John Darko
Ultra. After the WiiM comes another digital audio product with a similar name; one that’s made in China but throws us back to the 80s and 90s. Moondrop’s DiscDream 2 Ultra is a small CD player with abundant use-case flexibility.
Soon after unboxing version 2 of the Moondrop device, I unwrapped another sequel: the 2024 remastered edition of Aphex Twin’ Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 (aka SAW II). This reissue includes the previously vinyl-only ‘Stone In Focus’ plus two extra cuts that push the disc count to three; the packaging has been stepped up from a jewel case to a media book with three of its ‘pages’ housing the discs.
Time then for a long afternoon of moody listening.
I connected the DiscDream 2 Ultra’s mini-TOSLINK output – located within its 2V 3.5mm line-out socket – to the FiiO’s R9’s TOSLINK input, which in turn was connected to a Musical Fidelity A1 integrated amplifier driving KEF Q Concerto loudspeakers. The DiscDream’s lid is a flip-top design with (niggle alert) a slightly creaky hinge. I clicked SAW II’s first disc into place on the mechanism, folded down the lid and powered the unit on using the ON/OFF toggle switch on the back. The Moondrop spun up the disc to read its TOC…but it then kept spinning — playback had begun automatically without my needing to hit the play/pause button on the front of the unit. That button sits next to the small display and is joined by similarly-thumb-sized click buttons that handle: ‘stop’; ‘RHCP’; ‘previous track’; a ‘hamburger’ button to cycle through repeat/shuffle options; and ‘volume up/down’.
That was listening scenario number one.
For listening scenario number two, I moved the DiscDream to the arm of the couch where it ran not from 5V/2A USB-C power but an internal 3500mAh battery for up to 8 hours of playback. I connected a pair of FiiO FT3 headphones to the Moondrop’s 222mW 4.4mm balanced headphone socket but with FiiO’s switchable cable terminators not too far away, I could have just as easily used the CD player’s 3.5mm single-ended headphone socket.
I spent another hour listening to the second disc of SAW II. The sheer beauty of ‘Blue Calx’ never fails to stop me in my tracks but, on this day, ‘Stone in Focus’ hit just as the sun was closing out for the day. Marvellous! I had the volume control within easy reach, Moondrop’s twin Cirrus Logic-chipped D/A converter in play (not the R9’s) and no headphone extension cable trailing across the floor. Moreover, with the CD player sat right next to me, I could pick it up and move it around in my hands (and even turn it upside down!) without any playback disturbance. This confirms the presence of an anti-skip playback buffer. But without a clip- or click-mechanism to secure the lid in place, care still needs to be taken.
The lid’s brushed aluminium spines are underpinned by a perspex piece (or is it glass?) but the combination doesn’t look or feel strong enough to withstand the rough and tumble of bag life. Consequently, we might not call the DiscDream 2 Ultra a portable CD player (in the same way that a DAP or smartphone is) but it’s certainly transportable.
Our video review won’t land until well into 2025. That gives me time to ask and answer (I hope) the following questions:
- What happened to the blink-and-we-missed-it original DiscDream?
- How does the DiscDream 2 Ultra differ from the standard DiscDream 2?
- How many discs can we get through until the battery needs recharging?
- How does the internal DAC (also accessible via the USB-C socket) compare to the sound of the DAC inside the FiiO R9? And Chord Mojo 2?
Oh yeah, the DiscDream Ultra 2’s price? €319 or US$289.
Further information: Moondrop at Shenzhen Audio
