New Rotel CD or DVD Player?

[crowland]

I am looking at getting a new Rotel CD or DVD player and was wondering if I could get some input. Currently, I am using a $100 Sony DVD player for both DVD, CD and SACD. I’m ok with the DVD performance, but I’m sure that I could be getting better CD audio with a better player.

Since my local dealer does not display any Rotel players, I am kind of at a loss for listening comparisons. Will a Rotel DVD player do as well as a Rotel CD player when it comes to playing CD’s?

[hifiguymi]

The RCD-1072 is a better CD player than the RDV-1092/3 is. I haven't listened to the RDV-1045 so I'm sure about that piece. If you're looking for very good video performance and audio performance in one unit than the RDV-1092/3 will fit the bill nicely, but the RCD-1072 is a better CD player.

Eric

[crowland]

That helps along with the price and all of the reviews of the rcd-1072. I kind of wish it had SACD though, but hopefully the Blue Ray or HD player that I'd like to get within this lifetime will cover that front. I'm thinking the rcd-1072 it might be.

[wkhanna]

I’m mostly a 2-ch music guy, so from that viewpoint, I would recommend an inexpensive Oppo for DVD and spend the ‘big’ $ on a CDp. As always IMHO.

[baztroy]

I’m mostly a 2-ch music guy, so from that viewpoint, I would recommend an inexpensive Oppo for DVD and spend the ‘big’ $ on a CDp. As always IMHO.

That's exactly what I did. The RCD 1072 is a clean, neutral bargain with an almost unreal silence between tracks. There are plenty available on Audiogon at the moment in both silver and black. The Oppo DV 981HD is also a remarkable DVD source (if you have the mandatory HDMI). Although I've seen some reports of older Oppo's having reliability issues, mine's fine.

Buy these two and save money whilst getting quality reproduction.

[bigburner]

I’m mostly a 2-ch music guy, so from that viewpoint, I would recommend an inexpensive Oppo for DVD and spend the ‘big’ $ on a CDp. As always IMHO.

Or get an Oppo plus an external DAC. When a better budget DVD player comes onto the market you can trade your Oppo in, get superior PQ, and still have wonderful SQ at a low upgrade cost. The DAC will last forever.

[crowland]

Strangely, I've never even considered a DAC along my slow upgrade path. What are some favorites and do you think that a good DAC in conjunction w/ a quality DVD player will yield the same high quality cd performance as say the 1072?

[peterS]

get a marantz http://www.musicdirect.com/products/...ku=AMARADV7600

[jim777]

If you look for a DAC, you can look at my review of the MF X-DACv8, I tested it with the OPPO.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php4?p=345045&postcount=518

Of course the Lavry, DAC1, etc. are other choices. I got the X-DACv8 because it has more than one input and I can select the input with a remote (Harmony).

I had a RCD-1072 before my MCD201 CD Player. The X-DACv8 has more frequency extension (it goes very low and extends well into the highs). My audio memory of the Rotel is not fresh, but I think that the MF driven by the OPPO is a better than the RCD-1072, but not worth the extra money for CD playback only. I think that the same has been said of the DAC1. Think of it.. a stand-alone CDP can extract data at the rate of it's DAC clock to minimize processing and jitter, but a DAC has to adapt it's clock to the incoming signal without introducing jitter (DAC1) or do asynchronous resampling with an arbitrary factor to adapt the stream to a local high quality clock (MF).

The MF is a nice upgrade to the OPPO and a HUGE upgrade to digital TV. Again, I would not recommend a $$ DAC for the OPPO alone, it isn't great but it isn't awful. My idea of a DAC in the first place was to get good sound from my current and future digital sources. I'll buy any descent HD+Blu player that comes out this fall and I know that I can get good sound out of it with my DAC, instead of investing $$$ again on a high end player.

The MCD201 CD player is "justified" because it should have a longer life than a DVD player and music sound quality is the most important for me, the other sources just have to be "good enough".


That being said, the Marantz might be a good choice, or a great CDP like a Rega with and OPPO for DVD could be a nice choice too. All depends on priorities

[wolfgang]

I am looking at getting a new Rotel CD or DVD player and was wondering if I could get some input. Currently, I am using a $100 Sony DVD player for both DVD, CD and SACD. I’m ok with the DVD performance, but I’m sure that I could be getting better CD audio with a better player.

I used to believe that. I always assumed any stereo CD players should be better then budget DVD players. When I got the Oppo about a year ago I kept my old Linn Karik CD player after listening to both playing CDs as the latter did seem obviously better.

Recently during a long holiday weekend I took the opportunity to listen to both again side by side critically. This time I even made sure I checked the sound volume were the same using an SPL meter. Now I found both are equally good. In fact I would say there is no way I could tell them apart if I feed both digital outputs to the av processor internal dac using both as external transports. I keep doing the comparison every few weeks just to make sure it was not an illusion. Maybe the Oppo have finally harm up? Who knows.

