[bass man]

i have a 2 year old philips cd player.. imo, it sounds great.

just wondering, those very expensive cd player...in good guys or best buys. like those new slim and thin sony cd player. how do they compared to the cheaper <$120 cd player.

basically, do manufacters really put better parts [like headphone amp, better D/A,] than cheaper cd player at wal-mart? therefore expensive cd player sounds good?

generally, expensive cd players: bundle with lots of features.. remote control, better build quality.

on the other hand, cheap sub$120 cd players: are basic.. no LCD, and mainly cheaply built.

all and all, do expensive cd player really SOUNDS better the cheap ones?

 

[Azumandus]

To put it simply no. That phrase "they don't make them as they used to" really hit the mark in regards to technology. You see as new technology becomes more accessilbe to the public and not just select few, products tend to become worst. For instance when PCD first were introduced not many could afford them hence in a way these were luxeries at that time. So you got what you paid for...which at that time was sound. Now once more and more people started acquiring PCDP's, the larger market wanted something more portable, much more battery life, and the dreaded anti-skip or what we have now G-protection. Older cd players had 4 bit DCA now almost all come with One bit. Now a day alot of cd player are stuck in ant-skip (G-protection), this really has an affect on sound but most people don't realize it because the pack most PCDP with awful headphones. One other thing that slowly being faded away is the line out capability...it's getting increasingly hard to find cd players with one. Most old PCDP had his feature which to me is very important.

So no I don't think PCDP now are as good as older one but this is only in regard to sound and that's what real Audiophile care about. Now as for battery life, skip protection, portablility and weight new cd players are much much better.

Cheaper models and much higher priced one aren't that much different to me in sound they all sound like crap. More expensiveh headphone have perks (remote, Lcd, much more battery life, line out or optical out etc) so you pretty much paying for those perks not really for quality of sound.

 

[bass man]

i think that getting a better HEADPHONE really improves your music experience than getting a new cd player

i have to agree, on the expensive audio player, your paying for the extra features like backlight LCD, long batt. life, and slim and thin factor of the cd player........ heck, all brand-name products are overprice!

and manufacters keeps putting weaker and weaker headphone amp as little as 3.5mW [what the heck]!

 

[KR...]

There are suppose to be two really good portable players coming out soon.

Panasonic may even start an audiophile portable line.

So at least I will wait until these players are released before I even think about buying a new portable.

 

[noguilt]

KR, could you elaborate on the "two really good portable players coming out soon" and your hint that "Panasonic may even start an audiophile portable line"?

 

[noguilt]

KR, could you elaborate on the "two really good portable players coming out soon" and your hint that "Panasonic may even start an audiophile portable line"?

 

[tipi]

do u have photo?
5555555~~~~~~
I cannot understand you clearly

 

[srapps55]

Quote:

Originally posted by Azumandus To put it simply no. That phrase "they don't make them as they used to" really hit the mark in regards to technology. You see as new technology becomes more accessilbe to the public and not just select few, products tend to become worst. For instance when PCD first were introduced not many could afford them hence in a way these were luxeries at that time. So you got what you paid for...which at that time was sound. Now once more and more people started acquiring PCDP's, the larger market wanted something more portable, much more battery life, and the dreaded anti-skip or what we have now G-protection. Older cd players had 4 bit DCA now almost all come with One bit. Now a day alot of cd player are stuck in ant-skip (G-protection), this really has an affect on sound but most people don't realize it because the pack most PCDP with awful headphones. One other thing that slowly being faded away is the line out capability...it's getting increasingly hard to find cd players with one. Most old PCDP had his feature which to me is very important. So no I don't think PCDP now are as good as older one but this is only in regard to sound and that's what real Audiophile care about. Now as for battery life, skip protection, portablility and weight new cd players are much much better. Cheaper models and much higher priced one aren't that much different to me in sound they all sound like crap. More expensiveh headphone have perks (remote, Lcd, much more battery life, line out or optical out etc) so you pretty much paying for those perks not really for quality of sound.

This really hits home as I sit here and listen to mt 1988 vintage Citizen PCDP. Yea, you can't touch it while its playing and forget about using batteries, but the thing outputs 40mw (16 ohms), and it has 16 bit DCA. Progress?

 

[NeoPoe]

yeah i noticed this too while visiting a friends house and comparing some cd players... it really is a shame, especially since some companies BOAST abuot have 1bit decoding...

tipi, calm down w/ the signature, its 2002 not 1970

the govt.'s been ly'in to ya lol

 

[?oA?]

i think that getting a better HEADPHONE really improves your music experience than getting a new cd player

i agree with it.in a hi-fi systems the speaker should cost more than 50% money.how are bout headphone with discman

 

[Joe Bloggs]

But at some point you have to consider upgrading your CD player...

Like when you are driving the Sony R10 with that Sports discman

Of course an amp might be more important in that case.

 

[zowie]

I have to respond that I totally disagree with the common U.S. wisdom of putting 50% of a high fi budget into speakers. I went through years of swapping around and upgrading speakers, and watch others do the same now, when the weak link is the mass market amps and cheap or dated cd players (or previously, $30 phono cartridges).

I could go on at length, but I don't want to send this board spiralling off topic.

 

[bass man]

i think that getting a better HEADPHONE really improves your music experience than getting a new cd player


i agree!

 

[RMSzero]

Why is anti shock protection so dreaded? Granted now we have minidiscs and especially mp3 players which are harder/impossible to make skip, but seriously sometimes things move, and some people like to get good quality sound in a car cheaply using a pCDp.

 

[gaineso]

Quote:

Originally posted by RMSzero Why is anti shock protection so dreaded? Granted now we have minidiscs and especially mp3 players which are harder/impossible to make skip, but seriously sometimes things move, and some people like to get good quality sound in a car cheaply using a pCDp.

One word:

COMPRESSION

Almost all anti-skips use compression to store 40 seconds or more of read ahead audio.

Some current pcdp's, I think the Panasonic 570/580 have switchable 10 -- 40 second, with the 10 not compressed.

I'm pretty sure my 6 year old Kenwood, which has 10 second, is uncompressed. I know anti-skip on it sucks a lot more battery, but I can't tell any difference in sound. That's through a TA to HD600s.