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CD and DAC upgrade?

Methinks you could have done that for much less, of course the denafrips has a nice marketing angle to spin...
 
Jason P said:
Agree with Mike, it's a shame to have a classic TDA1541 equipped player and bypass the DAC. Try that first!
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OK. I’ve just tried a “taste test” with and without the Aragon D2A. (Amazed I’ve never done this before!) I used an old Jazz at the Pawnshop CD which I find is really good quality.
It’s not that obvious, but it sounded better through the Aragon DAC. I was specifically listening out for the double bass plucks for example and these were clearer and I could hear the fingers on the strings whereas using the CD80 analogue output straight into the pre-amp I couldn’t hear that.
Also realised I hadn’t played that CD for a long time and it sounded awesome. So maybe I’ll just leave the set up alone as it is...haha
 
Fair enough then, I guess that's a positive result. It was certainly worth a try.

Bear in mind though that your CD80 is unlikely to be giving its best still after 30 years of use without an overhaul.

You should get a fairly decent amount of wedge for a CD80 on ebay which you could spend on something else. Just a thought...
 
Mike P said:
Fair enough then, I guess that's a positive result. It was certainly worth a try.

Bear in mind though that your CD80 is unlikely to be giving its best still after 30 years of use without an overhaul.

You should get a fairly decent amount of wedge for a CD80 on ebay which you could spend on something else. Just a thought...
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Yes, definitely worth a try. I’ve got the CD80 analogue output coming into the Aux on the pre amp now so I can (and will) do this comparison again on different CDs just to check.
Back to vinyl tonight though - bliss - nothing touches that sound
 
I had the same conundrum back in the 90/00s. CDs sounded contrived compared to vinyl. Whenever possible, I'd look for a vinyl copy of an album I wanted instead of CD. During that period, when vinyl sales dipped to its all time low, new LP releases were few and far in-between. Even a Naim CDS2 - which cost me a small fortune - could not give me the same illusion of music as my venerable LP12.

It wasn't until I bought a Densen B-400XS that I stopped worrying about the analogue/digital divide. To my ears, CD-sourced music now sounded natural and organic; almost vinyl-like. I stopped buying new LPs over CD releases, unless I really wanted the vinyl copy for other reasons. The 400XS gave me almost 15 years of musical bliss before its transport gave out. Apparently original Sony KSS-213C became extinct around the same time. I still have the 400XS in the loft awaiting a transplant donor.

In the meantime, a Densen B-440XS is on CD duty, and what a fine job it does too.
 
James said:
I had the same conundrum back in the 90/00s. CDs sounded contrived compared to vinyl. Whenever possible, I'd look for a vinyl copy of an album I wanted instead of CD. During that period, when vinyl sales dipped to its all time low, new LP releases were few and far in-between. Even a Naim CDS2 - which cost me a small fortune - could not give me the same illusion of music as my venerable LP12.

It wasn't until I bought a Densen B-400XS that I stopped worrying about the analogue/digital divide. To my ears, CD-sourced music now sounded natural and organic; almost vinyl-like. I stopped buying new LPs over CD releases, unless I really wanted the vinyl copy for other reasons. The 400XS gave me almost 15 years of musical bliss before its transport gave out. Apparently original Sony KSS-213C became extinct around the same time. I still have the 400XS in the loft awaiting a transplant donor.

In the meantime, a Densen B-440XS is on CD duty, and what a fine job it does too.
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The KSS-213c is cheap as chips and very easy to source.
 
I’m not familiar with the OP’s current DAC so don’t know if it constitutes an upgrade, but as a vinyl listener by preference I found a Chord Hugo made digital sources interesting for me. The downside is that I am now physically incapable of passing a charity shop or branch of CEX without going in to search for cheap CDs.
 
MotelBlues said:
I’m not familiar with the OP’s current DAC so don’t know if it constitutes an upgrade, but as a vinyl listener by preference I found a Chord Hugo made digital sources interesting for me. The downside is that I am now physically incapable of passing a charity shop or branch of CEX without going in to search for cheap CDs.
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Which model exactly? Appear to be several... They range from £560 to £3,650 on eBay!
 
FWIW a Densen 400XS took the place of my CDS2 as well. A decision I was more than happy with. When my Densen was ‘lost’ by a courier, I was surprised to soon learn that a Cambridge CDX/Chord 2Qute probably sounded better.
 
Well I run a modded 12" Kuzma, Benz l.p., paradise as my vinyl setup, which isn't exactly kiddo, and my digital matches it for 1/3 of the cost of the denafrips. There's plenty of great digital out there at sub 1.5k, no need to spend more to achieve great sound IME.
 
Mike P said:
The KSS-213c is cheap as chips and very easy to source.
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Yes, they are all Chinese clones. Just like the vintage Sanken 2SA744 and 2SC1116 transistors that can be bought in any quantity you like. Except they are fakes. Maybe the clone 213C will do a passable job.
 
I've been very happy with my Teac DAC. UD-301 but I think the current range is UD-501 or UD-503. Better sound than I've ever had from a CD player.

Tim
 
@ heckyman, I used a rpi based dac stack from iancanada, it sounds like my vinyl setup, but I think they meet in the middle rather than it being an analogue sounding dac or my digital sounding vinyl.

The better they both get the closer they sound.
 
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