Screw the CD Player.

[Chinchy]

You know, I was thinking about upgrading my CD player. Maybe something yummy like the Wadia, or maybe a Shanling...

But I decided to work from home today. And as I worked, I was listening to my CD player. But after the 5 CDs had played through, I thought, man, I wish I had my work rig. But then I thought, well, I have my home rig, so why the heck not... I haven't hooked it up to the computer in a while.

Computer's on one side of the room. Music rig's on the other. I updated my Chaintech AV-710 to the latest 5.00b drivers. Snaked a dinky 20 ft Radio Shack extension cable 1/8" M to 1/8" F. Slapped on a 1/8" to RCA condom. Connected my Grado Signature series RCAs to my modded Melos SHA-1. Twiddled with the Chaintech settings. Got no sound, twiddled again. Wrestled with Foobar and Via AudioDeck. Finally figured out that I was plugged into the wrong plug (Surr Out vs Back Surr. DUH!) and was treated to glorious sound.

So as I sit here, scrolling through my music list, changing music at will without having to get up and change CD's, I think... Screw the CD player upgrade. This sounds just glorious!

 

[RockinOut]

LOL, Enjoyed your post and experience. Yeah, changing CDs can be a hassle.

Gotta love any post with "RCA condom"

LOL

Man I love this place, especially when I'm bored with time to kill.

 

[RockinOut]

Just read your sig

LOL, LOL,

I love techies so they can help me get the most out of understanding my rig,

but Head-Fiers of words make me laugh and keep me thoroughly amused.

LOL

 

[ComfyCan]

Amusing post, and true. The only time I use a cd player now that I burned everything lossless is for SACDs. The Sony/Phillips Nazis have made SACD playback on a computer impossible (which, along with other absurd marketing practices will ultimately kill the format in all probability).

I also use it on occasion when I'm ripping cd's, which has been a lot recently. I ripped about 120 this week. It sucked, but now I've got a nice, legal, lossless music collection completely tagged. Very handy indeed.

 

[Aman]

I guess you're not a fan of just LISTENING.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockinOut LOL, Enjoyed your post and experience. Yeah, changing CDs can be a hassle. Gotta love any post with "RCA condom" LOL Man I love this place, especially when I'm bored with time to kill.

I think that what indeed is a big hasle is to trasnfer a whole collection of CDs into your hard drive, how many hours will take me to transfer 1200 CDs....

 

[Uncle Erik]

Sovkiller- it'll take awhile to rip 1,200 CDs. There are a few options, though. You can send them to a commercial ripping service, and they will send you back DVDs with your CDs ripped onto them. It's a little pricey (in my opinion), but the fastest way to do it.

I've ripped probably about 400 by now. I stopped worrying about the time. Every time I sit down to surf the Internet and listen to headphones, I rip 4-5 discs. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Just keep at it and eventually, you'll have them all ripped. Back it up, and put your CDs in storage. It's worth the effort.

And Chinchy is right- computer-as-source is the way to go. I've enjoyed my music collection so much more now that I don't have to hunt for discs or swap them in and out of a drive. I just cue a playlist or album and let it go.

 

[xantus]

ehh computer as source only works well if you can hide it in a closet.

every night for a week I compared my iriver optical out to my marantz CD player, and at the end of the week... I wasn't changing cd's anymore.

things are only going to get more digital. physical formats are a dying breed...

 

[Zorander]

I was originally thinking of buying a Cyrus CD8 player to match up with my Cyrus 8 amp. Never got around to doing it for much the same reason.







[size=xx-small]A DAC-X is in the plan though

[/size]

 

[mattigol]

I guess turntables aren't on your horizon then

... I actually like getting up midway through an LP and flipping it over. It's more of an active listening experience @ home. OTOH, I do love my iPod and KSC35 for the road.

 

[Alu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik And Chinchy is right- computer-as-source is the way to go. I've enjoyed my music collection so much more now that I don't have to hunt for discs or swap them in and out of a drive. I just cue a playlist or album and let it go.

The opposite is the case for me. I enjoy my music a lot more when I put in the cd into the player, and just listen to the whole album.

 

[Chinchy]

My thoughts:

There are some albums for which I am not a fan of the whole album. Sometimes there's only 1 song I like on the album. In that case, I feel it's a waste of my 5 disc carousel to keep it there just for that one song, and I also feel it's a waste not being able to listen to it because I really like the one song. It's such a conundrum. Having it on my hard disk solves that problem. Whee! click click.

And nope, I'm not a fan of "Just Listening." I'm so ADD that I can't sit there and just listen to the music, except if I'm sleeping. But then that defeats the purpose. In general I'm always listening to the music while doing something else. And in that case, listening to the music is what's important, mostly because it alleviates the ADD tendency by giving my dysfunctional brain the task of processing the music while my cognitive brain processes the work. Makes me more productive. Interrupting my work to get up and change the CD throws it off whack. Cuz while I'm up changing the CD, I will often get a sudden urge to go off and watch TV or get something to eat and watch TV. Nope, definitely clickity click is the way to go.

And actually, I have been wanting to try out a turntable. It's just too much to think about trying to get a good TT, and then a good stylus, and then a good cartridge, and then a good phono stage, and then having to clean the records.. But I've often fantasized about a TT.

Seriously though, I really get annoyed in the car. I mean I have a Slappa case full of 40 CDs. And only a 6 CD disc changer. Swapping all 6 cd's is SUCH a chore... It really does get me annoyed. And then having to do that while driving? Potentially dangerous. But then again, yeah, I'm a total moron, because sometimes I respond to emails on my Blackberry while driving. A stickshift.

Feel free to flame me for my levels of obtusity. I know I'm in the wrong. For Blackberrying while driving I mean.

 

[MdRex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman I guess you're not a fan of just LISTENING.

More like not a fan of rummaging thru CDs...

 

[Sovkiller]

The other thing is that you do not have the hi-res formats in your PC, not a bg deal as we all know how limited is the selection of those, so there is still some limitations

And my personal opinon, according to my limited experience, sorry but I have not heard any PC/soundcard system that will sound like my standalone system, and the only advantage I see is the elimination of the jitter, but other than that....I still prefer the standalone CDplayers....I know that some will argue saying that they use an external DAC and blah blah blah, that will beat any standalone CD player....well in that case I could do the same right, the same external DAC, and will get the same result.....more or less....Still the ripping hassle is a big problem for me...

Also PCs make a lot more noise, physically talking, my antec fans on the PC, are heard all along the room, and I ahve 4 of them on it, I have not heard a completelly silent yet, yes you can place them in a nother room or closet aslo, but anyway.....

 

[NightWoundsTime]

I'm with you right now. After alternating over the last few months between my Cyrus CD6 and my turntable, having the Aria here with lots of music on my computer is refreshing. So much music that I love is on here that I just don't bother pulling the cd out for. Not to mention EQ's and other cheap fixes for the albums I really want to hear but didn't sound good before.