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Do you ever see something on the web and right away, your first reaction is "I gotta have one, muy pronto!"
For whatever reasons, the new Denafrips Avatar CD transport struck that chord for me.
As an aside, how many of you knew that in 2019 vinyl outsold CD's? Some will say, "Of course!" Others (like me) might say, "Hmmm, strange times we live in...
Now, the funny point about this discussion, is that until the Berkely Alpha DAC I bought quite a few years ago (2009), I didn't find that any digital solution up that point which I'd heard (which included high end SACD setups, like the Sony SACD-1) imaged as well as the phono setup I had in the late 70's. Not nearly. Yeah, no ticks, no pops, and quieter, but quite deficient in the imaging area. We can probably write a lot of that off to the relatively poor jitter characteristics of consumer digital up until that point...
Of course, these days, too, digital is usually about streaming- online, or over a local network, or a combination. I have a pretty complex setup for that, and it's in storage in Idaho! So listening checks have been done mostly using a Tascam CD-01U through my Denafrips terminator, using the AES-EBU output (go see how many commercial CD players or transports have AES-EBU built in... crickets)
It gets the job done, but truthfully I have no idea how good the clock and other aspects are... it plays disks, and if you use a fairly capable DAC, (and especially if you use it in conjunction with a Mutec MC3+ for reclocking) then the results have been workable, as I don't really have a good listening setup in my temporary domicile anyway.
Enter new product, Denfrips Avatar, stage left...
(BTW, as soon as I saw the announcement for this transport and the basic details, I pre-ordered one- about 3 months ago. Turns out, according to the sales manager, I was the #2 order they got for these... )
Here's a good intro article from 6moons...
They haven't gotten to the complete review yet, like me, they had problems with FedEx not able to get the transports through clearance for over 2 weeks, and in my case shipping was switched back to DHL- which then actually arrived two days early, on Wednesday, instead of the promised Friday delivery.
I am not normally one for unboxing photos, but I thought it might be appropriate because these guys do such a good job on this. Vinshine Audio in Singapore is the worldwide distributor, and for the USA, there is no local sales option- you go through Vinshine. Shipping packaging is obviously a concern...
But the results, as I'll show here in a few pictures, are very much like the DAC and other products I've bought from them.
The package was quite heavy- think of the construction of the Avatar as being akin to a half height version of the Sony SACD-1 or SCD-777- so it's much heavier than you'd expect. This is the inner box- very heavy cardboard.
Open it up, and you can see the high density foam and corner protectors, along with the CD weight.
Pulling out the foam inset, the top of the transport window is visible.
Removing the upper packing block, the whole unit and the remote control milled of solid aluminum are visible.
What isn't visible is a power cord or manual. The latter you'll have to download from the Denafrips site (Easy Peasy) and the power cord, you can supply your favorite premium or cheapie one, depending on your taste and preferences.
For whatever reasons, the new Denafrips Avatar CD transport struck that chord for me.
As an aside, how many of you knew that in 2019 vinyl outsold CD's? Some will say, "Of course!" Others (like me) might say, "Hmmm, strange times we live in...
Now, the funny point about this discussion, is that until the Berkely Alpha DAC I bought quite a few years ago (2009), I didn't find that any digital solution up that point which I'd heard (which included high end SACD setups, like the Sony SACD-1) imaged as well as the phono setup I had in the late 70's. Not nearly. Yeah, no ticks, no pops, and quieter, but quite deficient in the imaging area. We can probably write a lot of that off to the relatively poor jitter characteristics of consumer digital up until that point...
Of course, these days, too, digital is usually about streaming- online, or over a local network, or a combination. I have a pretty complex setup for that, and it's in storage in Idaho! So listening checks have been done mostly using a Tascam CD-01U through my Denafrips terminator, using the AES-EBU output (go see how many commercial CD players or transports have AES-EBU built in... crickets)
It gets the job done, but truthfully I have no idea how good the clock and other aspects are... it plays disks, and if you use a fairly capable DAC, (and especially if you use it in conjunction with a Mutec MC3+ for reclocking) then the results have been workable, as I don't really have a good listening setup in my temporary domicile anyway.
Enter new product, Denfrips Avatar, stage left...
(BTW, as soon as I saw the announcement for this transport and the basic details, I pre-ordered one- about 3 months ago. Turns out, according to the sales manager, I was the #2 order they got for these... )
Here's a good intro article from 6moons...
They haven't gotten to the complete review yet, like me, they had problems with FedEx not able to get the transports through clearance for over 2 weeks, and in my case shipping was switched back to DHL- which then actually arrived two days early, on Wednesday, instead of the promised Friday delivery.
I am not normally one for unboxing photos, but I thought it might be appropriate because these guys do such a good job on this. Vinshine Audio in Singapore is the worldwide distributor, and for the USA, there is no local sales option- you go through Vinshine. Shipping packaging is obviously a concern...
But the results, as I'll show here in a few pictures, are very much like the DAC and other products I've bought from them.
The package was quite heavy- think of the construction of the Avatar as being akin to a half height version of the Sony SACD-1 or SCD-777- so it's much heavier than you'd expect. This is the inner box- very heavy cardboard.
Open it up, and you can see the high density foam and corner protectors, along with the CD weight.
Pulling out the foam inset, the top of the transport window is visible.
Removing the upper packing block, the whole unit and the remote control milled of solid aluminum are visible.
What isn't visible is a power cord or manual. The latter you'll have to download from the Denafrips site (Easy Peasy) and the power cord, you can supply your favorite premium or cheapie one, depending on your taste and preferences.
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