Players of that vintage are durable.
Don’t be afraid to buy one that skips or doesn’t read.
Usually it just needs cleaning of old grease
Digital Newbie
- Thread starter Oregon
- Start date
Don’t be afraid to buy one that skips or doesn’t read.
Usually it just needs cleaning of old grease
I'm late to this party but, my $.02. I bought my KEFs off a guy and he gave me a Denon DCD-1290. I think late 80's to mid 90's range, low end. We put on CODA cd by LZ, terrible. Knife to the ears via high range. All the things we hated about the medium when it first launched. Similar but not AS bad with AC/DC Back in Black.
After a typically obsessive internet rabbit hole dive, I learned that early 80's and 90's CDs can suffer from mastering, CODA in particular is known to be bad. Compressed, over driven or whatever the correct term is for that, it's turnt up too much and the high frequencies are blown out. And the old low end player didn't do it any favors.
This led me down a path that ended with a new Denon DCD-1700NE - it helps, a lot, but still can't completely overcome bad source. Same paradigm as LPs - bad mastering, bad pressing, well, bad sound. I'm solid state all the way through by the way, no tubes (valves down here) in the mix . . . yet.
I'm now seeking out better mastering on CDs, and SACDs, I still love the medium and mix between those and LPs. In my limited experience, still a n00b on all this really, the source matters very much, and the destination (fixing the room! aligning the speakers!) are netting me better results than tinkering with all the gear. We did invest in decent mid range gear though . . .
After a typically obsessive internet rabbit hole dive, I learned that early 80's and 90's CDs can suffer from mastering, CODA in particular is known to be bad. Compressed, over driven or whatever the correct term is for that, it's turnt up too much and the high frequencies are blown out. And the old low end player didn't do it any favors.
This led me down a path that ended with a new Denon DCD-1700NE - it helps, a lot, but still can't completely overcome bad source. Same paradigm as LPs - bad mastering, bad pressing, well, bad sound. I'm solid state all the way through by the way, no tubes (valves down here) in the mix . . . yet.
I'm now seeking out better mastering on CDs, and SACDs, I still love the medium and mix between those and LPs. In my limited experience, still a n00b on all this really, the source matters very much, and the destination (fixing the room! aligning the speakers!) are netting me better results than tinkering with all the gear. We did invest in decent mid range gear though . . .
Mattster
New Member
I started collecting stuff many years ago for the purpose of not going digital. Chasing CD-4 and still trying to perfect it. Collecting a ton of albums you name it. That said, I find myself listening to alot of cd's on a Kyocera CD player through a G9000 Sansui. The Kyocera does sound better (I think) as compared to an old sony I have, but its all pretty subjective all of the time unless something is just wrong with the setup, etc. The cd's are nice and often bring what seems like more detail esp to the upper end. Good clean vinyl in the long run is more fun for me, and part of that is growing up with it, the album covers and trying to get the best sound quality from vinyl. For me, the quality of the mix on the CD probably affects it more than what its played on all things considered. This comes from comparing the cd music to the vinyl version and making a decision.
Yeah I still buy new CDs! Depends on the music. I like HiFi 'best' version LPs so chase those for special stuff. Or original pressings if they're in good to vg condition, big IF.
For music I'd like to have but don't really care to own an expensive album for, CDs. And I'll buy a $5 CD before I buy a $50+ used record - been burned before, which is more a me problem. Have to apply caveat emptor to used LPs.
All that said I've a Wiim Pro Plus sitting here in the box waiting to be hooked up and checked out, probably this weekend but I'm in no rush.
I got the WiiM up and running and trialing Qobuz.
Oh my. Ummmm. Yeah. Wow. HiRes streaming is legit. I’m still hunting “audiophile” LPs and select CDs but streaming significantly changes the matrix.
Spinning45s
Active Member
IIRC, the early CD's were not quite perfected as far as audio quality. That's why later ones sound better. Also, the lacquer on the label side tended to deteriorate
causing what came to be called laser rot. That was also remedied on the later ones.
As far as the duplication of CD albums, you shouldn't have to worry about a much later pressing have a poor audio quality. Being digital, the player either reads it or it don't. If the stamper was too worn, the disc probably wouldn't play or would skip, or come out garbled.
Now, I have both CD's and records and find the records have a much richer sound.
causing what came to be called laser rot. That was also remedied on the later ones.
As far as the duplication of CD albums, you shouldn't have to worry about a much later pressing have a poor audio quality. Being digital, the player either reads it or it don't. If the stamper was too worn, the disc probably wouldn't play or would skip, or come out garbled.
Now, I have both CD's and records and find the records have a much richer sound.
