[Shambla]

Hi there people, I’m currently thinking of upgrading my cd player and was wondering whether anyone may be able to offer a little advice. I currently use a Rotel RCD-02 which cost me just under £400 new about 4 years ago – this is then connected to the analogue inputs of my Corda Aria, which drives my HD600s. I can't find a particular area that the system sounds lacking in (except possibly soundstage and a slight lack of lower midrange/upper bass), but the sound as a whole doesn’t engage me quite as well as it might and I get the feeling that the cans and even the amp are capable of a lot more in most areas. I have no intention of replacing the HD600s any time soon as I like their overall sound and love the comfort – I often listen for hours on end so this is important to me. I am however thinking of getting a new amp around Christmas - most likely a Woo Audio WA6 as I am very keen to try a good tube amp - so this may be a factor.

Anyway, I was initially considering standalone cd players in the £600 - £700 range like the Quad CD-S (£650) and the Rega Apollo (£600), but have been reading up on the forums and wonder whether I might be better off getting an external DAC for similar money and then either using my existing player as a transport (it has optical and coax) or ripping all my music to lossless and using my macbook pro. Obviously without hearing at least a few of the possible CD players alongside one or more of the DACs it would be hard to say for certain, but am I right in thinking that the DAC would probably provide the better sound for the money?

The two main DACs I am currently looking at are the Stello DA100 and the benchmark DAC1 - I figure I can get the DA100 for about £400 shipped, which leaves me an extra £250 or so which is half way to a buying a Woo WA6 or a load of new music – the DAC1 on the other hand is very expensive in the UK at about £650 new, plus I am not really looking for an overly analytical sound and I have heard that this can be the case with the DAC1 in some setups. Assuming this is the most sensible route, does anyone have any other suggestions for possible DACs?

A couple of other things to bear in mind are that I do also use my setup for watching DVDs when at university so the DAC route would also improve sound with that, even if I continue using my old CD player as a transport. Also the DAC + laptop route would mean that I wouldn’t have to cart all my CDs to uni with me, even if it would mean ripping a few hundred albums again. I had considered upgrading the amp first, but assuming I go with the WA6, that would leave me with no way of connecting both my CD player and my laptop simultaneously like I can currently do with my Aria. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Herandu]

My personal feeling is not to discount trying another headphone as well. I now have a few different cans, with each one serving a different musical requirement. Getting a new CD player or DAC in order to solve the areas of the problems you noticed would be limiting yourself. What if it didn't make a difference??? My Denon HP1000 trashes my HD650 for bass and treble AND headroom. I would never have suspected the hD650 of such failings, had I not tried another set of cans against it myself.
Taking that a step further: I have 3 power amps, and they all sound different when used with the same sources.

 

[Jigglybootch]

I'd go with the DA100. Of course, I'm a bit biased...

 

[Shambla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif My personal feeling is not to discount trying another headphone as well. I now have a few different cans, with each one serving a different musical requirement. Getting a new CD player or DAC in order to solve the areas of the problems you noticed would be limiting yourself.

I have certainly not ruled this out and in fact it is something I will certainly do at some point, I just think that the source is a logical place to begin - that way any future headphones I try will hopefully be able to perform at their best and I also make the most of what I currently have. I have also had a pair of Grado SR-80s (admittedly not quite in the same price bracket as the HD600s) in the past and while I liked aspects of them, I much prefer the Senns in almost every respect. Plus also If I go the Stello DA100 route, the £250 or so I save compared to buying a CD player would even buy me a nice new pair of headphones.

 

[StevieDvd]

I'd suggest considering something like buying a DAC (DAC1 or Stello DA100) and a Squeezebox 3 (or similar) but in stages.

You could start off with the squeezebox and rip your CD's so you can use a laptop/pc as the server (or even buy a network standalone HD) this has analog and digital outs. If you like the sound you may not even buy the dac, but I guess most looking for the extra few percent in quality would do for a standalone dac too.

It really depends on how much you would appreciate the convenience of all CDs being on tap versus the arguably better CD player with one CD at a time for those quality moments.

 

[Shambla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by StevieDvd /img/forum/go_quote.gif It really depends on how much you would appreciate the convenience of all CDs being on tap versus the arguably better CD player with one CD at a time for those quality moments.

Thats the thing though - I imagine that a standalone DAC for similar or slightly less money to the CD players I am considering would possibly be better than the DAC component of the CDP (and surely its this rather than the transport component that is going to be the key factor that determines the sound quality of the source) and also provide me with the convenience that comes with a computer based system as an added benefit.

Edit: StevieDvd I notice from your sig that you have both the DA100 and the DAC1 - have you tried both with your HD650s (or even better a pair of HD600s) and if so, how do the two compare? Cheers

 

[Duggeh]

If you buy used you could get the Quad CDP-2 which functions as an external DAC with 6 inputs and is also a better standalone player than the CD-S. That way you can kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Shambla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you buy used you could get the Quad CDP-2 which functions as an external DAC with 6 inputs and is also a better standalone player than the CD-S. That way you can kill two birds with one stone.

Yeah I have been checking ebay for the last few weeks for either a used CD-S or a CD-P2 but haven't found one yet. The extra features would be well worth having if I can find one used, but I am not willing to pay the difference if I buy new.

 

[Duggeh]

I'm not willing to fork out £1000 for one new either, especially considering that the DAC is now several years old, although still a pretty good one. Prices on the used market are also hugely variable, like with most Quad gear.