Hi, I am trying to connect the Shanling cr60 ripper/player to the internal player without much luck. I would like to use the equalizer and other functions (remote and vu meters) when playing cd's. Is this possible. I tried every connection but can only use the device as a seperate player. Also the ripper cd player is not recognizing the Shanling. Any thoughts and experiences on this issue? Is there another (budget) player that does work or is it simply not possible?
The Shanling CR60 has standard digital outputs coax, optical and usb audio when used as a CD Transport. These should be all connectable to the A6 so you can use the internal DAC, these will inevitably appear as analog output from the A6. I assume you can use the DSP as this is configurable for any output from the A6, but not sure about vu meter availability. Your A6 is just a DAC when used in this way, you can't control the playback from the A6, the Cr60 is the master. The inbuilt CD player ripper in the A6 is an entirely different thing, it won't see the Cr60 as a simple optical drive.
Thanks! Just after the last A6 update my optical drive (the one that is used in the instructional video) is working but it is very noisy and clicks and rattles a lot (during rereading the data i think). Before the update I tried numerous optical drives (even very expensive ones) but they all failed. Is there an optical drive or transprt/ripper that works and is of better quality ?
So you have ongoing problems with general optical drives when connected to your A6 over USB ? Not really a specific question about the CR60 ? If you have tried a range of optical drives for playing/ripping on your A6 and have problems, it may be that the drives are pulling too much current over USB from the A6. So have you tried using a powered USB hub to connect your drives to the A6 OTG, this would stop this issue ? I do this not only because of the current limiting issue but also to give me more USB ports on my A6. I use a Hitachi-LG Data Storage Inc model GP57 connected in this way via a RSHTECH 4port USB3 powered hub, works well.
Is the Shanling CR60 finally working with the A6? Looking for a nice cd drive for my A8 I also consider the Shanling as proper candidate next to the Hifi Rose RSA780. I guess as normal transport via coax the Shanling should work. What's about usb A connection? Is the drive recognized by the Eversolo in the CD player app? What's about usb B connection? Can I use the Shanling with the eversolo ripping app? Best, Kurt
I've also been looking at this drive recently and would be interested to know if anyone had tried it with an Eversolo.
Unfortunately I discovered that the Shanling is a very vibraty noisy machine. Also the A6 will not recognize the Shanling as ripper so I sent it back. Eversolo Customer service wrote me: Thanks for reaching out to Eversolo. The A6 does not support the use of the equalizer and other functions (Info, Art, Remote and Vu Meter) when playing CDs. The A6 also does not support recognition of Shanling for ripping CDs. Please kindly use a CD-ROM for CD ripping. Hope this helps, thank you.
I have learned that the Shanling is only noisey when it doesn't have adequate power. It needs a min of 12v 2a, I am running mine with a Topping 15v LPSU and it's dead silent.
Thanks for that input. Again my question, how do you connect the Shanling to your Eversolo? Is everything working with CD Playback and Ripping? Best, Kurt
Mine is connected via coax, I don't use it for ripping as I prefer dbpoweramp, no issues with playback.
Hi WIS, I have just bought an A6 GEN 1 ME with the intention to connect my CD transport (Primare DD15) to this via coax and use the DAC function. What are your experiences? Do you get the benefits of the ME upgrade? I'm struggling with tinnitus and find it a bit sharp sounding. And as mentiuoned above in this thread the EQ can't help me with that. I am wondering whether the femto clocks etc actually apply to coax in either and that was a major reason to go for the ME version...
I have tinnitus as well and when it flares up things can sound a bit sharp. ESS DACs are probably not the best for people with tinnitus, even though I prefer and still use them as I like their forward, detailed sound. You would be better with a AKM or R2R DAC if your tinnitus is constant. As the femto clocks are part of the DAC, I would expect them to apply to all inputs.
