[]eep]

... there's the Shiit Audio Urd CD transport that can do USB out... not cheap, though.

Yup. The model T urd. Only it's been eclipsed by the model I showed above. If they had known, or there weren't any others that jumped in the same gap it would have been a winner. That's what I mean by 'supply will develop'. I think John Darko reviewed both. Or someone.

 

[medon]

Yup. The model T urd. Only it's been eclipsed by the model I showed above....

... feature-wise most certainly, yes. If the digital signal's output quality also exceeds the Urd's one, hm... well, always depends on the receiving DAC as well, I guess.

 

[]eep]

I found the Darko clip

He compared to the new Shanling ET3. Which is also very nice. And about topping the urd on output quality: the Shanling ET3 can upsample your output to 768kHz or dsd256. That you don't find every day. FYI: this is useful because it transposes filtering way out of the audio range.

Here's one of the SMSL PL200 by Thabamar


And one more by Cheap Audio Man

 

[Deleeh]

I do all my listening via music streaming (Deezer) these days and have no complaints about sound quality. That said, I still own a large collection of CDs and would be curious to hear whether they take my listening experience up a notch. Problem is, I have no CD player ... or any other kind of rotating media player anymore (or at least not one that still works).

I thought about grabbing a cheap CD transport and plugging into my DAC via coax or optical, but it seems the words "cheap" and "CD transport" don't go together. Everything costs high 3-figures and into 4 figures.

Why? It's a CD player minus the DAC section. A cheap DVD player with coaxial-out costs fifty bucks or less. A bare DVD-RW drive for a computer costs 25 bucks. How does a CD transport cost a thousand? What am I missing?

Hello,
You're not missing anything.
I asked myself the same question.
And when I bought my old CD player with the money I'd spent on my first training programme and after more than 20 years it no longer read CDs.
I bought an old and well-maintained second-hand Denon 685 for €50 and I'm happy with it.
I don't know what the point of reviving CD players is.
Today you can get used high-end CD players that were unaffordable at the time for the same price as a new CD player.
Needless to say, they are still of high quality in terms of sound.

 

[Thomasr]

My advice on thrift store models: don't put your hopes up

I will maintain exactly $15 of hope throughout this experiment - which coincides with my intended budget at the thrift store.

If I get any indication there's some additional sound quality to be had here (as compared to streaming Deezer), I could more easily be talked into spending $$$ on a "proper" CD Transport.

 

[medon]

I will maintain exactly $15 of hope throughout this experiment - which coincides with my intended budget at the thrift store.

If I get any indication there's some additional sound quality to be had here (as compared to streaming Deezer), I could more easily be talked into spending $$$ on a "proper" CD Transport.

... did you try Qobuz yet? I didn't try out Deezer, but so far all real world people I talked to confirmed my finding that for whatever reason Qobuz sounds way better than Tidal, albeit both are probably serving the same masters distributed by music companies. And it's true also for FLAC losless compression, so MQA seems not involved in this.
In case (which I really don't know) Deezer leans more on the Tidal side of S/Q, it might be an upgrade switching to Qobuz.

 

[]eep]

I will maintain exactly $15 of hope throughout this experiment - which coincides with my intended budget at the thrift store.

If I get any indication there's some additional sound quality to be had here (as compared to streaming Deezer), I could more easily be talked into spending $$$ on a "proper" CD Transport.

Yup. That's what I tried 3 times already. And all of it was wasted money. But go ahead. Maybe you'll get lucky. I have had many cd-players' since 1986. The first sounded terrible. Since then I steadily upgraded and all of them either broke or had trouble reading. And no, it's not the lens getting dirty. For me CD has only pulled me away from my hobby and love for music. I'm glad I've always stuck to vinyl.

Btw, i tried searching head-fi but it's not easy to quickly find good results. And I also understand very well that not everybody has loads of money. But its smarter to buy something that is good quality than buy cheap many times over.

And also: the SMSL will be an allover upgrade in 1 little box.

 

[Lindholdt]

... did you try Qobuz yet? I didn't try out Deezer, but so far all real world people I talked to confirmed my finding that for whatever reason Qobuz sounds way better than Tidal, albeit both are probably serving the same masters distributed by music companies. And it's true also for FLAC losless compression, so MQA seems not involved in this.
In case (which I really don't know) Deezer leans more on the Tidal side of S/Q, it might be an upgrade switching to Qobuz.

Not sure what you mean by "real world people", I feel pretty real myself
But even so, I can't hear a difference between Tidal and Qobuz, I have subscription for both at the moment.
I would love to stay with Qobuz, but unfortunately it's lacking in the selection of the music I listen to, and Tidal also pays the artist better. So I'll stick with Tidal for now.

 

[medon]

Not sure what you mean by "real world people", I feel pretty real myself

But even so, I can't hear a difference between Tidal and Qobuz, I have subscription for both at the moment.
I would love to stay with Qobuz, but unfortunately it's lacking in the selection of the music I listen to, and Tidal also pays the artist better. So I'll stick with Tidal for now.

