Good DVD player for CD playing?

Vistance

Super Member
Hey guys, I've been seeing the phenomenon more often where people talk about how good a DVD player sounds playing CDs. I know people seem to be selling off their old DVD players in favour of Bluray players, so the opportunity to pick up a good CD playing DVD player for cheap seems easier than finding good CD players. But I'm curious - are there any well remarked brands/models to look for? Are any of the old "fat" DVD players from the late '90s good CDPs? Or are they bested by some of the newer ones?

Mostly just want to find something that actually displays the track number on the face and time into the song (Though I'd really like one that lets you set the time mode to the standard settings of Current/Total/Remaining Current/Remaining Total as well as show you a calender view of all the songs on the disc). Are there any DVD players like this or am I going to have to buy a CDP to retain all those time/track listing functions?
 
I am no expert but I saw a Toshiba DVD player from '99 in the Goodwill yesterday for $13.99. It was Made in Japan, fairly heavy for modern equipment, and even had a digital audio output. I think something like that would be great for CD playback if your looking for something cheap (And based on the "Thrift Shopper" under your name I'm guessing you are).
 
various Denon and Sony models fit your requirements. at this moment i'm running a Denon DVD-3930ci and a Sony DVP-S7700 side by side. the Sony is probably the best $100-150 you can drop on a digital audio player, and the Denon might be the best $350. on regular CD they are actually pretty competitive with each other, although the Denon has somewhat higher resolution and tighter bass. the Denon has a big advantage in that it offers HDCD, SACD, and DVD-Audio. video-wise, they are also both extremely strong units, with the Denon being one of your best options available for upsampling regular DVDs to 1080p.
 
I've been using this little guy for my CD duties. I think it has a pretty good sound!

IMG_1069.JPG
 
Pioneer Elite makes solid DVD players with excellent sound for the money, and readily available for a good price if you shop around.
 
Okay guys, something I hadn't really factored that I'm now seeing when looking at those threads - I have digital outs on both of my players. Now with my one setup I have no way to hook it up with anything other than analog outs - but with my nicer Denon CD changer I have it hooked up via digital out to a Denon AVR-4802 receiver (Circa '02). So does this negate any benefit of me getting a better player then?

Rather what this does mean, is that for vintage systems which don't have DACs it's better to use a DVD player then, no? I won't see an improvement in sound quality by switching from an old CD player to a newer DVD player if I use the digital outs on both will I? Pretty much just changing transports - in which case I could use whatever I want?
 
Rather what this does mean, is that for vintage systems which don't have DACs it's better to use a DVD player then, no? I won't see an improvement in sound quality by switching from an old CD player to a newer DVD player if I use the digital outs on both will I? Pretty much just changing transports - in which case I could use whatever I want?


My experience has been, at least up to $1,000 level (just haven't played above that, not trying to imply you have to go above it), that unless the player's transport is broken/defective, the difference in sound between players is speculative at best when using the digital output into a common DAC.
 
Some of the Toshiba DVD models from just a few years back were better than average for CD playback. Just don't expect the same level of playback that you would get from a decent dedicated CD player. FYI, many folks are talking about better performance from BD players with CD than from dvd players. I haven't done any research to see if the sources are credible but they may be worth investigating as BD players have become pretty affordable.
 
Yamaha makes a DVD player that is reputed to be excellent for audio CD. I think the model # is DVD-S2700 and some places are selling them under $200. If you keep an eye out, you can get some TOTL and near TOTL DVD players from a few years back by brands like Sony, Denon, Pioneer and Marantz. Using one of these as a top-notch transport piped to an external DAC is a great combination.
 
From personal experience the Yamaha DVD-S1800 is very good, the old Pioneer Elite DV-37A was excellent and the Pioneer BDP-51FD (bluray player) is a simply stunning CD player. Both of the Pioneers were made in Japan weigh in at 13-15lbs each and were pricey when new but worth their prices based upon their exceptional performance.
 
I was going to buy an Oppo back when they made the nice DVD player - DV981 or 983 I think - but then they suddenly decided "If you want a player - guess you'll just have to pay more money and get a Blu-ray even if all you want is a DVD player..." Really ticked me off - I have a PS3 for watching blu-ray movies and I don't want to pay a premium price for something I do not need the ability to do. SACDs and DVDs are what I want a nice player to do - the PS3 will do the Blurays (And it can do SACDs too - but my receiver doesn't have HDMI inputs). I still believe Oppos are probably nice but I'm soured on the brand from their choice to eliminate a model that clearly people would still buy and not offering a similarly priced equivalent at all.
 
Personally, I think Oppo did the right thing as a business model. Oppo has always been a forward thinking company and as such, their decision to eliminate DVD players from their product line-up was the right decision as Blu-Ray disc sales increased close to 100% during the first half of 2010 vs DVD sales which decreased 13% over that same period.

DVD players are slowly being eliminated by other companies or being relegated to budget players in the under $100 category and most likely Oppo did not want to compete in that market as DVD player prices are dropping. Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung all sell DVD players priced at under $40. Oppo would have a hard time competing at this price point and even harder to justify selling a $150-200 DVD player in times when $150-200 Blu Ray players are common.

I was going to buy an Oppo back when they made the nice DVD player - DV981 or 983 I think - but then they suddenly decided "If you want a player - guess you'll just have to pay more money and get a Blu-ray even if all you want is a DVD player..." Really ticked me off - I have a PS3 for watching blu-ray movies and I don't want to pay a premium price for something I do not need the ability to do. SACDs and DVDs are what I want a nice player to do - the PS3 will do the Blurays (And it can do SACDs too - but my receiver doesn't have HDMI inputs). I still believe Oppos are probably nice but I'm soured on the brand from their choice to eliminate a model that clearly people would still buy and not offering a similarly priced equivalent at all.
 
Oppo 970HD

Pick up used as they are out there. Upscaling is dang good. I'm using mine against an Oppo BDP-83SE for the regular redbook CDs and DVD-Audio disks that I throw at it. On the digital out connections, it has no problems passing the signal to any DAC you may have. The Oppo BDP-83SE is very good but when it hits an SACD or DVD-A it cuts out any digital out and uses only the analog out.

I'm currently using the Grant Fidelity TubeDAC 0.9 for the DAC end and am quite happy. It is configured for DAC only and used as a switching device instead of a preamp.
 
I just get tired of the elimination of things that were plenty good and did what many people wanted in favour of the new wave. People adopted LCDs claiming superior picture quality - bogus, most CRTs outperformed LCDs - LCDs were THINNER and lighter that's the real reason - and they were fancy and new. I only bought an LCD monitor three or so years ago when I found a high quality professional grade LCD that would work - and I can tell you while it looks pretty good, my old CRT did plenty things better. It was just big and 4:3 instead of widescreen.

Oppo won't get my business - uh uh, not their Bluray players. I support absolutely NO company that drops a line for greed sake like they did. The justification for the price was the quality - no one else made a nice DVD player like that at that price point. I'd sooner buy a Denon DVD player - they still make high quality units that can be had at similar prices. As a small company, those guys can't afford to do that - but since they insist I take my business to other companies who aren't foolish.
 
Oppo

Hey Vistance-
I understand your position on the Oppo. That's unfortunate, because I purchased an Oppo DV-980h (not a Blue ray player) used for 125 bucks. It was like new, came with the box etc and software updates.
I have it hooked up to a Sansui G6000 and listen to standard CD's through my old favorite Sennheiser HD545 headphones.
I was impressed with the sound...I was hearing my music like I have never before. My Technics CD player has since been retired. I have been very happy (for what I paid) with my Oppo..
 
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