• Please note that Audiokarma will be offline briefly for updates early on Monday morning, September 28th.

"Vintage" CD Owners: Do you use the DAC in your CD deck?

eThink

eThink

Well-Known Member
My primary CD players is a Nakamichi CDP-2 Music Bank from 1992.

This CDP-2 uses Dual D/A Converters ( 1 Burr Brown PCM 1700 for each channel) with 8-times oversampling digital filter include a separate 20-bit processor, preceeding both DAC chips.

I have connected it to my home system using an analog connection, using Monster "RCA-type"patch cables. It really sounds great thru my ADS 710/S2 speakers. :music:

I am curious if other owners of Nakamichi CD decks and other similar "vintage" CD decks are using the internal CD DAC or are using an external DAC?

Please share your thoughts and experiences. :scratch2:
 

Attachments

  • cdp2-01.jpg
    cdp2-01.jpg
    14.7 KB · Views: 118
  • cdp2-02.jpg
    cdp2-02.jpg
    18.3 KB · Views: 88
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
Good question. While I don't own an external DAC, I've been toying with the idea of trying one out for my NAD 502. Thus far, I really like the stock sound of the NAD, it's real mellow, unharsh & sorta sweet sounding. I wonder if I can bolster all the 'good stuff' by using an external DAC.

I'd also like to hear if others are using different DACs with their old CD players...
 
Same here! I have been searching for an affordable DAC for my SL-P1200 as it is a superb transport and has everything I want except a slightly harsh sound (usually a 12k filter on my amp is enough).

Also, it has XLR outs, so does anyone know of a sub £100 (new or second hand) DAC that has XLR ins?

Oh and nice to see Nakamachi in use - getting so rare nowadays!
 
Spinakerr, you wouldn't want a DAC with XLR ins. Also, they don't exist. A DAC'll take a digital feed (Coaxial or Optical) and turn it into analog (which is what XLR, RCA, etc., are). You might find a DAC with XLR outs (in fact, I'm sure you can), but there's no such things as a DAC with XLR ins. You can find plenty of nice amps with XLR in - Bryston's come to mind.
 
ojTHEd said:
Spinakerr, you wouldn't want a DAC with XLR ins. Also, they don't exist. A DAC'll take a digital feed (Coaxial or Optical) and turn it into analog (which is what XLR, RCA, etc., are). You might find a DAC with XLR outs (in fact, I'm sure you can), but there's no such things as a DAC with XLR ins. You can find plenty of nice amps with XLR in - Bryston's come to mind.
Click to expand...

That is not entirely true, the professional digital standard is AES/EBU, and the signal is carried on XLR.

I use a Yamaha CDX-870 digital out and into my Yamaha CX-1000 pre amp (BB PCM-58).
 
Last edited:
Riiiight - so I might be out of luck...unless I get some series studio gear...

In a similar vein - today I dropped by the dump and picked up a fully functioning Denon DCD-625 (That has coax digital out) and a copy of the latest Hi Fi World that has an article on Cambridge DACMagics and how they have XLR outs. Scary how a topic comes up from all directions eh?
 
Nakamichi CDPlayer 3

I have a Nakamichi CDP 2 and 3. The CDP 3 does NOT have an optical out so it would be difficult to use and external DAC. :no:

Based on my experience the Nakamichi CDP 3 has a great sound with the internal DAC! :music:
 
You can add me to the list of CDP 3 owners. It's been my sole CD player for a decade or so and I think it sounds fantastic!
 
So, I came back to correct myself, but thankfully the-real-mandak already has.

That said, I found a unit that might do something for you...
The Behringer Ultra Curve Pro - you can read about it in this month's Affordable Audio
http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2006-09.pdf

Before diving into details regarding the equalization
capabilities of the DEQ, I will pass
along information regarding the unit’s DAC.
The DEQ2496 will accept sampling frequencies
up to 96kHz with word lengths up to 24
bits. The unit has two digital inputs: a transformer
balanced XLR input that will accept an
AES/EBU or S/PDIF signal, and a toslink optical
input. The DEQ2496 also has digital outputs
of the same type if one wishes only to
use the unit as an equalizer in the digital domain.
It is worth mentioning that the
DEQ2496 also features analog inputs that
feed an analog to digital converter, so applying
digital equalization to an analog source is
possible. All analog inputs and outputs are
balanced XLR connections, so XLR to RCA
adapters are needed to use the unit with the
single ended RCA inputs and outputs common
to most consumer audio equipment.
Click to expand...
 
Hi,
I own the Nak CD Player 4, and it also has the digital out in RCA only. I think it is better to use coax or optical output as digital when using an external DAC. I think there are alot of improvements if you can find a good one. Most decent external dacs cost alot more than these cd players, meaning $1000 and upwards to get the most benefit.

Most of the benefit is getting rid of the oversampling like the 4x and 8x you see in most of players of this age. The idea of oversampling is great, meaning, sampling 4x to 8x faster than what the cd player reads the disc at 44.1khz, but what you do with this additional sampling turns out that it is very important. Now they they do is buffer this additional sampling and kind of average out. This averaging is what hurts the sound. Most modern dacs has 1x oversampling or no oversampling and direclty feed the digital readout to the dac chip. Look at Philips 1540 family of dac chips with no oversampling or 1x.

Another great improvement is in the op amp used after the DAC. OP627 will greatly improve your sound, if you know how to change them.

wsjoe
 
I'm feeding my newer Rotel RCD 1072 into a Rotel RSP-1066 controller. I could use the optical digital outputs to feed the controller's built-in DAC, but the Rotel uses the newer Burr-Brown delta-sigma DACs, which are much better quality anyhow. So, I just use some nice RCA cables from the analog output of the CDP. Simpler AND better!

Here's a pic of it I just found thru google, apparently from a Czech website :

_rotel_big.jpg
 
I just recently picked up a MSB Link III and am using my Denon DCD 2560 as a transport. Jury is still out.

RC
 
I use a LiTe DAC AH M1 with a Pioneer PD-75 as a transport. Sounds great to my ears. The PD-75 sounds pretty good on it's own. :thmbsp:
 
wsjoe said:
Another great improvement is in the op amp used after the DAC. OP627 will greatly improve your sound, if you know how to change them.

wsjoe
Click to expand...

I have a Nakamichi CDC-3A - a six CD changer. How does one go about changing opamps responsibly? In other words, what specs are important, etc...? Would the OP627 have the same effect in the CDC-3A? Do you like movies about gladiators?
 
I'm using an old Philips CD 204 that I've modded. Doesn't have a digital output to use an external DAC with, but I wouldn't bother even if it did. An external DAC may, or may not, improve the sound of your player- the only way to find out is to try it. One thing that I can tell you is that the DAC in a CD player is the least of it's problems- the abysmal power supply that it has IS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom