Rotel RCD 1072, As a CDP,Transport or with LinkDac



Hi all,

Thx in advance for any suggestions or help :)

Any opinions on the Rotel RCD 1072 ,as a stand alone CDP, or only as a Transport with an original Link Dac from about 6 yrs ago [ like new ]...

How does the DAC in the RCD 1072 compare with the Link DAC, any benifit either way ...

Also any news on a replacement for the RCD 1072 from Rotel any time soon, this is about 3 yrs old or so, getting long in the tooth for a CDP these days is it not .

I have Mc MA6900, MC Tuner, ProAc Tablette 50 Speakers on good weighted stands , AU Power Cables & IC's , etc ...

Music, 1000's of CD's some HDCD's some SACD's , JAzz, Blues, Classical & Various forms of Rock ...

Looking for a CDP under $1000. CDN to match this gear to fill in till a more suitable higher end CDP can be purchased thus the LinkDac question ...

Thx again for the help ....

CC
charandacafe
A Link DAC is a good add-on to a consumer grade DVD player if you want improve the playing of music CDs.

A good quality CD player is as good or better than that.

A Gold Link DAC or Bel Canto DAC would be a better upgrade.

Kind of a waste to use a decent CD player as a transport unless the player has a decent clock and jitter control that kicks in before the digital output.

A external DAC does not improve on a CD player. It replaces the digital to analog conversion of the player. If the player already has good built-in DAC, then the external DAC will improve nothing unless it is in a totally higher class than the CD player.
I had a Rotel RCD 1070 (earlier model of the 1072) utilized as a transport driving my highly modded DPA DAC. I had great success using this combination for a number of years.

Recently though, I have gone to a PC based system utilizing it as a transport & storage of ripped music from my CD collection. I 'm using SlimServer software & Slim Device Squeezebox 3 unit to feed digital signal to my DPA DAC. IMO, it has been very worthwhile moving from a CD/transport to a PC based system.

Go to the link below for a review & information of the Slim Device products. Good luck.
http://silentpcreview.com/article287-page1.html
I agree with the above posts, the 1072 as a stand alone players betters the MSB Link DAC. I had a Link DAC a long time ago, it was modified once and upgraded with the upsampling option. I used it with a $100 Sony DVD player. I would say the 1072 on its own betters it pretty easily.

Hi All who responded,

Thx for taking the time to read & reply with some meaningful helpful suggestions to my dilema.

My budget constraints at the monet do not allow a suitable & more expensive upgrade that would be a comparable fit with the rest of my system .. (also wife has needs too :)

So in the short/interim I will have to make do with something less than desireable as a replacment, thus the huge compromise. Although I've heard good things about the Rotel, I can get it for around $750. CDN, so with tax, less than $1000. CDN, which is what I can or will spend for now.

That's why also the ? about using a player as a transport vs as a stand alone player, so i could I use my old MSB Link Dac, to save $ , not because I like the option.

Any other thoughts on a decent replacement CDP for $700. US ? under $1000. CDN including taxes. Plan to buy soon.

Thx again for the time .

CC

CC, I own a 1072 and love it yet it seemed to not be able to replicate piano and female voices as well as I wanted it to. It does do very well on the pipe organ pieces that I play however the tradeoff is the piano is now in the room and I simply switch cables for pipe organ pieces. I have a Bel Canto DAC 2 in the system. I tried a Benchmark and like it but the Bel Canto is better. I called and asked Bel Canto and they think highly of the Rotel as a cd player or transport. As you know the items in your system-pre, amps, speakers and cables will impact on this recommendation. Hope this helps. Steve