Digital to Analog-Converter needed?

All cd players have digital to analog conerters (DAC's) built in, no need to buy one. Seperate DAC's were very popular in the 90's, but not as common today. You would only NEED a DAC if you buy a cd transport, which reads the disc only. A cd player has both the transport mechanism and DAC built into one unit, similar to an integrated amp has both preamp and amp functions.

Cheers,
John

Thanks John! I have not bought a new CD player in 20 years and have not kept up on the changes.

Thank you,

Mike

One reason that you might want a standalone DAC is for use with a computer based digital playback system. Many DAC's have multiple inputs which would allow the use of a CD transport and/or some other device like a Squeezebox or your PC while gaining the sound quality of a good DAC. Just my take on this and YMMV.

Hi Mike, just a point of clarification, a 'cd player' hasn't changed. 20 years ago, a cd player had a transport and DAC built in, just as it does today. The same way an integrated amp from 20 years ago had a preamp and amp built in, just as it does today.

DAC's became popular in the 90's, as folks went to digital seperates, just as folks go from integrated amps to seperates. I think the resurgence of vinyl, along with issues that came up from digital seperates such as 'jitter' and/or clock problems have led many back to cd players today. You can certainly still find digital seperates today, but they are not as widely used as they were in the 90's.

Cheers,
John

Good point Joey54,

I am running a CD transport, computer and DVD-A/SACD source all off a single DAC that I am very pleased with. I get a very consistent two channel sound. The more I dive into the computer side the more I am using it exclusively as my music source. This setup works well for me and I see more and more DAC’s (Digital to Analog Converters) with USB inputs that tie directly to your PC or Mac. The downside is it adds more cables and can get pricey. I have noticed no degridation in sound by separating the DAC from the CD transport.

HiFi,
I would suggest you look at a decent DVD Player with digital out (Pioneer, Denon, etc) and buy a rosetta 200 for the conversion to analog.