Cary Audio.......no longer producing CD / SACD players

[amey01]

That was one of my problems, too. FWIW, I now use an Olive, and have been pretty happy with it.

Good point too - I'd recommend anyone a bit scared or apprehensive of making the jump definitely go to an audio-specialised setup, be it a Squeezebox, Sonos, Olive, Linn DS, et al.

Trying to hack together your own with a computer is frought with pitfalls. Heck - I'm more than capable of it (I work in IT) and even I can't be bothered dealing with it.

 

[Bernard]

Trying to hack together your own with a computer is frought with pitfalls. Heck - I'm more than capable of it (I work in IT) and even I can't be bothered dealing with it.

I have no problem with attempting it (IT as well), AND I have a consultant......the very capable, very friendly, always helpful ROBERTO!

I had thought about Olive, but one thing stops me - there is no easy way to migrate off it. You would have to reload everything.

 

[ktchnman]

OK, I hate to sound "behind the times", but I respect and admire my ARC Ref CD-8. The quality of playback is superb, and with the new version currently on the market, they can probably be had for significantly less than they were priced a year or so ago. I bought mine as a "Demo" for a little over 5K. I'm not certain, but I think the only difference between the new version and mine is the additional bells and whistles, and not the circuit path or transport. I do think you need a system of a high enough caliber to be able to hear what it can provide you with sonically, though.

 

[roberto]

Hola chicos... I do not want you to get mad at me, but frankly, I had the latest version of the ARC DAC, here in my system, along with the person who represents here ARC. After listening from the same source, my Bel Canto CD2 transport, the overall sound was amazing. Very pleasant, very big stage, no stress at all, very good!. Using the same type of music, connected to my M-DAC, there were of course sonic differences, but Mr. Saxon expression was: I hate low price DACs, their sound is very good, and I do not make money. When made comparisons with the Bel Canto Ref Link along with good computer recording, it was very good too. So, computer music is getting the level where we like. Easy to get any disc or music. Changing cd only last 2 seconds!. Happy listening.

 

[amey01]

I had thought about Olive, but one thing stops me - there is no easy way to migrate off it. You would have to reload everything.

I'm not familiar with the Olive range, but surely not!?! Surely?

 

[Bernard]

I'm not familiar with the Olive range, but surely not!?! Surely?

That's what a TAS review of the 06 said specifically.

 

[amey01]

That's what a TAS review of the 06 said specifically.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't rip a single CD if there was any chance i'd have to do it again. How are you supposed to back this POS up then? I guess you could always rip to FLAC on a computer, back it up and load that up on the Olive - or does this rubbish preclude you from doing that too?

OTOH, I do find some reviews of computer based equipment to be out of the league of some of the hi-fi reviewers. They don't answer questions that need answering, they criticise irrelevant things, and they generally show an abject lack of understanding of the subject matter. So I'd take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Bernard]

Adam, this was said in the review:

"Olive was less clear about what would happen if a customer wanted to transfer a collection to a different storage media or manufacturer system, and noted the problems copyright law present for simply providing a direct copy. After some back and forth, however, Olive made it clear that it will offer a service to download a returned Olive unit to a standard digital format like FLAC, WAVE, MPEG, AAC, Apple Lossless, etc.

I hope that Olive will clarify this offer in writing in its comments on this review, and I would be extremely cautious about buying any music server or storage system that did not offer such options. Technology is moving too quickly not to be able to transfer your collection from one system to another in a standard format.

Speaking personally, I would not buy a unit that did not have a clear option for transferring its collection, and I prefer systems that can easily download a music collection directly into a replacement system. Given that proviso, I’d strongly endorse the Olive O6HD within its price range. It is not perfect, but the sound quality is exceptional and its operating and storage features, while far from perfect, are never less than good. I give a strong recommendation to anyone who does not speak Geek as a native tongue."

 

[greg2putt]

I've been delighted with my Olive 6hd after 2+ years. It's also easy to buy hi-quality music from hdtracks and upload to Olive. The Internet radio is also fabulous access to Linn Hd channels for Jazz, Classical, etc. Very noticeable quality differences of different k quality broadcasts on my Summits through Jeff Rowland amps.

 

[Len44]

I agree with ^ Greg. Really nice with the iPhone remote app. Easy-Peasy stuff -- even for me. Definitely noticed a very nice jump in AQ. The 06 is a pretty special unit, at least to me.

 

[Len44]

Perhaps Todd (still around?) may wish to chime in with his thoughts and experiences with his Olive.

 

[asindc]

Well I like spinning my discs too. And i have a fairly large sacd catalog. So has anyone heard the Cary dacs? Do they sound as good as their CD players? I do not like this news either because I like the physical discs. My sacd player is getting old and now my concern is that I will have to pay top dollar to replace it someday. Booooo!

Well, I'm obviously late to this discussion, but to answer Timm's question, yes, the DAC section in my Cary 306 SACD Pro sounds every bit as good as spinning discs in it does. In fact, some hi rez downloads sound better than their SACD counterparts. Now that I have a vinyl and computer setups to go along with my CD/HDCD/SACD setup, I have found that the quality of the sound is not format dependent as much as it is individual-recording-and-mastering quality dependent. My vinyl copy of Britches Brew sucks. My CD copy sounds better. My 24/96 download of it sounds great. On the other hands, though all of his recordings are exceptional, Luther Vandross' debut album on CD absolutely sucks compared to the vinyl version, which is one of the best sounding vinyl albums in my collection ($1 at Goodwill!!). Just depends.

I'm not surprised the Cary and Wadia have stopped producing CD players. Both companies had epic problems with their SACD transports, so they probably just said to heck with it since computer audio is the rage now with no signs of slowing down. I wonder why those who still produce disc players don't build digital inputs into them. Parasound Halo's new CD player has been well-received, but it only plays Redbook and has no digital inputs.