Musical Fidelity M3S CD Player - A Decent Upgrade From Entry Level

As I went to visit Tony of LTB Enterprise, the long time MF distributor in Malaysia, I finally got the confirmation that he is retiring and has given up his distributorship of Musical Fidelity in Malaysia. A&L Audio Station is the newly appointed distributor. Nevertheless, Tony still has a heap stock of MF products including this M3S CD player. As I am in the mood of upgrading my M1 CDT, I requested for a home demo of this unit from Tony. Thanks Tony.

And of course.... I needed another CD player to compare it with.... so the discontinued M6 CD player tagged along home!

PACKAGING

Musical Fidelity maintains their high standard of packaging of their hifi products. The unit came wrapped in a soft velvet bag which gave it a luxurious feel. Not too mention that it also comes with a pair of white gloves.

SPECIFICATION, INS AND OUTS

This is a 2 in 1 CD player and digital hub as it also offers 3 digital inputs:

• 1 x RCA coaxial (32 - 192 kbps, 16 to 24 bit PCM) 
• 1 x optical (32 to 96, 16 to 24 bit PCM)
• 1 x USB 'B' (Asynchronous data stream up to 24 bit/96kHz)

The DAC is a 24 bit Delta Sigma (bit stream) dual differential 8x sampling. If you fancy to connect to even higher spec DAC, this unit also offer 3 outputs:

• 1 x RCA stereo to connect direct to amplifier
• 1 x RCA coaxial
• 1 x optical

It weighs about 6 kg unpacked and the dimensions are 440 x 100 x 380 mm (W x H x D)

THE FIRST IMPRESSION

Straight out of the box, the M3S sounded quite lively, surprisingly. It can be a harsh on the top side of frequency but it delivered quite a big soundstage that the harshness seems to be a minor shortfall. Putting on One Fine Day, the vocal was definitely the main highlight. It sounded bold and deep; just right for this type of lounge jazz. The bass is also another highlight for this first impression. It did not sound muddled at which in return, my expectation that the bass will sound even more enveloping once this player has run in properly.

Sampler 2 - Local Jazz

Recently, there was a resurgence of CD reissues of 80s and 90s local scene, one of which is Malaysian diva, Anita Sarawak. People have been skeptical of the quality of these reissues as it is selling between RM15 to RM20 (USD 4 to 5).  First of all, these new reissues is equipped with CD Text. The M3S display is clear enough for someone to read it about 6 to 7 feet far. This track Cintamu Muzik Di Hatiku. The bass goes quite deep and extended. Can be intimidating at times. The unique deep and bold vocal of Anita is well presented by this unit. The strength can be felt. The high is slightly overshadowed by the bass but it is sweet enough to give the overall reproduction a good ambience and big soundstage.

Sampler 3 = Percussion

Now with this famous test track on percussion, the M3S unit really delivers a punch to my system. It injects certain aggressiveness into this track with its huge sound stage. The sound dispersion of each hit of the traditional drums fills up the hall with a very lively ambiance. Its really free flowing of musical representation of the track. The highs on this track was delivered with a sufficient clarity and sweet sound. 

Sampler 4 - Vocal

Now, similar to the first impression, I find vocal is on of the key strength of this M3S model. Willie's vocal sounded very emotional which I do believe this player reproduction of the sound plays an important aspect of this. It really sent me a powerful vibe that the emotion flows fluidly from Willie.The overall sound on this track also provided a big soundstage which seems to be another trademark of this M3S design.

Sampler 5 - MD Replay

This is the first time that I am reviewing a CD player cum digital hub. Since my reference MDS JA20 ES MD player have always been fed into a separate DAC deck, I had to try connecting the MD Deck to this M3S unit via the coaxial input. Playing this track 'High' by Lighthouse Family, it sounded kind of harsh in the beginning and the bass is a little bit bloated as oppose to when I connect to my M6 DAC. The bass is a bit too mechanical sounding to me. 

