Dedicated CD player or DVD player

[parlophone1]

I'm thinking of replacing my old CD player for 2-channel audio.

 

Been looking into dedicated audio CD player (entry class - Marantz 6007 etc), and then there is an option to get universal players that play many other formats including blu-ray (i.e. Panasonic DP-UB820EG-K, which is the same price category).

I see many forum members having such players (and not specifying CD players in their signatures). A few years ago Oppo was one of many good choices but now it is gone.

 

I like an option to play blu-rays and video, and IF 2-channel audio would not suffer I would opt going that route.

 

Any advice on that?

 

 

[Bubo]

If you have a DAC

buy a $35-50 DVD player

and connect via coax or better glass optical tosslink

 

Stand alone DAC is the way to go, amazingly inexpensive for a decent one

[parlophone1]

Yes, I have standalone Musical Fidelity DAC/preamp with coax and optical connectivity.

So, I suppose there would be no difference in quality of reproduction between cheep and more expensive player/transport, if going through a DAC?

[Bubo]

6 hours ago, parlophone1 said:

Yes, I have standalone Musical Fidelity DAC/preamp with coax and optical connectivity.

So, I suppose there would be no difference in quality of reproduction between cheep and more expensive player/transport, if going through a DAC?

It's a stream of Zeros and ones

platter speed is irrelevant, it's not a vinyl record

the DAC buffers the data as does the DVD player

[the real Duke Spinner]

I would not pin any difference on the Player But Rather the DAC used therein

[Bubo]

6 hours ago, the real Duke Spinner said:

I would not pin any difference on the Player But Rather the DAC used therein

Anything with moving parts is far more likely to fail

 

Thus the transport in a CD player is subject to failure and too expensive to repair

if you can find the parts

 

Stand alone DAC has zero moving parts and will far outlive any DVD player

Invest in a stand alone DAC,

they have high-volume low-cost production and near zero failure rates

 

A USB powered DAC has no power supply and could last 25-30 years if kept cool

laying the device on a small tile or glass top works as a heat sink

could go all out and use the gooey thermal paste.

[parlophone1]

Thanks a lot for the answers.

 

In the meantime I visited a few hi-fi shops nearby and talked a bit with salesmen.

Two things positive about CD players came up:

1 - standalone player can be used in "conservative" setup - without a DAC,

2 - good CD player can sound very well. I tried the entry level Yamaha CD player and Musical Fidelity M3 and M6 CD players, all in the same system. The difference going up the scale was pretty noticeable to my ears. Unfortunately, the difference in prices are very noticeable also.

 

As regards the transports, all good ones are usually more expensive than CD players.

However, the guy using this (https://www.advanceparis.com/en/produit/x-d500/)  says it is better than many expensive CD players he had in his system.

 

[DirtyErnie]

Seems my old JVC DVD player sounds much better than anything else in the low-buck setup.  If you're going the digital signal - to - DAC route, I'd bet the actual disk-reader would count for a lot less at that point.

 

[the real Duke Spinner]

On 9/17/2023 at 6:14 AM, Bubo said:

Anything with moving parts is far more likely to fail

 

Thus the transport in a CD player is subject to failure and too expensive to repair

if you can find the parts

 

Stand alone DAC has zero moving parts and will far outlive any DVD player

Invest in a stand alone DAC,

they have high-volume low-cost production and near zero failure rates

 

A USB powered DAC has no power supply and could last 25-30 years if kept cool

laying the device on a small tile or glass top works as a heat sink

could go all out and use the gooey thermal paste.

Most of the Transports in EVERYONES equipment are Panasonic

At least they were years ago when I looked into this

[MMurg]

The Reavon players are supposed to be the successors to the Oppo "universal" players.

 

https://reavon.com/

 

[CWOReilly]

1 hour ago, the real Duke Spinner said:

Most of the Transports in EVERYONES equipment are Panasonic

At least they were years ago when I looked into this

I’m inclined to agree. Panasonic/Matsushita(sp), Sony, Pioneer, and Teac seemed to have the CD-ROM market cornered back in the day. 

[OO1]

37 minutes ago, CWOReilly said:

I’m inclined to agree. Panasonic/Matsushita(sp), Sony, Pioneer, and Teac seemed to have the CD-ROM market cornered back in the day. 

you forgot the most important after Sony ......  Philips 

[the real Duke Spinner]

17 minutes ago, OO1 said:

you forgot the most important after Sony ......  Philips 

Yep ...🙃

[CWOReilly]

30 minutes ago, OO1 said:

you forgot the most important after Sony ......  Philips 

I knew I was forgetting one. 

[babadono]

3 hours ago, MMurg said:

The Reavon players are supposed to be the successors to the Oppo "universal" players.

 

https://reavon.com/

 

Thanks for that..I was trying to remember their name...was thinking Focal.

[michaeldj09]

Don’t know if this would interest you but I bought an old magnavox cd player with the tda1541 dac and a coax digital out. They used some solid Philips transports in those and the 1541 really sounds great. Plus you can add a dac you like no problem. 

[tigerwoodKhorns]

On 9/15/2023 at 3:42 AM, parlophone1 said:

I'm thinking of replacing my old CD player for 2-channel audio.

 

Been looking into dedicated audio CD player (entry class - Marantz 6007 etc), and then there is an option to get universal players that play many other formats including blu-ray (i.e. Panasonic DP-UB820EG-K, which is the same price category).

I see many forum members having such players (and not specifying CD players in their signatures). A few years ago Oppo was one of many good choices but now it is gone.

 

I like an option to play blu-rays and video, and IF 2-channel audio would not suffer I would opt going that route.

 

Any advice on that?

 

 

I bought an OPPO BDP 105D in silver.  Love it so much I bought an OPPO 105 in Black.  They are out there and do so much, CD player, DVD, DAC and streamer from a NAS or memory stick. 

 

What Musical Fidelity unit do you have? 

[willland]

13 hours ago, tigerwoodKhorns said:

Love it so much I bought an OPPO 105 in Black.  They are out there and do so much, CD player, DVD, DAC and streamer from a NAS or memory stick. 

I love my 105 also but considering selling it because of the lack of use, as well as helping fund another watch purchase.

 

@parlophone1,

 

If interested, PM me and we can explore that.

 

Bill

[parlophone1]

On 9/23/2023 at 6:55 AM, tigerwoodKhorns said:

 

What Musical Fidelity unit do you have? 

 

M1SDAC

https://www.musicalfidelity.com/m1sdac

An older unit, so probably does not measure that well by today standards. However, I took it because of the functionalities. It has a nice combination of analog and digital connectivity, a good headphone amp, and is a nice preamplifier. The only thing missing on my list are balanced connectors.

[Schu]

Oppo 203 (or a 205 if you really need a dac), the Reavon or Jay's Audio (if you dont need video)