A discussion about crappy DVD players as CD players

[fLUX]

Wise words. I think this is true for any component in the audio chain as we upgrade and chase that elusive absolute best, just sounds perfectly right SQ,

Agree Dev, however I don't view it as a chase for elusive rather as refining possible elements in a signature of our choice or choosing. Chasing the elusive is a blind pursuit vs the second is more of an incremental level up.

Hi fLUX, i moved away from digital more than a decade back. So i don’t know what’s currently on offer. But from what I have read, Teac new transport, Jay Audio transport and Sparkler Audio transport may be worth looking at.

At this price point, there will always be some give and take. So what works for one may not work for other.

If you are missing something in your CEC, then look for options. Else just stick to it. A new cd transport might bring you some other attributes but you may lose some that you enjoy with your CEC.

Yes Prem, give & take is where the challenge is & with lack of auditiions a bigger problem. So wanted to see if you had some options you felt were good ones in 3L category, if you left digital a decade ago the 3L options would likely be 5L+ options now

 

[prem]

I think Herb Reichert of Stereophile has recently reviewed Sparkler and Teac cd transport. You can check it out to get some idea. They are reasonably priced. Herb seems to like musical stuff. His reviews are a little like those of Art Dudley.

 

[bhooshaniyer]

I think Herb Reichert of Stereophile has recently reviewed Sparkler and Teac cd transport. You can check it out to get some idea. They are reasonably priced. Herb seems to like musical stuff. His reviews are a little like those of Art Dudley.

I tried listening to some of the stuff herb lists as his favourite tracks inside detailed reviews..i found them very hard to listen to or engage with..it's hard to visualise their words and correlate to tools they use when the music they listen to.doesnt come anywhere near your zipcode for sensitivity.

This is just a side comment i really wanted to align with herbs description and use that as reference to understand the rest of the audiophile reviewers in relative sense. I just could not get there. Gave up and it much easier for me to relate to ghazal based listeners comments or even.bollywood listeners comments provided they are also savvy or ahead of the curve.

 

[Analogous]

, I tried listening to some of the stuff herb lists as his favourite tracks inside detailed reviews..i found them very hard to listen to or engage with..it's hard to visualise their words and correlate to tools they use when the music they listen to.doesnt come anywhere near your zipcode for sensitivity.

This is just a side comment i really wanted to align with herbs description and use that as reference to understand the rest of the audiophile reviewers in relative sense. I just could not get there. Gave up and it much easier for me to relate to ghazal based listeners comments or even.bollywood listeners comments provided they are also savvy or ahead of the curve.

Bhooshan, It’s always good to find a competent reviewer whose musical tastes are similar to ours. In such cases it’s easy to identify with their expressions and descriptions.
Ofcourse there is also their skill in putting their perceptions and descriptions into words. Some are better than others.
I think Herb, Steve G, the late Art Dudley do/did a competent and often entertaining job of this.
If you or anyone knows about Indian reviewers who are doing good reviews please share.
(ABA - A British Audiophile has clearly underlined his preferred identity in his avatar name, as is his right)
I do like Darko’s understated style and believe he puts a great deal of effort and chooses his words very carefully.
But he seems to only post reviews of equipment that he likes. I wish he would post those he reviewed and did not like as well. I guess there must be compelling reasons for this.
Golden sound has not posted a review in months after he was threatened with a law suit over his negative review of the DCS Barton DAC.
Zero Fidelity has also stopped posting since a year (?)

Maybe this topic (Audio reviews and reviewers) should be a separate thread?

 

[COOLDUDE7808]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

In terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

 

[Nitin K]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

I terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

Totally agree with you on that and even on the SQ part since I too am experiencing the same issue with Marantz. While a much cheaper Pioneer Bluray plays most of the cd's as compared to the fussy Marantz.

 

[IndianEars]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

In terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

I would speculate that the Marantz laser is dying ... A fading laser typically displays these systems progressively:

1. Will take long to read the TOC (Table Of Content) when the CD is inserted.

2. Will not read scratched CDs

3. Will not Read CDRs, particualrly with 70 minutes+ music on them.

4. Will not read any CDR

5. Will not read CDs.

Pardon my black tongue !

 

[COOLDUDE7808]

I would speculate that the Marantz laser is dying ... A fading laser typically displays these systems progressively:

1. Will take long to read the TOC (Table Of Content) when the CD is inserted.

2. Will not read scratched CDs

3. Will not Read CDRs, particualrly with 70 minutes+ music on them.

4. Will not read any CDR

5. Will not read CDs.

Pardon my black tongue !

Laser is ok . This is true for all the Marantz CD Players I have - even when they were relatively new . I had replaced the lens in CD6003 after around 3 yrs when I kept getting No Disc message and still the same for some of the CD's .

 

[rrunner]

Cheap and generic (chinese) cd players have higher tolerance for scratched cd's. So do our destop cd/dvd drives. It is all about error correction tolerances.

 

[Nitin K]

I would speculate that the Marantz laser is dying ... A fading laser typically displays these systems progressively:

1. Will take long to read the TOC (Table Of Content) when the CD is inserted.

2. Will not read scratched CDs

3. Will not Read CDRs, particualrly with 70 minutes+ music on them.

4. Will not read any CDR

5. Will not read CDs.

Pardon my black tongue !

