Shanling CR60 Digital Transport CD Ripper (Black)

Works great compact size quiet running

After 3-4 days of frustrating back and forth email communication directly with the manufacturer in China about 18 hours later in time from Honolulu, the Shanling CR60 CD transport / ripper was returned because it simply does not work on the Margules MS01 Music Server and DAC. The manufacturer stated that their products are not compatible with it. The incompatibility also applies to its ET3 top-loading CD transport and maybe even the EC3 player. It stated that the way the CR60 transport communicates to DACs is NOT compatible with the connection that the Margules streamer expects (Simple USB CD Drive). However, Margules did not confirm that its MS01 Music Server and DAC only expects a simple USB CD drive. It is unclear whether the CR60 will be compatible with other external DACs / audio streamers that use USB-A inputs. It is also uncertain without input from Margules if its music server is compatible with ANY CD transports or just with CD players. Shanling should provide a list of compatible products just as Spectrum provides a list of approved modems that are compatible with its network. The US distributor for Margules recommended the CR60 apparently without confirming that it worked on its streamer / music server and DAC! Shanling support stated that the default SPDIF output in transport mode will automatically switch to USB-A if it is connected to a compatible external DAC. The company is unwilling to provide a manual switching mechanism for outputs in transport mode like it does in ripper mode so that it can be categorically determined if the CR60 or the external DAC / audio streamer is at fault. An online search reveals that others have had problems with the CR60 in regard to USB-A connectivity, but Shanling stated that it only had 2 such cases and that they were resolved by changing the sequence of connecting cables to the CR60 and external DAC. However, in my case, only one cable connection is required. When I attempted to connect it to my new iMAC, the entire case of the CR60 began to vibrate like an earthquake with the CD spinning inside!! A friend stated that he noticed that another online poster experienced this problem too. It did not vibrate when connected to the Margules audio streamer. It seems ludicrous to me that a manufacturer would rely upon an auto-switching mechanism based upon what the CR60 is connected to. My recommendation to Amazon is that it stop selling these Shanling products until the devices are updated with firmware to correct these apparent shortcomings. I recommended a firmware update, but Shanling stated that it was not necessary.

Excellent for what it is: A simple high-quality digital transport and ripper. It does not convert to analog. You feed optical or coax to an external DAC. In my case a Wiim Ultra. Works great for this purpose. I tried the ripper mode too and it works perfect. Stick a USB flash drive in the back, flip the switch to ripper mode, any disc you put in gets ripped and written as .wav files. You will have to process them get metadata or convert to mp3, but there are many ways to do that. My only real complaint is that when you close the drawer the ripper mode auto rips, but the play mode doesn't auto play (you have to hit the play button). Not a huge deal, but a strange inconsistency. Also, you can't just press play after the drawer closes. You have to wait until the the unit is done "reading". So every time you want to play a disc, you have to stand in front of the unit for five seconds waiting, then press the tiny play button. Seems like Shanling missed the main use case for a CD player. Most CD players I can remember going back to the 80's got this right.

Made a very bad vibration noise when a CD was inserted. I tried a few CDs. Then I decided to return it.

Web site definitely implies that this unit has an option to convert your music CDs to MP3 files. All it does in convert the AIFF files on your CD to WAV. They use the word "ripper" to imply speed, but it's about the same speed as I can accomplish with my Mac and internal CD drive. With my Mac and iTunes, I can pull the songs off a disc, convert them to MP3 AND retain the song titles........ This unit isn't much more than an external CD drive with multiple connection options!

Worked at first and did a good job. But, within the 30 day return window, the unit stopped working and wouldn't even power up. I returned it and looking to see if some other company provides a more reliable unit.

Product will not communicate with most streaming devices that have cd ripping functionality. Eversolo streamer did not recognize cr60 and vica versa. Item is fir ripping to phone or computer. Also does not produce Meta data which is ridiculous for the price! My cheap little external drive recognized data and also is controlled with no extra remote.

Out of the box it was skipping on discs that a $30 DVD player had no problems with. The button for closing the tray was intermittent, sometimes not working at all. To top it off the transport section has a very thin sound. I didn't try the ripping function, just the transport.