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+--- Thread: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought (/Thread-CD-Player-vs-CD-Transport-Advice-Sought)
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CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Damon - 15-Apr-2020
I rarely start threads but I'm doing so now just to quickly request advice from the many knowledgeable members here. I've started thin the Streaming thread, as there is nothing that seemed better to accommodate a CD player discussion. I suspect that means I am way behind the technological times.
We have a modest CD collection, some of which is not available on streaming services, at least those on my subscription list. So, along with the VPI turntable to play vinyl that is embarrassing and obscure, I'm thinking of a CD player. Or, a CD transport.
My assumption is that I can buy a CD transport, which will have a digital output, and the DAC in my 220 Pro CI will do the digital conversion. Is that correct? I am assuming that I will get a CD thing that has digital outputs.
Do my friends here have an option as to whether or not a CD 'player' should be avoided, or is that not an issue?
I would probably lean towards a Naim player, but I see a few Cambridge transports around my end of the world. Ayre? Audio Note? I have no idea. I've seen some tube CD players listed for sale; sounds fun but I wonder why a fully digital thing would have tubes in it... remember that I know diddly-squat about this stuff.
I don't want to spend a fortune. I'm thinking sub $$1,000.00 CDN and used is fine. Sound quality matters, but my audiophile ceiling is fairly low.
Anyhow, if I could get guidance on the 'player' vs 'transport' question, that would be great.
Thanks to all, and stay home for just a little while longer.
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Jean-Marie - 15-Apr-2020
Yes a transport will be better with the Devialet since it will feed directly the DAC of the amplifier CD -> Transport -> DAC (Devialet)] instead of going [CD -> Transport (Player) -> DAC (Player) -> ADC (Devialet) -> DAC (Devialet)]
Have you considered an even cheaper alternative, which is the one I use personally, which is to by a CD/DVD player on your computer (maybe you have one already), RIP your CDs and use your computer as the source.
Jean-Marie
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - David A - 15-Apr-2020
I second what @Jean-Marie has said.
I can't see a point to using the analog outputs of a CD player and having the Devialet convert that back to digital and then back to analog again. It's simply best to eliminate the digital to analog conversion in the player and the subsequent analog to digital conversion in the Devialet and just to feed a digital signal from the CD player if it has digital outputs, or from a transport, straight to the Devialet. When it comes to a player with digital outputs vs a transport, I'd opt for a transport at the same price as the player because with the transport you aren't paying for a digital to analog converter and analog output stage that you aren't going to use. Hopefully for the same price you can get a better quality transport than a player or you might be able to save money and get an equivalent quality digital output from a transport for less than the price of whatever CD player you're looking at.
I don't know what Canadian prices are like but BlueSound which I think is a Canadian company make the Vault 2I, a server/NAS drive with a CD drive for ripping and a 2 TB hard drive with similar digital outs to a CD Player/transport and control via an Android or iOS app. It can also connect with most streaming services and it also has Bluetooth connectivity and hopefully Bluetooth will be included when we get our next firmware update from Devialet because they listed Bluetooth as an outstanding item in the release notes for our last update in February last year. That could offer you an alternative way into streaming than @Jean-Marie's suggestion of ripping to your computer and using the computer as a source.
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Confused - 15-Apr-2020
Damon - In a way I am with you on this one. I have always had a CD player of some kind connected to my Devialet, and on occasion it is nice just to slide in a disc and listen. I sometimes borrow CD's, and have a habit of buying second hand CD's, very often these will have their first play on arrival as a physical disc, prior to being ripped. Perhaps only an emotional thing, but there is something a little nicer about playing a physical disc.
That said, Jean-Marie makes a good point ripping your existing CD's is probably the sensible choice. With regard to CD Player versus CD transport, some of us have been crawling over the various Devialet measurements that have been posted elsewhere. One thing these measurements appear to show is that the Devialet performs best via the S/PDIF input. OK - measurements are not everything, but my ears also tell me that very good results can be achieved with a CD player feeding the Devialet via S/PDIF.
For a long time I used an old Musical Fidelity CD player with my Devialet. This was not a transport, but did sound best via digital out. I have also tried my previous Blu-ray player, a Pioneer BDP-450, via digital out. To me this sounded nowhere near as good as the very much older Musical Fidelity CD player.
