June 25, 2012

• Simaudio CD3.3X, Part 9

  "This sucks," said one of my friends, as we heard Erasure's 4-song EP, Abba-esque.  As the name implies, each song was an ABBA cover.  That was 20 years ago, in early summer 1992.

  "Ay-yah," exclaim another friend, "This just makes everyone long for the real ABBA.  Alas, it wasn't meant to be.  ABBA did not reunite in 1992, nor have they ever reunited since.  However, perhaps spurred on by Erasure's Abba-esque, ABBA's record company did, in Fall '92, release the massively-popular Gold: Greatest Hits.

  That summer of '92, the general public made CD a mature technology.  Audiophiles split into two camps.  The first camp consisted of those who clung dearly to vinyl.  The second camp turned its nose up at one-box CD players, and feverishly played the CD transport & DAC roulette.
  
  I had completed three years at UC Santa Cruz, but was back in San Francisco for the summer.  While everyone at UCSC dressed like shit, my friends at home were into clothing, accessories, shoes, makeup, hair, and style.  Hahaha, here's something Margaret frequently did: thong, blue jeans, and fanny pack.  And what's with using the fanny pack's strap as a belt?
  
  The Simaudio CD3.3X takes about 7-8 seconds to load and play.  That is better than the average high-end player, but still a good two seconds too slow for my liking.

  According to the manual, the performance of the CD3.3X "will continue to improve during the first 400 hours of listening.  This is the result of a 'break-in' period required for the numerous high quality electronic parts used throughout this player."
  
  This unit has already been used.  I have no idea what it sounded like, when it was new out of the box.  After it survived the trek half-way across the U.S., it fired up perfectly.  Nevertheless, after playing CDs for about two days, the CD3.3X lost its lazy, somewhat indifferent disposition.  Hey, at least The Police reunited for a concert tour.  Fans are still rabidly, anxiously, and patiently waiting for ABBA to reunite.  In the meantime, Erasure are still going strong.  Last Fall, they released Tomorrow's World.
  

  • 3:27 am
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