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DAC vs CD player

post #1 of 23
3/16/10 at 12:51pm
Thread Starter 
PLease help me choose between buying either a V-dac or a 300$ish CD player. I am leaning towards the V-DAC because its easier for me to just play music straight from the computer but which one do you think would be a better choice for me to choose??
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post #2 of 23
3/16/10 at 1:48pm
I say buy a Marantz 5003 cd player because it has one of the best transports around at a reasonable price and is a universal player, plays mp3, cd, cdr cdrw etc.

Then, get a good dac....Vdac, PS Audio, Meier, Woo, Bryston,Benchmark,Musical Fidelity, etc...


The reason i say this is because i dont know how long CDs will be around, and at least your CD player lay out wont be alot, and you can use the dac on your pc, music server(Sonos etc.), or whatever.
The Marantz id a great cd player even without an external dac and you can use it as-is while you save for a highend dac.

People seem to be going in the direction of downloading music from itunes,rhapsody,zune market, etc., which is very sad.
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post #3 of 23
3/16/10 at 4:29pm
Welcome back beam. I got a dac which I'm for the computer, as a music server, and I don't see any issue with it. I would listen to a lot of dacs before choosing this route though, and don't narrow down to a specific dac without having heard it, unless you don't mind spending the money on a roll of the die (which I haven't seen in your post.) I've listened to old, comparatively inexpensive dacs (to the high end stuff) which sound just as great, if not better. An example is the parasound d/ac 1100.
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post #4 of 23
3/16/10 at 7:33pm
I'll suggest a Squeezebox, they're currently available at Amazon for $220. Streams lossless (FLAC) music or mp3 over wireless connection, has a decent DAC, and is a great little appliance for listening to Pandora, Last.fm or other internet radio stations. If you have a computer already, it is trivial to use EAC to rip your CDs to FLAC. Then you have all the benefits of a CD player, without having to ever swap discs. And when you're ready to upgrade, just take the coax or optical out to an external DAC. In my experience, the Squeezebox 3 playing well-ripped FLAC or high bitrate mp3 compares very favorably to a good CD player/DAC, and often at a lower price point if you are already invested in a computer and wireless router.

You might also consider a USB DAC. I'm not up on whether or not you can find a good one for $300...but it would offer good flexibility too. Though, I prefer using my Squeezebox, for the easier interface (ie, remote control).
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post #5 of 23
3/16/10 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drag0n View Post
I say buy a Marantz 5003 cd player because it has one of the best transports around at a reasonable price and is a universal player, plays mp3, cd, cdr cdrw etc.

Then, get a good dac....Vdac, PS Audio, Meier, Woo, Bryston,Benchmark,Musical Fidelity, etc...


The reason i say this is because i dont know how long CDs will be around, and at least your CD player lay out wont be alot, and you can use the dac on your pc, music server(Sonos etc.), or whatever.
The Marantz id a great cd player even without an external dac and you can use it as-is while you save for a highend dac.

People seem to be going in the direction of downloading music from itunes,rhapsody,zune market, etc., which is very sad.


Very sad indeed.
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post #6 of 23
3/16/10 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Omega View Post
I'll suggest a Squeezebox, they're currently available at Amazon for $220...
I second this option. But if you were to go this route I'd suggest waiting for the Squeezbox Touch. $299 US/$379 CDN. I'm picking one up as soon as it becomes available.

Squeezeboxâ„¢ Touch
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post #7 of 23
3/16/10 at 11:22pm
Whichever path you choose, may the music touch your soul.
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post #8 of 23
3/17/10 at 12:15am
Ripping all my CD's into a dedicated hard drive and a DAC has been the best thing I have done since I finished Kindergarden.
I am enjoying music like never before. I know some guys like vinyl, some guys like CDs.
Give me a good DAC any time!
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post #9 of 23
3/18/10 at 12:57am
See? CDs will be gone soon
No more art work, lyrics, something you can physically own and hold in your hand.
Coming from a time where i grew up with vinyl and had a poster and photos and lyrics come with it, this is very sad. We used to read the album cover and contents while listening to the music.
I guess you just surf the web now while you listen....its the new thing.

But anywho, because of the current and imposing trend, a good quality inexpensive CD player ran into a very good dac to upgrade its sound like what i suggested, so incase CDs are gone, youll have laid out very little for a CD player, and youll still have a nice dac to run off your computer, Sonos, or whatever you want.

Musical Fidelity VDac is only about $300 and is supposed to be very good for the money, possibly a giant killer.
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post #10 of 23
3/18/10 at 2:39am
For what it's worth, the market for CD players seems to have dried up considerably, and the ability to resell your purchase at all, let alone near what you paid is getting harder by the day. On the plus side, if you are in the market for a player, you can get a lot more bang for your buck these days if you buy used. I've seen Marantz SA8001s go for $400 and Rega Apollos in a similar range ($450-$500).

Not really trying to sway you in either direction, just a little perspective if you plan on reselling someday.
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post #11 of 23
3/18/10 at 9:23am
I would go with the DAC. If you want a better transport down the road you can try a Squeezebox Receiver. I only paid 90€ for mine.
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post #12 of 23
3/18/10 at 4:34pm
I would go with a DAC. I use a music server (computer, Roku, PS3) of some sort most of the time I listen to music. I have no experience with the V-Dac, though.
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post #13 of 23
3/18/10 at 10:37pm
If everyone continues to download music rather than buying CDs, soon it will not matter if you have highend equipment or not, because most music will not be offered over 192kbps quality, because most people that buy music can care less and listen to Ipods with Ibuds.

I will continue to buy CDs and support the media and hope it doesnt go away too soon,before music quality sux.

Soon it will no longer matter if you own Senn 650s or RS1's etc, or a nice amp etc.
In fact, you wont want highend equipment because youll hear all the loss.
Listening to 192kbps, the best you may bother with is a $100 headphone.
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post #14 of 23
3/19/10 at 12:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gilency View Post
Ripping all my CD's into a dedicated hard drive and a DAC has been the best thing I have done since I finished Kindergarden.
I am enjoying music like never before. I know some guys like vinyl, some guys like CDs.
Give me a good DAC any time!
I agree with this!

CDs are great for aesthetic value, the same way vinyl is. And it's always nicer to hold a physical manifestation of music in the hand than it is staring at little files on a screen. But pure digital music is so easy to manage, move, and play that it really can't be beat. Buy music in CD form, rip it, use it exclusively on the PC as lossless, then occasionally stroke and/or cradle the disc itself when you're feeling the need to be physical with your files.

I'm just waiting until music is beamed directly into the brain, then using a DAC-like chip in the brain translated straight into the electrical impulses that stimulate the brain into thinking there's music playing. Bypass the messy analog conversion completely. Now that'll be convenient.

There's still a difference listening to 192kbps on good equipment. In fact, there's almost every bit as much difference. Contrary to what many want to think, high bit-rate (less the 192 and more the 256-320, which are offered for purchase) is hard to distinguish from lossy. I wouldn't buy it (it's like buying an apple with 70% of its mass removed just because it holds no nutritional value), but it's hard to distinguish. Just look at that thread where everyone anonymously admits that they can't tell 99% of the time.
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post #15 of 23
3/19/10 at 1:07am
Perhaps with increasing bandwidth and lower cost of storage one day 24 bit 192Khz becomes embraced by record labels (I wanna hear Black Eyed Peas in Hi Def - not classical, opera or jazz only) - perhaps 24/192 download will eventually succeed 16/44.

Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?
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