THE SET UP

1. MF M3S CD player to MF M6i amp using Siltech Classic Anniversary RCA IC
2. Sony MDS JA 20 ES MD player to M3S using Cambridge Audio coaxial cable
3. MF M6i amp to ProAC D18 using Siltech 330 L Classic Anniversary speaker cable

THE CONCLUSION

As a standalone CD player, this Musical Fidelity M3S CD player excels in delivering a huge soundstage with sweet and luscious highs. For the low end notes, it can dig quite deep and provided a god bass extension to my set up. Unfortunately, I am not really convinced with its function as an external DAC to other digital equipment. The liveliness is somehow was taken away from the MD replay as oppose to when I use the M6 DAC. If you are looking at a decent upgrade from an entry level CD player, this would be a good choice to audition it.

SONY DVP-S7000: Another Long Lost Love

Thanks to HiFiLab, I have just collected another of my long lost love from my college days in the UK.

Everything is working perfectly. Connected to my Oppo HA-1 DAC/Headphone amp. Immediate reaction was this DVD player still have some juice to milk more modern CD Transport. More rekindling review soon.

TAD Evolution Series Launch Event

AV Designs  again have hosted a launch event for TAD (Technical Audio Devices) Lab Inc latest Evolution Series disc player and DAC, appropriately named as the TAD-D1000 and TAD-DA1000. The event was held at their showroom in Rohas Perkasa on Thursday, 21st Jan 2014.

The event was a semi-formal affair with the attendance of the usual Malaysian faces of audiophille, journalists and bloggers.  The event was graced by the attendance of Mr. Takahashi of Pioneer/TAD Malaysia. He emphasized that TAD is very proud with this latest product as it was built for accuracy in music reproduction which came from an engineered approach. It is to deliver a natural and realistic musical experience.

A brief info sharing of TAD history was given by Ryan Lee, their sales and marketing executive. TAD was established in 1975 to develop professional level speakers or monitors. As it grows to develop other products for domestic market, TAD still is well known across the world for its accuracy in reproducing sound in over 200 professional sites. Capitol Records, Pixar, Walt Disney are some of the famous places that employs TAD products for their studios. George Michael, RHCP, Coldplay and Michael Buble are some of the big name artists that uses TAD in their album recording works.

And of course, their products have been highly reviewed by What HiFi, Stereophile and Techradar magazines to name a few.

Some of the key main features:

1. A newly developed unltra high carrier to noise ratio master clock UPCG

2. DAC circuit equipped with Burr Brown PCM1794A

3. A-synch USB transmission engine that faitfully reproduces high res sound sources up to 32 bit, 384 kHz.

4. Aluminium chassis and structure with low COG to minimise effect of external vibrations

5. A proprietary large sized toriodal PSU enables effortless playback of sounds with fast attack

6. Unique CD mechanism for outstanding precision loading and quietness

7. Simple and high sound quality system configuration made possible through a line output volume function in the DA1000

8. The DAC also comes as a headphone ampilfier with dedicated volume function.

The 2 products were then jointly launched by Mr. Takahashi (Pioneer), Mr. James Tan and Mr. Tony Low (AV Designs).

After that, it was all musical pleasure. James Tan demonstrated the capabilities of these 2 items. 4 tracks were played, first straight from the CD player into the full TAD system. Then it was followed by feeding the CD player to the DAC. Most of the audience were in consensus that the sound via the DAC was more luscious. Eventhough its the same DAC chip in both the CD player and DAC, the latter still sounded more appealing.

Overall, it is true what Mr. Takahashi said that its all about naturalness and realistic. Strumming of guitar sounded sharp and detail was given on every chord, the hollowness of the bass drum on one of the tracks can actually be heard and vocals were extremely mesmerizing with sweetness and lusciousness. There was also a complex piece arangement on one of the tracks but the CD player and DAC had no issues in detailing the multiple instrument piece.

