Benefits of a CDP over a decent DAC for ur computer...?

[indysmith]

Basically i don't see any benefits - the PC can archive and organize all your digital music in one unit and a great DAC is MUCH cheaper than a great CDP.
Why do CD players still exist?

[Morph201]

great DAC is MUCH cheaper than a great CDP.

Keep in mind that when you refer to a great CDP, you're probably talking about a all-in-one box (i.e. DAC\transport)... So, investing in a great DAC alone, usually requires investing in a great transport.

I personally never had any luck using my PC and ASIO4ALL (?) connected to an external DAC. It was too much of a hassle to keep it configured properly, and usually I had a gazillion processes going on. Keep in mind that this was on a decent processor (I suspect Windows to have been the culprit).

I do think that music servers are the way of the future, but also there are people like myself that enjoy having something tangible. I think cd players will be around for a little longer, considering turntables are still being manufactured with, probably .2% of the market purchasing vinyl.

[PFKMan23]

For me, it's actually less convenient as I'd have to run a dedicated music server. In addition, most of the mainstream DACs don't interest me at all. To get a level of performance that would prove satisfying for me and worthwhile enough to replace my CDP, I'd actually have to spend at least twice as much as my current CDP on the DAC alone, in addition to purchasing a dedicated music server.

[trains are bad]

there are no benefits. CD players became obsolete right around the time hard drive space got cheap enough to make ripping them practical. If you want the visceral experience of spinning disks, spin vinyl.

[tomb]

Originally Posted by indysmith

Basically i don't see any benefits - the PC can archive and organize all your digital music in one unit and a great DAC is MUCH cheaper than a great CDP.
Why do CD players still exist?

I agree with you, but the investment in some audiophile CDP's is so great that it will be quite awhile before they let go.

[JimP]

or something like a CA 840c

I run it as a DAC optical out from a macmini. But I also use it as a CDP when I don't want to fire up the computer. It depends on user patterns, for me, I own a large CD collection and I primarily listen to albums (as opposed to songs or customized playlists). Even though I have the bulk of my CD's ripped to lossless flac, I enjoy now the convenience of throwing in a CD for a listening session. Enough so, that I recently purchased a cheapo Panasonic DVD/CD player as transport to my DHA3000 dac/amp.

[IceClass]

Originally Posted by JimP

or something like a CA 840c

I run it as a DAC optical out from a macmini. But I also use it as a CDP when I don't want to fire up the computer.

This is exactly what I was thinking of doing but I found myself wondering if the DAC in the CA 840c might not be a bit much and wasted on files from a computer.

Might I ask how you connect the MacMini to the 840c?

[VeipaCray]

I run both. I agree with the connivence of the CDP and I like to look through the CD booklet while I'm listening to the CD. I have a single DAC with a optical / coax switch on it so I use that to switch between my CDP (really a transport now) and my computer. My player is also capable of reading SACD / DVDA. Having the single DAC is somewhat nice as the computer and CD now have a very similar sound.

[JimP]

Originally Posted by IceClass

Might I ask how you connect the MacMini to the 840c?

macmini optical digital out to 840c, generic cable but it seems to work fine

[Roam]

With a CD player, a hardware failure won't wipe out all your music.