[Gil Schwartzman]

So, pretty much since the start of myself having any sort of passion at all for music, I was a computer-as-source guy. I have really never used CD's outside of my car. I rip them and store them.

Well, due to recent events, that is changing. I am switching to a CD setup. Which has of course raised all kinds of questions in this new territory. The biggest being cost. These suckers get expensive. I assume that is mainly related to DACs, correct? In which case, my first question, say ones budget was $500-$800, would it be better to get a basic player in the $100 range, and put the rest of the money into an external dac, or just spend all the money on a nice CD-Player?

Also, this new found interest has peaked my curiosity in SACD and DVD-A. But, evidence seems to suggest the best setup would be to have one standalone CDP for just CD's, and then one DVD player for SACD and DVD-A. Ultimatly, while I would love to try these new formats, that would not be an option. I don't think I could find more than 20 SACDs or DVD-As that I would want, so making a large expensive out of them would be a waste. So, in that regard, would it be better to just have a standalone DVD-Player, or would I be snubbing my rather large CD collection for a few HD discs, making it wiser to just stick to CD and forget about the other formats?

FWIW, I am not in the market right now, just trying to better understand for when the time comes. Hopefully someone can provide some input. I tried searching, and didn't find much relevant info.

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Buy yourself a good Squeezebox, or a standard unit with some uprated PSUs. That way you won't give a stuff about CD spinning, can use your PC as source, and it will play back 24 bit files.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Sukebe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Buy yourself a good Squeezebox, or a standard unit with some uprated PSUs. That way you won't give a stuff about CD spinning, can use your PC as source, and it will play back 24 bit files.

I absolutely want a CD-Player, not a PC source. I am very proud of my CD collection... I want to put it to good use

 

[damballah]

I'm in the same boat as you right now, which is ironic considering how long CDP's have been on the market, but in all of my listening tests, I've found CDP's in the 500-800 range to be far superior than say, my DVD player to a friend's mid-range DAC. Your mileage may vary, but so far I haven't found a combo that has swayed my opinion. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I'm really liking a Rotel unit that I got to listen to the other day.

HTH,
Steve

 

[infinitesymphony]

With a standalone CDP, you pay for the build quality, overall higher quality internal components, and little to no jitter (no external signal transmission).

If I was looking for something in the 0-$1k range, I'd look at either a good quality universal player (ex. the popular Denon DVD-3910) or a DAC like the Benchmark DAC-1, Lavry DA-10 ("Black"), etc.

 

[chesebert]

How can anyone not include Rega Apollo. I thought its recommendation should be of no brainer.

IMO one box is always better unless the system is designed to be a 2 box solution such as the Esoteric monsters

or you want certain connectivities, ie play music from laptop/desktop/other

 

[Uncle Erik]

Funny, I did much the same as you. I was using computer-as-source mostly, but have drifted into using a single-disc player, tuner and a turntable. And I'm happy with it. Computers are convenient, but changing discs (black or silver) isn't much trouble. Also, it makes me listen to albums all the way through rather than cherry-picking favorites. I've been enjoying the collection more listening to complete albums.

If you get into SACD, get a player that isn't a DVD player. Those generally are not as good. Then again, I would not get into SACD unless you're a serious classical/jazz listener. Those are the vast majority of discs. Otherwise, you'll end up spending a lot of money on a box that'll get little use. I love both genres, and just love SACD, but it isn't for everyone.

As for Red Book, I'd look into one of the nice standalone players from NAD or Rega. I'm sure there are others, but those two are good. Don't get a cheap deck, because it probably won't hold up the way the good ones do. Don't buy an external DAC right away, either. Give your deck a listen and see if you like it. If you do, you don't need the DAC. A lot of the current players sound excellent, too.

 

[yotacowboy]

nother vote here for the Rega Apollo. It easily bested my old Music Hall CD25 with full mods (which had replaced an NAD c542). Much more musical player, the rega is.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

.

 

[braillediver]

If you liked the NAIM Sound they have a built in upgrade path by adding an external power supply. My CD5x can use 3 types of external power supplies- Flat Cap, Hicap and Supercap. Figure $1000, $2000 and $5000 respectively.

I'm running a used Hicap now and I really think it makes a noticable difference.

I think going with a good quality stand alone CD player is a good option.


Mitch aka Team Source First.