Sounderista
Member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2022
- Messages
- 5
- Likes
- 1
We all know that some CDs are mastered at insane levels. They said the volume war was over but some engineers didn't get the memo apparently.
One of my most precious belongings is a Sansui G-5700 receiver that I bought in 2016, which according to the seller had been in a bag for 30 years barely used, and it turned out to be true, because it looked like brand new when I got it, even if it wasn't in its original box. Coupled with my Sansui SE-7 equalizer, the sound is crystal clear.
Until recently I was using my Oppo UDP-203 as a CD player, and the great thing about the Oppo is that it has variable volume for its analog outputs, so when I would listen to one of these CDs with insane levels, I would simply turn down the volume in the Oppo. But I always wanted a CD changer, and I got the Onkyo DX-C390, which at least to my ears, is an excellent player. But on those high volume CDs, it seems to me that it distorts a bit in the loudest parts. One example is Bear McCreary's "The Singularity", a double album that is a heavy metal symphony and probably most of you don't know, but it's really loud, to the point that to listen to it at a normal level, the volume in my Sansui receiver is at 2.5 and the output in the Sansui EQ is at 4. Normally I keep the output in the EQ at 8 and the volume in the receiver at 3 for normal CDs.
Now, it's not like it's producing a loud distortion all the time, as in analog peaking distortion. But at times it seems to me that it does peak. In the score for the movie "Ad Astra", there's a section in a track that gets extremely loud, and it seems to me that it's peaking badly.
This is not a deal breaker for me, it doesn't happen most of the time, and most CDs play fine without any peaking. I'm just concerned that the Onkyo player might damage the circuits in my Sansui G-5700, because I know I may be able to get another one, but I will never get one in mint condition like this one. I emailed Onkyo support to ask them if there was any way to lower the output volume in the circuits, even if it meant voiding the warranty, but they told me that it doesn't, that it was designed that way.
So I wanted to ask those of you who are engineers or at least know way more than I do if there's anything in the specs that I can look up for both the Sansui and the Onkyo to determine if the output from the player is too much for the receiver, and if it is, if I'm putting the receiver at risk by using it with the Onkyo, in which case I will have to suck it up and go back to the Oppo with variable volume.
Or, if there's any device that will sit between the Onkyo and the Sansui that will lower the volume without affecting the sound quality.
One of my most precious belongings is a Sansui G-5700 receiver that I bought in 2016, which according to the seller had been in a bag for 30 years barely used, and it turned out to be true, because it looked like brand new when I got it, even if it wasn't in its original box. Coupled with my Sansui SE-7 equalizer, the sound is crystal clear.
Until recently I was using my Oppo UDP-203 as a CD player, and the great thing about the Oppo is that it has variable volume for its analog outputs, so when I would listen to one of these CDs with insane levels, I would simply turn down the volume in the Oppo. But I always wanted a CD changer, and I got the Onkyo DX-C390, which at least to my ears, is an excellent player. But on those high volume CDs, it seems to me that it distorts a bit in the loudest parts. One example is Bear McCreary's "The Singularity", a double album that is a heavy metal symphony and probably most of you don't know, but it's really loud, to the point that to listen to it at a normal level, the volume in my Sansui receiver is at 2.5 and the output in the Sansui EQ is at 4. Normally I keep the output in the EQ at 8 and the volume in the receiver at 3 for normal CDs.
Now, it's not like it's producing a loud distortion all the time, as in analog peaking distortion. But at times it seems to me that it does peak. In the score for the movie "Ad Astra", there's a section in a track that gets extremely loud, and it seems to me that it's peaking badly.
This is not a deal breaker for me, it doesn't happen most of the time, and most CDs play fine without any peaking. I'm just concerned that the Onkyo player might damage the circuits in my Sansui G-5700, because I know I may be able to get another one, but I will never get one in mint condition like this one. I emailed Onkyo support to ask them if there was any way to lower the output volume in the circuits, even if it meant voiding the warranty, but they told me that it doesn't, that it was designed that way.
So I wanted to ask those of you who are engineers or at least know way more than I do if there's anything in the specs that I can look up for both the Sansui and the Onkyo to determine if the output from the player is too much for the receiver, and if it is, if I'm putting the receiver at risk by using it with the Onkyo, in which case I will have to suck it up and go back to the Oppo with variable volume.
Or, if there's any device that will sit between the Onkyo and the Sansui that will lower the volume without affecting the sound quality.
