Please help a newbee

[Divad1]

As you've read the title, im new to this section. I want a cheap cd player which i can directly plug headphones into. I dont know whats availible, or there possibly any I can plug into my pc so I can use my mp3's or not? I was looking from the UK hopefully £120-£200 ish but thats quite flexible as I dont know what they cost as Im new here. I dont have any other pieces of equipment, but will get some new headphones soon, probably sennheiser hd 595 or 600, something like that. Could you please give me some suggestions to get my reading started, I like to listen to most genres of music but nothing too heavy, some U2, queen, killers, bits of rap (jay-z), mid-late 90's pop. Would I have to buy a cd player and a amp or could you get a cd player with a decent one built in, I really am completely new to this section only previously using my pc. Also I would need some cheap (ish) speakers with it, hopefully would the £200 include this????? or is that being completely unreasonable?

Some info or suggestions would be much appreciated, as well as places in the UK to buy from or order online. Thanks in advance

David.


EDIT: would a good pc soundcard be better, could I directly plug decent headphones into this without an additional amp?

 

[hciman77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divad1 I want a cheap cd player which i can directly plug headphones into. or there possibly any I can plug into my pc so I can use my mp3's or not? hopefully £120-£200 ish probably sennheiser hd 595 or 600, something like that. Would I have to buy a cd player and a amp or could you get a cd player with a decent one built in, Also I would need some cheap (ish) speakers with it, hopefully would the £200 include this????? or is that being completely unreasonable? Some info or suggestions would be much appreciated, as well as places in the UK to buy from or order online. Thanks in advance David. EDIT: would a good pc soundcard be better, could I directly plug decent headphones into this without an additional amp?

Hello David - welcome to headFi - sorry about your wallet.

1) Some but not many CD players have headphone sockets, though frankly most of the headphone sockets on lower end CD players are considered pretty rank as they are an afterthought.

2) Most stand-alone CD players do not have additional inputs, you would probably want a cheap minisystem for that

3) £120 would get you the Marantz CD5400 or £200 would get you the Cambridge Audio 540C from Richer Sounds, both are supposed to be pretty respectable, try www.audioreview.com for reviews or just do a Google search with the name of a player and "review" another 50 quid would get you the Cambridge Audio 640C which is fairly highly thought of round here. There is a thread in the dedicated sources section on the CD5400.

4) The 595s and 600s are by all accounts very different beasts. I have the 580s which have the same drivers as the 600s - I like them but some consider them a bit polite for rock, the 595s are reputed to be much more upfront - do a search for opinions.

5) See 1. Even a cheap headphone amplifier should improve the performance of higher impedance headphones such as the 600s (most of the time) compared to a headphone socket or soundcard speaker out. For 30 quid you could get a cMoy headphone amplifier off ebay.

6) yes, sorry, for a decent pair of bookshelf speakers you are looking at about 50 quid even from Richer sounds, and of course you need an amplifier to drive them and that is another at least 80 quid.

7) Go down to your local library and see if they have any old HiFi mags or just browse a couple of issues in W.H.Smith.

I did a search on "online hifi UK" and found many shops. If you are prepared to take a trip to London there is always Tottenham court road.

If you are not too worried about having the last word in quality try www.richersounds.co.uk - very affordable stuff and frequent special deals.

8) Could not comment on that - a PC is a very noisy thing indeed, my soundcard is woeful, the output from a souncard is normally quite low so you may still need an amp anyway. Some good soundcards are supposed to be as good as CD players - though mine definitely isnt so I cannot proffer an opinion...

Good Luck


Jim

 

[Divad1]

Thank you very much for your help, I have a richer sounds where I live in cambridge so could try looking in their but I think its going to be a bit pricier than originally expected so may need to save a bit more beforee making the splash