bedside CDP/DVD recommendations needed

[appar111]

I'm looking for a decent CDP or DVD player to use on my nightstand with an RSA Hornet amp. The problem is that my nightstand is only 16 1/2 inches wide, so I need something with a fairly small footprint. Here's what I've found so far at the local Best Buy:

Philips DVP-3040 - $45 (14 inches wide)
Panasonic DVD-S1 - $56 (14 1/2 inches wide)
Toshiba SD-4000 - $49 (17 inches wide)
Sony DVP-NS57P/B - $59 (17 inches wide)

Are any of these a decent choice for my needs? I'll probably do an online search (J&R, B&H, etc.) for other models and prices, but I'd like to keep this on the cheap - i.e. under $80 for a DVD player, or about $120 for a CDP.

At that sort of price range, will I notice any improvement with an amp over my current bedside setup, which includes a Sony D-EJ711 pcdp? I've read that even a cheap CDP sounds better than a great pcdp, so I figured the same would go for an inexpensive DVD player as compared to a pcdp.

Also, are there any small footprint CDP's out there (i.e. under 16 1/2 inches wide?)

 

[infinitesymphony]

None of those players are particularly well-suited for audio. It will be tough to find an $80 player that will fit your needs, unless you're willing to buy used.

Does your PCDP have digital output? If so, you might consider a budget DAC.

 

[appar111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif None of those players are particularly well-suited for audio. It will be tough to find an $80 player that will fit your needs, unless you're willing to buy used. Does your PCDP have digital output? If so, you might consider a budget DAC.

What budget DAC's are available? My D-EJ711 does have an optical out.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Check out the All the DACs Money Can Buy thread.

Edit: Whoops, nevermind about the Alien DAC... I think it's USB-only.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Yep, any Discman -> optical out -> dac should do the trick

 

[soloz2]

a philips DVP-642 it is about 17" wide and is a good cheap cdp. Then try to find a number cruncher 203.2 for around $50-60 and you've got yourself a great combo.

 

[infinitesymphony]

He already has the equivalent of a cheap optical out with his PCDP, so a standalone player isn't necessary. Besides, the DVP-642 has been obsoleted and discontinued for a while now, replaced by better players like the 3040, 3960, 5140, and 5960. None of them have particularly good audio sections, though.

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soloz2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif a philips DVP-642 it is about 17" wide and is a good cheap cdp. Then try to find a number cruncher 203.2 for around $50-60 and you've got yourself a great combo.

That is my exact home listening rig and jolly good it is to, so good that I sold my NAD and used it instead, the 642 can still be found online cheaply, also its analog out is better than you would think, my only reservation is that it has legendarily bad reliability, on mine the COAX digital has already crapped out.

 

[appar111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif He already has the equivalent of a cheap optical out with his PCDP, so a standalone player isn't necessary. Besides, the DVP-642 has been obsoleted and discontinued for a while now, replaced by better players like the 3040, 3960, 5140, and 5960. None of them have particularly good audio sections, though.

What would be so terrible about the audio section on the 3040? Also, despite not being particularly good, would it be better than the line out on my pcdp?

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by appar111 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What would be so terrible about the audio section on the 3040? Also, despite not being particularly good, would it be better than the line out on my pcdp?

I cant judge that particular model but my experience is that it is possible in some cases for very humble DVD players to deliver surprisingly good sound quality. Whether such would be better than a PCDP is an open question. Over the weekend I connected my iPod 5G up to my home listening rig i.e M^3 and Sennheiser HD580s and found that it too made a surprisingly good source.

It is easy to dismiss cheap players out of hand, but when you consider what they do i.e they read some medium , decode a stream of 0s and 1s (logically) and then amplify the analog signal, well this is no longer a terribly difficult thing to do competently.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by appar111 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What would be so terrible about the audio section on the 3040? Also, despite not being particularly good, would it be better than the line out on my pcdp?

It's not terrible, but it's also not great. You can't beat it for the price if you're starting from scratch, but the real advantage of those Philips players is the video section, which is actually pretty decent for a budget player (Mediatek 1389 chipset). You could find significantly better audio players if you moved up to the $150 mark (ex. Oppo), and it's also likely that a cheap DAC (~$80) hooked up to your PCDP would sound better than a similarly-priced DVD player.

