I moved to Berlin in 2016 with exactly zero CDs. My listening habits again then have been (principally) Roon streaming with a aspect of vinyl. Any CDs have been lengthy gone. I’d bought off a set of round 2000 discs between 2004 and 2010, predominantly on eBay, disc by disc, till the then-nascent streaming companies started to squeeze demand.
In 2018, Norway’s Hegel despatched me their Mohican CD participant (€5000) – the final of its variety – which reignited my love affair with the shiny silver disc. And since then I’ve purchased, disc by disc, a brand new assortment of round a thousand CDs. This new assortment consists of many rarities that I’d missed (or couldn’t afford) the primary time round. Excepting some early 00s electronica releases and a few mid-2010s indie-rock reissues, CDs are fairly darn low cost.
Earlier this 12 months, Hegel bought in contact once more. Two years after the Mohican’s discontinuation as a result of elements shortages, the Norwegians have been about to introduce a brand new €5000 CD participant to fulfill unrelenting buyer demand. The brand new mannequin can be known as the Viking and would characteristic a model new DAC chip from AKM, improved digital staging, a greater grasp clock implementation, a greater output stage and the identical connectivity because the Mohican. Nonetheless, the Viking can be a slot loader (and never a tray) and it wouldn’t be introduced for an excellent few months — did I would like an early pattern to check?
The presence of this video tells you of my reply. Apart from, I nonetheless had the Mohican in common rotation in Berlin to make gentle work of my first side-by-side comparability. However what of different high-end CD gamers? I had none! Nonetheless, Schiit had simply pushed its new Urd CD transport by my letterbox: how would it examine to the Viking when partnered with three completely different exterior DACs? There was just one technique to discover out…
🎥 Digicam: John Darko / Olaf von Voss
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Shade: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Movement GFX: John Darko
💰 Advert section: Jana Dagdagan
🎵 Track IDs? Playlists of all music heard on this video – and different movies – will be discovered on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/johndarko
Additional info: Hegel
👉 As seen on this video…
Hegel Viking
📖 https://darko.audio/2023/06/hegel-announces-viking-a-purists-cd-player/
15 explanation why I nonetheless purchase CDs
📺 https://darko.audio/2022/08/15-reasons-why-i-still-buy-cds-as-a-short-film/
Steve Hoffman discussion board on 2004 Kraftwerk ‘The Catalog’
🚿 https://boards.stevehoffman.television/threads/kraftwerk-2004-the-catalogue-sound-quality-compared-to-original-cds.374833/
Hegel Mohican & extra
📖 https://youtu.be/vgmzh77KMCU
Schiit Phrases
📖 https://darko.audio/2023/07/schiits-urd-shreds-the-cd-player-rulebook/
FiiO R7
📺 https://darko.audio/2023/06/fiio-r7-video-review/
Hegel H590
📺 https://darko.audio/2018/10/a-short-film-about-the-hegel-h590/
AudioQuest balanced interconnects
🛒 https://amzn.to/47CQbiL
IKEA Gnedby
📖 https://darko.audio/2020/03/ikea-discontinues-gnedby-cd-storage-towers/
Cables and energy merchandise by AudioQuest
🛒 https://howl.me/ckbW8ZBoZAg
Hello-fi furnishings and speaker stands by Strong Metal
🛒 https://howl.me/ckbW9947Hdi
Room therapy by Vicoustic
📖 https://vicoustic.com/
Darko.Audio could earn a small fee from objects bought by way of affiliate hyperlinks, that are indicated with a ‘🛒’.
**CORRECTION** The Kraftwerk field set proven on this video is the 2009 model 🤦🏻♂️
