DVD vs CD for audio

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  • monk_d_syple
    Member
    • Oct 2005
    • 39

    DVD vs CD for audio

    Hey fellas. I've been listening to music on my dvd player denon 1910. But latlely I've been using my pc and hooked it up to my Receiver denon AVR 1905. The sound is so much better, clearer, lighter. Should I be looking on buying a CD player for my set up? I own 600s that's why I'm posting here. Oh and what does everyone think about CD charges? Heard negtaive things on this issue.


    Cheers
  • MarcoJ
    Junior Member
    • Oct 2005
    • 12

    #2
    I think a cd player will sound much better than your pc/dvd player.

    Comment

    • DrJRapp
      Super Senior Member
      • Apr 2003
      • 1204

      #3
      Until a year ago I would have said that just about any decent DVD player would make a decent transport for CDs. Those were the days before I discovered that dedicated CD players seem to have much better DACs than most pre-pros or receivers and that by using the analog stereo outputs of a decent quality CD player would give me a superior listening experience to the DVD player digital output.

      I've since taken this to the extreme (as we all seem to do from time to time...lol) and purchsed a costly CD player and have gotten deep into the two channel analog experience.

      There are some pretty good cd changers out there, especially the Sony jukebox types. I have a 300 disc that I use mostly for my zone 2 outdoor background music that does very well, IMHO.
      Jerry Rappaport

      Comment

      • caleb
        Senior Member
        • Aug 2004
        • 514

        #4
        I guess that it all depends on the DVD/ CD player that you have.

        There are some awfull CD players around.

        I have the TAG DV32 which is an awsome DVD player and will also see most CD players off.

        Unless you start to think about the likes of Wadia transports then my TAG will do me fine .

        Comment

        • Jeff
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2004
          • 281

          #5
          Dedicated CD players rule. That is unless you go crazy on a dvd player. If you visit a high end dealer, bring your dvd player with you. It's easy to connect to any pre/pro and perform an A/B comparison with one of their cd players. Only then will you develop a true appreciation on what dedicated cd players are capable of.

          I purchased a Rotel 1072. It's great on jazz and blues. With a black (no noise) background it allows every music note to stand out. At the time, $700 USD would be as much as I'd want to spend.

          I agree with DrRapp. The DAC's in a dedicated cd player are far superior to that in your pre/pro or dvd.

          I've also compared the transports in my dvd and cd player with both using the DAC's in my pre/pro. The cd player was hands down better. I didn't think it would be much difference, but it was.

          Comment

          • Aussie Geoff
            Super Senior Member
            • Oct 2003
            • 1914

            #6
            Hi,

            I've moved this here from Club B&W....

            Geoff

            Comment

            • gostan
              Senior Member
              • May 2003
              • 445

              #7
              My old cd's are like a brand new experience since I upgraded to a separate quality cd player.


              Try it, you will agree.
              Stan

              Comment

              • audioqueso
                Super Senior Member
                • Nov 2004
                • 1930

                #8
                What about a decent DVD player with an external DAC, i.e., Bencmark's DAC1 or Musical Fidelity XDAC?
                B&W 804S/Velodyne SPL-1000R/Anthem MRX720

                Comment

                • Scriffer
                  Member
                  • Oct 2005
                  • 30

                  #9
                  On a semi-related note, what's the difference between a CD player and a CD transport? From what I can tell from googling them, transports are fancy-pants (in a good way) CD players. Is that pretty much it?

                  Comment

                  • aud19
                    Twin Moderator Emeritus
                    • Aug 2003
                    • 16706

                    #10
                    Originally posted by audioqueso
                    What about a decent DVD player with an external DAC, i.e., Bencmark's DAC1 or Musical Fidelity XDAC?
                    I think this is the route I'd like to go :T Seems more versatile to me. Plus with optical and coax inputs you can connect one Dac1 to your DVD player and say a music server and get upsampled music from multiple sources :B :T Not to mention therir portability!
                    Jason

                    Comment

                    • ironchef
                      Member
                      • Feb 2005
                      • 42

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Scriffer
                      On a semi-related note, what's the difference between a CD player and a CD transport? From what I can tell from googling them, transports are fancy-pants (in a good way) CD players. Is that pretty much it?
                      A transport is basically just the laser reading device, that delivers the pure digital signal to the D/A converter (or DAC) to be processed into analogue (the waveform format that you hear). Keeping them separate allows you ro upgrade the DAC without having to but a whole new player.

                      The large majority of the electronics responsible for sound quality will be in the D to A conversion process. The rough breakdown of components in this process are 1. Upsampler - Converts the 44Khz signal into a higher sample rate 2. D/A chip 3.Analogue output stage - this is where some manufacturers place tubes. etc.

