n80
Thank you- keep me posted on your next cd player. There has never been a better time to purchase one.
Happy Listening!
Thinking about a new, lower end CD Player
My current CD player is a basic, older Sony, probably 10-12 years old. Works fine but I could use it in another location with a lower end system. It seems to sound about as good as my Arcam CD92 that lost its DAC a while back.
So now thinking about buying a new CDP and have a couple of questions.
I’d like to keep this in the $300-500 range for units with internal DAC. Not looking for SACD player. Other than a remote, not looking for special features or multi disk players.
I’m guessing that in this price range SQ is probably comparable to other units in that range.
First, is a CDP in this price range going to sound any better than the old Sony?
Second, if not, is there any reason not to just buy a comparable $200 unit?
Third, for units in this price range ($300-500) is there any reason to look for one with balanced output capability and if so, is there any way to know if it is truly balanced.
Thanks all,
George
So now thinking about buying a new CDP and have a couple of questions.
I’d like to keep this in the $300-500 range for units with internal DAC. Not looking for SACD player. Other than a remote, not looking for special features or multi disk players.
I’m guessing that in this price range SQ is probably comparable to other units in that range.
First, is a CDP in this price range going to sound any better than the old Sony?
Second, if not, is there any reason not to just buy a comparable $200 unit?
Third, for units in this price range ($300-500) is there any reason to look for one with balanced output capability and if so, is there any way to know if it is truly balanced.
Thanks all,
George
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Went to the Goodwill CD store and got a Sony and a Toshiba DVD/CD player for $14 each. Both work fine. Both sound fine in my hi-fi system for that matter. One is for down at my cabin. The other is for my B-I-L and the cobbled together Rotel/B&W/Onkyo HT system I'm putting together for him with left over gear. For home with the h-fi I'm sticking with the Arcam CD92 as transport and will upgrade my DAC when the time comes. For what its worth I think the Arcam ring DAC (now defunct) was a little better than the Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC which I'm using now. Or different anyway. Brighter. Almost too bright maybe. |
"There were a lot of good Denon BluRay, DVD CD players that sounded real good for CDs. Denon DVD-2500BTCI, DENON DVD-3910 DENON DVD-5910..."As much as the sound of Denon x910 series was unexpectedly good, they were prone to laser failures. At least 2910 and 3910 might have had the same assembly but I am not sure. "Prone to laser failures" for the most part translates into "count on it". Mine failed CDs but has continued just fine with SACDs, DVD-A, DVD-V, and video discs of some sort. Basically, isolated CD failure. It was almost ten years old when it happened. In case you are considering one of those, check with all the disc formats you may be interested in and not just a CD and consider it operable. |
jafant, I have not checked with Denon, but, a couple of weeks ago, I did look up videos about replacing the drive on the Internet and looked for parts on eBay, They are available used so who knows what they would end up being. There were no new ones I could see at that moment which may indicate that Denon quit supplying them. Another observation from eBay was that a number of players were advertised as "not playing CD" or SACD, or whatever else. Quick Google search for "Denon 2910 CD not playing" (or something similar to that) brought a lots of comments telling me I am not the only one. Hence my previous post. I would stay away from buying those players these days, unless they are cheap enough not to be disappointed with failure. I wonder if modding operations are gone simply because the market for it has shrunk as people have gradually moved on to less physical formats. There is probably only a handful of us who have these Denons sitting around and have not tossed them yet. I recently bought a CD (SACD, in fact) player and everyone I tell it to asks me "who still buys CD players these days?" I guess, n80 and me. |
I know there is a guy out there who repairs and mods Arcam players. Condor Electronics or something like that. Quite expensive though. As for who buys CD players it was interesting that at this Goodwill there was a shelf full of DVD players that will play CDs but not one simple CD player. Personally, for now, I find CDs to be the most gratifying media. Low res streaming is convenient and to me the sound quality isn't unbearable most of the time. But it isn't great. I also don't like renting stuff and paying monthly fees. Hi-res Tidal is $240 a year. Right now I'm probably averaging around $6 per used CD. That's 40 CDs that I've researched the production and sound quality of. Buying hi-res files is pricey compared to most used CDs. HD Tracks does not back them up for you. I don't need to back up CDs per se....but I rip them anyway. I have CDs that are close to 30 years old and sound fine. I know they can degrade, but in general are pretty durable. Vinyl is its own thing. Not knocking it at all but that bug hasn't bitten me yet. Four times as expensive, at least, just for the media and to get the most of it the gear is more pricey too. So for now I enjoy researching, hunting for and buying good CDs more cheaply than you can buy from HD Tracks or iTunes for that matter. It seems the challenge for me is to find and keep running CD players. ;-) |
Its hard to beat $20 DVD/ bluray players that when you use just as a transport to send your CD signal to a quality dac can rival very expensive dedicated CD players. I have 4 sources for CD playback in my various systems ( including a Sony PS3) and every one is just used as transport sending signal to a superior dac for playback. |
N80. Just for giggles I did a comparison tonight in my main rig with my Pioneer DVD player. Played a known good quality CD and switching back and forth between its rca outs direct into my Ayre and it's spdif which goes into a Mytek Brooklyn DAC and then into the Ayre. It was not even a contest as well it should not be as we are talking 90,s tech internal dac in the pioneer vs 2017 tech DAC. I only keep the RCA outputs hooked up to play the few SACD I own! |
uberwaltz, well, in case you change your mind... https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis9897j-technics-1520-reel-to-reel |
jafant, I bought Luxman D-05U. I still buy CDs and do not download from websites (I did one album just to check how it goes) but put them on a server so I have almost no use for CD part of my new player. At the same time as buying a player, I ripped all my SACDs, and a few DVD-As that I have (along with transferring some records), so I have almost no use for SACD part of my new player either. I tried 4-5 discs so far. It ends up serving as a DAC, once I stretch my arm to turn it on which is not that often (the on/off is on the back). I just like to have a functioning machine in a dinosaur approach "just in case everything else fails". I picked this particular one because it can be operated by my amplifier's remote control, if the need be, and I like the way it looks. I know, I have a very non-audiophile approach and do not obsess with minutia of sound improvement but it is what it is. Nobody can say I did not match my components carefully. It is just that I did not match them the way it is usually thought of. On the other hand, it all works fine and I have no complaint about the sound. |
jafant, Nothing esoteric (not even Esoteric). Luxman 505UX amplifier, Luxman-D-05U CD player, SONY HAP-Z1ES digital player/server, Revel Performa3 F208. Also, rarely used but most beloved, many decades old Technics SL-Q2 turntable with a few months old Soundsmith Otello cartridge. Rarely connected, but available, Sansui TU-717 tuner and Nakamichi CR-1A cassette player. |
This is a highly rated cheap cd player on all the audio forums around the net. https://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-C-7030-Compact-Player-Black/dp/B004UR487A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=15... |