| Onix XCD-88 [message #14223] |
Thu, 14 July 2005 19:36  |
FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
|
Illuminati (1st Degree) |
|
|
Has anyone else bought one? It seemed like such a good deal at $299 that I ordered one. I took some picts of the inside and compared then to the Music Hall CD-25 which is supposed to be the same rebranded Shandling player. See for yourself at the link below. I understand there are some upgrades, like replacing the op amps, that make a difference. There's an article on the Parts Connexion's CD-25 upgrade at http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/musichall/cd25.2.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: Onix XCD-88 [message #14225 is a reply to message #14224] |
Fri, 15 July 2005 05:30  |
FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
|
Illuminati (1st Degree) |
|
|
|
The fit and finish are very good. I plan to leave it on repeat for a week or so before I form any conclusions about how it sounds, but I believe I already know the answer: With the development of better DAC chips combined with the economies of Chinese production today's $500 CD player sounds better than the $500 players that were offered five or more years ago. I would be surprised if it didn't better my Marantz CD-67SE. On top of that, AV123 is offering this $500 player for $299. I will be especially interested in hearing how it compares to the current crop of non-oversampling DAC's such as the Scott Nixon tube DAC, the dAck! DAC, and Audio Mirror DAC. These inexpensive DAC's are the topic of the Houston Audio Society's August meeting, where we will compare all three to the DSD and PCM analog outputs of a Sony SCD-XA9000ES SACD player. I believe I will bring the Onix along, and if the other members will tolerate a lowly $299 player, compare it to the external DAC's, with some experienced listeners evaluating the differences. I'll post the results here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Re: So Far It's Thumbs Down [message #14229 is a reply to message #14228] |
Sun, 17 July 2005 06:25 |
FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
|
Illuminati (1st Degree) |
|
|
|
At this point I would have to describe the Onix as "uninvolving". I've swapped it out with the modded Toshiba several times, and each time I find myself drawn into the music with the Toshiba and distracted by the Onix's two dimensional presentation. For those who are unfamiliar with the Toshiba mod, it taps into the circuit immediately after the DAC (removing the filter and analog stage op amps from the signal path) and reroutes the signal to a pair of RCA's through high quality capacitors. The Onix came with an OPA2134 set, which is considered good and offers the quality that's typcially heard in "budget" (under $3,000) players. I've ordered a set of the more expensive OPA627s, which would be used in only the most expensive players. These are single opa chips so they require an adapter board which I also ordered. Somebody on another forum did this upgrade and said that the sound stage become more focused and the instruments got more separation. In the meantime the Onix sounds very good as a transport for the external Scott Nixon DAC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| OP Amp Upgrade [message #14234 is a reply to message #14233] |
Fri, 22 July 2005 17:41 |
FredT
Messages: 704
Registered: May 2009
|
Illuminati (1st Degree) |
|
|
|
The upgrade OPA627 op amps arrived yesterday and the adapters arrived today. The stock op amps are two channel chips while the 627's are single channel, so you have to get an adapter for each channel. The Parts Connexion sells the 627's installed in adapter boards for $50 ea, or you can buy a set of five 627's from USA Caps on Ebay for $24.99 and order two adapter boards from Cimmaron Technologies for $3 each. If there ever was a no-brainer this is it. Five for $25 sounds like cheap parts to me, but this kind of op amp would only be used in the better players, typically in the $3K range and above, so they are a significant improvement over the stock ones. It took about five minutes of warmup to begin to hear the difference. I'll leave it on repeat all night, but already there's an improvement in the separation of instruments, L to R and F to B, within the soundstage. With the op amp upgrade this has become a seriously good CD player which I would recommend without reservation to anyone considering an upgrade from a mass market player or from an older mid fi player.
|
|
|
|
Posting Rules
Members
Search
Help
Register
Login
Get a T-Shirt!
