[Uosdwis R. Dewoh]

Ahoy,

I have a minimal setup and use an external DAC to listen to music stored on my HD. But lately I've been considering purchasing a standalone CD player, for two reasons. One is the fact that while my Plextor drive (with Plextools) is very, very good at ripping scratched CDs, some scratches are simply too much for it to handle. A standalone CD player with digital output will enable me to get most CDs transferred to the HD without clicks, as well as any copyprotected CDs. The other reason is simply that I sometimes just don't want to fire up the computer for listening to music.

My requirements for the CD player are simple: digital output (preferably optical), low mechanical noise, and solid playback (and error correction).

I noticed you can get PCDPs w/ optical out for cheap nowadays, so I was wondering if you think they're solid enough for use as transport in a non-mobile environment, and for my purposes. I don't particularily need the transport portable, but I wouldn't consider it a downside if the results are the same. It might come in handy.

Any suggestions for players, portable or not, would be appreciated. If non-portable, I think I'll get something cheap and/or used, as I'm not looking to spend more money than necessary on this. Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Uosdwis

 

[dudlew]

I will say what I was told; portables are not the best transports. A cheap home based unit would be better.

To be honest I dont totally agree with this, but I cant argue against it. I hope to get a DAC soon and do a little comparison my self to see if there is going to e a very noticable difference.

But the consensus is to use a full sized CDP for transport duties due to a better transport assembly.

Just curious, what is your price range or what do you consider cheap?? For me cheap is $100 and under.

(yeah I know I am a cheapskate). But if you considr cheap to be $300 there are alot of recommendations in that area for one box solutions such as the NAD 541 or the Philips 963 players.


D

 

[Uosdwis R. Dewoh]

That has been my understanding as well, but I thought I'd ask - hey, maybe the times have a-changed since I last updated myself on the subject...

And by cheap, I do mean $100 or less. In fact, I'll probably get a used Sony or something, for like $50. Unless you'll give me a good reason not to... It is also my understanding that budget CD players are hardly getting any better, and I figure, for my purposes, that I really can't go wrong with pretty much any player out there.

Thanks for your help.

-- Uosdwis

 

[jpelg]

See my setup in my sig

!

I've had it for a about four weeks or so, and I really like it. Especially for its overall size, this setup rocks. I have not had a chance to compare it with a full-sized setup yet though. Possibly at a meet coming up soon.

If and when I have a bit more space and cash I will probably invest in a decent full-sized transport. But for now, it doesn't suck.

 

[dudlew]

I hope to join you soon jpelg in the use of a DAC with my 955.

I am hoping to get the very under reviewed SuperDAC from M-Audio and try it. I have read one favourable review about it, but wish headfiers could give me advice on it. ( one headfier I know has one to my knowledge.....one).

D

 

[jpelg]

The SuperDAC doesn't have a built-in headphone amp, does it?

 

[Uosdwis R. Dewoh]

Ah yes, the Benchmark DAC1. I have one coming my way very soon. How do you like it, jpelg?

I think I'm going to get a cheapo full-sized for the time being. I can always look into a portable one at a later date. Glad to hear it is indeed working.

Thanks,
Uosdwis

 

[jpelg]

As I posted above, so far so good. I can't really give any comparisons yet, but I hope to put it thru a few paces at a HF meet coming up soon. Will be able to post more impressions afterward.

Have you ordered yours already? Where are you located? What HF's are you planning to use it with?

 

[Uosdwis R. Dewoh]

No, I haven't actually placed the order quite yet. I'm not in the states, so I'm trying to work out payment and shipping arrangements.

As for headphones (if that is what you meant), I'm planning to hook up a pair of Sennheiser HD600s to the unit.

Cheers,
Uosdwis