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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
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.
blueranger's avatar
blueranger OP
719 posts
 
Referring to onhwy61. So if I understand correctly the future of hi end audio is in optaining the hi rez files! Downloads. Why wont the studios release the high sample rates? Consumers demand the best sound. Which in turn forces cut throat competition from manufacturers. Why then are studios with holding their hi rez files?? Are the big ones like Sony holding them back not wanting to damage CD sales? This is the way I see it. 30 years from now there wont be a TV. There wont be a gaming console. There wont be a stereo system. There WILL be one system that will do it all. You may be saying no way but its the young generation that is driving this. Wow! I cant wait! In my golden years I will be able to buy all these Levinsons, Krells, Macs that Ive always dreamed about having at dirt cheap prices. Too bad my hearing will be gone. And Ill hear my grandson saying "Look at PaPa still using his mouse" Hey Im downloading these 1000k hz files.
nevillekapadia
95 posts
 
Paperw8 and Ballywho, listen to a master tape or a Tape Project Source and compare that to the vinyl (especially a 45rpm pressing) and the commercial CD copy and that will reveal why I say that CD is limited.
I don't want to change the thread subject by getting into a analog vs vinyl debate.
All I want to say is that with better downloads and higher resolution such as DSD or even 2xDSD they are more closer towards the master than CD will ever be. Hence the author of the thread should be aware of its limitation.
Digital mastering is excellent, but a lot gets lost when we finally get the commercial redbook CD.
Agree LP also has limitations.
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