That said, chances are good that a DVD player like the DVP-3040 would beat the line output of your PCDP, but that's not really much of a challenge considering that Sony PCDPs don't use multi-bit DACs, with few exceptions (they're mostly 1-bit with noise shaping).

Quote:

Originally Posted by hciman77 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is easy to dismiss cheap players out of hand, but when you consider what they do i.e they read some medium , decode a stream of 0s and 1s (logically) and then amplify the analog signal, well this is no longer a terribly difficult thing to do competently.

Theoretically, all DACs should be equally great at re-interpreting a timed signal, but in reality, they're not... Interpolation is a difficult task, and timing errors are possible even while reading the CD's upcoming contents into buffers, considering that the buffers' outputs need to be reclocked. This is why so many modders recommend a new clock as the first step toward improving almost any given player.

 

[appar111]

It's not terrible, but it's also not great. You can't beat it for the price if you're starting from scratch, but the real advantage of those Philips players is the video section, which is actually pretty decent for a budget player (Mediatek 1389 chipset). You could find significantly better audio players if you moved up to the $150 mark (ex. Oppo), and it's also likely that a cheap DAC (~$80) hooked up to your PCDP would sound better than a similarly-priced DVD player.

That said, chances are good that a DVD player like the DVP-3040 would beat the line output of your PCDP, but that's not really much of a challenge considering that Sony PCDPs don't use multi-bit DACs, with few exceptions (they're mostly 1-bit with noise shaping).

The problem is, for my needs (i.e. a small footprint cd or dvd player), the $150 range of cd players is just too big.

I've looked into cheap DAC options (DAC-in-a-box) but I've read a few opinions that they are too noisy. But the Zhaolu looks very competitively priced and paired with my D-EJ711 would (hopefully) sound much better than just the DVP-3040 + Hornet.

I may have to reassess my size requirements if the payoff will be a much better sounding source as compared to my current one.

Still, it's good to know that for under $50, I could get a dvd player that would sound better than my current source. And I could always pair a DAC with the DVP-3040 later for a great little bedside rig. Getting a decent DAC now may make the most sense & best use of my money.

What are some decent CDP options in the $150-ish category? And do any of them have a footprint that is around 16" or under in width?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by appar111 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are some decent CDP options in the $150-ish category? And do any of them have a footprint that is around 16" or under in width?

After a little digging, it seems to me like the average DVD player doesn't exceed 17" in width... It seems like you could have a little overhang on either side and still be okay.

$150 puts you right into the range of the Oppo DV-970HD. Not only is it one of the best DVD players ever made (in terms of objective video performance), but apparently it has a great audio section. It's been considered a giant-killer for several years. Not to mention that it supports both DVD-Audio and SACD high-res formats, which is always nice.

If you don't mind buying used, you can find players similar to the Oppo for even cheaper. My personal picks are the Pioneer universal player line:

Pioneer DV-563A
Pioneer DV-578A-S
Pioneer DV-588A-S
Pioneer DV-696AV (only in Europe, it seems)

All of them are fairly hard to find new at the moment, but they all have Burr-Brown DACs. The 563A began life in a different price segment, and had the BB PCM1738 included, while all of the other players have the BB PCM1742. For around $150, I've been able to buy two DV-578A-Ss and a DV-563A all in great condition, used.

But, if you want new, definitely consider the Oppo.

If you like the idea of a dedicated CDP over a universal DVDP, the Sony SCD-CE595 is a well-recommended budget player that also plays SACDs.

 

[morphsci]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infinitesymphony /img/forum/go_quote.gif He already has the equivalent of a cheap optical out with his PCDP, so a standalone player isn't necessary. Besides, the DVP-642 has been obsoleted and discontinued for a while now, replaced by better players like the 3040, 3960, 5140, and 5960. None of them have particularly good audio sections, though.

Well I wouldn't agree that the 642 is obsolete. It is discontinued but to my ears and eyes it is a significantly better player for all the discs it can play compared to the 3040. I never compared it to the others since I was so disappointed with the performance of the 3040 with DVD-V.

 

[appar111]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morphsci /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I wouldn't agree that the 642 is obsolete. It is discontinued but to my ears and eyes it is a significantly better player for all the discs it can play compared to the 3040. I never compared it to the others since I was so disappointed with the performance of the 3040 with DVD-V.

What was so bad about it's DVD-V performance?