I have enough cd’s to justify a new or newer one, just not home through the week to invest in streaming. Current player is a Myryad Z-122 nice little unit that has served me well. Using a Jolida FX Glass Tube DAC at the moment.
Denafrips makes excellent products that are very well built from their Ares 2 dac, pontus to terminator + very musically involving Non digital and have a very good transport if you need one Vinshine Audio $$ in Syngapore scroll down page yellow is in US$$ from Pontus on up very good huge linear power supplies and at least 200 filtering capacitors ,name brand parts in many areas and very good 3 yr warranty and soak tested for 100 hours and retested before it leaves excellent price performance value.
Another thing to consider are dedicated Optical Drives, mainly used for ripping CDs, that will also play CDs when connected (usually by usb) to a DAC. I experimented with an Apple Optical drive outputting into an Oppo 105, and the results were pretty close to to those obtained from just using the Oppo. Currently I am using the Bryston Optical Drive as a dedicated CD transport. It has to be paired with a Bryston Streamer which then feeds into a separate DAC, so all of that would exceed the budget here, but for red book it does sound a bit better-mainly low level detail retrieval, particularly in the bass—than my Oppo as a transport into the same DAC. Melco makes an Optical player that can be played directly into a DAC for around $1500. The biggest issue with the Bryston is that mechanical grinding noise that rippers make, which occurs at the end of tracks. Not a big deal if I am listening a a Bruckner Symphony whereeach track might be 30 minutes, but if I’m listening to an album of Chopin Mazurkas that are each 90 seconds in duration it’s more noticeable.
Sparkler Audio makes a very good sounding nos CD player for about $1700.00. Sparklers designer is from 47 Labs and knows what he is doing. I have had mine for about a year and really like the sound.
I concur with many of the above replies, but I would throw a marker in for the recommendation of any of the Oppo's ending in a 5. With one big BUT (no pun intended), send it to Ric Shultz at EVS and let him do his magic to it. He is an artist!
As a DAC/Trans Here is my latest YT upload,, showing off the SEAS Thor speakers,,but also one gets to hear the Cayin CD17, with mod = SPARKSOLAB Descrete opamps + Mundorf Silver caps. The one thing holding back jmy system is a more open preamp = the Cayin's musicality is limited by the preamp. The cayin CD19 mark 2 is avaliable has a rectifier tube, other than that the board looks identical to the Mark1. later on next year i will order the Primaluna tube CDP. @ $3K. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Y9WRTjl9c
Bought a used Mac MVP891 ($5000) for $2500 and am sorry I did. The transport tray was wonky from day one, and and is now sitting and waiting for repair. I am a fan of OPPO. That said I bought Panasonic DP-UB 9000 for $1000 and could not be happier. The Pan is missing SACD but otherwise is great IMOP.
That's probably technically true, because of Tidal's reliance on MQA.
Tidal and other streaming
services, must compress to fit a lot of channels into a small stream.
Oh no, that's mistaken. Qobuz, for instance, is hi-res and completely uncompressed.
I have never heard a streaming service that compares to the best in
home sources, at least on good recordings. IMnsHO, anyone who touts
such has not heard a really good system.
Perhaps you should go back and check your streamer and DAC settings, because - as you state - you're somehow listening to compressed audio.
Go with the flow .Unless you spend $2,000 you won't be happy. Does that mean anything that cost $200 is a piece of garbage? All I can say is you don't have to be an audiophile if you not rich.I feel sorry for the guy who has to spend $2000 ,5,000,10,000 because these guys are never happy.Even when there system has $500,000 speakers ,and cost a million or more .. .LOL .
RE: Tidal is lossless. Well, not really. Tidal and other streaming services, must compress to fit a lot of channels into a small stream. Maybe after they compress and otherwise modify the bits and bytes, they don't change the signal, but I have never heard a streaming service that compares to the best in home sources, at least on good recordings. IMnsHO, anyone who touts such has not heard a really good system.
cayin CD17 Mark 2, @ $1500 includes ship, I have Mark 1 performs flawless past 17 years. Built like a tank, sings like a angel, can be heard on my YT uploads.
The only one I would buy is a bit over - the little Luxman at $2695. However, the Cambridge Audio Transport at $450 is really good - so that with a DAC is the way to go if funds are tight. Again, over budget, but the Ayre Codex with the CDC transport at $2250, sounds better than the $2695 Luxman. If you separate the physical transport, you eliminate the weak point of ALL CD players - the fact that the transport breaks. I’ve seen too many $8k Esoteric CD players that are now pretty boat anchors...
