CD player / streamer

[Headcoat]

My old NAD C521BEE cd player is as good as finished.

I did consider replacing with a CD ripper, storage device, streamer. Just as useful would be a CD player /streamer with USB input for an external hard drive.

Looking at the Marantz ND8006 or the Yamaha CD-NT670D. It'll be plugging into a Marantz PM8006 amp. The obvious choice would be the matching ND8006.... but it's around twice the price of the Yamaha, and the Yammy seems to do everything I want despite fewer connections at the back.

Anyone experience of these players? Will the Marantz really sound better as one would expect for a much more expensive player? Do CD players really sound different?

​

 

[Headcoat]

ps anyone know if an old iPod classic could plug into the USB input on either of these and send the digital info. to the players onboard DAC?

 

[hifinutt]

these are good

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/marantz-6007-cd-in-silver.107806/

 

[Headcoat]

these are good

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/threads/marantz-6007-cd-in-silver.107806/

No streamer?

 

[hifinutt]

oops sorry !!!

 

[DomT]

My old NAD C521BEE cd player is as good as finished.

I did consider replacing with a CD ripper, storage device, streamer. Just as useful would be a CD player /streamer with USB input for an external hard drive.

Looking at the Marantz ND8006 or the Yamaha CD-NT670D. It'll be plugging into a Marantz PM8006 amp. The obvious choice would be the matching ND8006.... but it's around twice the price of the Yamaha, and the Yammy seems to do everything I want despite fewer connections at the back.

Anyone experience of these players? Will the Marantz really sound better as one would expect for a much more expensive player? Do CD players really sound different?

​

I am a very long time Marantz user. I don’t have experience of that model apart from a quick listen at a dealer. Marantz seem to have a good following when it comes to digital. The manuals should be able to answer your USB questions.

 

[hearhere]

My old NAD C521BEE cd player is as good as finished.

I did consider replacing with a CD ripper, storage device, streamer. Just as useful would be a CD player /streamer with USB input for an external hard drive.

Looking at the Marantz ND8006 or the Yamaha CD-NT670D. It'll be plugging into a Marantz PM8006 amp. The obvious choice would be the matching ND8006.... but it's around twice the price of the Yamaha, and the Yammy seems to do everything I want despite fewer connections at the back.

Anyone experience of these players? Will the Marantz really sound better as one would expect for a much more expensive player? Do CD players really sound different?

Possibly more than you want to pay, but for ultimate flexibility and quality you could look at the NAD M50.2. This is a streamer that uses the excellent BluOS app, but also it can rip your CDS and store the music files on its twin (for added security) 2 TB hard drives. Not only that (and this makes it virtually unique) it will also simply play your CDS (or your visitors ones) without ripping them. It's been around long enough that good examples can be found on the used market, where you are likely to find a few hundred CDs stored on its hard drives. If it's all ghastly folk music, this can easily be erased and you have a fresh unit!

 

[Headcoat]

Possibly more than you want to pay, but for ultimate flexibility and quality you could look at the NAD M50.2. This is a streamer that uses the excellent BluOS app, but also it can rip your CDS and store the music files on its twin (for added security) 2 TB hard drives. Not only that (and this makes it virtually unique) it will also simply play your CDS (or your visitors ones) without ripping them. It's been around long enough that good examples can be found on the used market, where you are likely to find a few hundred CDs stored on its hard drives. If it's all ghastly folk music, this can easily be erased and you have a fresh unit!

Sadly far more than I can afford. I have an old iMac that I can use to rip CD's and for back up storage. Given that, I'm curious what the M50.2 would offer over either the Marantz or Yamaha's mentioned above... better sound, more stable streaming ?

 

[hearhere]

Sadly far more than I can afford. I have an old iMac that I can use to rip CD's and for back up storage. Given that, I'm curious what the M50.2 would offer over either the Marantz or Yamaha's mentioned above... better sound, more stable streaming ?

Without delving deep into the specs of those units, they appear to be just CD players with streaming abilities. After a quick look I don't think they can't rip CDs and they don't have hard drive storage for you digital music files. The other difference of course is quality.

You are planning to use a general purpose computer to rip your CDs. Nowhere near as good as a bespoke ripper that's set up with the best software to do that job, and that job only. If you are happy with "computer quality" ripping and music storing, why stop there? Your computer can also play your CDs in real time and can be used to stream music from Spotify, etc. However it will do all these jobs at mediocre quality. It can even convert to analogue but again at nowhere near the quality of an audio product.

