DAC vs CD Player for cd playback with computer audio - Help old timer out

Qobuz is so worth the money.   I do a yearly plan and it's the best entertainment money I spend all year.   

I have Qobuz on my PC for convenience and when I travel but I seldom use it.  While the USB connection to my amp sounds OK it doesn't compare with the sound quality of my Bluesound  Vault.   A stand alone streamer is a good purchase. I have an Aurender in my main system, the Vault in system two.  Both are great for what they are in price/ performance  

I value George's advice with respect to upgrades and how to avoid lateral moves.  I think he is spot on with the cost / investment of each component in a system.  

Hi,

It is possible to use the DAC in a CD player for other sources provided the device has digital inputs. I found the manual for the AR CE8 online and it does not mention a digital input.  In my experience, digital inputs on CD players are relatively recent additions.

You can connect several sources to a DAC such as computers, streamers, CD transports and what have you, but you are limited by the various inputs the DAC has.  There will be an input selector knob or switch.

ghdprentice is absolutely right in suggesting getting a dedicated streamer for best results,and using Qobuz.

Your CD player doesn’t have a digital input so cannot be used as a DAC for streaming.  As @ghdprentice mentioned, it’s best to get a dedicated streamer for best sound.  The DAC8 has both AES/EBU an SPDIF inputs (no USB) so you’d need a streamer that has at least one of those outputs and then the CD2 can be plugged into the other and you should be good.  You’ll be very glad you made the effort to start streaming — I’ve never enjoyed audio more with the ability to find incredible new music on almost a daily basis.  Goodonya!

I tried Googling the AR DAC and CDP but didn’t get the info I sought.  If the CDP is from 2092 my guess is that it will not have a digital input to access its DAC.  If it has a USB digital input only it might not be an asynchronous USB.

  A DAC from 2012 is more likely to meet the requirements.  See if it has an asynchronous USB input to work with your PC.  If so then you are good.  If it doesn’t then you could get a streamer that has every digital output in all price ranges and transfer the computer files (I assume that you mean files on a hard drive) to a USB flash drive.  The streamer will then work with commercial streaming services.

  Since you are new to streaming, IMO the DAC is the major determinant of the sound.  Streamers matter but for around 1K you can get something that should pair nicely with the AR DAC.  If you like streaming you can always buy an uber expensive streamer for that last little increase in performance