Do yourself a favor: convert your CDs to flac! I've done my 900 CDs a while back and now, i have all my collection at my fingertip! CDs are know to degrade with time. So ripping them fix that degradation problem.
On Windows, use EAC (Exact Audio Copy), on Linux abcde. On my case, i play my music with free Volumio on a Raspberry Pi 3 hooked to my DAC via USB (async).
+1 on separate transport. I recently approached just this question and got a Cambridge CXC and an MHDT Orchid DAC. The CXC is solid (there are other solid transports, of course) and my DAC is great. I may be repeating things you've read, but here is my bullet list for the separates route:
CD's are yielding to streaming. I already find myself using my streamer way more than my CD player.
Good DAC can accept multiple inputs — I run both CXC and Node 2i streamer through DAC. Thus, improving sound of either digital source (and a third if I connect my laptop) could be done with one switch of DAC.
If you get a tube DAC you can tube roll. Cannot do that with most CD players.
A CD transport has no money spent on an internal DAC; it does one thing well (if it does it at all)
For my ears I've been really impressed by the Musical Fidelity M3scd. When A/B'd against a Bluesound Node 2i playing an MQA stream (which I also think is excellent for the money) I found the MF presents a wider soundstage with a comfortable balance and control of the sound.
I know several have posted that no CD player is the best. I am sure streaming HiRes has its positives, yet as I said I am away from home through the week and do not even have internet, and a Tidal, Qobuzz, Roon or other monthly bill is not needed. So with the amount of cd’s I still have, I want to continue with a transport or CD player. So many interesting players have been posted on this thread, thanks again for all the help in my search.
I have a turandot Opera Audio CD player that has great built and sounds wonderful . Some of my friends which have heard it in my system say it remembers them of the sound of Wadia . The one Opera Audio has right now on the market is not the same one I have but it should be good sounding too . When new it sold for 2,400.00 dollars so if you can find one on the use market , which they don't come out often you should be able to pick one up for about 800.00 dollars . I second the person who recommended the Marantz SA11 CDPlayer . I've heard it and it sounds very good too . Happy listening !
I too have the inexpensive Onkyo 7030. Has a headphone jack that I put to good use. Play it loud too. Great player for the $, for sure. So, what does that mean, if I hadn't heard any others A to B? It sounds good.
One of the best CD players I have ever heard or owned is the Denon DCM 560, it has a coaxial output. Even though it is a carousel the dual burr brown DAC’s were outstanding. It painted a life like portrait of the performer’s. Amazing and transparent with a ever so slightly warm sound. I am searching for a used one on eBay. They are hard to find. Currently I have a nad 514 that is nice sounding but not quite on the same level.
A while back I bought a used Cambridge Audio CXC CD transport for my second unit. Recently, I bought a new Cambridge Audio CXC for my primary unit. If you have a decent DAC, I recommend this CD transport. This device does one thing only but does it very well. It reads CDs. With a decent DAC, this combo will sound great. Happy hunting.
Cary DMC-600. You should be able to find a used one for right around $2K, although they don't come up for sale very often. If you see a DMC-600SE used for around $2K buy it right away - it has upgraded caps, etc. in the analog path and external clock input. Awesome CD player with number of tweaks you will not find on other CD players, also includes tube output that you can turn on manually via a dedicated button. From carydirect.com: ***
The DMC-600 Digital Music Center combines the past with the future and
is designed for traditionalists as well as new-age music lovers. Now,
one can continue to enjoy their extensive CD collection while exploring
the virtues of high resolution and super high resolution Asynchronous
USB computer audio. The DMC-600 supports PCM up to 32 bit/ 384 kHz
native audio as well as native DSD 64 and 128 audio. Additionally, the
DMC-600 includes; CSR aptX® lossless Bluetooth,
SPDIF coaxial and Toslink inputs, AES/EBU inputs and both fully
balanced XLR and RCA outputs. To further enhance your listening
enjoyment, The DMC-600 also includes our TruBit™ Upsampling technology
and our DiO™ vacuum tube and solid state analog outputs, as well as many
other benchmark features.
