If you have a DAC do you need a higher end CD player?

kray

HE>i
If one is going to use a DAC, do you need anything more than a basic CD player for quality sound?
 
Seems to me that many here will use a really nice cdp like my Yamaha CDX-1100u as a transport....perhaps due to the age of the cdp, tracking issues, etc.. but she sounds amazing bone stock.

I'm guessing the difference will be minimal with even a basic cdp or even a dvd/blu ray....IF it is going digitally to the dac...??

Anyone else wanna take this?
 
Yes. A better transport is a better transport, no matter what happens electronically. Getting the best possible signal to the DAC does make a difference.

IMHO, of course.
 
You don't need a high end CD player you need one with a good, solid, transport. Those can be found in many decent players from the middle ground on up, but they don't have to cost a ton of money, or you could buy a used stand-alone transport (My McCormack SST transport was a few hundred). Some older used players, that were once near the top, have nice transports even if their DACs are outdated.
 
Transports are a rip-off. Any and all cd players with digital outs will sound the same.
 
Transports are a rip-off. Any and all cd players with digital outs will sound the same.

Really? You cannot envision any combination of transports where one does a better job than the other? You postulate that no transport ever made performs any better or worse than any other transport can do, or does?

Why are there so many different types and methods, if they are completely equivalent, not one any better than any other?
 
High-end CD player? No. Not if a substantial part of the price of that high-end CD player is devoted to the internal dac, which you'll be bypassing anyway. What works for me here at home is a Playstation 2 as a transport feeding my dac via the optical output. It's remote controlled and was kind of in a way free seeing as my parents got it for me for christmas over ten years ago. I doubt it can touch the Musical Fidelity transport/dac combination I've listened to at the hifi store. That pairing sounds stellar and what seems appealing about it (if I could afford it) is the chance to swap and switch dacs with an already robust transport.
 
I would prefer having a rock-solid, high-end transport (if my budget were generous), but I have found that, as long as the D-to-A is a quality unit, a good, reasonably priced transport will suffice. I recently purchased the Onkyo C-7030 (under $200), and with my Schiit Bifrost DAC, it makes for a very nice sound. Good, well-designed cables will help, too.
 
Really? You cannot envision any combination of transports where one does a better job than the other? You postulate that no transport ever made performs any better or worse than any other transport can do, or does?

Why are there so many different types and methods, if they are completely equivalent, not one any better than any other?

That's easy. Blind testing. I dare anyone to tell the difference between a dedicated $5K cd transport and a $100 Sony dvd player driving the same DAC. :smoke:
 
That would be easy. I have a $100 Sony DVD player with a crappy transport. It growls and stutters, and occasionally skips. Sony says there is nothing wrong with it. That is with even brand new cds, and every cd that wouldn't play in the Sony, played perfectly in my Lector cd player.

Actually, I can tell the difference, blindfolded, between that Sony and my Lector, just by the noise of the Sony tray, compared to the quiet Lector.

There are two transports that are radically different in their level of performance, so your point is disproven.
 
That's easy. Blind testing. I dare anyone to tell the difference between a dedicated $5K cd transport and a $100 Sony dvd player driving the same DAC. :smoke:


that's a bold statement, my man.

I've reached the age (40) and lost enough of my hearing that I now don't necessarily trust my ears. I have to ask the missus after a recap, changing cables, etc.
 
Actually, I can tell the difference, blindfolded, between that Sony and my Lector, just by the noise of the Sony tray, compared to the quiet Lector.

There are two transports that are radically different in their level of performance, so your point is disproven.

Not so fast, my friend. If we take your Sony out of the listening room into the next room, wrap it in a down blanket, and run a cable from it to the DAC, will you still hear the difference?
 
that's a bold statement, my man.

I've reached the age (40) and lost enough of my hearing that I now don't necessarily trust my ears. I have to ask the missus after a recap, changing cables, etc.

Well, I hear[!] you there. :) Ergo - keep the cheap transport, buy a nice-sounding DAC. And a bottle of a real nice wine for the missus. :thmbsp:
 
I'll forgive you for changing the test parameters in mid-stream, to tell you that, yes, I can tell the difference, because the Sony has a crappy transport, despite Sony's insistence that it is functioning perfectly, and as designed, and despite your claim that all transports are indistinguishable from every other.

The playback is faulty, cds skip on the Sony, and no other deck I have or have had, eleven other decks, in total. I ran the Sony through a Grace headphone amp/DAC, to see if the problem with the Sony was transport-related or with the DAC. Same result, so it was the transport.

You'd have to keep me from hearing the transport load and spin up, to require me to hear music to tell them apart, but, yes, in a matter of less than a song, I can tell them apart, using any of 5 DACs I've tried. The Sony transport is a piece of crap, yet Sony insists that everything is fine.

So, since there exists at least one single combination of two transports that do not perform equally well, your claim is false. Not every transport is equal to every other transport. QED.
 
It's nice to be forgiven, but your situation with the noisy motor doesn't apply here, since it's faulty. If we take a working $100 Sony dvd player and any super-high end transport, both connected to the same dac, we will not hear any difference. I will volunteer my listening room and set-up for such a test.
 
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