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Is there any way I can use my cd player as DAC?

I have a Sony SCD XA-9000es CD player and I am building a music server using a computer and a outboard DAC. My questions are: 1). Is there any way that I can use the player's DAC since I think the player is pretty good and its DAC quality should be above many standalone DACs? If there is no digital input for this player, is it possible to add an input by DIY or have some company modify it? 2). Is it a good idea to use the player's digital output connecting a computer to rip music file since the player's CD drive is much superior than a computer's CD/DVD drive? If this does not make any significant improvement, why are so many hi-end manufactures willing to spend money to improve the mechanism and built the drive like a tank, such as Esoteric or Classe? I don't know the technology much and hope anybody can give me answer for my questions.

Best Regards

Patrick Wang
patrickwang

Showing 1 response by palmerston

palmerston
24 posts
 
1)Without a "digital in" your Sony can't be used as a dac. Could you modify it? Likely. But putting your money toward a separate dac would offer much more flexibility. I use a Sony 707 with a Bel Canto dac2 and have the option of choosing to change/improve the sound by changing dacs.
2)For ripping cds use the cd drive in your computer with a program such as EAC that compares the copy with your disc to make sure it's put a good copy on your hard drive. This allows using a less expensive drive since you're not listening in "real time".
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