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Are you still playing CDs after, comp based syst?

I own 2 DACs
Hegel hd11
P S audio PWD,
Macbook pro
Sometimes I have the urge to spin a CD, no idea if this mostly psichological?
I dont currently own any cdp, wondering if I could get a value/performance one, I also play vinyls a lot, but I do have many cds.

Rest of my system.
Luxman 550 AII
Harberth comp 7 ES3

My budget for a cdp around 1000 new or used?

Thanks
mountainsong
loomisjohnson
1,986 posts
 
i'm aware as i write this that i've lost my integrity as audiophile, but like bondmanp et. al., i've become addicted to the convenience of SBT and to MOG. these days i listen to CDs mainly because i feel guilty about having so many shiny discs simply laying around. soundwise, i'd still opt for CDs over SBT, mainly because the SBT is prone to little hiccups, tho the difference is very small. MOG doesn't sound quite as good as either, but it's still very credible and by far the most user-friendly.
mitch4t's avatar
mitch4t
1,613 posts
 
.
Buying a CD player now almost seems akin to buying a typewriter.

Ouch!!
.
larryi
4,311 posts
 
I just set up my new music server this week (Naim NDS Server/DAC, Uniti ripper, Qnap NAS) so I have begun to rip my CD collection. This is going to take quite a bit of effort, particularly, the editing of metadata. In addition to ease of accessing and browsing my collection, I am looking forward to buying high resolution downloads.

But, in terms of the sonic quality of CD play vs. CD ripped to a server, I think I like my current CD player a little bit more (Naim CD555). The CD playback has a little bit more weight and fullness and does not have quite as much of an artificial hardness or edge to the sound. I know this is not exactly a direct comparison because the DAC in the server is different from that of my CD player, even if it is the same brand, but I expect that there should be a lot of similarity.

Don't get me wrong, I like the sound and I am excited about high rez download capability, but, I am not hearing superior sound from the server vs. the cd player where both are top of the line models from the same company.
mountainsong's avatar
mountainsong OP
424 posts
 
C D players soon prehistoric items whith the quality dacs on the market,
I own hegel hd11 and PS audio perfect wave.
Playing files from itunes on AIFF, excellent results
Remote control for macbook pro and lets the music play.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
It sounds like a lot of folk are settling for a computer based system and extolling its virtues, proclaiming the death of CDPs.

It's only when I read reviews like this: http://www.stereotimes.com/ (on the Laufer Teknik Memory Player 64) that I realize said folk are settling for less.
Granted, present day PC audio might be better than some, or most, CDPs out there, but there is still a long way to go.

It seems there is much more to jitter than thought and what arrives at the DAC is far from perfect and the DAC can't reconstruct what is already riddled with jitter due to a host of things. Even standard memory players can't make whole what is damaged to begin with.

Reading data, transmitting data, and converting data is not all there is to it, or so the designer of the Laufer MP would have you believe. Jitter is introduced at each and every step you can imagine. There is no perfect signal that is captured so when jitter laden data enters the DAC, no matter the pedigree, it remains there when outputted.

At least that is what I got from the review. The price of the unit is right up there where I can't afford it but those who have heard it swear by it (so says the reviewer) . Does anyone here know of or have heard this player and is the article correct?

It seems that some kind of reconstructing of the data has to be done AFTER going through a DAC. If this is so, then all bets are off and folk here are merely settling for something incrementally better.

All the best,
Nonoise
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