DVD player playing CD's

That sums it up.

"Any degradation /loss of audio compared to a cd player?"

Well of course there is if it's a high quality player! 

Esoteric DV-50S, a multi-format (DVD, CD, SACD) player.

Think of the price of a DVD player you're considering.  Now think of all the video circuitry going into it.  Now think of a similarly priced CD player, and think of what isn't included in it.

The best thing is to use the DVD player as a transport and get a DAC whose sound you really like.

This question is funny to me. Us as audiophiles are so concerned about making a mistake. The answer is No.. For the most part. Unless your concerned with the features a player may have, a carousel, anti-skip, resume, etc. The DVD player should be identical to a CD player in extracting the digital information from a disc and should therefore be an acoustically transparent medium.

The caveat is that you plan on using the digital audio out (toslink/coax) of the player in question and disable any digital DSP settings. Not all players DACs are created equal though. Unfortunately there are some very poor performing DACs a player might incorporate that may not be so, “acoustically transparent”.