Question about DAC and CD players

[nicky]

1) If I have a CD player connected using an optical digital cable to a receiver or another external DAC, does it really matter at all what the quality of the CD player is since all the DAC is done at the receiver end.

2) Also, I was wondering what would be better....to get an expensive CD player with a good DAC and connect it with RCA/analog cables to the amp or receiver OR buy just a middle of the road cheaper CD player and connect it with a digital optical cable and have a receiver with a good DAC.

[r100gs]

1) Let your ears be the choice. Hook up both the digital and RCA, at the same time, and do a comparison. Just choose digital or analog.

2) You could do either. Most new expensive cd players have some great DAC's and so do some of the cheap ones. External DACs are fun because you are now given a choice to listen to both the internal and external DAC with a push of your source button.

[jim777]

1) Yes it can, especially if it resamples or otherwise modifies the audio. However, it doesn't mean that you have to pay 3k$ to get the sound you want.

2) Well you might want to enjoy other digital sources than CD, so the external DAC is pretty helpful for that.. (DVD, digital TV, computer, etc.)

[whoaru99]

1) IMO, the quality of the CD player matters little (purely from a sound quality aspect), if any, when using the CD player as a transport via digital connection into a receiver or external DAC.

2) A question that has no right answer as to which is best (or better) - it could go either way.

[bigburner]

If you watch DVDs as well as listen to CDs, an external DAC provides you with the opportunity to use one transport and experience excellent sound quality with DVDs and CDs, assuming that you buy a nice sounding external DAC of course!

[nicky]

Thanks for the replies.

So I was looking to buy a new really good cd player to complement my new B&Ws.

But it seems all these CD players that I've seen and heard that cost a lot of money (an arm and a leg) is because of the DAC...because the salesman keep focusing on the quality of it's DAC and SNR, justifying the price to cheap ones.

But it seems like it would be better to just invest in a good external DAC receiver. That way I can use a regular cheap CD player and connect it using an optical cable. And I can use the external DAC receiver for other things as well in the future and not just stuck with an expensive CD player.

I just didn't understand why people were buying very expensive CD players and saying that you should always connect it using a digital output either optical or coaxial because it sounds better when by doing that you're just sending the digital signal straight out to a different DAC source.

[Briz vegas]

Lots of different opinions on DACs vs high quality CD players.

Regarding you last comment - if you are bypassing the DAC then your expensive player is no more than a transport. Some people will pay an absolute fortune for a hi-end transport and claim that the quality of the digital (lack of errors) is worth the investment.

Anyone who owns Naim gear will tell you that they do not have a digital out - optical or coax. The theory is that the DAC and the analogue section should not be physically separated more than is absolutely necessary. Naim are also nuts about power supplies and power regulation within their players. I use one of their external power supplies (ie separate power for analogue and digital circuits) and it does improve the sound significantly.

I struggled with all the theory/counter theory for months and ended up going for a relatively high end CD player over a DAC. I am happy, but that is not to say I would have been any less happy with the right transport/DAC. I like the idea of the Rega Apollo as a transport due to its fancy error correction trick of reading the whole disc first before decidiing the minimum level of correction. Pity about the cost cutting build - Naim ain't perfect in build quality but it was by far the nicest gear to operate in its price bracket (and sounds great too).

[ColoKurt]

Have you considered a good DAC coupled with some type of music server? You can combine a Benchmark DAC1 and a Mac Mini for well under $2k.

[alebonau]

my opinion check out both dac and cd player options in your budget, keep an open mind and buy what sounds best to your ears, jsut as theres some good dacs out there theres some top stadalone cd players as well.