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why still buy a cd player?

I'm relatively new to the audiophile world, and I'm trying to understand why anone who has a sonos system (or alike) and has stored his files on a server in a lossless format would still want to buy a CD player for best audiophile music quality.

here's my thinking:

if a lossless rip format is used, the data stored after ripping on a digital hard-disk is as good as cd quality - by definition-,...

with sonos i can get that data anywhere in the house without errors

so the only thing that matters is the conversion from digital to analog and the follow-up amplification.

Now,

i can go from sonos to a pre-amp using a digital port, then the pre-amp determines the DAC quality.

or I go from sonos to an amp after using the DAC in the sonos (and use the analog connection to the amp)

If I were to have a CDP connected digitally to a pre-amp, the pre-amp DAC would determine the quality of the sound. In that case I might as well skip the CDP and fall back on my sonos and connect it digitally to my pre-amp.

So the only benefit from a CDP player would come from using the DAC and thus the analog out of the CDP. Is my logic correct?

If this is correct, than I would only have better sound quality with a CDP if the DAC of the CD player exceeds the quality of the DAC of my sonos and of my pre-amp. Is my logic correct?

If it is, and since I can imagine that most $500k CD would have better DAC than a sonos, the real comparison is to figure out of the DAC of my pre-amp is better than the DAC of my CDP. If it does, than no need for a cdp, just use sonos. If it doesn't then a cdp would still provide better quality. Is that correct?

So, the decision to by a
I can imagine that a good cdp would exceed the
mizuno

Showing 2 responses by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
It depends on the DAC being used.


Exactly see this and this and this.

Decide for yourself if you trust the published results from this manufacturer using Audio Precision test equipment or your ears.

If changing the transport makes a difference with a DAC1 then one (or both) of your transports is NOT reading the CD as "bit-perfect"

- either the transport is struggling to read a dirty scratched disc (clean or polish it) and it is making many interpolations and you can hear this (certainly audible when you have a disc with CD rot at which point interpolation becomes very obvious). In any case, a clean unscratched CD is the best starting point.

- or the transport is not applying Reed Solomon error correction properly (it has been known - transports error correction codes are not all properly designed so are not "bit perfect" neither are many computer audio playback algorithms, unfortunately)

Bear in mind that Solomon Reed error correction codes are used for satellites and other critical engineering applications where "bit-perfect" can be mission critical.
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,491 posts
 
In that case, this leads me to the next question, i.e., how to best compare DACs?

Firstly features - do you need remote volume control - do you need USB input - do you want XLR - do you want a high quality finish and faceplate?

Since there are many good ones - I'd recommend to audition a few. You can start by reading reviews and see which DAC's have the most persuasive specs, preferrably with excellent jitter rejection/immunity and a highish number of positive reviews from respected reviewers. Narrow it down to a few (all will be good) and begin listening (several offer return policies) Frankly, I don't think you will find night and day differences - so your personal tastes will be the deciding factor.

Jitter immunity is probably the single most important technical factor in a DAC (given that othe rspecs will generally be excellent) ...it is well known that all audio interfaces carry at least some jitter....how much of this is audible is debatable.
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