***
It has a volume control on both sets of outputs, so it can act as it's own preamp - I tried wiring it directly into my Denon monoblocks and it sounded great (not as good as my Cary SLP-05 :-), but pretty good via XLR output. Also, it's an excellent DAC, and an awesome way to stream your Bluetooth-sourced music to your system. If you have a Bluetooth source that supports aptX Lossless (my Samsung Galaxy tablet does) quality is great, not CD or hi-res digital great, but for an evening when you feel lazy it's perfectly OK. Built like a tank (weighs 35 lb.!) and comes with a great remote. I love mine and I doubt I'll be looking for another CD player any time soon. My CD collection is not huge, but it's big enough to justify a good CD player. Plus, if I really like the album, I will buy it on CD anyway, if it's available. I guess I am old school like that, but I like to have a hard copy of music I bought in my hand. Happy hunting! https://carydirect.com/shop-now/digital-sources/dmc-600.html
I am extremely happy with my Cambridge Audio Azur 851C! (Cd Player/DAC/Preamp) for $1,499.00. Great detail, dynamics, and with some additional isolation products like Symposium Acoustics Rollerblock Jr.'s HDSE to go under it, you won't believe your ears! (Especially if you have very revealing components).
It is common knowledge that the Oppo 105 power supply was by far it's weakest link. You can find them anywhere from $700-$900
I upgraded my 105 with parts from eBaye; a ~ $200 Linear Power Module and the IEC with a Furutech Rhodium with a silver tail that connects to either PS, AND a jumper to bypass the 110/220 switch
The Denon DCD 1600 is available new for $1200. Build quality is excellent ( made in Japan ) .after about 50 hrs. break in it really sounds sweet. Got one for a friend and he really loves it. Music Direct sells it with a return policy.https://www.musicdirect.com/disc-player/Denon-DCD-1600NE-SACDCD-Player
Very happy with the Yamaha CD-S 1000. plays SACD. Already own 2 Uber expensive transports and DAC's The Yamaha was an extra CD player for my auxiliary system. Smooth and open sounding. I find myself using this one 90 % of the time. Also would take a look at riley804 recommendation. Great player for the money
Get a cd transport if you like your dac. All the cd player does is read 0's and 1's and feeds that signal to the dac of your choice or the internal dac of the player. Just find the transport or player that has parts for repair for the years to come, running a NAD from the 90's. I've had it for years, best ebay find for me. Cost 150.00. Feeding whatever dac I choose. Good luck on your journey.
Best CD player under $2000 is NO player at all. Just rip all the CDs to FLAC files. I have an old Adcom CD player which luckily has digital (coax) output, I let the external DAC (RME ADI-2 DAC) do the job of converting digital. But I hardly use the CD player at all.
I agree with what @alymere said before, except that I'd recommend Qobuz instead of Tidal for true lossless and Hi-Res. Tidal uses lossy MQA a lot.
Any CD player you buy will be lower in quality than a Tidal HiFi stream. Tidal HiFi is loss-less so your cd player would have to play each disk with 100% perfection every time to achieve the same outcome. For $500 you can get a BlueSound Node 2i and then with the remaining $1,500 you get Tidal Hifi for 6 years.
That said, I’m keeping my old 30 pound battleship (Sony CDP-620ES) for the extremely rare occasion that I can’t find what I want in Tidals’ 50-million song library or on YouTube. The unexpected benefit of being easily exposed to hundreds of great tracks that I never would have found without streaming is just icing on the cake. And I didn’t have to go shopping, wait for the mail, or think very hard about it - I just clicked on a link.
Also, you can stream to any portable device so add a portable external dac to your ipad or phone with a good pair of headphones and you’re streaming high quality away from home. Tidal is just one choice; there are several good services and anything loss-less at 44.1Khz or more will be as good or better than a CD.
Thanks to all for the input, very much appreciated. I do plan to keep the Jolida DAC for now, so a transport is really all I need. Have read/heard good things about the Audiolab CDT 6000, yet not sure about the slot loading over a tray or even top load unit. The Denafrips will be something I look closer at. Goldnote Koala, Granite Audio 650/657, Line Magnetic 215 are CD players I have been considering. Bryson and Electrocompanient are probably out of my price range, even used. Sony ES, OPPO, Rotel, Marantz, Ayre all give me more to search out.
The Sony 608esd is a very good choice. I had someone that really wanted to buy mine once before I had even heard it.
So I plugged it in and compared it to a $2500 streamer / player hooked to a $5000.00 dac. First I ripped the cd to a flac file to compare. Me or my wife could not tell the difference when playing the same songs. I was so surprised. I kept it.
Apparently a new laser can be a fairly expensive repair though.
Just buy a Cambridge transport since you already have a nice DAC. If you need a universal player then Oppo’s are very good. I have a Cambridge 851C and an Oppo UDP 205 and the Cambridge is better but it’s only a Redbook player where the Oppo does more. Read up on the Cambridge CXC v2 Transport or the Pro-Ject RS2 T transport.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
