The CD player is dead.......

nobody knows how much the fanless units are? because the fans on pc's, you know, you can hear them, you can hear them working. they are noisy. is fan noise for pc based units the pops and clicks of dirty vinyl? Of course you can always clean the vinyl, what can you do about the fan noise?

ok, i found out a base unit for a fanless units start at $2,299 from endpcnoise.com

good luck from there.

In a group that generally believes in tiny differnces in the sound of a single resistor or wire, I am puzzled by claims that data from a hard drive equals data read from a great cd transport. Data has to get onto that HD in the first place. Measurements prove that there are significant differences in the error rate of data read by various disc transports. Don't we all recognize that data with a high degree of error correction applied does not sound quite as good as data read with fewer errors in the first place? Isn't that why expensive transports exist? Is there some doubt that data read off a cheap plastic cd drive in the electromagnetic storm inside a computer is unlikely to as error-free as data read off a great transport? (disclosure: I use a Genesis Time Lens for an even better data stream.) So unless you wish to rely on that cheap plastic cd drive in your computer (sadly, plextor is no more), don't you need an excellent transport to get cd data to your hard drive at the highest qualify level? [I don't think we're debating whether high-bit-rate-downloads can sound better.] Why are some of you claiming that data that arrives at a dac via cd transport to hard-drive to dac is equal to data that goes straight from a cd-transport to a dac, when audiophiles are almost universally aware that every time you introduce another electronic device in the chain, there is a decrease in quality?

So, in one scenario you need to pay $2,299 for a harddrive that is quiet enough to be placed the listening room. This is a "high end solution" according to a "high end" retailer named goodwins. I think this reality adds to the "explain why" cdp is superior to harddrive. The $2,299 doesn't even take into account the DAC needed. Or the knowledge and time needed to set up and transfer.

So...I don't want to jump to conclusions but I think its easy to see how owning a pocket watch is preferred.

enjoy!

Apparently Oakleys' computer has some sort of Pratt and Whitney aircraft propeller as a fan. You've got to be kidding me. I'm standing directly in front of my Mac as music is playing (with preamp muted), and I can BARLEY hear anything. My listening chair is about twelve feet away.

Also, it appears that the title of my post (about the cd player being dead), offended some people. Honestly, I did it because I had a feeling using those words would result in a higher volume of responses. Looks like I was correct.

My main objective was to find out why people prefer cd players over a computer/dac combo. That's all. Maybe next time I will choose my words more carefully as not to offend the sensitive members...

My CD player sounds better. Pretty simple for me right now.