Mimesis 36

About the Mimesis 36

The Goldmund Mimesis 36 is a reference‑grade CD digital transport, designed solely to read Red Book CDs and output a very low‑jitter digital signal to an external DAC for high‑end stereo systems. It does not include an internal DAC section or analog outputs and is therefore not an integrated CD player/DAC combo but a dedicated transport intended to be used with separate digital‑to‑analog converters. Goldmund’s own history notes that its proprietary Alize DAC technology was introduced around 1990 in models such as the Mimesis 10 and the *Mimesis 36 CD Transport*, marking the brand’s entry into digital conversion, but in typical system setups the Mimesis 36 itself serves purely as a transport feeding an external DAC. Period and later commentary consistently describe the Mimesis 36 and 36+ variants as very heavily built, high‑mass transports with mechanical grounding and rigid chassis construction to control vibration, as well as physically separated sections for drive control, signal processing, and power supply inside the unit to preserve signal integrity. Available documentation and specialist retailer notes indicate the Mimesis 36 family uses a Philips professional CD mechanism (CDM‑9 Pro in the original/36+ units), reflecting the widespread use of Philips drives in high‑end transports of that era, though detailed official documentation for all later mechanism revisions (such as any CDM‑12 Pro update) is limited. The Mimesis 36 and 36+ are still regarded in reviews and owner systems as benchmark CD transports thanks to their robust construction, careful internal layout, and very high build quality.