Big source improvement using CD player


I borrowed a friend's esoteric dv50s CD player.  I could not believe the difference between it and streaming Spotify premium.  I am now in the market for a CD player.  One thing, the esoteric does not play DVD-R.  Can anyone recommend a comparable CD player in the used market that does? I'm looking in the $800 - $1500 range.  
puffbojie
It may be too far down in this thread for this to be read by the original poster. Hoping that is not the case.

I am going to answer the actual question that you asked and address it. You will have astonishing results doing what you have asked about but it must be done in a particular way. For playback you will need a used DVD Audio format capable player. Many of these are also capable of playing SACDs. The key thing is that you will need to rip your CDs to a "music DVD" using either Roxio Titanium Toast on an Apple notebook or Roxio NXT Creator 5 or higher. They must first be converted to WMA files by the software and then burned to a "music DVD. You don’t need to buy the latest version of these programs and can find new lower versions of either of these on that auction site at lower prices.

I would suggest starting with a relatively cheap used DVD Audio capable player and then invest more if you really love what you are experiencing to get an even higher quality reading of the music DVDs. Some of the players I would look for are Denon, Integra, Pioneer Elite, or Marantz. Once you have recorded your "music DVDs" you will find that getting them to play is a little quirky. I have found that pressing stop twice on your remote control will cause any player that I have of this type to begin to be able to read the music DVD and play it.

I will be surprised if you do not have an exceptional result. Please feel free to contact me off the posting board if you have any specific questions. Have fun!

If there is buffering and reclocking after the mechanism, then a $20 mechanism is going to do just fine. Uncorrectable bit error rate is very low to 0 on CDs without substantial scratches, even with a cheap transport.
georgehifi7,194 posts06-05-2020 5:00pm
Bryston BOT-1
Sorry, but that thing just uses a cheap $20 slot load media disk spinner, like this.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TS-632A-GATEWAY-M-SERIES-SLOT-LOAD-DVD-RAM-DVDRW-DRIVE-TS-632A-GRADE-A-/264547058626?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

Try going back to a real CD transport, with some cred.

Cheers George


Really! your saying there’s not much difference between this in a box.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TS-632A-GATEWAY-M-SERIES-SLOT-LOAD-DVD-RAM-DVDRW-DRIVE-TS-632A-GRADE-A-/...

And this, which I’ve just installed a new laser in for a customer, and listening to as I type. I’ve got news for you.
https://kahlaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DSC01087-1024x276.jpg

You need to get out a lot more.

The difference in sound quality between a good CD player and a really expensive CD player is not the mechanism. I will state again, that unless it has significant scratches, error corrected CDs are bit accurate representations of what is put on them with the odd unrecoverable error. That is true with cheap mechanisms and has been for a very long time. Quite easy to rip a CD at single or 2x speed and see what the different error rates are, and that CD in your computer was even cheaper.

If you buffer and reclock, (assuming you have good power supplies), then you have isolated any impact of the mechanism on the output. It comes down to a good DAC and mixed signal design at that point.

That Bryston has a low(er) cost mechanism does not have to have any impact on the resultant sound if they design the rest of it properly.