Olasonic nanocompo NANO-CD1 CD Transport, Platinum White

In the 1980s, it was a straightforward process to transition from vinyl LPs to CDs. If you wanted to get rid of your turntable and LPs, but still wanted to listen to a favorite album, you could purchase a CD of that same album, and it would have all of the music and possibly additional tracks that were included to fill in the extra capacity of the CD format. At that time, we comfortably eliminated all of our LPs and started our CD collection. Now, some 30 years later, we thought that we would make a similar change, when we decided to move from CDs to streaming audio.With streaming, you get access to “a world of music” for the price of one or two CDs per month, and the audio quality can be the same as the CDs or better (e.g., MQA files). After a short trial of Spotify, we were hooked. We found a DAC to replace our universal player and preamp, and the sound quality and soundstage improved tremendously. We located and listened to music that would never have made it into our CD collection. Things were good.Then came the day that we wanted to listen to an album (Inside Llewyn Davis) that was in our CD collection. To our surprise, both Tidal and Spotify only had three of the fourteen tracks available to stream, probably due to some licensing problem or something. Then we wanted to listen to another (Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto – Joshua Bell, soloist), which also had only about three of its fifteen tracks available to steam on both services. With that experience, it seems that the transition to streaming is not as straightforward of a process as we expected.Having traded in our universal player, I had no way to listen to our CDs (good that I decided to keep them for a while). I considered getting software to rip music from my physical CDs to store in CD-quality files (e.g., WAV or ALAC), but that process would take a lot of time and effort. Also, when ripping onto computer files, issues associated with getting the track info and cover art are to be expected.An easier approach seemed to be playing the CDs through an inexpensive (under $1,000) CD player, with digital output, or through a CD transport. Both approaches would send the digital audio to my DAC. I focused on a transport, because I did not want any of my dollars to go toward an onboard DAC and analog audio circuitry that I would never use. I wanted an inexpensive unit, because I am expecting that eventually, streaming will have all of the now-missing content available and that the CDs and transport will finally be retired.I found very few CD transports available and only three in a reasonable price range. I considered the Cambridge CXC, the Shiroshita SWD-CT10US, and this Olasonic CD1. All three do one thing, and I assume that they do it equally well: they read Red Book CDs and output a digital signal to a DAC. I decided to eliminate the CXC, because it is a full-size audio component, and I do not want to “clutter” the looks of my now-two-piece stack with a transport that would get very little use. When considering the other two, two things came to mind: (1) the Olasonic is a more-expensive unit (this does not mean that it is better) and (2) I could buy a lightly used Olasonic unit from Amazon Warehouse Deals for less money than any of my other options. Purchasing the used Olasonic was an easy choice for me.THE OLASONIC CD1 REVIEWAs stated above, the CD1 does one thing and it does it well; it reads Red Book CDs and outputs the digital signal to an offboard DAC. The audio quality of a CD, as played through the CD1 and the DAC in my system, meets all of my expectations. CDs sound much better and the soundstage is significantly larger and deeper than it ever was through the analog outputs of my old universal player. It really is astounding how much better my CDs sound using this configuration, keeping in mind that the DAC plays a major role in the sound quality. The CD1 does not seem to have any mechanical playback artifacts. The CDs just sound great.The CD1 has a upsampling switch (this is one of those audiophile argument points) that I find makes no change in the sound, as played through my DAC. There might be some difference in the sound, when played through other systems, but I just leave mine set to the native 44.1 kHz setting. You can read about upsampling vs oversampling on the internet, if you wish, and the other switch settings (88.2 kHz and 96 kHz) may make a difference on other audio systems.Something to know is that you cannot read any other format (e.g, SACD, DVD-A, and MP3) through this transport or through either of the others that I considered. Although the Olasonic manual and website list SACD as a format that it will read, they mean that the CD1 will read the embedded CD-DA material, not the SACD content, that is on a hybrid disc. You can find transports that support these formats, but only as played through that manufacturer’s DAC, due to licensing agreements.I chose the small size of this unit so that I can store it in a drawer, then bring it out and play a CD from my coffee table. In using it this way, I don’t need the remote control, and I can actually read the small display from the close-by position. I noted that the Shiroshita unit does not include a remote, because the manufacturer thinks that their unit should be operated from within arms reach. I agree with them, and so far, this mode of operation is working well for me. I just connect the power cord to the unit and run an optical cable to my DAC, which keeps things pretty simple.One thing that I was not expecting is that it is a painted box. They call it platinum white (I should have expected paint), but then it is described as die-cast aluminum construction. I suppose that I interpreted that information as a light-colored aluminum finish, but I was wrong. If you have aluminum components, it looks OK with them, but it is definitely white. It sort of looks like that pearl-white color that comes on some automobiles.There is not much else to say. The CD1 has a very solid construction, with a fairly heavy feel. I would expect that this unit to be very durable. It’s simple, it’s attractive, and it does its job very well.I am not sure what market Olasonic and the other inexpensive-CD transport manufacturers were addressing, but it seems perfect for the niche market, created by someone who is transitioning from CDs to streaming audio. One of these low-cost transports should be considered if you find yourself in this situation, and I would expect that all three, mentioned in this review, would perform equally well on reading Red Book CDs into your DAC.