OK that's interesting, but I have no doubt about your finding. Maybe I should give Tidal another shot again... 10 bucks or so for a month.

 

[joeling]

deleted

 

[joeling]

Hello,
You're not missing anything.
I asked myself the same question.
And when I bought my old CD player with the money I'd spent on my first training programme and after more than 20 years it no longer read CDs.
I bought an old and well-maintained second-hand Denon 685 for €50 and I'm happy with it.
I don't know what the point of reviving CD players is.
Today you can get used high-end CD players that were unaffordable at the time for the same price as a new CD player.
Needless to say, they are still of high quality in terms of sound.

CD laser heads have finite lifespans. Spares may not be available

 

[George Hincapie]

I do all my listening via music streaming (Deezer) these days and have no complaints about sound quality. That said, I still own a large collection of CDs and would be curious to hear whether they take my listening experience up a notch. Problem is, I have no CD player ... or any other kind of rotating media player anymore (or at least not one that still works).

I thought about grabbing a cheap CD transport and plugging into my DAC via coax or optical, but it seems the words "cheap" and "CD transport" don't go together. Everything costs high 3-figures and into 4 figures.

Why? It's a CD player minus the DAC section. A cheap DVD player with coaxial-out costs fifty bucks or less. A bare DVD-RW drive for a computer costs 25 bucks. How does a CD transport cost a thousand? What am I missing?

Because audiophiles are willing to pay the insane markups that companies charge. People will defend them will small volumes blah, blah, blah, but the reality is that slurp and price gouging is real. For as long as you're all willing to pay, then these prices will continue to be charged.

Personally, I've made peace with it.

 

[]eep]

Because audiophiles are willing to pay the insane markups that companies charge. People will defend them will small volumes blah, blah, blah, but the reality is that slurp and price gouging is real. For as long as you're all willing to pay, then these prices will continue to be charged.

Personally, I've made peace with it.

Sorry, but this is total nonsense. What do you even mean by 'audiophile'? You're using it almost as a curseword. If you want to get rich, here's my advice: don't start an audio company and don't buy one either. You'll only loose money. It really is a hobby for a niche community.

I'm not saying there aren't bad players trying to fleece the gullible suckers they think 'audiophiles' are. But high end wares are made for rich people. They don't care much about price. They get their girlfriends a $10k handbag to keep them happy. A handbag to hold their compact, lipstick and tampons. It doesn't make music.

Can we please stop this petty argument. If you have to ask you can't afford it. But if you're smart you can do it yourself for a whole lot less. That's why they say knowledge is power.

I still have a cd-player with a broken drive that I modified. It's dac is still awesome. But I don't have the will to go and fix or swap the optical drive. That MHZS has a long history. Cheap but built like a tank. And after 10 years the drive just quit. I'm done with cd-players.

 

[]eep]

... did you try Qobuz yet? I didn't try out Deezer, but so far all real world people I talked to confirmed my finding that for whatever reason Qobuz sounds way better than Tidal, albeit both are probably serving the same masters distributed by music companies. And it's true also for FLAC losless compression, so MQA seems not involved in this.
In case (which I really don't know) Deezer leans more on the Tidal side of S/Q, it might be an upgrade switching to Qobuz.

Agree. I have listened to FLAC for decades on my PC and mp3 or other lossy formats just don't make any sense anymore. If you have a dial-in modem it makes sense but on glass fibre? Maybe for mobile use it makes a little sense. But the sound quality is certainly less. If you can't tell the difference, that's ok if you enjoy it.

As if it matters with modern pop music the way it is produced and mastered. That's like slop, or fast-food. Factory produced mind numbing amusement.
Amusement: (a-musement) to stop musing, to not-think. Material.
That is the opposite of music; the art of the muses. Meant to inspire with new ideas. Spiritual.

Real music sounds better in high-res. I investigated a bit before jumping into streaming and I chose Qobuz. There is enough to chose from and it sounds good. But... the trouble with streaming is it's always available and never captivating. I notice I listen to a few songs or parts of songs and lose interest. Instead of listening to a complete album.

I must say that a CD has that advantage (although it doesn't sound good). It makes you listen to the whole work. Same with vinyl. I grew up with vinyl and I always listened whole albums. Later when lp's became rare I lost interest in music with crappy cd-players. I am glad I always kept playing vinyl, especially now there is so much new quality obtainable.

Physical media, something you can touch and smell (lp) has something special while streaming is ephemeral. However with the loss of the last music store in my town it is very useful for deciding what I'll buy on lp.

 

[Lindholdt]

Sorry, but this is total nonsense. What do you even mean by 'audiophile'? You're using it almost as a curseword. If you want to get rich, here's my advice: don't start an audio company and don't buy one either. You'll only loose money. It really is a hobby for a niche community.

Sorry, but that is total nonsense.
There are many Audio companies out there making very good money. HiFi is most certainly a business where you can make money, and a lot of it as well, if you are good at what you are doing. There are also audio companies that struggle, no doubt about that, but that's how it is in all industries, isn't it