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

I am still waiting for someone to explain why a cd player is superior to storing music on a hard drive and going to a dac. Probably because you all know it's not.

Every cd player has a dac. I'll repeat that. Every cd player has a dac. So if you can store the ones and zeros on a hard drive and use error correction JUST ONCE and then go to a high end dac, isn't that better than relying on a cd player's "on the fly" jitter correction every time you play a song? Not to mention the convenience of having hundreds of albums at your fingertips via an itouch remote.

If cd player sales drop, then will cd sales drop as well, making less music available to rip to a hard drive?
Maybe, but there's the internet to give us all the selection we've been missing. Has anyone been in a Barnes and Noble or Borders lately? The music section has shown shrinkage worse than George Costanza! This is an obvious sign of things to come.....

People still embracing cd players are the "comb over" equivalent of bald men. They're trying to hold on to something that isn't there and they know will ultimately vanish one day.

I say sell your cd players and embrace the future of things to come. Don't do the digital "comb over".
devilboy
oakleys
78 posts
 
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!
devilboy OP
1,175 posts
 
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...
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,442 posts
 
My CD player sounds better. Pretty simple for me right now.
everest_audio
285 posts
 
For me, streaming from my computer to a Logitech Duet to my DAC was inferior to using a CD/DVD player into the same DAC spinning a standard CD. Sure, the computer approach was convenient, but it didn't deliver the sonics I wanted. Now, I fully realize that a computer based front-end could outperform spinning an actual CD, but it seems like a lot of effort at this point. I'd probably have to get something like a dedicated server with backups and some way to get the music to my DAC. Would I like the interface? Depending on the solution, I'd maybe have to get something like an iPod Touch for remote control. Then, it still has to equal or outperform what I already have. Actually, if I'm going to have the extra effort and expense, then I'd want it to outperform my current setup. Also, I dread the amount of time it would take to rip my entire collection. I'm sure I will go this way at some point, but I'm not sure when for the reasons I've stated.
oakleys
78 posts
 
Hey, I'm not trying to bash anyone.

I am not kidding you. I looked into computer audio thanks to your post, and I found goodwins high end selling fanless harddrives. and they cost $2,299 for a fanless unit, and thats before a dac. and that is what I mentioned.

So you mention you can BARLEY hear anything, that means you can hear SOMETHING. That means the noisefloor is raised, that means why even bother paying money to get gear with a superquiet noisefloor if your computer is going to make a BARLEY noise that ruin all my good intentions.

Well, for us who like to only hear the music we paid to hear, well then an option exists that cost's $2,299 for a fanless silent unit. Before DAC.

My computer is a laptop, and I only use it for internet porn and engaging conversation with folks like yourself.

so what?
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