2. pc-audio
  3. 1196981730

Zune output vs. CD output

Hey everyone.

I have been putting together a small but nice little bookshelf system in my living room consisting of a pair of paradigm atom v5s, NAD 325bee integrated, MC Z2 speaker wire, M1000i rca interconnects, and I just picked up a 1m audioquest copperhead 1/8" to RCA interconnect.

I was about to invest in a NAD c542 CD player... then I was laying in bed and thought... wait, why? 99% of my music is on MP3, M4P, or lossless FLAC. I hardly have any CDs... and those that I do have were just burned from MP3s.

So I idealized buying a new Zune instead. With this, I can dock it next to my stereo system connected with the copperhead cable. Any new music I get I can just wi-fi it across the house and have it ready to play on the Zune. That sounds much more fitting for me than a CD player.

So, ok, here is the dillema... I want excellent audio. Lets say I had a 1st generation rip into a lossless FLAC or even a 320 constant bit rate MP3 and sent it over to my docked Zune for playback. How would this sound in comparison to actually playing the CD back on a dedicated CD player (most likely the NAD C542)?

BTW, with this test I am assuming a near-perfect CD rip from my Pioneer DVD-RW drive. It is a quality drive... so I am assuming that wouldn't be an issue. Oh ya, and the CD player would be hooked up via MC M1000i cable.

K, I appreciate any feedback. Thanks audiophiles.
djembeplay
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
Hmm... Looks like the Zune dock only has a mini output as well...

The Archos dock is packed... S-Video, spdif, separate RCAs, component, composite... for the same price. And the Archos is WiFi as well. Maybe I will go with that instead...
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
USB DACs are strictly for computers, right? There would be no way to hook an MP3 player up to an amp via USB, right?

If there were, would this be much better than quality RCA interconnects?
cata1yst
2 posts
 
no you cant use a DAC with the zune as simply storage (i wish you could though)

The stock headphone out is really good for a portable, but i highly doubt that it will compare in any way to a Cd Player.

Why dont you get a sqeezebox instead? it can do wi-fi streaming from your computer, and it sounds pretty good to boot
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
er, uh, sqeezebox? I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

So, between the archos which has seperate RCAs in it's dock and the Zune which only has a mini-out... do you think the archos would sound better?
djembeplay OP
179 posts
 
Alright... I just looked into it... and I am intrigued, without a doubt.

A couple things I don't understand though. First, I am skeptical that you could get just as good or better sound out of the squeezebox than you could an MP3 player (docked, of course) because it is fed via a wifi connection. There really is no loss doing it this way?

Second, that Stereophile review made it sound like it was pretty essential to hook it up to a DAC... so there is a $300 dollar machine, but without second glance he throws in that you should invest another $1000+ in a DAC... not to mention he had it hooked up to a $10,000 pre-amp... Mismatch?? I guess the sake of the review was to test it on a reference system, even though it doesn't reflect real-world systems that these will probobly be used with. Anyways... I don't understand why there would be a need to hook up a DAC at all considering it had internal 24-bit Burr-Brown DACs. That is the same DAC that is in the NAD C542bee CD player that is so highly acclaimed... and I was thinking of buying. Wouldn't a 1st-gen rip into a FLAC sound the same through this as it would the NAD in that case?

Ok, and third... something I totally dont understand... is the stereophile review said it had a 'wall-mart' (notice the mis-spell, he must not frequent the walmart) power supply. He also noted that there are companies that will modify / swap the power supply. What for? Is this necessary?
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