How good a cd player do I need?

[Enfield boy]

For years I never heard one I liked but the unavailability of vinyl forced me to buy one. I listened to many and eventually bought a Micromega stage 4 which sounded better (to me) than a Rega of the time and slightly different to but as enjoyable as a low end Naim player that was about 40% dearer.
When it packed up I bought an old Marantz CD63 mk2 KI sig that I used as a transport with my nDac and 555ps.
Recently I bought a used Rotel RCD 965bx that I use as a transport and it's so much better than the Marantz. So much for "bits are bits." It's got me thinking is there any point spending more on a dedicated transport now they're all plastic and is there any point in spending more as the dac part is all done by my Naim gear.

 

[Del monaco]

The Rotel is good on its own as well.

 

[Enfield boy]

Yes, it's mostly your fault I bought it! But thanks, it's so good through the nDac I really wonder if there's much point in spending loads more.

 

[George J]

I use a £20 LG USB drive on my Mac Mini [using iTunes] to occasionally play a loaned CD. Its good, but not exalted in quality. To get exalted quality, let iTunes rip the CD and play the rip a minute or two later. In my house the dedicated CD player left fifteen years ago. It was a CDS II. Very nice player, which fortunately I sold before it had lost most of its value. iTunes is in every department [using a rip] on the MAC just as pleasing.

CD players are only useful so long as a replacement transport can be had. No doubt that LG [or twenty other companies] will make functional CD/DVD/Blu-ray USB drives for the foreseeable future ...

Best wishes from George

 

[kensalriser]

I have a late model Naim HDX that sounds absolutely fine, but really only a hair’s breadth better than my old recently recapped Arcam A5. Diminishing returns and all that...

 

[Enfield boy]

Thanks both, I felt diminishing returns would come into play here but I was surprised at how much better one inexpensive but well thought of cd player could sound than another that was slightly dearer, especially when they were both used just as transports.
I also use a Mac (iTunes rips via audirvana) via a DDC into the dac and it used to sound better than cd but the fact that my favourite DDC is no more and the latest cdp is better has reversed my preference. I have never knowingly dared to listen to a CDS2/3/555 especially now I'm retired!

Steve

 

[Darfy]

I have an Ndac 555. Transport makes a big difference. Rega didnt sync. New Rotel CD14 was better. Now using a Meridian 200 which isnt far off my streamer. Defo if playing cds get a proper transport

 

[Mr Pig]

It's got me thinking is there any point spending more on a dedicated transport now they're all plastic and is there any point in spending more as the dac part is all done by my Naim gear.

I was quite supersized to find that transports don't all sound the same. I am currently using a Rega Saturn-R as a transport because I haven't tried anything which sounded better. Old players with Philips swing-arm transports also work very well and are cheap to buy but are getting to an age where reliability is questionable.

I fitted a Mana 'Clamp' to the Saturn a while ago and was not at all prepared for the sonic improvement. I didn't expect it to do anything at all to be honest and still have no idea how it can when the Saturn is only firing out a stream of data.

Certainly seems to be more going on with transports, and digital sound in general, than you might think.

 

[Vinny]

Not much at all to do with "how good". Far more to do with what "floats my boat".
i listened to a very few and settled on Densen. Sounded/sounds a lot like my analogue - so sounds good to me

 

[gustavm]

I was quite supersized to find that transports don't all sound the same. I am currently using a Rega Saturn-R as a transport because I haven't tried anything which sounded better. Old players with Philips swing-arm transports also work very well and are cheap to buy but are getting to an age where reliability is questionable.

I fitted a Mana 'Clamp' to the Saturn a while ago and was not at all prepared for the sonic improvement. I didn't expect it to do anything at all to be honest and still have no idea how it can when the Saturn is only firing out a stream of data.

Certainly seems to be more going on with transports, and digital sound in general, than you might think.

When feeding a CD transport into a DAC, the transport provides the timing information, so not just the bit values. Unlike from a streamer to a DAC with asynchronous USB input, where the useful information is only the bit values.

 

[sq225917]

That depends entirely on the dac. Any resampling/ upsampling/ asynchronous dac will bin the incoming clock from spdif/toslink and reclock the bits out of a buffer/ decent size FIFO. A few hundred kb usually suffices.

If its an ess or akm dac it's reclocked, older bitstream design or early delta sigma probably not

 

[gustavm]

That depends entirely on the dac. Any resampling/ upsampling/ asynchronous dac will bin the incoming clock from spdif/toslink and reclock the bits out of a buffer/ decent size FIFO. A few hundred kb usually suffices.

OK - yes, re-clocking from a FIFO buffer but surely the local oscillator likely to be a VXCO or similar within a phase-locked loop, which locks onto the timing signal from the transport. (How else to deal with possible small variations in clock-frequency on the transport, which is running "open-loop" ?) So a decent VXCO & oscillator design will probably for practical purposes remove most of the jitter from the transport, but not below the PLL cut-off frequency. Usually a better (lower-noise) oscillator allows a lower cut-off frequency.

 

[Cav]

I have used a transport/DAC system for years. I have experimented with transports of varying designs and prices and have found no difference whatsoever.

 

[Mr Pig]

I have used a transport/DAC system for years. I have experimented with transports of varying designs and prices and have found no difference whatsoever.

It possibly depends on the type of DAC/Transport and how they interact or maybe your perception of these things is not very good.

 

[Cav]

It possibly depends on the type of DAC/Transport and how they interact or maybe your perception of these things is not very good.

It certainly means I hear what I hear. Why try to deny my personal experience with snide comments about my system or my ears about which you have zero knowledge?

 

[Mr Pig]

Why try to deny my personal experience with snide comments about my system or my ears about which you have zero knowledge?

Only raising the genuine possibility.

 

[Big Tabs]

It took me a lot of pondering to make the decision to buy a new c.d. player recently. We have plenty of c.d’s we like, but haven’t ever been blown away by c.d. sound. Records have always sounded better.
Had the Roksan Blak on trial for a few days at home. Both of us recognised the improvement pretty much straight away. Had it for a couple of months now and it continues to please.
Before hearing the difference, we scoffed at the idea that there was much to be gained in playback pleasure from a c.d. player. Now it is 50/50 choice of what format I use as they both sound very nice.

‘How Good A C.D. Player do I Need?’

I don’t know about need, but I would want a c.d. player that gives your ears a good time.

Try loads, one will jump out at you compared to the rest, get that one.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I did a lot of box swapping myself with CD players, transports and DAC...........

To me, there are two options only :

1: You go with a very good CD player that sounds great to your taste, that’s well designed and robust/no thin plastic drawer. For me, a CD player from Naim fits that description.

2: You go with an affordable transport or a CD player used as a transport and use an good sounding external DAC with it. A Marantz CD 6006 and a modified Chinese DAC does it for me. Many other combinations will do as well.

And although I am a big fan of Naim gears, there is really no major difference in sound between the two options mentioned above. The Naim will last a lifetime, probably not the Marantz but both are priced accordingly.

If you really need a better sound, you will have to pay a lot and the difference might be subtle. And if I was to pay silly money for this nec plus ultra CD transport or player, the drawer wouldn’t be a thin plastic one !

 

[Cav]

Only raising the genuine possibility.

Why?

Who would benefit from your dissing my experience, my system, or my ears?

 

[Mr Pig]

Who would benefit from your dissing my experience, my system, or my ears?

I'm saying it's a possible explanation as you why all transports sound the same to you. We don't all hear the same things in the same way. Because you can't hear any difference doesn't mean there isn't one. Or maybe they all sound the same through your specific DAC, which again doesn't necessarily mean that's true of all transports and all DACs.