Actually the Marantz was fussy when it was brand new & became more fussy with less usage in the coming months. I see here in the forums that quite a decent number of Fm's have experienced the same with Marantz cdp's. While it does read CDR's, the cheaper Moser Baer Pro - 80 mins , 700 mb ones on & off.

 

[bhooshaniyer]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

In terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

Yeah sq is.a non starter with the cheapies. They do play everything as their design is different as a blueray player.

 

[bhooshaniyer]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

In terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

Yeah sq is.a non starter with the cheapies. They do play everything as their design is different as a blueray player

I would speculate that the Marantz laser is dying ... A fading laser typically displays these systems progressively:

1. Will take long to read the TOC (Table Of Content) when the CD is inserted.

2. Will not read scratched CDs

3. Will not Read CDRs, particualrly with 70 minutes+ music on them.

4. Will not read any CDR

5. Will not read CDs.

Pardon my black tongue !

Yeah if toc is not instantly read then either the cd is damaged or CDP is far from functioning well. A good cdp will play a scratched cd if toc (inner circle) is in good shape. Even pinholes on periphery won't matter much if toc reading is good.

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

Having gone through almost all the threads I am curious to know how about using a decent DAC in between the amp and a cheap DVD player to spin CDs and enjoy music? If one doesn't have a CDP or CDT , even if one doesn't want to buy a CDP then buying a DAC can solve the problem, right?
Regards

 

[rrunner]

I have tried that experiment connecting good cd player and cheap cd player to same dac. The gap still remains between the 2. The cheap cd player would have a poor quality chip routing the digital out via coax and optical. That and the vibration when cd spins is excessive in a cheap cd player.

 

[rrunner]

A few dacs have better chips implemented in their coax section vs optical.. Schitt bifrost2 is one example. So those 2 inputs don't sound the same. Too many variables to consider.

 

[morerajendra5678]

I have tried that experiment connecting good cd player and cheap cd player to same dac. The gap still remains between the 2. The cheap cd player would have a poor quality chip routing the digital out via coax and optical. That and the vibration when cd spins is excessive in a cheap cd player.

How do you rate the music from streaming service like Spotify/Apple using a high end Dac to cheap cd player+Dac? Why I am asking this question is that I have recently put a system in place after starting my professional life. But once I ventured out to purchase music, I found the prices to very high as per my standards like good Old LPs costing excess of 4000. Also I couldn't find any good source to procure Cds. So I am at cross roads of whether I can pursue this hobby or not. Streaming services look to be only affordable source.
Spending on equipment was easier as it is one time affair. But procuring music is turning out to be a tuff nut to crack.

 

[keroo1099]

How do you rate the music from streaming service like Spotify/Apple using a high end Dac to cheap cd player+Dac? Why I am asking this question is that I have recently put a system in place after starting my professional life. But once I ventured out to purchase music, I found the prices to very high as per my standards like good Old LPs costing excess of 4000. Also I couldn't find any good source to procure Cds. So I am at cross roads of whether I can pursue this hobby or not. Streaming services look to be only affordable source.
Spending on equipment was easier as it is one time affair. But procuring music is turning out to be a tuff nut to crack.

I am very happy streaming Spotify premium through a laptop to a very very good Topping DX9. Music through Tidal is discernibly better with less grain, better soundstage, more detail but don't feel short changed with my current setup.

I know it could sound even better if I had a dedicated streamer which is the logical next step for me.

 

[souravin]

one thing about cheap DVD players is that , they play all CD's without skipping . I had this experience with Philips DVD player which costs Rs 4500 . But a Marantz player which costs Rs 93000 does not do that job . So I am still looking for one in the market to play some of my old and scratched CD's

In terms of SQ , Marantz is definitely better .

My Oppo Blue Ray player in terms of scratched CDs does the job very well. Connected through coaxial to either Denafrips or Chord DAC. It never skips and SQ is superb. Recently procured a FiiO DM13 being used as transport only - an interim arrangement till the time I'm able to collate funds for an Audiolab 9000 CDT. Marantz CD 63SE is again a milestone in terms of vintage sound however due to age skips at times.

For scratched CDs a good blue ray player should be the best medium.. My 2 cents

 

[souravin]

Spending on equipment was easier as it is one time affair. But procuring music is turning out to be a tuff nut to crack.

Absolutely agree. My focus initially has been to procure the physical media -both vinyl and CDs.. I stayed with a low fi audio rig and once I felt saturated in terms of the media, I have started upgrading the audio equipment. Anyway keeping in mind the income and family responsibilities, there were no options left for me. Price band has skyrocketed and now insane price is being asked even for a common vinyl or CD. Streaming is the only option, I'm onto Apple Music, and happy too.

 

[souravin]

Having gone through almost all the threads I am curious to know how about using a decent DAC in between the amp and a cheap DVD player to spin CDs and enjoy music? If one doesn't have a CDP or CDT , even if one doesn't want to buy a CDP then buying a DAC can solve the problem, right?
Regards

Hi Bhaskar,

My 2 cents assuming you are on budget- get a FiiO K11 R2R DAC and a transport like Shanling/ SMSL or FiiO (top loading preferred) with a good digital cable. You will be more than happy. This is the 1st layer. If you want to stretch further, there will be second layer. Do not go for Sony low end BDP- as there is no display and you have to use TV or any monitor.