Blu-ray player to play Audio CDs!

[raghupb]

Raghu Sir,

Thanks for the Advice, Possibly I would take route 1 first and route 2 Later. FLAC's are not much impressive whistle comparing to the Physical CD playing the same track in my current Set-up .

As RegeHA pointed out USB medium might add some minimal noise to the music,which is completely bypassed in CD.

My experience has been somewhat different. FLACs created by my own rips sound the same. But I am no spring chicken, so it may be my lead ears.
Just curious when you compare, are both CD and FLAC being played from the same PC/SW Player and by extension, the same USB/SPDIF out?

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[spirovious]

I like digital out of Pioneer BDP150. I compared it with Xonar D2X digital out.Some how I feel pioneer sounds better and has thicker soundstage. I play flacs/Wav via USB.

 

[regeHA]

As RegeHA pointed out USB medium might add some minimal noise to the music,which is completely bypassed in CD.

And I also clearly mentioned its not about the rips themselves.

but only because its isolated from electrical noise and not because of better components or even better rips.

You can rip with anything... make sure it has AccurateRip support. I myself use EAC.

If you can isolate the computer from electrical noise then the FLACs will sound the same or even superior to audio CDs. In my own case they sound superior to the extent my speakers have completely disappeared. All of the sources I've used - that includes CDPs, PCs, BDPs, etc. never managed it. The closest I came was with a 2 PC setup using JRiver and JPlay. Now again using a 2 PC setup (NAS + Pi) I find the output to be even better than the previous 2 PC setup. Next I'm going to try HQPlayer + NAA, again a 2 PC setup with tons of positive reviews.

Pretty much everyone of them addresses the issue of electrical noise, which PCs don't and especially USBs from PCs don't, and something even most USB DACs have an issue with.

 

[sunilkm]

Will there be any significant difference if we use Digital coaxial instead of using HDMI out of bdp-160 for audio purpose only?

I like digital out of Pioneer BDP150. I compared it with Xonar D2X digital out.Some how I feel pioneer sounds better and has thicker soundstage. I play flacs/Wav via USB.

 

[regeHA]

Will there be any significant difference if we use Digital coaxial instead of using HDMI out of bdp-160 for audio purpose only?

In my experience HDMI is inferior, too much jitter.

I prefer wireless > Toslink > Coaxial > USB > HDMI.

 

[spirovious]

Will there be any significant difference if we use Digital coaxial instead of using HDMI out of bdp-160 for audio purpose only?

I could sense that HDMI sounds more sweet and enjoyable than coaxial out when tested with Yamaha and marantz AVR.

 

[Audio_Freek]

This has multiple issues that need to be taken care of:

1. What software you use for ripping. The best is EAC. If EAC gives you 90% accuracy or more, the FLAC will be identical to the CD source.
2. How close you are to the source FLAC file in terms of extraction and DAC conversion.


Cheers

1. I had downloaded few Flac files, Just for testing :sad: I haven't ripped any CD's as of now.But Shall use EAC for the ripping project.

My Ignorance, I was thinking FLAC is a RAW file and there is no different from the quality i which the CD's are pressed. You are eye opener

I play the FLAC from my HDD -->Blu ray player--Analogue Output-->Amplifier, So no DAC in between :indifferent14:, So adding a Nice DAC improve the CD and FLAC (if I use EAC) as well?

Kindly assist

 

[venkatcr]

My Ignorance, I was thinking FLAC is a RAW file and there is no different from the quality i which the CD's are pressed. You are eye opener

FLAC is actually a compressed file. The only raw file is Wav.

I play the FLAC from my HDD -->Blu ray player--Analogue Output-->Amplifier, So no DAC in between :indifferent14:, So adding a Nice DAC improve the CD and FLAC (if I use EAC) as well?

When you play a computer file, you need a DAC. Most DACs that come with computers and laptops are useless. Unless you use a very high end amplifier that has been optimised for digital input, the DACs in amplifiers are also average.

Though there are arguments, I feel using a good sound card and taking analogue out directly from that is the best option. For one, the distance between the file and the sound card is very limited. A good sound card also wipes away all digital noise. What you get is pure sound.

Cheers

 

[sunilkm]

I could sense that HDMI sounds more sweet and enjoyable than coaxial out when tested with Yamaha and marantz AVR.

Thanks. Currently I have connected HDMI out and analog out of bdp-160 to yamaha 477. I am finding analog out is more smoother and warm.
Did not check coaxial out.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Clear Now- Time to buy a Nice DAC and connect it in middle of the Chain (Blu ray--DAC--Amp) ,also convert the CD's into FLAC with EAC for best output from CD\FLAC

 

[jls001]

If you're going to rip using EAC, simply save it as wave file. You'll be avoiding one more processing in the playback chain - there will be no need to decompress compressed flac files at the time of playback. In theory, flac can be fully decompressed to lossless wave file, but during playback we never know what gunk and jitter gets introduced due to the decompression process.

The only reason I can think of for saving as flac is many physical media players, including CD players with capability to play files from pen drives, do not play native wave file but happily play mp3 or wma or flac files. Since storage is now so cheap, it no longer qualifies as a valid reason to save files in compressed formats. IMHO, of course.

 

[spirovious]

Thanks. Currently I have connected HDMI out and analog out of bdp-160 to yamaha 477. I am finding analog out is more smoother and warm.
Did not check coaxial out.

Pioneer analog out is better than my Toshiba BDP. If you compare digital out and HDMI, HDMI sounds musical to me. You can only compare it with AVR only as hardly any DAC comes which accepts HDMI audio.

 

[technicalganesh]

Just wanted to share my old initial setup is now upgraded with a customised furniture did by my friend who is an interior designer!

As show in one of my last posts, the system was having my home theatre speakers ELAC FS77 floor standers. Now they got replaced with a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 2 speakers! The stands are also made by my friend!

Ganesh Kumar Ponnuswamy

 

[Raaj DSV]

Just wanted to share my old initial setup is now upgraded with a customised furniture did by my friend who is an interior designer!

Just saw this thread. Very informative thread.

And not to forget, Very beautiful setup. Congratulations and kudos to your friend for making such a wonderful effort.

 

[yogitashwer]

Pioneer BDP 180 is cheap and good.

 

[Nitin K]

I am using Pioneer bdp180 for movies and the Cd 6006 UK edition for music.
Was using the Pioneer prior to the Marantz for music. It's quite good and reliable. Although it's less detailed comparatively between the both of them.
The Pioneer reads almost any cd, even the ones with scratches.
It plays wav and FLAC files too if I am not mistaken.

 

[yogitashwer]

I have used both pioneer and marantz for music but i found pioneer in term of functionality and playability of formats with ease.

 

[Nitin K]

I have used both pioneer and marantz for music but i found pioneer in term of functionality and playability of formats with ease.

Totally agree with you where functionality, reliability & playing of formats is concerned. But the Marantz player using its dac, is audibly clearer & dynamic in terms of sound quality than the bdp in my opinion.

 

[Bloom@83]

Totally agree with you where functionality, reliability & playing of formats is concerned. But the Marantz player using its dac, is audibly clearer & dynamic in terms of sound quality than the bdp in my opinion.

+1

 

[dazoy]

I find very few reasons apart from cd's looking good on a shelf to use them - they are digital anyway.
Just record/rip them using the best player you like and play those versions digitally. For comparison, you can play CD on a player your choice vs the ripped version and make changes to the amp or DAC tone and filter settings to match the CD tone. Might be the most convenient way to play CD's.