I have seen and heard a few hifi equipments that has a price tag that can make a person goes 'You got to be kidding me'.... and even if I do have the dough, I will not purchase it. But this is one product that I believe is priced appropriately. You get a lot from it.... the built, the estatic design, the sound quality....just pure musical pleasure.... I love it.... But I still can't afford it :)

The D1000 disc player is priced at RM 66,999 and the DA1000 DAC is priced at RM56,999 and can be auditioned and purchased only from the sole distributor of TAD in Malaysia... at AV Designs in Bangunan Rohas Perkasa, Kuala Lumpur.

If you are into high end equipments and sound but dont want to hit that RM 6 digits territorry, have a listen to these 2 items. You will be surprised....but just be carefull that you might extremely mesmerized and you will just swipe that credit card to purchase one :)

Other information on the specifications are as below:

TAD D1000 CDP and DA1000 DAC: OFFICIAL LAUNCH

Feast your eyes on these beauties while a full write up is posted.

SONY CDP-XB930E: True Love Lasts Forever

As mentioned in my previous post, I will do a simple review of this old-ish unit that I stumbled upon  Mr. Drife's blog. I now call this unit old-ish rather than old as apparently there are even people still using their CD player from 1988. So mine which was purchased the first time in 1999 is still considered 'young'

I have been trying to get a hold of this unit for a few years now after selling it off during my student years in the UK due to shortage of money. Yes, lots of people questioned me on why am I spending my small amount of scholarship money on hifi while I should use it to but books. Well, I worked part time on weekends and bank holidays, making doughnuts in the famous Brighton Palace Pier to cater for my hifi interest. Plus, I play drums for a local band  for that few extra quids.

Anyway, at one point, I stopped working as it was in my final year in university and just concentrated on the books. Due to shortage of money to ship back my stuff to Malaysia, I started selling some of my stuff and it included this CD player.

So, a BIG THANK YOU to Mr. Drife for finding my old flame. And sorry I didn't recognise you initially. (Mr. Drife actually have bought a hifi kit from me once but it took me a few minutes before realising I have met him before hehehe)

BUILT

Sony had 2 different series in their hifi components; QS and ES which the latter is its higher end series. But rest assured that even the QS is built to a high quality standard. At those time, Sony units can easily match other CD players in the likes of Marantz, NAD, ARCAM etc.

It weighs 6 kg and built with all metal casing. All its connections, buttons, the famous jog dial and tray mechanism are sturdy and have an expensive feel. The LCD display is one of the best out there. Crystal clear, simple, intuitive and fuss free.

The tray mechanism is the one that really impresses me. Its bigger that other normal CDP as it has to accommodate the magnetic puck on top of the CD as well. But, even with ths size and extra weight of the puck, it is sooooo silent. Even after all these years.

The unit came with a full remote control which is still working. However, I am currently using my Sony MD remote to control this unit as well.

The power cable I believe have been modified by the previous owner as it is now equipped with an IEC connection so one can start using different power cables. I remembered the original unit I owned came with a built in cable.

Picture courtesy of Drife blog

INS AND OUTS

At this price point (at least in late 90s), there was only outputs:

1. One pair of RCA

2. One coaxial digital

3. One optical

There is also a Control A1 input and output. This is mainly to be connected to other Sony products for seamless control. I use this with a mono cable connected to my Sony MD player. With this, both unit will be synced during digital recording and if there is a CDText on the source CD, it will automatically transferred to the MD, so no need to type out the tracks name onto the MD.

THE SET UP

1. Sony CDP connected direct to M6i amp using Cambridge Audio Pacific RCA interconnect (the same IC I used for this unit 14 years ago)

2. Sony CDP connected to M6 DAC via coaxial using Cambridge Audio Series 700 coaxial cable

3. MF M1 CDT connected to M6 DAC via coaxial using Cambridge Audio Series 700 coaxial cable (this unit is usually connected using Siltech digital XLR balanced cable to the M6 DAC)

THE SESSION

Tracks that I used to review this unit....were tracks during my students days in the UK:
1. Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio
2. The Circle by Ocean Colour Scene
3. Breathe by Prodigy
4. Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai
5. Ocean Drive by Lighthouse Family
6. No Woman No Cry by The Fugees
7. Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison
8. One by Metallica

If anyone of you were into these tracks, you might know that I was using the Brit Awards 97 double CD compilation for tracks 1 to 7.