                      Comment

                      • whoaru99
                        Senior Member
                        • Jul 2004
                        • 638

                        #12
                        Originally posted by aud19
                        I think this is the route I'd like to go :T Seems more versatile to me. Plus with optical and coax inputs you can connect one Dac1 to your DVD player and say a music server and get upsampled music from multiple sources :B :T Not to mention therir portability!
                        I have a DAC1 on order to try it out.

                        Also tried to get a Lavry Engineering D10 DAC to be in-house at same time, but they are not shipping yet and predicted shipping + minimum 4wk back order. First production run completely sold out so I put my name on the "notify" list.

                        Price is comparable to Benchmark DAC1 but Lavry claims a better (merely different??) jitter correction/elimination scheme, is 24/96, and has digital volume display, but controlled in the analog domain. They claims a number of other feature/benefits as well.

                        We'll see, I guess....
                        There are some things which are impossible to know, but it is impossible to know which things these are. :scratchhead:

                        ----JAFFE'S PRECEPT

                        Comment

                        • jim777
                          Senior Member
                          • Mar 2005
                          • 831

                          #13
                          Originally posted by whoaru99
                          We'll see, I guess....
                          Keep us informed, interesting

                          Comment

                          • RNKC
                            Senior Member
                            • Jun 2005
                            • 197

                            #14
                            I use a Pioneer Elite DV-37 as my CD transport. I have tried dedicated CD transports from Linn and Chord. For the D/A conversion I'm using a Proceed AVP. Connection between the transport and the AVP is coax.

                            The CD transports sound better than my DV-37. There's more detail and the sound is tighter. I'm puzzled to explain it because the D/A is happening in the same component - the AVP. The cable I used is the same so there's obviously something different going on within the transport that my DV-37 can't quite match. I'm very tempted to try a Mark Levinson 31.5.

                            But despite all this, I'm still using my DV-37 as a transport. Why? Because I basically can't justify spending thousands on a transport in order to get a 5% improvement in sound. I think I'll be better off spending the same amount to treat my room instead.

                            Comment

                            • alebonau
                              Moderator Emeritus
                              • Oct 2005
                              • 992

                              #15
                              Its without doubt to me now just how much better dedicated CD players are than DVD or universal players. Its the jack of all trades compromises of dvd players thats there down fall as is the often poor analog output stage they have as well.

                              I've found a budget cd player eg from the likes of nad or CA to easily trounce your average DVD playe for audio. Have found players like the rotel 1072 & nad 542 similar price range players to easily take the pants off more expensive universal players like the denon 3910 for CD replay.

                              Re the discussion of dedicated transports vs cd players. I have a teac/esoteric transport from a decade or so ago its still pretty damn good as the best out there at present. Really the only way where a dedicated transport might be better than a CD player is because of the separate boxes used for each device and separate power supplies etc.

                              I can highly recommend a DAC upgrade on a dedicated cd player and seen the benefit the benchmark dac and mf x-dac can make when using with a rotel 1072. Where dacs provide benefit I think is again like using a dedicated CD transport separate power supplies. And additionally often better dacs and analog output stages than many dedicated cd players. That said there are some mighty good cd players out there too eg the top line arcam, cyrus and mf models which may or may not benefit with an external dac. The beauty with dacs are the sonic signature because of the analog output stages used can be different model to model/manufacturer and hence provide good scope for picking and choosing what your after.
                              "Technology is a drug. We can't get enough of it."

                              Comment

                              • norpus
                                Member
                                • Oct 2005
                                • 60

                                #16
                                So Alebonau, you feel the DAC-1 definitely helps the 1072?
                                Would it help more on a 3910 for CD?
                                Cheers
                                Norpus
                                "He who dies first with the most toys wins"

                                Comment

                                • alebonau
                                  Moderator Emeritus
                                  • Oct 2005
                                  • 992

                                  #17
                                  hi norpus,

                                  myself have prefered cd players as transports or dedicated cd transports over using dvd players for that duty - just from my own demos in a few systems. Have not specifically tried a dac 1 on the end of a 3910 (but you & I know some one you could ask to try that for you !).

                                  What I can say for your self is that the denon 3805 that you'll be running the benchmark's analog signal into is where you need to focus on for improvements. The 3805 unfortunately will undo much of any good and benefit adding the dac might have brought.

                                  If 2ch improvment is what your chasing what you might be better off doing is upgrading the pre-pro side first with either swapping to a rotel 1068 which does a pretty reasonable job on 2ch or to a more expensive 2ch pre but thats goign to be expensive $3k-$4k proposition. Once you have the pre-pro side sorted have a think of a CD player/dac upgrade then.

                                  You'd need to spend on the likes of the 1072 to better the 3910 - the lower budget cd players, although better than your average dvd player, don't think would provide enough of a jump up in performance over the 3910.
                                  "Technology is a drug. We can't get enough of it."

                                  Comment

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