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DVD player for CDs

zls1camaro

zls1camaro

Active Member
Hi I'll probably be verbally blistered by the AK family, but what is everyone's opinion about using a DVD player for playing CDs? I have a nice, single disc CD player in the audio room -- and DVD player for CDs in the shop. The shop system is really fine sounding.....

And does a high end $400 dollar CD player really provide superior sound?
 
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I had a Samsung HD-850 DVD Player in my office system for a couple years that sounded great. I'm currently using a Cambridge Audio 540D in that office system. And it sounds great. The Cambridge Audio 640C CDP I have in my mina system sounds even better. They both go through restored Pioneer SA-9100's and both to HPM speakers 100's in the main 60's in the office.
 
Different Dvd players / different CD players............. They all sound different. What it comes down to, is your just using a different dac.

All dacs sound different. Just pic one your happy with. Don't care where it came it from, the rest of your system will tell you what sounds best.
 
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I run two DVD players as my CD players. One is a Toshiba DVD changer that also decodes HDCD. It sounds very good. In my main system my "CD" player is an Integra DPS 5.5 DVD player. It has VERY good DAC and more in/outs than any CD player I have ever seen. I have not heard a regular "CD" player in the same price range that sounds better to me.
 
Welcome zls1camaro.

I have used a Denon DVD-3000 for a CD player for some time and think it sounds excellent. Would love to find a more classic CD player but as of yet it still remains.
 
zls1camaro said:
Hi I'll probably be verbally blistered by the AK family, but what is everyone's opinion about using a DVD player for playing CDs? I have a nice, single disc CD player in the audio room -- and DVD player for CDs in the shop. The shop system is really fine sounding.....

And does a high end $400 dollar CD player really provide superior sound?
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Welcome to AudioKarma. Using the search feature will allow you to find threads like this one:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=266831&highlight=dvd+player
 
zls1camaro said:
And does a high end $400 dollar CD player really provide superior sound?
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A high end CDP costs one order of magnitude more than that (e.g.3000 $). I've got a Cambridge Audio 640 C v2 (about 500 $), and could tell you that it sounds much better than any DVDp and most CDPs I've ever heard (never had access to real high end gear, unfortunately). The question is, does one a system that is up to the same quality level of a really good sounding CDP so as to expose its virtues?

A related thread could be located here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=266831
 
There was a thread about this in the Digital subforum a fe weeks ago. The only problem some people have with DVD players as CD players are : 1. The DVD players on the most part take longer to load a disc than a dedicated CD player. This is understandable as the machine has to figure out what you put in it. 2. Many DVD players have few if any controls on the unit itself, most controls being solely remote control driven.

This is why I love my Integra. A selling point of thiers is that ALL functions are accessable from the remote or the machine itself. If you lose the remote you can still do everything the machine is capable of doing from the front panel.
 
It's all relative, I suppose. A good quality dedicated CD player is going to sound better than a DVD for redbook playback However, just being a dedicated cd player doesn't guarantee better sound. My wife has a Sony changer that she used until I gave her a Rotel RCD 971 and the changer didn't sound as good as an old Panasonic DVD player that I had. They key is quality.
 
zls1camaro said:
Hi I'll probably be verbally blistered by the AK family, but what is everyone's opinion about using a DVD player for playing CDs? I have a nice, single disc CD player in the audio room -- and DVD player for CDs in the shop. The shop system is really fine sounding.....

And does a high end $400 dollar CD player really provide superior sound?
Click to expand...

Since most single disc CD players are no longer made, what makes you think a CD player will be better than a DVD player?
 
Art K. said:
It's all relative, I suppose. A good quality dedicated CD player is going to sound better than a DVD for redbook playback However, just being a dedicated cd player doesn't guarantee better sound. My wife has a Sony changer that she used until I gave her a Rotel RCD 971 and the changer didn't sound as good as an old Panasonic DVD player that I had. They key is quality.
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"A good quality dedicated CD player is going to sound better than a DVD for redbook playback."

Why?
 
I know I'll get hung for this, but IMO digital is digital. The point of diminishing returns is reached very quickly on CD sound.

DAC's may sound different, but so do cartridges, speakers and amps. Different is not always better, it's just different and generally more $
 
A little while back, there was something of a furor over the Toshiba SD-3960 DVD player. People on the audio forums were comparing it to $400 CD players, and with modifications, $1000 CD players.

So, no, you don't have to fear getting flamed for suggesting playing CD's on a DVD player.
 
highfigh said:
"A good quality dedicated CD player is going to sound better than a DVD for redbook playback."

Why?
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I'm not going to beat this to death again but the explanation can be found all over the internet and in multiple threads here and elsewhere. I've owned pretty upmarket Universals, DVD players and CD players and it isn't even close.
 
have a few actual cd players, and running a few dvd players. dont get me wrong..Im proud of my nakamichi, and sorta proud of the sony, and I would be proud of the rotel if it were running. thing is..they are reading snobs, when theres a little prob with the disc surface, or obviously if its home made with wav files or whatever, then we fall back on the dvd players. one in the shop is like a 30 dollar discount dept store job..and it just hasnt refused me listening yet. neither have the 2 dvd recorders that grace upstairs and downstairs living close to decent stacks. Sonically, I dunno, I would reserve an opinion until I could a/b them over the same system. Until then, its apples and oranges, the shops a whole different thing than whats downstairs.
 
Rybeam said:
I know I'll get hung for this, but IMO digital is digital. The point of diminishing returns is reached very quickly on CD sound.

DAC's may sound different, but so do cartridges, speakers and amps. Different is not always better, it's just different and generally more $
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You won't get beat to death, but you are letting specs and not ears decide for you. My Rega Saturn is in every way better than my Apollo which is better than any other player I've owned which include Audio Refinement, NAD, Rotel, Denon, Marantz, Philips, DBX and so on and so forth. I never thought that CD's could sound as good as what I now experience with the Saturn. It's a mature technology for which the playback equipment just gets better.
 
I use a Pioneer Elite DVD/DVR as my main CD player in my setup and really enjoy the sound. And it is silver so it matches my Spec setup and has a pretty decent DAC for its age.

My basement setup has a Philips DVD player in it that I use for a CD player. I got it free and they were cheap units to begin with but I am totally happy with the way it sounds.

Could I have better equipment in these setups, sure I could. But Art K. hit it on the head with this line:

Art K. said:
You won't get beat to death, but you are letting specs and not ears decide for you.
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If it sounds fine to you, run with it.
 
mhilton777 said:
If it sounds fine to you, run with it.
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And ofcourse I agree with that statement as well. It's really about enjoying the music and it really doesn't matter whether it's on a Yorx all-in-one or a cost no object setup. If you are immersed in the music that's ALL that matters.
 
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