Chord 64 DAC & Marantz problems...

Hi there

Has anyone encountered any problems when linking Marantz transports like CDP or DVD with Chord 64 DAC? I'm using the Marantz SA12-S1 SACD/DVD player as my transport for the 64 DAC... the sound is impressive but I'm facing a huge problem... the first couple of seconds from where you start playing... be it the opening track of the CD or skipping to a desinated track, that few seconds will be cut off, and the music starts from the 2nd or 3rd second of a track... and two 'popping' sound can be heard from the speakers at the start.

I've just been replaced with the supposedly new 64 DAC (with the earthing plug) which would prevent this issue, but nothing has changed.

Please help!!!

 

Are you using the memory buffer on the DAC64? If you are it should result in the music being delayed by a few seconds, but it shouldn't be cutting it off.

 

With or without buffer... the first second or two of the first track to be played will be chopped off

Chord claimed that Marantz & Denon have different 'style' of digital outputs which delay the output signal... any truth?

 

I've seen the Chord being used with a Marantz CD player, that worked fine. Are ou using optical or coax digital connections?

 

I've tried on both... yet to test out whether the optical is better as claimed... Will there be any diff if it has the DVD component to it?

 

Wouldn't have thought so, but I may be wrong. Have you got anything else around you could use as a transport? Then you could test Chords theory

 

it sounds like the dac 64 is having problems locking on to the signal from the marantz. this can be made worse by some transports transmitting nothing when nothing is playing rather than digital 'black' which is still a signal. this causes the dac to re-lock whenever a cd is changed or the stop button is pressed - sometimes on some transports when pause or track advance / back is pressed too. have you tried the 64 with a different transport? - even something liek a minidisc or portable cdp?
cheers


julian

 

I think Julian's right. I've had the same problem with the DAC64 when using a DVD player or portable CD Discman as a transport as it has to re-lock onto the signal every time.

Michael.

 

It is doing exactly what Julian's talking abt... do all DACs behave this way?

Is my only option is to have a new transport or there's something I could do with the Marantz?

 

most dacs could have this issue but it depends on the locking method used by the dac. i don't have much problem with my a/s dax-2 but my 'transport' (a squeezebox) was aparently terrible in this respect until the manufaturers did a flash memory upgrade to transmit digital black when not playing. only when the squeezebox is turned off will the dac mess about getting a lock.
you might try a different digital i/c if you're not using a proper 75 ohm coax i/c this COULD cause problems. alternatively you might want to look at a new output board or a reclock - available from various places. none of these i believe will solve the 'digital black' issue but they may improve the time taken by the dac to lock onto the signal. for a full fix it is probably necessary to sell the marantz and get a new transport which is more 'compatible' with the dac.
cheers


julian

 

I've contacted Marantz... as Chord has responded promptly about my issue and replaced with a new one which works perfectly with the Marantz SA-14, it's pretty much Marantz turn to check on their machines... will keep everyone updated with Marantz after sales service!

 

Adrian,

Check the digital output in the menu of the Marantz and make sure its set to PCM not Bitstream as I'm sure it is (standard for DVD digital output) this should fix your problem.

 

Excellent memory Alan!

Hope I left a gd impression with our MF transaction!

We've done all the checks on PCM, 48hz, 96hz etc... didnt help... so now will have to wait & see what Marantz test results...

 

While waiting for Marantz's answer...

I tried connecting the DAC 64 with Apple's new Airport Express to stream music wireless from my Powerbook to the system. Sounded pretty good but again, encountered the locking issue (between tracks) which misses out the first couple of seconds of the music

When connected directly to the amp, there's still a slight delay between tracks, but was a huge improvement from the DAC's delay...

 

I doubt there's much that Marantz will be able to do about it. DVD players (and your Airport Express) have the same problem in that they don't transmit a digital signal during "silence" eg: when stop or pause is pressed or sometimes even between tracks.

The DAC64 will make this problem appear even worse as it takes 3-4s to initialise its buffer. IMO there's very little you can do except get a dedicated CD transport.

Michael.

 

Thanks Michael...

A question... how much difference a transport affects a DAC's performance? logically, a transport simply outputs digital 'data' for the DAC to process the 'sound'...

How much difference for example... playing the DAC 64 with a Marantz 6000 OSE and a Marantz CD-17?

 

Ah now, that's an interesting question . It's a rather contentious topic that has caused a few angry posts before . If you do a forum search for DAC64 or "jitter" you'll find a few multi-page threads on the subject.

In my experience transports make very little difference with a DAC64, especially if used with a TOSlink connection but that's a particular feature of the DAC64 and the way it 100% rejects any incoming jitter. Most other DACs are to a greater or lesser extent affected by jitter from the transport so they are affected by transport differences.

If you're using them with a DAC64 then I'd expect very little, if any, difference between a CD6000 OSE and a CD17 as a transport.

Michael.

 

:duck:

Try clicking here for starters.

 

Just did a test for both toslink & coaxial connections...

The toslink gave a more detailed presentation, better separations between vocals/instruments... however, I find the vocals sounded 'thin' & 'very digital'...

With the coaxial, the lacking of details was compensated with a fuller sound, smoother vocals...

 

Fellow Chord DAC64 users... suggestions for a gd transport to match my system (Marantz PS17+SM17)

What would you get?... please do not suggest the Blu (or any deck in that price range... )