Cdp vs universal dvdp questions

[egidio]

Hello!

I have some very noobie questions about cd-as-source components. I did search forum, but I'm still confuzed.

I was up to buy a cd player for about $300, for use with both, home stereo and headphones. Than I come to this page and see that I would get a similar but cheaper result with cheap dvd player.
So there goes some questions...

1. Is it, lets say 50$ phillips dvp642 good for home stereo system too(without external DAC, connecting directly to amp) comparing to other $300 cdp

2.Is the sound quality much better with $300 dvd player than 50-100$ dvd?

3.I planed to connect $300 cdp directly to home stereo amp for speakers use, and trough portable pimeta for listening with headphones. Is there same procedure with cheap dvd player or there must be external DAC inbetween?

4.Is it possible somehow to listen to cheap dvd player directly with headphones though some cable adapter, without external DAC or external amp?

Thank you and sory for realy newb questions!

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by egidio Hello! So there goes some questions... 1. Is it, lets say 50$ phillips dvp642 good for home stereo system too(without external DAC, connecting directly to amp) comparing to other $300 cdp

Matter of opinion - I have the DVP642 and it is my main audio source for home supplanting my NADC542 ( a $460 CD player) - I find the two to be more or less equivalent.

Quote:

3.I planed to connect $300 cdp directly to home stereo amp for speakers use, and trough portable pimeta for listening with headphones. Is there same procedure with cheap dvd player or there must be external DAC in between?

Same process - both stand-alone CD and DVD players will have analog RCA ouputs but generally only one set so to feed two amps you will need to switch between them or use a splitter or take a tape-out from the home stereo amp to the headphone amp

Quote:

4.Is it possible somehow to listen to cheap dvd player directly with headphones though some cable adapter, without external DAC or external amp?

Um, dunno, never tried it myself but you probably would not be able to adjust the output level on a cheap DVD player the Philips does not have variable level audio out - line level output is generally fixed at 1 to 2 V, but some DVD players may have variable audio out levels - dunno

EDIT: With the line out on my Portable CD player I cannot get a good enough volume to drive my Beyer DT990 headphones but it drives the Sennheiser PX100 okay

 

[Audiofiler]

huh,

I will have to buy another DVP642 and stick it in my rig..

I purchased one awhile back and read similar impressions and feedback regarding its performance, but than after introducing it to my rig(s), it seemed very underwhelming...my Mlevinson drowns it obviously, but so does my Rotel 971 transport, and D-335/303/515 for that matter.

Either way, I will definately be interested in taking another look if more people are having such great experiences with this unit.

Does anyone else a positive experience with this transport?
Thanks

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofiler I purchased one awhile back and read similar impressions and feedback regarding its performance, but than after introducing it to my rig(s), it seemed very underwhelming...my Mlevinson drowns it obviously, but so does my Rotel 971 transport, and D-335/303/515 for that matter.

Well, I did say "matter of opinion" - I can only report my experiences and do not expect too many people to have the same experience. If you feel that your other sources are far superior I would suggest not to bother getting another one as it is unlikely that the passage of time will change that impression. Though it (Philips) is so cheap you could buy one just for a laugh.
Hey, I spent as much on a pair of crappy PC speakers that are absolute rubbish despite excellent reviews - just goes to show you never can tell

For a lively debate about the Philips.....
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ghlight=DVP642

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hciman77 Well, I did say "matter of opinion" - I can only report my experiences and do not expect too many people to have the same experience. If you feel that your other sources are far superior I would suggest not to bother getting another one as it is unlikely that the passage of time will change that impression. Though it (Philips) is so cheap you could buy one just for a laugh. Hey, I spent as much on a pair of crappy PC speakers that are absolute rubbish despite excellent reviews - just goes to show you never can tell For a lively debate about the Philips..... http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ghlight=DVP642

I will give this another go..and re-reading my initial post..I did not mean to talk down to this source, whatsoever, in fact..I may be having one shipped to my house for the weekend

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofiler I will give this another go..and re-reading my initial post..I did not mean to talk down to this source, whatsoever, in fact..I may be having one shipped to my house for the weekend

Um, I didnt take it at all personally - it is not as if you called me names, I know that things can get a bit heated around here but I did not see your post as any kind of slight

 

[hciman77]

Generally this is a very quiet drive but one CD from my Brilliant Classics Bruckner Complete Symphonies set (Eugen Jochums) caused a great deal of vibration in it - I assume it was a poor pressing but it plays okay in the NAD. Thus it may be fair to conclude that it is not so tolerant of poor cuts - still, I made a CD-R copy and that worked fine.

Brilliant Classics pressings are sometimes a bit flaky but even so this behaviour is not so good, If I had paid $100+ for the player I would be really upset

 

[mrarroyo]

After reading hciman77 posts I purchased a Philips DVP642 for my night stand setup. I have been very happy with the sound and its features. Heck I got it for about $52 delivered from Circuit City. For a while they were being sold by Circuit City for aobut $40 delivered.

 

[Garbz]

Yes there is a difference between sources. Whether you are able to hear it or able to justify the expense is an entirely different can of beans.

No you do not need to use an external DAC, a DVD player will have one internally. I have no idea why so many people on this forum are DAC mad and buy very cheap transports and DACs when often with a bit of searching they could find a single CD player which is the same or maybe even better.

No you can not use an adapter. The output of the line-outs normally are designed to drive a very easy load, which any type of headphone is definitely not. At worst you won't get anything recognisable out at all, at best harmonic distortion would skyrocket compared to a dedicated amp, or a dedicated headphone circuit inside a speaker amp or cdplayer. Plus there's no volume control as has been mentioned already.