CD's played on a CD / DVD player
Bob Saccamano
My CD player is on its last legs and need to replace it. Should I replace it
with a dedicated CD player or get a cheaper DVD player? I just want it for
the music, not the DVD functionality.
I'll be using it as a transport only, electing to use the DAC on the
receiver instead.
I've heard that DVD players are not as good at playing audio CD's as
dedicated players. This may be the case is using the onboard DAC, but are
the transports that much different? Anything else I need to consider?
Jeff Wiseman
Most DVD manufacturers seem to know that most DVD players
purchased have their analog audio connections either hooked
directly to a TV (a very poor source of audio reproduction) or
are not used at all (i.e., the digital out is hooked to an
external decoder). CD players on the other hand typically have
their analog outputs connected to stereo systems capable of more
revealing sound reproduction so the DACs in comparably priced CD
players tend to be a bit better. Note however that the slightly
better DAC in a CD player can be lost in the relatively lower
quality preamp front end of an inexpensive A/V receiver. Since
the Decoder in the receiver tends to bypass the preamp, it can
frequently produce a better sound so given the fact you will be
using the digital input only ont he receiver, there would likely
be no difference between them
The transports aren't that much different but you get what you
pay for. A cheap CD player transport can equal a cheap DVD player
transport. At a given price point it's probably a wash IMHO.
However there are some other "convenience" items that may be an
issue to you:
1) Control software in DVD players can be slow. Putting in a
disc, ejecting it, telling it to play, stop, fast forward, etc.
can be a tad sluggish on a DVD player compared to a dedicated CD
player. This may or may not be an issue to you.
2) Many CD players have functions available on the front panel of
the player that on a DVD player you have to turn on your
TV/monitor in order to go through the DVD player's menu (e.g.,
A-B repeat loops, random play, program, etc.). Again, if you
don't ever use these functions, it probably won't matter to you.
It sounds like you may already have an A/V receiver. Don't you
already have a DVD player for it? If you do and only want a
separate CD player so that you don't have to be changing decoder
settings all the time, many DVD players have both TOSlink and
coax digital outputs on them. Just hook both to the receiver, one
to the DVD input and one to the CD input. That way you can leave
the effects turned off on the CD input and on on the DVD input, etc.
If you don't have a DVD player at present, you do have an A/V
receiver with an internal decoder, and you don't mind the
"convenience" issues above, then it's probably better to get a
DVD player since most can do more than the typcial CD player
(e.g., DVD, MP3, CD, CD-R, DVD-A, SACD, etc., etc.) Should you
decide to try anything else, it would already be there for you.
All this is only IMHO of course! Hope it's of some help.
- Jeff
Arny Krueger
news:400b66ae$0$4265$c30e...@lon-reader.news.telstra.net
> Hi All,
>
> My CD player is on its last legs and need to replace it. Should I
> replace it with a dedicated CD player or get a cheaper DVD player? I
> just want it for the music, not the DVD functionality.
DAC technology price/performance has continued to improve, and the DACs in
many cheap DVD players are far better than just about any DAC you could find
in consumer gear a decade ago.
> I'll be using it as a transport only, electing to use the DAC on the
> receiver instead.
Then DAC technology isn't an issue since you're using the DAC in the
receiver, which is BTW a very good idea on the grounds that it often avoids
an unecesary pair of conversions.
> I've heard that DVD players are not as good at playing audio CD's as
> dedicated players.
IME, differences in individual players are more significant than differences
between general classes of players.
> This may be the case is using the onboard DAC, but
> are the transports that much different?
> Anything else I need to consider?
The fact that some record companies are releasing quite a bit of music on
DVDs. You can't play them in a CD player!
Laurence Payne
Be careful. Digital music playback technology is pretty much sorted
now. The DACs that sound "different" may merely lack the
error-correction circuits included as a matter of course in cheaper
equipment.
They may "show up" an error-full data stream. What they SHOULD be
doing is correcting it.
Stewart Pinkerton
No, there is *no* error correction in an outboard DAC. That's just one
reason why they're a bad idea......................
--
Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering