Do dedicated CD players from the 80's/90's produce better sound??...
- Thread starter greg33418
- Start date
marqueemoon
Gimme indie rock!
I have a Rotel RCD-855 that's still going strong. I don't know about "better" sound, but it sounds more than acceptable to my ears.
Still planning to get a DAC so I can have a different flavor of sound and run dedicated tube and ss signal chains from the same player.
I also have a few decent CDPs waiting in the wings that I paid nothing or almost nothing for. If they really suck as transports I guess I'll revisit the issue, but I have no plans to purchase another CD player anytime soon.
Still planning to get a DAC so I can have a different flavor of sound and run dedicated tube and ss signal chains from the same player.
I also have a few decent CDPs waiting in the wings that I paid nothing or almost nothing for. If they really suck as transports I guess I'll revisit the issue, but I have no plans to purchase another CD player anytime soon.
mrtransam5
Active Member
not to sound stupid but what type of outboard DAC would work with a sony cdp 302, just had it recaped made a noticable difference but i still want it to be better..
riverrat
professional camper
You may hear from way more knowledgeable folks than me, but I'd say any DAC with a digital "in", which is just a 75ohm coax cable, and then the standard set of analog outs to send the signal to your receiver, pre-amp or amp. As long as your CDP302 has a digital "out", you should be good to go.
I don't know of any DACs that do NOT have these features, although there are a lot of units that integrate a DAC and a headphone amp, and some of these may not.
While you are shopping you may want to think about down the road a piece and look at DACs that allow at least two inputs so you can also run digital files off of a computer or music server. Many, but not all of these DACs have USB inputs.
IMO you are on the right track to better sound, it is impressive how much better even relatively inexpensive modern DACs are than what was included in most older players.
I've not heard 80's and 90's high end CD players, only the lower and mid level units. To my ears they all sound tinny, unsatisfying. Newer cheaper DVD players easily beat out 80's and 90's units, the difference in the internal DAC being the reason why. I really think many people that like the old CD players are going with build quality, not sound quality in determining their preference.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
I am not an expert, but until a real one says something, I feel I should comment about this,As usual, things are not that simple: The architecture of the DACs has been evolving, so not all 80's and 90's decks have the same dacs which in the end yield different results, which may or may not be distinguishable by the human ear. At the beginning, DACs where compared by parameters such as oversampling factors, type of digital filters, and basically were multibit models (e.g. 20 bit like the Denons of the late 80's and early 90's), until the 90's when Philips introduced
Bitstream or 1-bit DACs. Of that generation of cheaper players (the 1-bit dacs where cheaper), I've never heard any sounding very good, just decent (e.g., the Philips models). Of the multibit players, I kmow that the Denon 1650-G had four (2 for each channel) dac chips AD1862 N-Z that were used also in Acccuphase models, for example, worth 40 $ each at the time. I produces, even compared to today's CDPs, a superb sound quality. So, I would say one must specify what models are under discussion. Good sounding models did not need to be very expensive, like the Philips CD350 that had 2 x TDA1540P – SAA7030 DACS. This Philips DAC and the TDA 1541 are still consdered among the best chipset dacs ever made, e.g., http://www.lampizator.eu/LAMPIZATOR/TDA1541 corner/TDA1541.html .
Sometimes people get a cheap vintage CDP for cheap, sample it and disregard it as bad sounding, blaming the old dacs, but the reason could be aging electrolytic caps or some othe issue due to aging of, say , the analog stage.
So, my conclusion is that not all vintage DACs were the same, and sound the same, and some could even today sound better than some low-class, generic DAC chips. Lets always leave this possibility opened.
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mufster
Well-Known Member
People can claim what they want about old vs new DACS, but it's pretty simple really. If you own an older player and like it, then keep it! The grass isn't always greener you know! I'm 43 and my ears aren't as good as they were when I was 20. I listen to music played on my 20+ year old cd players and they sound great. Much smoother than listening to the same cd played on my Yamaha DSP cinema AV amp in 2 channel stereo using my modern Denon DVD player. Modern players and modern dacs to me sounds too clinical. I get listening fatigue pretty quick, but can and do sit listening to my older players for hours on end enjoying every minute. Just my experience.
mrtransam5
Active Member
my sony cdp 302 does not have a digital output, only the analog outs, the dac's that i have looked at your player has to have a digital out and my player doesnt. how do i overcome this. thanks
Cosmos
Speakerholic
A few years back, I picked up a Philips CD80 that was included in a system I bought off CL. It was heavy as heck and I had heard about early Philips and Marantz CD players being collectible and quite good. Nonetheless, I buried it in the garage with other audio gear without ever listening to it. It supposedly has the Famed TDA1541A-S1 (Single Crown) and CDM-1 Mk II transport, although I never checked..
A few months ago, I was cleaning some stuff out and came across this brick... put it in my system to see how it sounded and was simply blown away.. Very nice sounding deck.
Unfortunately, it does not play burnt CDs and..
I need to find a RC80CD remote control...
D
A few months ago, I was cleaning some stuff out and came across this brick... put it in my system to see how it sounded and was simply blown away.. Very nice sounding deck.
Unfortunately, it does not play burnt CDs and..
I need to find a RC80CD remote control...
D
marqueemoon
Gimme indie rock!
You are out of luck, unfortunately.
Sounds like a weekend project for my 'to do' list.
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
I don't know about your specific model, but in general you would need some tech knowledge, a service manual, time and patience (the Lampizator describes how to id the digital out from the dac in some examples, with the idea of replacing the analog solid state stage by a tubed one, e.g, http://www.lampizator.eu/ ). The point is, do you feel your CDP is special, so as to deserve this investment of effort, time and money ?
guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
The best Denon models are the four digit ones, the higher the first digit, the better. In practice, DCD-2XXX and DCD-3XXX . Most other players (I mean, 3 digit ones) are comparable to the average contemporary ones. I used to have a DCD-1500 and a newer DCD-620. They seemed to have been made in different planets! And the DCD-1650G (japanese internal market version of the DCD-2560 ), which I still have, puts both of them into shadow!
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