Thank you tonykay. I had an all Macintosh system at one time and I felt their digital gear didn't keep up with their electronics. Unless you want the "all McIntosh" look (which I love) there are better options for digital playback IMHO.
Universal Players vs. Dedicated CD/SACD Players
Greetings all. I'm curious what other's experiences are listening to Universal Players vs. "dedicated" cd/sacd players. I have an Oppo BDP95 based on the reviews and convenience of the "one-box" solution. However, I've been wondering if I'm missing some audio performance this way. I'm more into sound than video BTW. I have an audiophile friend who says he doesn't like audio and video in the same box. I've entertained thoughts of purchasing a dedicated audio cd/sacd player. Your input is appreciated.
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jafant, the Nad C565BEE is indeed a fine spinner! I’d forgotten to try the Sample Rate Converter with compressed files. With the Nad, they don’t sound compressed at all, the air and detail has me grinning from ear to ear. By comparison, the Oppo 95 could sound somewhat tinny or one dimensional with mp3’s. But with redbook, the Oppo still lags behind what this Nad can do as well. They were pretty close to the same price back in 2011 when I was looking, but the 565 wasn’t even on my radar as Oppo was all everyone was talking about. I didn’t need or want a bluray player, I just wanted something for cds. Don’t get me wrong, the Oppo does a lot of things well, but I think I agree with you that they are not the last word in audio quality. |
An interesting thread. I have an Oppo 105 in my two channel system that I don't use for video at all. I play many SACDS, a few DCD-A and Blu Ray Audio and DTS Audios and some High Res downloads but primarily it's Red Book CD. It's a highly resolving piece of equipment. I have had some problem with glare (I started another thread on this) and I think it may be a function of some poorly recorded or transferred CDs; I think the player is just revealing the inadequacy of those particular recordings. I have an older Universal Player in an HT System but it's a Pioneer Elite that has an "i link"--a firewire connection to a matching Pioneer Elite receiver. Amazing audio, but the video is horribly outdated, as someone else noted upthread. |
The Audia Flight CD One M finally came in. I'm running everything through a Furman IT Reference 20i now, as well. Out of the box it's absolutely stunning, even better than what I remember from the demo unit I auditioned, so I can only imagine what it will sound like after a few days of listening. It is definitely several steps up from the ModWright Oppo 105 it replaced. |
mahler123, I also have a Pioneer Elite BDP 09 that I use for video. The audio through the "Pure Audio" mode is great, however, initially it wouldn't play Blu-Ray until it had a firmware update. Who invents this stuff? It's like buying a car that won't run unless you take it to the dealer for the 30-60-90,000 mile tune ups. It reminds me of the "universal" players that will only play SACD, but not DVD-Audio (or the reverse). My Oppo 105D doesn't have that problem, as it plays everything! |
jafant, I ran across this today and thought it might be of interest (scroll down to the second item): http://www.analogshop.com/index.php/demo-used I am not affiliated with the sale or store in any way. |
Jafant, No, I bought the Pioneer BDP09 used several years ago from a dentist in Connecticut. It worked great with DVDs, and I only used it recently for Blu-Ray and found it wouldn't play them. Remembering that the dentist had included about six discs, which he explained were "firmware updates", I called Pioneer and they sent me the latest firmware update disc (without charge). Now, it works great but the idea of having to regularly update the player seems ridiculous to me. I could understand if each update improved the performance, but in the case of the BDP09, it simply refused to play Blu-Ray until the update was complete. A beautiful player though! |
tonykay I have a Sony BDP that seems to require a firmware update every time I use it. Frequently it won't play Blu Rays unless the update is done. It's unbelievably frustrating (it's in a second system in a room we keep woprkout equipment in) and usually I just opt for listening to music via the aforementioned Pioneer Elite Universal Player while exercising because I don't want to start my morning with the hassle of another firmware update on the Sony. And the industry wonders why Blu Ray had such a hard time competing against streaming! My wife is always asking me to do the updates and is totally intimidated by the difficulty associated with what ought to be the easiest thing imaginable--popping in a disc and hitting "play" |
jafant, Incredibly, there was a Pioneer Elite BDP 09 on C***list in my area for months, at $500. The seller offered to sell it to me for $450, but it still took another month to sell it. Whoever bought it got a genuine bargain. It wasn't me since I already have one (and an Oppo 105D), but I was tempted at the ridiculous price. I paid $1100 a few years ago and thought it was a bargain then. |
