[Goobertastic]

Hi every one I own a pair of Sennheiser hd 598s and I am very pleased with them but I am having trouble deciding on the right Cd player to pair them with. I went to to my local audio shop  and purchased a Luxman Dz 111 but I keep having problems with the player skipping even after they tried to fix it so I will return it tomorrow and get my money back. When it worked I thought the sound was nice but even though I'm no expert on high fidelity sound I steel feel like I could get more bang for my buck than what I paid for the Luxman (about a $120). My budget is 200 to 250 but I am willing to spend up to 300 possibly if the quality of sound makes up for the 50-100 dollar difference in my desired budget. Would I be better off buying a cheaper cd play and pairing it with a nice DAC (I have somewhat of an understanding of this technology and what it does but still a bit clueless)? would I need to purchase an amp as well? If this is recommended I still wouldn't want to spend past my budget. I've done research but I just end up confused, stressed, and bombarded by jargon that is why I am asking directly. I really want a home rig that will last me 5-10 years or longer. I will listen exclusively on my headphones as I am very neurotic about playing my music out loud (I feel very embarrassed for some reason even though I don't listen to anything embarrassing IMHO) and I don't want to disturb anyone around me. All and any suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[GaryWA]

  Hi every one I own a pair of Sennheiser hd 598s and I am very pleased with them but I am having trouble deciding on the right Cd player to pair them with. I went to to my local audio shop  and purchased a Luxman Dz 111 but I keep having problems with the player skipping even after they tried to fix it so I will return it tomorrow and get my money back. When it worked I thought the sound was nice but even though I'm no expert on high fidelity sound I steel feel like I could get more bang for my buck than what I paid for the Luxman (about a $120). My budget is 200 to 250 but I am willing to spend up to 300 possibly if the quality of sound makes up for the 50-100 dollar difference in my desired budget. Would I be better off buying a cheaper cd play and pairing it with a nice DAC (I have somewhat of an understanding of this technology and what it does but still a bit clueless)? would I need to purchase an amp as well? If this is recommended I still wouldn't want to spend past my budget. I've done research but I just end up confused, stressed, and bombarded by jargon that is why I am asking directly. I really want a home rig that will last me 5-10 years or longer. I will listen exclusively on my headphones as I am very neurotic about playing my music out loud (I feel very embarrassed for some reason even though I don't listen to anything embarrassing IMHO) and I don't want to disturb anyone around me. All and any suggestions will be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Were you thinking of plugging your headphones directly into the CD player? Probably not the best in terms of sound quality.
 
What you can do is pick up a cheap DVD/CD player, and get a DAC/AMP that takes optical in and you can plug your headphones into that.

 

[tomb]

JMHO, but any investment in an audiophile CD player at this point in time is a waste.  You need to convert to a PC-based listening source, use wav or FLAC files in combination with a quality DAC.  All of that is less expensive in the long run than even the finest CD player.

 

[Goobertastic]

 
Were you thinking of plugging your headphones directly into the CD player? Probably not the best in terms of sound quality.
 
What you can do is pick up a cheap DVD/CD player, and get a DAC/AMP that takes optical in and you can plug your headphones into that.

 
 

  JMHO, but any investment in an audiophile CD player at this point in time is a waste.  You need to convert to a PC-based listening source, use wav or FLAC files in combination with a quality DAC.  All of that is less expensive in the long run than even the finest CD player.

Thanks for replying so fast. Gary, do you recommended a particular DVD/CD player and DAC/AMP combo? In response to tomb how would i go about doing that? Would it be as practical as a cd player? I don't want to sit at my computer to listen to music I prefer to lay on my bed with my headphones and although this would be possible with a PC I dont know how it would compare to just popping a cd into the player. If you have more information on this type of set up it would be very much appreciated.