[plonter]

can i use my cd-rom drive in the pc like a cd player..?
i got a ultra micro dac on its way and i wanted to know if i can listen to cds through the cd rom while connecting through usb port to the dac.
just like i would with a seperate cd player?

 

[krmathis]

You sure can!
Most media player support CD audio playback as well, in addition to local files.

 

[apatN]

I don't know for your drive but mine makes a lot of noise whenever it is reading or writing. Can't recommend it. I would rip them al to flac.

 

[plonter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif You sure can! Most media player support CD audio playback as well, in addition to local files.

i am having a hard time to decide what would be my transport device.
if a pc dvd-rom can use as a transport so why isnt everybody doing this and saving a lot of money..insted of buying a seperate independent transports and cd players..?
to tell you the truth..i cant figure this out and all the threads i read only confuses me more. i have a very decent(to say the least)dac on its way and my only problem is to decide of the best ,pure digital signal to feed it!
there only two options for me:
1. connect it to the usb port on my pc and listen to media files(lossless ofcourse)or play cds in the cd-rom.
2.to buy a high quality cd player (or transport only)and play my cds from that.(through the optical/coax outputs)
now...you probably ask, why not go for the first option...?
i mean...its the most flexible (the computer can play anything!) and the signal is totally DIGITAL, the onboard soundcard is bypassed totally.
am i right...?
but than i found out about the asio4all plugin which made me realise that the default sound platform of the computer is not perfect!
and tell you the truth...i am kind of lazy and dont wanna get into all the settings changes and i also dont like to install too much plugins and softwares in my pc.
so than i return to the old fashioned cd player. (ofcourse the new ones is considered very good)
so after all the headache i gave you..(at least the ones that read this post

) i would apreciate if you can help me decide on the right source for me, and i dont wanna compromise on sound quality, if the best way to get the "ideal purity" would be to go with the computer set up i will be ready to go in that direction.
i would be also glad to hear about what most of you use as a transport.
thx

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plonter /img/forum/go_quote.gif i am having a hard time to decide what would be my transport device. if a pc dvd-rom can use as a transport so why isnt everybody doing this and saving a lot of money..insted of buying a seperate independent transports and cd players..?

Several possible reasons:
* Standalone (no computer needed).
* Noise. Computer CD drives spin fast while reading, and hence make noise.
* Sound quality. Computers can be great transports, but require some thinking.
* All in-one-unit. A computer "need" an external DAC to compete on sound quality.
* No need to select playback software, drivers, ...
* ...


I prefer computer as transport myself, but only play back local files. No CD's...

 

[olblueyez]

Why use your CD as a transport whe nyou could use your harddrive?

 

[Duggeh]

Using an optical drive as a transport, without a PC, would not be too difficult providing that the drive has a 2 pin digital audio output socket, this can be wired up to an RCA or BNC plug as an SPDIF connection. You then connect this to your DAC.

The problems are mainly:

Power: The drive wants a molex connection for its power, so unless you have a PSU sitting beside the drive (noisy indeed) youll have to bodge some other solution.

Control: Most drives simply have eject. A few have a pause/skip to next track button. None have a comprehensive set of controls except the (now very) old Creative CD drives with the IR remote.

Best to just get a cheap CD player proper, or use the optical drive to rip the CDs to your computer.

 

[plonter]

you are right...i can use my hard drive and play flac and apple lossless with it.
and i installed asio4all today with foobar2000.
the reason i wanted to use my cd rom as a transport is because i ripped all my cd collection to apple lossless,cause until now i used my ipod as my main source,and i didnt wanted to rerip it all again to flac or wave.
see,i wanted to use foobar2000 with asio4all plugin, and i thought it doesnt support apple format, but today i discovered that he can! so it will be ok for me to stay with the apple lossless format.

 

[plonter]

tell me...what is your settings in the windows volume panel(mixer)to use with an outside dac..? should everything be on max including the players volume?

 

[olblueyez]

Yeah, max volume across the board.

 

[plonter]

thx..

 

[Freshdaemon]

On the subject of drive noise, there are programs you can use to force the drive to spin at a slower speed. It only needs to spin at 1x to play an audio CD.

Try Nero Drivespeed, it's free.

 

[Freshdaemon]

Also interestingly, if you pull a budget (or even some mid-range) CD-player apart, you'll often find a 12v DC power supply, a circuit board with a DAC, and a common-or-garden computer CD-ROM transport.