2. digital
  3. 1422368419

Is revealing always good?

I recently bought a very revealing and transparent CD player (and AVM player). Because I listen to redbook CD's and 705 of the CD's I listen to are jazz recordings from ca. 1955-1963 the recordings often have bad "digititus." The piano's ring, clarinet is harsh, transients are blurred --- just the nature of the recordings. With a revealing CD player, all this was palpably evident so much so that at least 1/2 those CD's were rendered unlistenable. Now, with a cheaper, more colored CD player (a new Creek) --- not nearly as revealing --- one that "rounds off" some of this digititus, these CD's are again listenable.

So... is revealing a particularly good thing for redbook CD playback? I think not. is "colored" always a bad thing? I'd say no. At least for CD playback. Thoughts?
robsker

Showing 2 responses by newbee

newbee
4,794 posts
 
I tend to agree with Onhwy61.

Your problem is one often solved by simply getting a second CD player, frequently a tubed one in which you can change the tone by a simple tube substitution. You have to be very careful though because most CD players are not made to dumb down old CD's with inherent sonic limitations.

I used to have your problem and I solved it to a limited degree by having multiple players, however I really never solved my problem until I attacked my basic components, speaker selection, and ultimately room placement. Those old CD's don't have to sound as bad as they can.
newbee
4,794 posts
 
Robster, I've never tried a tube buffer and it might work. You might post a question about the experience of others. FWIW, the single biggest component change I've made in my system which helped with early digital issues was the introduction of a tubed pre amp into my system (an AR SP-10) and a tubed CDP (Cal Aria). That was a long time ago. :-) My system has changed entirely since that time and, except for my main CDP's it is now all tubes and I have no 'digital' issues. FWIW.
More to discover