2. digital
  3. 1291310801

State of the art CD player? Only if you do this.

Im getting irratated with CD player manufacturers saying every year we have eclipsed last years model, with what ever. upsampling, hi rez dacs, smoother, quieter transport, better parts wiring etc!!!! If you want to get the best fidelity (no im not saying vinyl. caught ya didnt I)If you want the best sound possible, best playback. The absolute best then just buy the digital recorder the music was originally recorded on !. The copy can only be as good as the mother right? How much are these digital recorders in major studios? If they are $5000 or $10,000, then how can someone be justified for spending 20,000 on a hi end brand player for CD playback? For analog it would take the master tape with the machine it was recorded on. Totally not feasable. But for digital? How can a consumer player sound better than the original recorder it was recorded on?? It cant!!! Ok maybe these pro models are several hundred thousand dollars. Then I'll admit you got me and I was wrong. The point of this is I want to know how much these pro models cost?? A quick search on google did not turn up anything over $3800! Im not well versed in digital. Are digital masters on tape, CD or hard drive? If its on digital tape well I'll understand. Mike
128x128blueranger
rrog
1,958 posts
 
You're kidding, right? I guess you haven't figured out high end audio yet. I have a better question for you. Why does a power cord cost $16,000 when the recording was made with a $20 power cord?
nevillekapadia
95 posts
 
Redbook CD is limited as a source to hold sufficient data as compared to other analog mediums such as RTR and vinyl. So stop chasing the holy grail from this medium. It's just that it was chosen to be convenient and at a time suitable for commercialization and acceptance by the general public (no one came and asked an audiophile if they would like CD).
paperw8
165 posts
 

12-03-10: Nevillekapadia
Redbook CD is limited as a source to hold sufficient data as compared to other analog mediums such as RTR and vinyl.

they typically frequency-limit recordings on vinyl as well (i think typically to 14kHz or 16kHz); but i think that cd's sound pretty good. in fact, i think that you get more bang for your buck with cd than you can with vinyl. $2000 will get you a pretty good sounding cd player, but by the time you bought a turntable, tonearm, cartridge and phono stage, you would probably be looking at a lot more money.

but vinyl does give you more opportunity to shape (or color) the sound to your liking. on the other hand, the myriad adjustments can be a pain in the neck. for example, some people do vta adjustments for each record. with cd's you just pop the disk in. some cd players do allow variable selection of digital signal processing algorithms to color the sound to your liking, but you still get nowhere near as much latitude as you get with a vinyl playback setup.
ballywho
134 posts
 
Paperw8,
Well said.
ballywho
134 posts
 
Paperw8,
I see you just posted something today.
Just to clarify, my "Well said" is per your 12/02 comments: "let me say that when it comes to high end audio in general, there are two viewpoints: technical-oriented and artistic-oriented."
Cheers.
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