[katsudon1]

Um¡K after reading so many threads about the legendary PCDPs such as Z555, 777, 900. I wonder how they compare against moderm day standalone CDPs? Will they sound better than low-end gears (less than USD200). Any thoughts?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well some nut at Stereophile said that the Optimus 3400 could beat players up to $1k...

 

[ian]

I have the 555 and 777 and both sound _FAR_ better than anything you can buy in the store today (I'm talking headphone output). The difference is utterly discusting in most cases (I've tried virtually every PCDP at Fry's Electronics - Talk about abusing their return policy!). Now, for the line out, thats a different story....and I haven't dont enough testing to comment there.
EDIT: I'm dumb, and I can't read. I'm talking portable units here. Haven't auditioned any low end CD players, so I can't help you much. Oops.

 

[blr]

Basically, my experience is that even cheap CDP (not portable) sound better than any portable.
I have one such cheapie Technics SL-PG490, which i can strongly recommend. Paid about 100 USD for it about 2 years back.
Even though it doesn't sound as good as my other CDP (Marantz CD6000OSE) it is more than OK for every mid-fi system. It sounds better than both old and new new PCDP I have through the line out and way better through its own headout.
If you don't use CDs on the go, this is the way IMO. It also comes with an amazing list of features for the price, including peak search (good for recording), remote, digital out etc.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by katsudon1 Um¡K after reading so many threads about the legendary PCDPs such as Z555, 777, 900. I wonder how they compare against moderm day standalone CDPs? Will they sound better than low-end gears (less than USD200). Any thoughts?

Any good component CD player will sound better than even the best portable. I say this as someone who's owned two of the famous Optimus 3400

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs Well some nut at Stereophile said that the Optimus 3400 could beat players up to $1k...

He said that with respect to the digital-out jack on the 3400. Lots of people felt that the digital-out jack on the 3400, when driven from a battery pack, provided a better digital signal than many component CD players at the time (1994). And I have to agree that the 3400 was pretty incredible as far as portables go--I have yet to hear one that sounded better. That said, a good modern $250-$300 CD player will sound much better.

 

[zowie]

Other Stereophile writers disagreed with the $1k comparison, finding only that the Optimus 3400 is a very good portable.

I replaced an 80s mid-level CDP with the Optimus 3400 initially just using its line out. The Optimus was clearly better. Later I added a DITB and good another big improvement.

Now I have a SONY ES CDP, about 5 yrs old, and its clearly better than the Optimus + DITB combo, also better than my D-303 line out, plus it has remote and advanced features.
So I'd have to say that only the junkiest CDPs are not better than the best of the portables.

 

[katsudon1]

Thanks you all for the inputs. Seems like everyone sort of agree that PCDP regardless of the cost is no fight with a delicated standalone CDP (even the low-end ones). Well I was just kind of curious after reading so many opinions on good PCDPs.

 

[andrzejpw]

wait, did the optimus have a coax or optical out?

 

[ronzoni]

My 3400 has a Radio Shack version of a coax out. It is via a mini jack not an RCA jack and definately not optical.

 

[zowie]

Minijack sized coax.

Optical wasn't as widely used back then.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by ronzoni My 3400 has a Radio Shack version of a coax out. It is via a mini jack not an RCA jack and definately not optical.

ronzoni, you're 100% right. I'm so used to working with my MiniDisc recorders that I wrote "optical" instead of "digital"

Thanks for catching that.

 

[blr]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF ronzoni, you're 100% right. I'm so used to working with my MiniDisc recorders that I wrote "optical" instead of "digital" Thanks for catching that.

Or, rather, you should have written electrical (or coaxial) instead of optical. Both are digital outs.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by blr Or, rather, you should have written electrical (or coaxial) instead of optical. Both are digital outs.

Well, yeah