Comparing external DAC to CD player DAC


I have been using a well-known, inexpensive ($300), and well regarded DAC with an old MAC as a music server.  I also stream TIDAL masters and use the CD transport through the server, all going through the external DAC.   I recently pulled out my old CD player, a Marantz CD-67se: an "oldie but a goodie".  The CD player with its onboard, 20+year old DAC is far superior to what I am experiencing with the external DAC, from any source..  Is this expected.  I am not opposed to purchasing a new external DAC, but i really don't want to spend thousands of dollars to reproduce sound I can get from a 20 year old CD player.  What am i missing? Could I be I doing something wrong, or could my external DAC be malfunctioning.

djbarabino

Mac into that level dac will fall short of the sound quality that marantz cdp produces. To run a fair comparison and or to determine the real potential if that dac run your cdp into it via spdif. 

I also had Marantz CD-67se.  Not one but two that I purchased 25 years ago from a sale as far as I could recall.  The SQ out of CD-67se is good but nothing special really to write home about.  Both of them quit a while ago.  I replace one of them with the vintage Rotel RCD 855 with the well-known Philips TDA 1541 chip.  It performs brilliantly with detailed treble, warm midrange and solid bass, better than Marantz. 

good gracious - the Rotel 855 was very good at the time and price, but was far from truly audiophile.  I had one - at the price loved it.  (actually i still have it -- somewhere) But i can move into a totally different world with a regular nothing special mac laptop, bitperfect, lossless files, and one of many dacs under $500. Now that i have a solid foundation in what's being discussed somethign is very, very wrong with the OP's experience.