who’s wrapped up in tech and has horrible listening skills. He doesn’t match components properly and takes matters completely out of context. Sound can not be judged by looking at graphs. I just go based on what my ears tell me. Everyone’s listening environment is their own and the experiences one has may be different for others. I can only go based on what I hear.
@@drde4010 I totally agree with you. Next to our setups, our ears are different. With age it changes too, we are not aware of. I do have expensive cable but second hand so I did not pay much. It is all about a better feeling for myself but I do not hear any difference. I am not speaking of cheap standard RCA but about my initial question, I was thinking you might have used a regular cable instead one for digital. That would make a difference imo. I was not sure about that so I asked. For myself I only judge my hearing experience but most of the times, I do look at reviews before I buy that gives me a direction of what might work in my system. For example the RME wüI heard is on the cooler side so I knew that if I am using it with my tupe amp, it won't be much of a concern for me. I appreciate your answer thank you!
@@postalisches Ok so it looks like my RCA for the test was a Blue Jean RCA about 3 ft vs a generic $6 optical cable.
you had a bad coax calble or the unit is defect, there is no earthly reason that coax sound different to optical.
It’s interesting how audiophiles claim various sounds from the same type of cables yet none with two different types.
They are digital, the same information is fed to the same dac, a sound difference is only possible if one is a bad cable or a defect unit. It‘s physics, I am not an audiophile.
I think he used a bad Coaxial cable or a standard RCA cable.
SORRY, but if it doesn't have a draw or you can place it on top...
I will never stick a cd in a slot....no way.....i have like 2500 cds and 1000 albums....
好
shaky camera