SETUP 1
I wont be giving track by track review...but more on a collective overall listening pleasure/displeasure. Most of the track are quite bass heavy and thats exactly what I got from this Sony unit. Connected directly via RCA IC, the overall sound was leaning more towards delivering a very strong and upfront low end character, more than the usual I experience with CD players fed through the MF M6 DAC. The Breathe track in particular made me went into a rave clubbing mood. I have programmed the Sony CDP to play these tracks on random repeat. As I keep on listening, it started to grow on me, giving me memories of my college days...blaring loud music and annoying neighbours hahahaha. It was still on the bass heavy side but it was still OK and pleasurable experience. Listened to these tracks for about an hour then I switched  to SETUP 2.

SETUP 2
Connecting the Sony unit to M6 DAC injected a more refined and controlled bass on these tracks. It was not as overwhelming as when it was played via RCA. However, it has made those heavy bass tracks NOT to sound as they should. Although it was a more relax and warm sounding, it took away that adrenalin I got from the RCA set up. Is the M6 DAC incompatible with a Sony transport, SQ wise? I then put on One by Metallica...My my my...this was a different beast. It made me turn on my Yamaha DTXplorer drums at 2 am in the morning....playing along to this track.  I continue to listen via the M6 DAC for about an hour...and yet again...the sound just grew on me and I started to re-appreciate the experience. So how does it compare to my MF CDT transport?

SETUP 3
Now, playing these tracks again over my MF CDT, I am surprise to hear that although I am using the same coaxial cable, feeding into the same DAC, the sound character was still different. MF CDT uses slot in mechanism while the Sony uses a tray and puck. I bet its because of the different transport design, the sound is also different. Compared to SETUP 2, the MF CDT compliments more the M6 DAC as it provided the balance between highs and lows and still deliver that extra adrenalin to make the music more alive.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The Sony still gives me that satisfactory feeling and the adrenalin to appreciate hard hitting, bass heavy, guitar growling music. The 2 best tracks that I like listening from the Sony were One and Ocean Drive. Excellente!

2. New always better than old? Not necessarily. I still believe that in any case, system matching is still important. Previously, I use the Sony with Marantz PM57 driving Heybrook Optima and soon after MF X-A1 driving TDL RTL3SE and both yield excellent results. The Sony directly connected to M6i amp delivered a little bit more on the bass but it still was sweet sounding. The M6 DAC helps a lot in controlling that extra bass.

3. Transport matters! The 2 different transport mechanism gives different sound through the same DAC. Of course, I am sure the different type of lenses used in both transports play an important rule too.

So, which one will stay as my resident CD player? Both at the moment. Until I find myself a Marantz PM57 and replace the tweeter on my old TDL RTL3SE.

Here is Ocean Drive, played from the Sony RCA hook up. 

http://youtu.be/sWgLkNH48ik

Old Is Good!!!

A long lost love.... Rekindled today...

Thanks to the cupid... Mr. Drife... Who found this unit to be sold to me... The lucky buyer...thanks bro...

I purchased this unit 1999 for GBP 300 from Sevenoaks Brighton... Matched it with my previous MF X-DAC and XA1/XA50... And TDL RTL3SEs...But due to financial crisis as a student where my bank balance was about 85 pence, had to sell it for just GBP 100 after less than 1 year of use.

I use this CDP to synchronously dub music into MDs on my SONY ES MD player besides play endless hours of CDs from HMV/Virgin stores..

Eversince I got back into hifi bug in 2008, I have been looking high and low for a 2nd hand unit on ebay but to no avail... Except for the ones in the US...

Now its back in my hands...loving it...

Its unconventional... But I will review this old unit... Because:

1. Its a model that was not available in Malaysia

2. To see whether old is better/at par/worst than new

3. Because I want to and this is my blog :) woooohhhhoo

So stay tune...