iceblinkfroufrou Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 I've always considered the speakers and receiver/amp to be more important to sound quality than the cd player, am i wrong? Do particular CD player sound better than others? If they do, why, what is going on inside of them that makes them affect the sound in a good way?
Darren69 Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 I can’t give a very technical answer but yes, your choice of CDP will have a significant effect on the sound quality. Just more development put into internal components, dac etc. 1
Batty Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 I have 2 CD players, one is a completely dual mono design from power transformers to output, the other is a fairly inexpensive Sony CDP-390. There is a huge difference in SQ, I let you guess which one sounds best. 1
JSmith Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 34 minutes ago, iceblinkfroufrou said: Do particular CD player sound better than others? Will you be using the DAC inside the player or an external DAC? If the latter, then most decent CD players will be outputting an identical digital signal to then be processed by the external DAC. If the former, then there may be a difference due to the internal DAC's being different. JSmith
Satanica Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 50 minutes ago, iceblinkfroufrou said: I've always considered the speakers and receiver/amp to be more important to sound quality than the cd player, am i wrong? No. 2
betty boop Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 57 minutes ago, iceblinkfroufrou said: I've always considered the speakers and receiver/amp to be more important to sound quality than the cd player, am i wrong? Do particular CD player sound better than others? If they do, why, what is going on inside of them that makes them affect the sound in a good way? can be significant. as cd players are source (lossless) and quality of dac/analog stage and power supplies in these are paramount. if want to compare compare with you average box mover disc players analog outs which are of the after thought category. one caveat.. I notice you mention receiver. well depends how good its analog capability is quality of pre built in power supplies as well. if its analog is also an after thought ie just thrown in for good measure because its predominately a digital machine for digital source then it might also strangle any goodness of the cd source and less likely to even detect quality differences between different cd source cd source doesnt have to be super expensive. am running an old mf x-ray that is getting up there in the 15 + years old only costs 100s of dollars these days and yet is a quality piece
pond44 Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 An easy answer to that question so you can understand it is, Why is there a difference between a Ford Focus and a Bentley GT? 1
EV Cali Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 55 minutes ago, al said: cd source doesnt have to be super expensive. am running an old mf x-ray that is getting up there in the 15 + years old only costs 100s of dollars these days and yet is a quality piece @:) al For clarification , I take it that you are making this statement because you use an external DAC? 1
Tony ray Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 Could not tell the difference between my Sony CDX 300 disc player which holds 300 discs and my brothers Yamaha S-2000 player worth a fair bit more.
Ian McP Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 down the rabbit hole you go..... Alice, the wonderland of cd player conversions http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/Lampizator.html budget priced late model Marantz's, top performers when modded http://lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/CD_ALPHABETICAL.html
betty boop Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 6 minutes ago, EV Cali said: @:) al For clarification , I take it that you are making this statement because you use an external DAC? you mean with the X-ray ? you will be very surprised just how good it is even on its lonesome using its internal dacs. I got together with some guys few years ago where took x-ray along for a bit of fun in a comparison between oppo 105 and Cambridge 752. To my surprise the old x-ray actually did pretty well, infact i prefered it myself in the vocals. I do have separate dac in this system. its even older passing its 21st birthday some years ago should be 24 this year ! a value joby which does pretty well too I can tell you and i use it for valve goodness now and then when have a hankering. the thing with this stuff its not the $1 dac chip people get hung up on I dont think, its the overall implementation, the quality of the analog stage power supplies etc, which is typically THE thing lower cost disc players tend to scrimp on. 2
allthumbs Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 My hearing is not too bad me thinks. Currently I use $300 Pioneer BDP for my CD player which is a newer iteration of the previous model I had, which at the time was around $200 cheaper on special. The newer version is 4K compatible, although that means nothing to me as I use it primarily to play music and DVD’s. I have only owned one CD player which lasted yonks from Proton, before it died a death. Since then I have used a succession of DVD and Bluray players. My favourite DVD player is an early Nontaus that I think from build quality was a great statement market entry device by a Chinese manufacturer at a giveaway price at the time, a loss leader so to speak. These days I can hardly, if at all, distinguish between my BD player, Ipod or Computer as a source. My Black Dragonfly DAC makes a noticeable but not jaw dropping difference when used with my computer but more of a difference than the USB input on my Cambridge 651A. But the tattered remnants of my inner audiophile which I have chained up and am slowly starving to death still dreams of a dedicated CD player like those big Yamaha’s in Silver, a couple of grand’s worth. That luxurious look, the quiet of the tray moving in and out. The new Bluray player is faster to load than its previous incarnation and sounds fine to me. The worst thing that can happen as I have found in the past was with a dvd player at the time that had very annoying tick as the disc spinned, like a ticking clock and that was straight out of the box and disappeared if you applied a little forward pressure to the tray. Once heard, I was never able to ignore it. That’s when my inner audiophile or its tawdry remains still has enough energy to get uppity, so I just boxed it and then passed it onto my daughter when she moved out. Those deep luxurious trays you used to get in the past are gone on the cheaper BD players I use. I still scan the net for CD players hoping to catch one of those Yamaha's from a parvenu enthusiast at $200 + delivery.
