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Why aren't all CD players also DAC's?

Several years ago I had a California Audio Labs Tercet that was a one-box CD player but to use it as a CD player you installed the small RCA jumper from the coax "audio digital out" to the coax "audio digital in". In other words, the transport and the DAC parts of the machine were separated, so you could use it as either a DAC, transport, or regular CD player. That was prior to when the computer audio thing got big.

So my question is, with everyone nowadays having digital music on their computers and needing a DAC to play it through, why do manufacturers still make single-box CD players with no options for digital inputs? How much extra cost could it possibly add to allow that feature? That would certainly make the unit much more versatile.

Or am I just missing something?

Michael
sufentanil

Showing 2 responses by sufentanil

sufentanil's avatar
sufentanil OP
782 posts
 
Robertbrown, I'm not exactly sure I understand your statement.

My point is that a single-box CD player consists of both a transport and a DAC in the same box. Why haven't more manufacturers simply allowed access to these internal components via external connections, in a similar fashion to the decent amount of integrated amps having preouts?

Michael
sufentanil's avatar
sufentanil OP
782 posts
 
Ghostrider45, I can appreciate the downside of having the S/PDIF conversion, but I can't imagine that it adds too much cost in either money or performance. Besides, CD player mode would be unaffected, so what's the downside of offering a DAC input.

Based on your responses, there are a few more such players than I had anticipated, but there are still a very small minority of CD players that offer such option.

I truly feel that offering a Digital In option would make high-end CD players much more attractive.

Michael
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