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Old Geezer with a Question about Vintage PCDPs

post #1 of 10
12/11/09 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
I have been a lurker here for some time, off and on, but finally registered. I am asking for input on a fairly modest equipment question. One caveat right off: I am 67 years old, and while I still think I have excellent ears, I probably don’t. I do have a lifetime of listening, and my music choices are mostly classical: orchestral, chamber, vocal, instrumental. I have done most of my non-portable listening on a system which includes a vintage Sony CDP 507-esD, and much older Klipsch corner horns (on which I fairly recently upgraded the crossovers).

My portable system consists of several iRiver CD / MP3 players, mostly iMP-550’s. My preferred headphones are Shure E5c’s and ATH-AD700’s. I just bought John Seaber’s cMoyBB to replace another cMoy, and found a vast improvement in sound quality (not having to do with the bass boost). A few months previously I had upgraded the interconnect cable between the player and the cMoy, also with a noticeable improvement. These upgrades lead to my question:

Assuming I leave everything else as it is, would any of the vintage PCDP’s out there provide me with a significant audible improvement over the iMP-550’s? I have been happy with the 550’s, but then again I had not expected such major improvements with the other changes I made.

Thanks.
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post #2 of 10
12/11/09 at 6:17pm
Welcome to Head-fi.

Someone had a guide to vintage Sony PCDPs posted, search for it. It's very informative. According to it, not all PCDPs sound great. I have an old discman that got a poor review on it, but I still think it sounds decent. Still, it's a very informative guide.

Keep in mind that PCDPs eventually give out. I've got several, and they all skip and act up at some point. That's with CD-Rs and factory pressed CDs with little to no scratches. If you have some that work reliably, I wouldn't advise spending alot of time and money trying to find something slightly better. On the other hand, you could strike gold. In any case, don't expect vintage PCDPs (or any vintage gear for that matter) to work 100% perfect 100% of the time.

Sorry I couldn't provide any specific brands or model numbers. Hope that helps somewhat.
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post #3 of 10
12/11/09 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input, Mark. I know that CD players are mechanical devices and therefore have a relatively short life span -- that is why I have at the moment 3 iMP-550's, one of which I already had to repair myself.

I am familiar with the guide to vintage Sony PCDP's which Duncan did here in 2001, which in part prompted my question. On-line opinion a few years ago said that the iRiver CD/MP3 players had quite good sound, but no-one that I could find did any comparison of them to other units, especially the older Sonys.
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post #4 of 10
12/11/09 at 7:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input, Mark. I know that CD players are mechanical devices and therefore have a relatively short life span -- that is why I have at the moment 3 iMP-550's, one of which I already had to repair myself.

I am familiar with the guide to vintage Sony PCDP's which Duncan did here in 2001, which in part prompted my question. On-line opinion a few years ago said that the iRiver CD/MP3 players had quite good sound, but no-one that I could find did any comparison of them to other units, especially the older Sonys.
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post #5 of 10
12/12/09 at 6:35am
Although I don't have any experience with them, I think some newer high-end PCDPs had digital out and other desireable features like that. If you can find more information on those, you might have a good balance of reliability and SQ. Not sure of any model numbers on those, but I think they're out there, maybe even from within the past five years.
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post #6 of 10
12/13/09 at 1:12am
Maybe I've just had good luck but I have both a Panasonic SL-S160 (1995 model) and a Sony D-E401 (97 model) bought both off Ebay. They both work flawlessly and I've used both quite a bit now. Only problem is the lid broke at the hinge on the Panasonic. These aren't exactly vintage but they are older. My ears aren't the best but FWIW I think the Sony sounds best (used with Koss Porta Pro and Sony MDR-7506 out of the headphone jacks.
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post #7 of 10
12/13/09 at 10:08am
Thread Starter 
The iMP-550's have a digital out mini TOSLINK which I have not tried. If I were to go that route, I'd need a portable / personal DAC, but one which would not break the bank. Any suggestions?
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post #8 of 10
12/23/09 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
I wanted to give an update to the people who helpfully answered my questions. I decided to buy an inexpensive DAC to connect to the optical out of my iRiver iMP-550. I chose a Super Pro DAC 707 (2009 Version) which I bought from CryoParts, and am happy to say that I am delighted with the SQ improvement. I can now hear things going on in the music I listened to which I barely knew were there before, and a crisp yet neutral overall sound picture. I was able to use all the rest of my previous kit with this DAC without buying really anything except a mini-TOSLINK adapter.

There are two minor issues with the DAC, neither serious. First off, the gain out of the DAC is so high that I barely need to crank up my headphone amp at all; I wish the output were a bit lower so that I would have a bit more control.

Secondly, the DAC is a rather power-hungry sucker. For portable use, I have converted a Ryobi NiCad tool battery into a power source. I have yet to ascertain battery life, but have got already 6 hours out of it at full charge.

But overall, I am quite pleased. Happy holidays to all.

Ed
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post #9 of 10
12/23/09 at 7:27pm
So you're using a PCDP, headphone amp, and DAC? Sounds fun.
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post #10 of 10
12/23/09 at 9:33pm
Thread Starter 
Been pulling out various older CDs, testing if I can hear new things in them. I feel a heightened sense of awareness, but perhaps this will wear off as I get more used to the sound itself.

I also tried this set up via USB with music stored on my computer - both WAVE and MP3 -- and was just as impressed. But I really am a newbie with a outboard DAC, and have no idea where I am on the continuum of the mundane to what is possible with finer equipment. But this is definitely fun.

Ed
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