Over on my streaming thread, I have previously posted about the surprisingly good results that I got with a second hand Arcam BDP300. This is something that cost me £200 via Ebay, and feeding my Mutec MC3+USB, it actually performed just as well as the highly regarded sMS-200ultra Neo and tX-USBultra combination. When I tried the Arcam direct to the Devialet via S/PDIF, this too sounded excellent. A dedicated CD player should of course be even better than a "universal disc player" / Blu-ray player. That said, I did try the Arcam in a head to head with the much older Musical Fidelity dedicated CD player and the Arcam was best, so technology moves on and things get better. So even though this is digital feed only, the quality of the source does seem to matter.
So with more modern kit, I would say that very good results can be achieved for not much money. If spent wisely, your budget of $1000 CDN second hand could indeed get you something that would perform very well indeed.
A link to my streaming thread below. There are a few posts from here that mention the surprisingly good results I got from my cheap and cheerful "universal disc player".
https://devialetchat.com/Thread-A-Confused-streaming-system-Mutec-SOtM-Ultra?pid=86107#pid86107
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - thumb5 - 15-Apr-2020
As always, great advice from @Jean-Marie and @Confused. On a practical point, I'd be a little wary of buying something exotic and/or used (which might otherwise be very appealing!) as the laser diodes used in these things have a finite lifetime and can be difficult and expensive to replace.
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Confused - 15-Apr-2020
I think you can combine @thumb5 's words of caution with my relevant, although admittedly limited, experience.
Consider that I find that a maybe 7 year old Blu-ray / CD player sounds rather better than a 20 year old dedicated CD Player. OK - A Musical Fidelity CD player is not quite in the "Exotic" category, but the modern equivalent of mine is probably about £2200 today, and this is beaten by a more modern non-dedicated CD player that would cost less than half that new.
You mention Cambridge Audio - A modern Cambridge Audio player is highly likely to be much better than my Arcam Blu-ray player, and could fall within your budget new.
So taking all this together, if you go second hand, I would aim to get something reasonably new. I think the progress of technology (modern clock are better etc.) is likely to beat the appeal of the older "exotic", even if the older exotic might look nice on the shelf. On top of this you have the risk of performance degradation for the reasons Thumb5 mentioned.
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Snoopy8 - 15-Apr-2020
I gave up on CD players a long time ago and ripped all my CDs to my NAS. However, there are people who still prefer using CDs and they mention that Cambridge Audio CXC punches way above its price.
CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - disarmamant - 15-Apr-2020
(15-Apr-2020, 12:24)Snoopy8 Wrote: Cambridge Audio CXC punches way above its price.
The Cambridge CXC is a CD transport only, no analogue outputs. I use one of these into the digital input of my 440 Pro.
Sounds superb to my ears.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - Damon - 15-Apr-2020
(15-Apr-2020, 08:56)thumb5 Wrote: As always, great advice from @Jean-Marie and @Confused. On a practical point, I'd be a little wary of buying something exotic and/or used (which might otherwise be very appealing!) as the laser diodes used in these things have a finite lifetime and can be difficult and expensive to replace.
As always, great advice from all of you! Seriously, excellent contributions from all above and I thank you for your time and comments. You (plural) have spoiled this community into expecting the best of support and participation, and you did not disappoint. You answered my question and gave much more information to consider.
The older players or transports may be closer to the end of their lifespan, and technology does move on, and filter down into lower priced components. Actually, I was hoping to be under $500.00 can used, and for a relatively recent product.
We have ripped some of our discs and I'm restoring them onto an iMac, which is now on OSX Catalina. That will stream via the modified Sonos connect, so the lack of Dev AIR is not a heartbreaker. We do often stream from Deezer Hi Fi music which we have ripped, so we're pretty lazy that way. The Bluesound Vault is also something to consider. I too like to buy used CD's and I have not found any good streaming service for Classical music.
I guess that like the turntable, it is for music that we don't play very often and is not on streaming services. And I have to admit that we rarely sit and just listen to music, so I'm already way over-invested in gear for the time I spend with it. At least lately. I just retired in February and I thought I'd have nothing but endless days to indulge all my interests. I just don't know where the hours and days go. But alas.
BTW, I meant to end my post with a 'let's all stay home a little longer and be safe' comment. It wasn't supposed to be an imperative, but more of a collective supportive sentiment.
I'll do a bit more snooping for NAS items and CD transports, and maybe go through the disc and vinyl boxes and see what is worth keeping and what becomes second-hand treasure for others.
RE: CD Player vs CD Transport Advice Sought - alandbush - 15-Apr-2020
(15-Apr-2020, 16:37)Damon Wrote: ... and I have not found any good streaming service for Classical music.
OT - but have you tried Idagio?
A free version is available that allows the streaming of classical music in a radio style seeded by your initial choice of album, composer or mood.