Upgrade Marantz CD5001 or buy Musical Fidelity M1 DAC?

Divakar7

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For a weird reason I had to upgrade my Marantz PM7200 integrated to a Musical Fidelity M3i. My CD transport is a Marantz CD5001. There is nothing wrong with the CD player, however, I believe I am not doing justice to my current amp.

Should I upgrade my CD transport to a Musical Fidelity M3CD or buy instead Musical Fidelity's legendary DAC the M1? I can't do both.

I currently have Quad 11L bookshelf speakers. Thanks for your suggestions.

Divakar
 
Where do you live in hyd?
Perhaps, you could borrow and try out my CDP if you live close by.

And yeah, marantz 5001 is doesn't feed the amp with enough details.

And please consolidate your threads. You need not open a new thread for each of your querries.

BTW, How much does the M1 cost? Are you planning to use the marantz to feed the digital inputs of the DAC?
 
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@Blasto Thanks much for your offer. I live in Jubilee Hills. What kind of CDP do you have? If I bought the M1, the plan is to use the 5001 as transport and connect with coax to the M1 for DAC function. I believe the 5001 may be adequate/robust enough as a transport.

@musicbee 40K is a damn good price.
 
I got a demo of the M1 DAC today.. Its in a different galazy to Marantz 5004 CDP (they have it also)..
It is better than M3CD in side by side audition. Later learnt that the M3CD does not have an upconverting DAC while M1 does 24/192 upconversion.

MRP is 40500/- and there is 10-15% discount over it. I say, go for it.
It even spanked my musichall CDP. Could be due to pairing with the associated gear.

Also, The coaxial input sounded better than optical (wierd??).

@Musicbee, First know the indian prices yar.. The amazon price seems costly.. I think we should go for a group buy of the M1.
 
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@Musicbee, First know the indian prices yar.. The amazon price seems costly.. I think we should go for a group buy of the M1.

Surprising!!! It works out to Rs. 37,500 on Amazon.com. Did you check how much the MF V-DAC II is here? Getting it for Rs. 17,500 from Amazon.

There is a lot of difference on the Behringer though. 9K on Amazon, 25K on Bajaao. Not sure if its sold locally.
 
Did you check how much the MF V-DAC II is here? Getting it for Rs. 17,500 from Amazon.

Yes I did. Browzed the price list today.
21k mrp with the usual 10-15% discount.
It was packed in blister packing and hence not available for demo I think (did not ask).

BTW, all these are with company warrenty with VAT paid bill.
 
@Blasto Your review is very helpful and heartening. It's a great suggestion to pool together and buy MF's M1 DAC, we may get a better deal. I would be interested. I see the prices listed in Amazon as Rs 31k so there should be room for a good deal..
 
Auditioned the M1 DAC in various configurations, the sonic improvement with this DAC is stunning! There is lot more "air" to the music, the high-end detail is revealing, tight-ass bass. At about one third the price of a new CPD upgrade, this makes the most sonic and wallet sense.

If your system doesn't include a DAC, give the M1 a good listen. Will probably get it at the end if this month. If you are interested, let me know, we may be able to drive a better bargain.
 
^^^^ +1 to the above.
Had a detailed audition today and the 'space' and soundstage this DAC brings out is awesome.
Confirmed that Coaxial is better than optical input. I have no answers why since both are digital inputs and hence 1s and 0s.

Comparison to CDPs:

MF M3CD - M1 DAC is better! Less harsher with more details and better soundstage.

MF A1008 CDP - M1 is more or less similar. Maybe 5% lesser as 1008 CDP produces silkier hf. BTW A1008 is 2L+ and has inbuilt tube stage FYI.

I will be joining divakar in getting the DAC. If we have more people interested, we can pool in and negotiate for ~30k. :)
 
Check out beresford caiman DAC also. DAC will be usefull only if you listen to ripped content or network play which will not surely equal your cd player. Even most flac available in the net are only ripped used low grade PC cd-rom players which is surely doesn't match the quality of your cd players.
 
Even most flac available in the net are only ripped used low grade PC cd-rom players which is surely doesn't match the quality of your cd players.

Means?

BTW, We did not try out ripped content but orignal CDs through direct analog out from the CDP and via digital output of CDP connected to the DAC.


The comparison is between internal DAC of the CDP and the external M1 DAC. You understand the CDPs are CD transport + DAC right?
 
Even most flac available in the net are only ripped used low grade PC cd-rom players which is surely doesn't match the quality of your cd players.

Exact Audio Copy (EAC) exactly means that! EAC also includes verification with AccurateRip (the only Audio CD ripping technology which can verify extracted audio files are 100% free from errors).

PS - EAC is the tool everyone uses to rip CDs.

Also, the PC CD/DVD drives can read scratched CDs and extract data from them... the home CD player (or DVD player) will only freeze or skip over those scratched/damaged parts.

Please read up before spreading such myths and misinformation. Exactly the reason why people still believe CD players make for a better transport/DAC than a PC. Given the right DAC most PCs will beat every CD player twice or thrice their budget.
 
@BLASTO
AccurateRip might check the audio file is free from errors, it means that the output file is playable doesn't mean it has extracted the 100% accurate content. PC cd players are meant for reading cd-rom content which is written in different from audio CD content.
 
@dvsanth, I think there a few confusions in your post that Blasto and musicbee have already refered to. One point I would like to add is that old recordings or even with poor quality recordings, a good DAC like the M1 smoothens out the output and "fills" in missing information. I tried out old HMV recording released on CD, the result is quite astounding using the M1...
 
@BLASTO
AccurateRip might check the audio file is free from errors, it means that the output file is playable doesn't mean it has extracted the 100% accurate content. PC cd players are meant for reading cd-rom content which is written in different from audio CD content.

AccurateRip checks an online database with checksum to ensure the data ripped is correct and matches an existing CD.

If you rip a track and find that your checksum matches what everyone else got (online database), then you can be confident there are no missing or incorrect samples (or that you've all got exactly the same damage, which is nearly impossible).
 
To musicbee's point, scratched audio CDs that skip in a CD player can in many instances be salvaged by burning a copy using a PC. They are more resilient on that front. However, the flimsy plasticky trays and vibrations doesn't inspire much confidence as a hifi CD transport.

I use DAT tapes and the ones they make for computers are of higher quality and cheaper than the ones they make for audio. But you can't play back audio DAT tapes in a computer tape machine..
 
Guys, M1 for 33k for 2 pieces (me n divakar) is what is negotiated at the moment.
If anyone else want to pitch in, please let me know. :)
 
Guys, M1 for 33k for 2 pieces (me n divakar) is what is negotiated at the moment.
If anyone else want to pitch in, please let me know. :)

hey did you make any progress on this?

i am interested in the m1 as well.
 
Even I am in dilemma - whether to go for a good CD player, or M1 DAC or something of same or better quality (in similar budget). I am ready to pool in, but will also want to decide after group audition (with @ruenigma) whenever that happens.

The reason for CD player is however more from usability point of view; just pick the CD you want and start listening (rather than operating mouse etc.). This requirement is more driven by my spouse. Can I just use a cheap CD player as transport? Or do we still have to bother about jitter issues?

And, to get best of both worlds, can you folks suggest a media player which can also take CD player, and support FLACs and give good digital stream over USB? So far, I don't think anyone has this type of media player. In which case, we should be able to rig up a dedicated PC box (small form factor) and configure it for dedicated audio interfaces. Any pointers/suggestions on this line of thinking?

Vikoma
 
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