[Vicente]

Wolfgang, that happens because thru digital conexions, you are using the DAC's from the receiver.

Try both of them through analog conexions and you will find probably big differences. Then you will be using the DAC's from the CD/DVD players.

IMHO there is a much better response in sound quality when you use analog outputs, at least in my case (RDV1092-RSX1056)

[bigburner]

Strangely, I've never even considered a DAC along my slow upgrade path. What are some favorites and do you think that a good DAC in conjunction w/ a quality DVD player will yield the same high quality cd performance as say the 1072?

Hi crowland,

Try this thread: http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=22196

Nigel.

[jim777]

I used to believe that. I always assumed any stereo CD players should be better then budget DVD players. When I got the Oppo about a year ago I kept my old Linn Karik CD player after listening to both playing CDs as the latter did seem obviously better.

Recently during a long holiday weekend I took the opportunity to listen to both again side by side critically. This time I even made sure I checked the sound volume were the same using an SPL meter. Now I found both are equally good. In fact I would say there is no way I could tell them apart if I feed both digital outputs to the av processor internal dac using both as external transports. I keep doing the comparison every few weeks just to make sure it was not an illusion. Maybe the Oppo have finally harm up? Who knows.

My comments assume an integrated amplifier (no digital inputs). When I talk about the OPPO alone, I mean the analog outputs.

[zmanbands]

See my post on the Sony S9000ES DVD/CD player

Its under dedicated cd player posted today also. This has excellent internal DAC(s)

[crowland]

Thank you guys very, very much for the opinions and all of the links to various other discussions. They certainly added a great deal of information to my knowledge base. Being new to the hobby with limited resources (state employee) has certainly made each purchase choice that much more difficult. I would consider robbing a bank to get me into Classe or Mac and the 800 “D” series if it weren’t for excessive federal sentencing guidelines.
Right now my instinct tells me not to blow my entire wad and start off with an awesome DVD player to cover everything because of the ever changing formats. It looks like the CD format is going to be a mainstay for quite some time. So, I think that I am going to start off with the Rotel CD player because that is the aspect of the systems performance that I am most unhappy with. It might not be the right choice, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
One more quick question if I may without starting another thread. I have the RMB-1095 which does not seem to support bi-wiring. Does this mean that it is not as up to the task of driving quality mains as say the 1080?

[peterS]

Thank you guys very, very much for the opinions and all of the links to various other discussions. They certainly added a great deal of information to my knowledge base. Being new to the hobby with limited resources (state employee) has certainly made each purchase choice that much more difficult. I would consider robbing a bank to get me into Classe or Mac and the 800 “D” series if it weren’t for excessive federal sentencing guidelines.
Right now my instinct tells me not to blow my entire wad and start off with an awesome DVD player to cover everything because of the ever changing formats. It looks like the CD format is going to be a mainstay for quite some time. So, I think that I am going to start off with the Rotel CD player because that is the aspect of the systems performance that I am most unhappy with. It might not be the right choice, but it wouldn’t be the first time.
One more quick question if I may without starting another thread. I have the RMB-1095 which does not seem to support bi-wiring. Does this mean that it is not as up to the task of driving quality mains as say the 1080?

i think the perceived need for bi-wiring is not there in 5 channel
not only is biwiring more expensive but in 5.1 70% of the sound comes from the center channel- of course you can still bi wire with one set of posts

so id speculate its just a matter of priorities

as to the cd player...
im also more budget constrained than the average user on the forum so cant comment on whether 1000 or 2000 is a bare minimum to get something worth while i can say that there isnt much in the consumer level even offered beyond your sony spending and moderately more gets you nowhere unless you find a hell of a deal

having owned the rotel before id say that the sound was probably better than my cambridge (sitting at $500 more) rotel has great warranty and great looks

but if you do already have sacd and dvd audios i feel you are doing yourself a disservice by dismissing the marantz since it may be obsolete- imo thats a ways off

if i had the cash id buy the marantz and ditch my oppo and cambridge
if you go with the rotel it will still be a good choice, that marantz is just a hell of a deal :T

[Kevin D]

One more quick question if I may without starting another thread. I have the RMB-1095 which does not seem to support bi-wiring. Does this mean that it is not as up to the task of driving quality mains as say the 1080?

Bi-wiring doesn't need two sets of terminals. It's more convenient if you have two large cables, but not necessary. In fact most companies that sell bi-wire cables have all ready soldered the amplifier ends together, giving you only two leads on that side and four on the speaker side.

Kevin D.

[crowland]

Thanks for the info on the Marantz. That does look like a great price and I’ve always had a soft spot for the company. I would like to see them put out separate components that are somewhere between their AVR based and reference series stuff. The difference in price is quite huge and I think it would sell. Anyways, I found a dealer with one about 50 miles away so I am going to take a listen this weekend and just might come home with it.

Also, thank you Kevin for the info on bi-wiring with a single set of terminals. I’m going to try to borrow a set from a local dealer to see if there is a difference on the 2 ch.