All Cd Players sound the same?

[Hifimad1]

As i said you have to listen.I have a Wadia and it blows away anything i have had before .

 

[SergeAuckland]

As i said you have to listen.I have a Wadia and it blows away anything i have had before .

Sorry but 'blows away' isn't a parameter that I can understand. Your 'blows away' could well be my 'meh' so unless I can find some way of comparing items that isn't in the opinion of the listener, I really don't bother.

S

 

[MJ.]

My last 3 CD Players have been a Rega Apollo, a Sony CDP-715e and my current Doge 6 and they all sound easily, distinguishably different.

You might expect the Doge to sound different, having valve filters and an all valve output stage but the Rega and Sony sounded quite different to each other as well.

 

[RobHolt]

As i said you have to listen.

Absolutely right.....to both machines being compared, one immediately after the other, at the same volume, unsighted.

This usually eliminates much blowing away

If anyone has a high end CD player I'm always happy to demonstrate this amazing phenomenon.

 

[rockmeister]

Absolutely right.....to both machines being compared, one immediately after the other, at the same volume, unsighted.This usually eliminates much blowing away

If anyone has a high end CD player I'm always happy to demonstrate this amazing phenomenon.

why demonstrate nothing then.

I prefer dealers who can show me why I'd spend all the money on, say, a rega apollo, when a Tesco CD player will do just as well.

 

[SergeAuckland]

why demonstrate nothing then.I prefer dealers who can show me why I'd spend all the money on, say, a rega apollo, when a Tesco CD player will do just as well.

I would love it if a dealler could show, in a properly conducted blind level matched test, why their CD player was better than a Tesco CD player. That dealers never try this suggests that they can't.

S.

 

[roob]

For all the huff and puff I cannot see any Tesco cd players in members kit lists. :roll:

 

[chrisB]

So is cd sound only about distortion levels and flat response?

Nothing else matters?

Damn! Even using the same dac (weiss DAC 202) and changing transports (one is a cd-p, other one is a laptop) I can tell the difference!

 

[SergeAuckland]

So is cd sound only about distortion levels and flat response?Nothing else matters?

Damn! Even using the same dac (weiss DAC 202) and changing transports (one is a cd-p, other one is a laptop) I can tell the difference!

Lucky You! If I can't measure an audible difference, then as far as I'm concerned there isn't one. I find it rather interesting that all those 'night and day' differences disappear when the comparison is done blind and level-matched. Funny that!

S.

- - - Updated - - -

For all the huff and puff I cannot see any Tesco cd players in members kit lists. :roll:

I have a £30 ASDA DVD player, will that do? Indistinguishable from my Meridian.

S.

 

[chrisB]

night and day... difference is more like

- mmm yeah

- I really like that.

Anyway... I might be a misguided fool (there are way more reasons that a mere dac to be one ) , but this begs for an answer Serge:

how come you have a cd-player and a dac?

- - - Updated - - -

Now that I notice you also have active speakers and power amps!!!!

I'm completely lost!

 

[SergeAuckland]

night and day... difference is more like - mmm yeah

- I really like that.

Anyway... I might be a misguided fool (way more reasons that a mere dac to be one ) , but this begs for an answer Serge:

how come you have a cd-player and a dac?

I don't. I use my SBT as standard, analogue out as I do the rare times I use the cd player. The pre-amp analogue out goes through the Behringer DEQ as an ADC then on to the DCX crossover which then has 6 analogue outs to the power amps.

The only separate DAC I used is a Behringer UCA202 on my old laptop into Genelec actives for my holiday system. The old laptop had some noise which the USB DAC eliminated. My new laptop is quieter, so I probably won't bother with the UCA202 in future as the laptop's analogue output seems fine.

S

 

[hermit]

I have a £30 ASDA DVD player, will that do? Indistinguishable from my Meridian.

S.

Just curious as to why you use the Meridian in preference to the ASDA DVD player if they are indistinguishable in your system?

 

[chrisB]

I don't. I use my SBT as standard, analogue out as I do the rare times I use the cd player. The pre-amp analogue out goes through the Behringer DEQ as an ADC then on to the DCX crossover which then has 6 analogue outs to the power amps. The only separate DAC I used is a Behringer UCA202 on my old laptop into Genelec actives for my holiday system. The old laptop had some noise which the USB DAC eliminated. My new laptop is quieter, so I probably won't bother with the UCA202 in future as the laptop's analogue output seems fine.

S

I was kidding mate!

I wouldn't know why but I was sure you had a perfectly sound (see what I did here?) reason for it. :^

 

[SergeAuckland]

Just curious as to why you use the Meridian in preference to the ASDA DVD player if they are indistinguishable in your system?

Because the Meridian fits the rack space I made for it and integrates with the pre-amp and tuner remote control.

If the 206 ever stopped working, I certainly wouldn't replace it.

S

 

[rabski]

Price is meaningless here and not for the first time I find myself strangely agreeing with Serge in the most part.

Whilst we might hear differences between transports, cables and the like, as long as the DAC is performing correctly, then any genuine differences must stem from the audio section in the DAC.

Here is where personal taste comes into it. I prefer the NOS, non-filtering sound. I happily admit it produces distortion of some kinds to some extent, but it's distortion that I happen to prefer to the clinical over-sampling, filtered presentation.

Each to their own, of course.

Spending as much as funds allow on the DAC in terms of its analogue circuitry makes perfect sense to my mind, the rest doesn't, but it's your money, so audition and then spend as you see fit.

If funds allow in the future, my analogue source would happily receive a fair amount of expenditure. I will probably remain perfectly happy with the total of £150 plus loads of work that my transport and DAC owes me.

 

[bandit pilot]

I like my current player more than those that came before it. Weird. But it's not Tesco finest, and it's extensively modified. I have always though it's sound as 'less digital' than the other very reputable players I've had.

 

[greengoblin]

"Less digital" Rick??!! Better rinse your mouth. There's no such sound when we are all talking about flat response and minimal distortion! What else is here to give you a " digital" sound

PS. Last time we met you and i both moaned about how turntable wasn't as good as cd...I see you've now gone all analogue crazy

 

[It Cost How Much!?!]

CD Perfect Sound Forever TM Philips.

Yeah right.

 

[SergeAuckland]

CD Perfect Sound Forever TM Philips.Yeah right.

Right indeed. The CD format is transparent, and the CDs themselves, if not everlasting, should have a very long lifetime. My CDs from the early 80s still play with no wear, unlike tape or LPs that both have significant wear mechanisms. That the CD format has been abused by the record companies is no fault of the format. It does provide pure perfect sound, and if not forever, for a very long time.

S

 

[lexi]

'Tis true. The Cd blows it into the weeds,pisses all over it, then has it crying like a baby.

Should be able to measure that........it is a form of interbred verbal distortion !!

Chumpy impersonations indeed! The Master of Glossalalia cannot be imitated :shock:

You could always Lampizate your player for a tubey sound..........then add a fuzzbox and wah wah pedal