The device works as advertised: a small form factor dedicated CD transport with two digital outputs. I bought it to replace my Onkyo C7030, which was taking up too much room at my listening station since I bought a (quite large) used Audio-gd R-28 DAC/amp. The Onkyo got moved to the office, where it is behaving nicely.I knew the price tag was steep when I bought it ($566), and I guess I was kind of expecting miracles. I was expecting a sophisticated and finely crafted instrument, but I have been disappointed. I suspect this item may have been reasonably priced earlier on, or it may be significantly cheaper in Japan, where this particular unit shipped from. Incidentally, the only manual that came with the unit was in Japanese. Not a problem, since an English PDF is readily available online, and it's a CD transport - how complicated could it be? Who needs a manual? Still an inconvenience. At the time of this writing, the black version of the Nano-CD1 is selling for close to a heart-stopping $2000 here on Amazon, which hints at market and availability anomalies.Here's my new view on CD transports: bits are bits, ok? A transport should have a quality drive mechanism, a good laser, and a precision clock. As long as these elements are in place, a transport should have zero effect on sound quality, because bits are bits, and all a transport does is feed bits to a DAC. Granted, the right bits in the right order at precisely the right time, but the technology to do this effectively has been around for quite some time now.At least one other reviewer claimed that the unit is silent. This has not been the case with mine - the faint whirring of the drive is audible when listening on open back headphones. Loading and ejecting the disc is noisy. Digital clipping and noise on one CD almost forced me to return the unit. I switched DACs and the problem went away and hasn't come back on either DAC since, but this was an unnerving incident. The number of disc errors is not acceptable for a "high end" transport - at least twice I have inserted a disc (after just two weeks of using this item) and the unit has failed to read it. Only after ejecting and re-inserting does it begin to play. Annoying indeed.The Nano-CD1 has few if any features to redeem it and justify its price.The remote is chintzy. It does not have a number pad that lets you select tracks.This unit offers virtually zero control. There are track repeat and disc repeat functions, but no random function. The inability to disable auto-play is frustrating. You cannot power the unit on by pressing the eject button and ejecting the disc. You cannot back-select. That is, from full stop (or pause) on track one, you are not able to press the back button to cycle back from the last track. This is irritating if you have a disc with a large number of tracks and you want to start at some point near the end.The display is the worst part. Yes, the track number is large and easy to read, but that's where its usefulness ends. Olasonic included silly little "Welcome" and "Goodbye" and spinning disc animations, but this device's most egregious design flaw is the complete absence of time display. The most basic CD transport or player should allow the user to see the total disc timing as well as toggle between current track time, remaining track time, and remaining disc time. An option to see the current track index would be a nice bonus.In short, this device looks and acts a lot like a $20 portable CD player from 2004. Its small footprint does not excuse its lack of refinement and total absence of useful features. If I'm so dissatisfied with it, I should probably send it back, but two things are stopping me. First, returning it to Japan could be a pretty big hassle. More importantly, this is the only product that meets my current needs: a small package with digital outputs. Everything else out there (that I'm aware of) is burdened with a DAC of its own, is 3-8 times the size of this unit, or both. I'm going to hang on to it, but I won't be happy about it.

Had for a week now. Definite step up in sound quality from Sony blu-ray player I was using as transport before. Coax output to Parasound zDac v.2. Completely silent, great ergonomics. A bit pricey for all but audiophiles needing a compact CD spinner. I was frankly surprised at the improvement in sound quality from just changing the transport. The Sony was better than my old Marantz SACD player acting as transport, and the Olasonic reveals another layer of detail if you are listening for it. I do a lot of headphone listening where you can really discern a lot of details, so J have been very pleased thus far. Picture shows it in right upper corner next to already small Parasound unit. It really is compact but feels very solid.

This is the first review ever. Not associated with any audiophile mags/companies.Received the product before the scheduled date. The packaging was well done and the CD was well insulated. I have listened to manyCD players over my 30 yrs of listening to music and I must say this small compact but heavy duty CD transport is clearly fantastic! The product is well built, not flimsy and packs a punch. The listening experience is superb. I am sure that there are CD transport out there that cost double or triple the cost but this (transport)provides exceptional reproduction of CD music and the detail and soundstage is phenomenal. I typically listen to jazz, soft rock, classical, folk and blues. This little known CD transport has reawakened my love for listening to CDs. This will definitely enhance your listening experience.