Had to purchase another portable media player since this Activo CT10 went kaput (and the US distributor of Groovers/Astall & Kern won't honor the warranty since I bought it off of Ebay and not an authorized reseller.) Went with a Sony NW-A55 Walkman.



Feels more sturdily built than the Activo. Got it preowned from Japan, so I had to use a piece of software to change the language setting as there was no means to change it in the unit itself (even after a factory reset.)

Works fine, but doesn't sound as good as the Activo CT10 and only a little bit better than my phone (then again, I'm only using bluetooth headphones so far to test out--will probably sound better through a wired connection.)

Might have to just bite the bullet and get a real Astall & Kern portable if I want really good sound--unless they release another more sturdily built Activo model at comparable prices.

If you’re using Bluetooth on the A55 you’re just playing around. I don’t get collecting all this high res audio stuff just to lame out on the last step with Bluetooth and off brand players. Makes…no sense.

My only criticism with the A45 (same thing, more or less) is the lack of power and it being too easy to turn on dumb features you’d never want. Aside from that it’s the best headphone amp in the house.

Well you have to understand that since I spend a lot of time on a train to and in the subways of New York to get to work, so utilizing a set of Bose Noise cancelling bluetooth headphones is the most convenient way to listen to music.

I did end up trying it with my Sony MDR-7506 wired Pro headphones and it of course does sound better than bluetooth, but the Activo still sounded better through the same headphones.

I understand about trains and practical reality and such…but there’s zero point in high res audio on the go. Noise canceling is just more pollution, Bluetooth even more.

If you really want to hear what’s on these files you need 1) quiet room, 2) wired connection, and 3) open backed headphones.

I get that but so long as it sounds better than my phone, that's what I'm looking for.

It sounds a HELLUVA lot better than my phone when using a wired connection in my car as well.

After Axeman I don't want anything noise cancelling when I visit the city again.

Was a couple of days in Switzerland recently and could not resist.

2002 PIONEER VSX-47TX; one hell of an upgrade in amplification from my old faithful 1990 VSX-D1S;

VSX-47TX



VSX-D1S



VSX-47TX




VSX-D1S

diffuser. now I need to get some oil like Lavender

Picked it up yesterday. My first proper Swiss Watch.
MIDO Commander Big Date

Got a nice AV receiver upgrade.

should be here Thursday

After seeing the latest video about minidiscs by tech moan ( netMD in 2022 ) I immediately wanted to get back in to the format and scored a good player for great price. And it's awesome. The modern transfer software is brilliant and simple. I only remember the horror of sonic stage that I used many years ego when I first got in to minidiscs.

I bought a new DAC yesterday. Actually it is a Technics CD/SACD player with network capabilities ( Tidal/Spotify/USB playback/internet radio ). It contains
a high quality DAC and I only read very good things about it. It cost me 2500 € and in my opinion it was worth every penny.
The internal DAC is a hundred times better than the one inside my Denon AV receiver. I have never heard CDs and FLAC files with such extreme accuracy
and depth and detail. I have played a lot of music since yesterday and this does not sound any worse than my record player. In fact I am starting to like it
more. It has the depth that I knew from my record player and doesn't have the flat sound then I knew from my all my previous DACs. It sounds absolutely
fantastic and better than expected.
One of the reasons I bought this thing is because I am starting to get tired of the vinyl hype. I used to buy good albums for 40 € upwards and I simply refuse
to pay this amount of money for a single album. What is the point in buying new vinyl that was mastered using digital wav files pressed onto vinyl ?
I bought a lot of CDs for 1 € each at the local flea market and they sound absolutely magnificent on this player.
Anyway this was a very good investment and it also has a digital input ( coax / spdif ) so I can connect my laserdisc player to it which is great, too.

I feel the same way about new albums coming out on vinyl. Really no point since it's all digital. Only vinyl I buy these days are old 12" singles.

Confederate, I can't agree more with your post.

CDs are so cheap now since so many overlook them and dive straight for the vinyl, I know if you have a nice setup vinyl sounds nice but
if you have a nice setup CDs will sound amazing too, and they are super cheap.

We have a local thrift store that will sell 5 for a dollar once a week, how can you beat that period.
I only had a small vinyl collection and have sold off about half, about 30 records, so now I need to sell the rest and the player since its another thing that sits
for me and collects dust.

I have a stand alone CD player and while its an older lower end its nice to just open and play very fast.

Hey, the name of the game in marketing since forever.... CHEAPOS
Cheers mates !

I just think that getting a nice sounding vinyl setup is considerably cheaper than getting a nice sounding CD setup.
Even a cheaper cartridge like Ortofon 2M Red for less than 100 € in combination with a cheap turntable will sound
richer and better than your run-of-the-mill DAC. I used to think most CDs sound dull and boring but I am really starting to love them.
I have played so many albums over the last days. Today, for instance, I played Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits on my new Technics.
I thought it sounded absolutely fantastic. On my old setup it sounded flat and hardly engaging in comparison.
I am rediscovering many albums now for which I am very grateful. It is like watching your favourite film in HD quality for the first time.

I got a mountain of tat the last couple of months but just haven't put any of it here. Maybe another day. Anyway, if anyone is interested, this stuff arrived today from Japan. There's a DVD, an LP and an LD here.

First up is an addition to my Virtual Drug collection. I thought I was Virtual Drug complete but I forgot to get the Virtual Drug: Ecstasy Remix DVD...until today. This is a very interesting disc in that it is a DVD edition of the original Laserdisc. Ecstasy was the first Virtual Drug release and it gets a digital release here for the first (and last) time. However, it's much more than that. What you get here is both the original version and a remixed version! On the sleeve reverse are notes from the director that explain the work that has been carried out for the remixed edition.

It's not so much a remix as an enhanced edition of the original. The director points out that the original effects have now been enhanced and spruced up to be even better and using equipment that is much more affordable as opposed to hardware that was just took expensive a few years prior. The disc is presented similar to a Laserdisc, with both sides of the disc showing as A and B, and the choice to select the original '19th' version or the remix (enhanced) '20th' version.

Alas the DVD doesn't come with the refractive glasses (it does ship with them, they're just missing from my DVD unfortunately) but it's fine as I have loads of them in my Virtual Drug Laserdiscs. Plus you can always pick some up on GreedBay. I think I am finally Virtual Drug complete now across Laserdisc, DVD and Blu Ray (there are VHS releases of the Laserdiscs which come with insence sticks and holders, but it's essentially doubling up on my Laserdiscs so I chose not to collect them).




Next is a great LP I first stumbled upon on Tidal (I think. Might have been Spotify). Anyway, it's a really juicy album called Night Cruiser by the awesome Deodato. It's more jazz/disco/fusion than anything else. Some really great stuff here. It was one of those times where I just thought I needed to own the original vinyl for this album. Great stuff and a bit of a tough one to find in good condition and at a sensible price too (as jazz, or jazz-esque vinyl seems to often command ridiculous money it would seem)!




Last up is another Laserdisc to add to my psychedelia collection. This is Video Drug and is the third disc I have purchased in the series. I have one volume left to find, I can't remember which one, I think it's volume 2 or 3, then I'm Video Drug complete. The lack of obi strip irk's me something chronic, but these discs are super hard to find in the wild it would seem so in essence I'm just happy to have it in my collection.

Please explain why, in technical terms, not religious ones, why it matters if the master for the LP is digital. It seems a lot of people feel this way but it makes zero sense to me.