Wimbo Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 46 minutes ago, Tony ray said: Could not tell the difference between my Sony CDX 300 disc player which holds 300 discs and my brothers Yamaha S-2000 player worth a fair bit more. Bummer. 1
Tony ray Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 1 hour ago, Wimbo said: Bummer. I was really hoping I could here a difference as I had my heart set on buying one thinking it would say add a 10 % improvement. But maybe you need the whole matching system to here this audio nirvana I here about all the time. But all I notice is if a system is clean , plays loud without distorting and if you can here separation with the instruments. Which any quality system seems to have even if you use a Sony bluray player as your sauce.
ppaul Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) Here’s my 0.02c worth, I started with an old LG DVD player, I then moved to a NAD 316 the difference between those 2 is like night and day even in my modest system, I’ve just recently purchased a Rega Apollo CDP, again you can clearly hear a more hi fidelity sound, my guess is a $5k CDP is gonna be better again, buy what you can afford ( I’ll be living on noodles for a month to cover the cost of the CDP) ?? Edited January 10, 2018 by ppaul 1
rantan Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 As others have correctly said, of course the CD player is important. I will however, concede that it is slightly less important than a good amplifier ( not a receiver ) and speakers. If an el cheapo multi disc or a BDP sounds the same or better in a given system then I would be looking at the entire system to find out what is wrong and at the risk of posting a cliche, I think any audio system is only as good as the weakest link. Simply put, a CD player is like any other component, you get what you pay for ( with rare exceptions ). I have 4 cd players and can pick each one in a blind test ( which I have done several times ). They are all different and sound different and some are much better than others, but according to some people out there on the web, they all sound the same and they are not important in a good system, so I must be either delusional or correct ( choose one ) Then again, there are those who say the same about amplifiers and they are wrong also. My 02 3
frodo Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 if you are using a receiver , how have you connected for comparison. Are you using digital output on cd to digital input to receiver ? - if so you will not notice different as using same DAC, the one in the receiver. Also if connecting to receiver thru analog - is receiver one that converts analog signal to digital and then reconverts it to analog ? just some thoughts 1
Satanica Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 11 minutes ago, rantan said: I have 4 cd players and can pick each one in a blind test ( which I have done several times ). They are all different and sound different and some are much better than others, but according to some people out there on the web, they all sound the same and they are not important in a good system, so I must be either delusional or correct ( choose one ). I'll choose another, they were likely not level matched to within about 0.1db, or were they?
rantan Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 15 minutes ago, Satanica said: I'll choose another, they were likely not level matched to within about 0.1db, or were they? True. Care was taken to not alter the volume in any way, not any other setting and nothing else in the system was changed or different. I never claimed to conduct rigorously scientific tests but for my purposes it was sufficient. Feel free to disagree if you wish. My opinion stands.
allthumbs Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 28 minutes ago, rantan said: I never claimed to conduct rigorously scientific tests but for my purposes it was sufficient. 1
ThirdDrawerDown Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 Yes it does make a difference. A top end CD player can deliver Redbook quality, or close enough as to make no difference. Say, $5k.
Wimbo Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 2 hours ago, Tony ray said: I was really hoping I could here a difference as I had my heart set on buying one thinking it would say add a 10 % improvement. But maybe you need the whole matching system to here this audio nirvana I here about all the time. But all I notice is if a system is clean , plays loud without distorting and if you can here separation with the instruments. Which any quality system seems to have even if you use a Sony bluray player as your sauce. Gees mate. I cant count the amount of times I've had to a/b different Cd players and the differences can be quite big. Starting from 1983 when you had the straight sixteen bit vs the 14 bit. Even the same brands. I remember back in 89 when Yamaha released their first BitStream players. The cheaper players were still multi bit and the single bit just flawed them with separation and dynamics.CDX 530 and 730 vs 930 and 1030. Dont get me wrong because of cheaper vs dearer, I always remember how the NAD 5420 use to wipe the floor with the original Meridian 506. Soo much more entertaining.
crisis Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 4 hours ago, rantan said: Simply put, a CD player is like any other component, you get what you pay for ( with rare exceptions ). I have 4 cd players and can pick each one in a blind test ( which I have done several times ). They are all different and sound different and some are much better than others, but according to some people out there on the web, they all sound the same and they are not important in a good system, so I must be either delusional or correct ( choose one ) Then again, there are those who say the same about amplifiers and they are wrong also. My 02 I reckon that's more the point than "better". I had on loan a Primare CD32 until my CD22 arrived. I feared that the lesser model would sound noticeably "worse". It didnt work out like that. It was marginally "different" but the ability to set it at different sample frequencies brought it very close to the more expensive model. So much so I now don't really miss the CD32. I do however believe there is definitely an improvement in resolution in a more expensive player from the true "budget" players which in my limited experience seems to manifest itself by a lower noise floor. That said I think speakers and amp still should come first. 1
Al.M Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 The OP’s statement is correct that speaker/amp makes more overall difference than among CD players alone. A cheap or bad sounding CDP vs good ones makes a difference, but among equal price points or build quality they tend to be very close in general. I’ve compared $500 rrp Sony CDP to $2-3k Sony players and the cheaper ones were within about 90-95% of the more expensive ones.
Pops110 Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 3 hours ago, Wimbo said: Gees mate. I cant count the amount of times I've had to a/b different Cd players and the differences can be quite big. Starting from 1983 when you had the straight sixteen bit vs the 14 bit. Even the same brands. I remember back in 89 when Yamaha released their first BitStream players. The cheaper players were still multi bit and the single bit just flawed them with separation and dynamics.CDX 530 and 730 vs 930 and 1030. Dont get me wrong because of cheaper vs dearer, I always remember how the NAD 5420 use to wipe the floor with the original Meridian 506. Soo much more entertaining. Might have to start looking for a nad then. The 506 is by far the best player I have owned. Easily better than Creek Evo, Kenwood L1000D, Denon, Integra high end DVD player and several external dacs as well. Buy second hand and you can get killer sound for little outlay, picked up the 506 for $450.
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