I have the NAD M50.2 but no longer use it often. This is because, once you subscribe to Qobuz or Tidal, you can stream literally millions of tracks at CD quality, so you have to ask yourself, why bother even ripping your own CDs/ Why even play your own CDs? Following this, you can then think about getting an all-in-one box that will offer streaming, DAC, preamp and power amp all in one box and sell / give away / store in the loft your CD collection. With CD quality streaming available at about £10 per month, it's a no-brainer. Bluesound and NAD, plus lots of other brands offers all-in-ones at prices from very tittle to quite a lot - interpret that as you like, but there's loads of choice out there once you accept that physical CDs are old hat and equally good or better sounding music can be simply streamed to your system. Good luck.

 

[Headcoat]

Without delving deep into the specs of those units, they appear to be just CD players with streaming abilities. After a quick look I don't think they can't rip CDs and they don't have hard drive storage for you digital music files. The other difference of course is quality.

You are planning to use a general purpose computer to rip your CDs. Nowhere near as good as a bespoke ripper that's set up with the best software to do that job, and that job only. If you are happy with "computer quality" ripping and music storing, why stop there? Your computer can also play your CDs in real time and can be used to stream music from Spotify, etc. However it will do all these jobs at mediocre quality. It can even convert to analogue but again at nowhere near the quality of an audio product.

I have the NAD M50.2 but no longer use it often. This is because, once you subscribe to Qobuz or Tidal, you can stream literally millions of tracks at CD quality, so you have to ask yourself, why bother even ripping your own CDs/ Why even play your own CDs? Following this, you can then think about getting an all-in-one box that will offer streaming, DAC, preamp and power amp all in one box and sell / give away / store in the loft your CD collection. With CD quality streaming available at about £10 per month, it's a no-brainer. Bluesound and NAD, plus lots of other brands offers all-in-ones at prices from very tittle to quite a lot - interpret that as you like, but there's loads of choice out there once you accept that physical CDs are old hat and equally good or better sounding music can be simply streamed to your system. Good luck.

That's one argument for streaming. Personally like to own the recording of music I love. Further, some of it is limited edition and not on any streaming service i.e. Tone Poet reissues/remasters on vinyl and Grateful Dead gigs on CD.

There's something about playing a record or CD that has an inate quality that streaming cannot match/replicate.

That said streaming is great. I love it for discovering new music and playing stuff I don't own.

Question was more can I expect better quality playback from the Marantz than the Yamaha, and from the NAD you mentioned than the Marantz.

Interesting you mention a dedicated ripper performs a better conversion than a computer. Does it really? I'm not convinced, hence at this point in considering upgrading my digital front end/source I'm looking for thoughts.

Thanks for contributing, it's useful.

 

[hiesteem]

The Marantz seems like a bargain and is heavily discounted at Sevenoaks.
Given the CD collection you have and the streaming functionality, as well as it's extra features, a trip to Sevenoaks hifi for a demo is a good start.

 

[Headcoat]

The Marantz seems like a bargain and heavily discounted at sevenoaks .
Given the CD collection you have and the streaming functionality as well as it's extra features, a trip to Sevenoaks hifi for a demo is a good start.

Ah, you spotted the Sevenoaks discount. It's a seeming bargain, and 30 day returns... I never get on with demos, not my amp or speakers or room make it so difficult to tell.... not to mention it always takes me at least a month to push out placebo and really get to know a bit of kit.

 

[Camverton]

Without delving deep into the specs of those units, they appear to be just CD players with streaming abilities. After a quick look I don't think they can't rip CDs and they don't have hard drive storage for you digital music files. The other difference of course is quality.

You are planning to use a general purpose computer to rip your CDs. Nowhere near as good as a bespoke ripper that's set up with the best software to do that job, and that job only. If you are happy with "computer quality" ripping and music storing, why stop there? Your computer can also play your CDs in real time and can be used to stream music from Spotify, etc. However it will do all these jobs at mediocre quality. It can even convert to analogue but again at nowhere near the quality of an audio product.