Thanks for the quick response! Sorry to hear you have tinnitus too. Hopefully not so bad that it is seriously affecting your enjoyment of music! Mine is constant (thankfully fairly mild), 1 ear and fairly high in tone making me rather sensitive to high treble. The seller told me that compared to the standard (GEN 1) A6, the ME doesn't have that sharp edge and should be fine for my tinnitus. Am still looking at a less bright interconnect though (XLR out more detailed so far, still trying RCA cables - what are you using?) And then today on this forum (Review and need-to-know Eversolo DMP-A6 streamer) I found: "- Like with most DAC's the SPDIF Analog RCA and Toslink Inputs go straight into the ESS DAC not taking advantage of the XMOS intermediate flow processor/stabilizer. With Master Edition this path will neither take advantage of those fancy femtoclocks." Which would mean that for coax input the ME sounds the same as the standard A6...
I am super sensitive to high freq. sounds as well, I feel your pain. Mine isn't constant, so I do get a break from it and it isn't too bad either.. most of the time lol. While the a6ME won't be as sharp/bright sounding as the a6, the a8 won't be sharp at all. I do love the sound of the ESS DACs, I don't find them bright, but as you say, somewhat sharp, which of course means more detailed. I have mine connected via XLR to a pair of V3 monoblocks. I have a Shanling CD transport connected via COAX. I read the opposite on this very forum regarding the clocks "SPDIF Input goes via XMOS to the Internal DAC and takes advantage of Gold femtoclocks."
There are some misconceptions here, IMHO... the femto-clocks are there to ensure a "more precise" clock for digital audio packets / bit-streams / whatever you want to call them. Unfortunately, there is ome thing regarding digital inpust such as COAX / OPTICAL SPDIF: These interfaces DICTATE the clock, so if their clock is not-so-precise (but trust me, they are enough precise for your hearing, which is sensible to the 3-nanosecond threshold, according to the latest studies in human audibility, faaaaar less precise than the default clocks used in audio equipment of a certain level, as the A6/A8/A10 are), there is nothing you can do to "correct it"... Internal playback, as well as USB connected sources, OTOH, serve data on demand: the Eversolo in these scenarios decides WHEN the audio data has to be received, so the external device's clock is irrelevant, as the Eversolo one will be used. Knowing these small details can, most of the times, avoid wrong choices based on "blablabla". Digital audio is not rocket science, but has indeed some inner details that need to be understood in order to not get confused / tricked / fooled / etc. etc. Just my 2c.
Thanks Nutul, that's enlightening. My CD transport only has coax and optical out, alas not USB which I understand would benefit from those femtoclocks. Not something the sales guys new about and it doesn't really stand out from the Eversolo information. Real shame: if you sell an ME version the expectation is that there are benefits worth the extra cash. And for a streamer with a range of digital inputs, indicating relevant restrictions is rather pertinent. Maybe best to run my transport to the DAC in my amp (supposedly inferior but sounding significantly better!) and start saving for a new DAC. Had I know this, I would have bought the standard A6 (GEN 2 instead of my discounted ME GEN 1) and use the E160 difference towards that new DAC to run the A6 and my CD transport into.
@FrankR to be honest, I have ripped all my (almost) 2000 CDs to FLAC... I do agree that the importance of the ritual of playing the physical media, but I prefer to keep my originals in a dark, dry and safe place, "just in case shit happens". Anyway, I believe your transport's clocks will do a very good job; unless they are imprecise in the order of microseconds (which I strongly doubt...) Use optical when possible, as it completely eliminates external field interference that could affect - among other things - the clock signal; although a well-shielded SPDIF-COAX (as short as you can allow it to be) cable will do very good too.
Hi @Nutul & @WIS, thanks for your sound advise! I have had a good chat with the shop and they allowed me to upgrade to a nearly new A8 (saving me E500!). I'm testing that today and very happy with the improvement. So the A6 ME will go back. In fact I'm not even comparing as I'm so happy just listening to my test CDs. Now on for Tidal versus Quobuz sound and user interface checks. Am with the first, thinking about switching. Still need to sort out my NAS with >500 jazz albums (have many more classical and ripping would take forever ;-) ). May well get rid of the NAS and use an SSD in the Eversolo.