I have the NAD M50.2 but no longer use it often. This is because, once you subscribe to Qobuz or Tidal, you can stream literally millions of tracks at CD quality, so you have to ask yourself, why bother even ripping your own CDs/ Why even play your own CDs? Following this, you can then think about getting an all-in-one box that will offer streaming, DAC, preamp and power amp all in one box and sell / give away / store in the loft your CD collection. With CD quality streaming available at about £10 per month, it's a no-brainer. Bluesound and NAD, plus lots of other brands offers all-in-ones at prices from very tittle to quite a lot - interpret that as you like, but there's loads of choice out there once you accept that physical CDs are old hat and equally good or better sounding music can be simply streamed to your system. Good luck.

You remind me of the time, a while ago, when I was looking at a Naim streamer in a well known hifi chain. The salesman explained that I would need to re rip all my CDs as they would sound better when ripped on the Naim. I asked him why and all he could say was that the rips would be better quality, but not why. I smiled, thanked them for their time, and exited the shop never to return!

 

[Lurch]

You could always have your cake and eat it by buying used. Grab a reasonable CDP from the classifieds/eBay and use it as a transport into your DAC, and a used Innuos Zen mini. The Zen Mini would give you ripping, on board storage, connectivity for your NAS and streaming. The new Innuos Sense App is a joy to use, very slick and easy to navigate. The Bluesound Vault is also another option for a rip, store and stream, device.

 

[Ceko]

I’m with @Lurch on this one. I’ve owned the Marantz you mention and it was a tremendous cd player but to be honest I could live without one now I have the Zen Mini.

 

[hiesteem]

Ah, you spotted the Sevenoaks discount. It's a seeming bargain, and 30 day returns... I never get on with demos, not my amp or speakers or room make it so difficult to tell.... not to mention it always takes me at least a month to push out placebo and really get to know a bit of kit.

Yes, I looked up its original price at £1400+ and had to check out it was the same product they were selling at half price!
I agree with you about getting equipment home and seeing how it performs in your room.
Although being a believer in system synergy, am sure it will work with its family amplifier in your system.

 

[Chumpchops]

ps anyone know if an old iPod classic could plug into the USB input on either of these and send the digital info. to the players onboard DAC?

To do this you would need the camera connection kit CCK to extract the audio stream first.

 

[hearhere]

You remind me of the time, a while ago, when I was looking at a Naim streamer in a well known hifi chain. The salesman explained that I would need to re rip all my CDs as they would sound better when ripped on the Naim. I asked him why and all he could say was that the rips would be better quality, but not why. I smiled, thanked them for their time, and exited the shop never to return!

If (and only if) the PC has all the required software to achieve a perfect rip that a dedicated ripper has, then the rip may be identical. My ripper has dBpoweramp, it has access to 3 databases to establish the precise bit count it is looking for and goodness know what else, some requiring a subscription.

OK, let's take it that the PC is loaded with all this software and a perfect rip is on its hard drive. How do you get it off the PC into your audio system? The PC will have a very poor DAC, so forget using that. It will have inferior difital interface connectors (apart mybe from USB) and will be a source of jitter. Best to transfer the file to a proper server to serve your hi-fi. You might as well get a dedicated ripper in the first place that is designed solely for audio. If you are happy with compromises, then OK, but you are likely then to accept compromises all along the way and you end up with mediocre sound. Lots of things can be done with PCs but they are not designed specifically for this purpose.

 

[hearhere]

The Marantz seems like a bargain and is heavily discounted at Sevenoaks.
Given the CD collection you have and the streaming functionality, as well as it's extra features, a trip to Sevenoaks hifi for a demo is a good start.

I'm sure the Marantz is an excellent CDP/ streamer, but ask yourself why Sevenoaks are discounting it so heavily. Almost certainly it's because its replacement unit is about to be released and stocks of the old unit need to be cleared. Nothing wrong in that and it means you get a bargain, but there's probably something better from Marantz just around the corner at about the list price of the old unit.

 

[bencat]

dBpoweramp is a very easy buy for any Windows computer and frankly as it compares you digital rip with all the previous rips and confirms that they are identical bit copies then buying another purpose made CD ripper seems to be a bit over the top . I use a USB old style Iomega for rips but not because I believe it to be better quality than the cd drive on my lap top just that it so much quicker and if like the OP you have to rip a whole collection that extra speed is very useful and shortens the task quite a bit .