cd player or pc as source

[thevortex]

Well,
Explain Me "Interference will be the least of your problems with an inefficient PSU" Why ?

Amarbir - what exactly did you want me to explain?

Take the triumvirate of Heat, Noise and Vibration to start with. We can then work onwards for more disadvantages. The interference I was talking about was jitter. But that can come much, much later .

 

[thevortex]

Yes Titus - that is what I always say.

For a fiddler, a PC is irreplaceable and immensely versatile. For the traditional audiophile, the CD Player is an efficient and soothing influence. He does not have to tear our his hair worrying about Operating Systems or even the various media players out there. Or just in general worry about data corruption, viruses and system crashes!!

With the right kind of setup though, a PC can be every bit as good a source as an equivalently priced CD Player and will, more often than not, beat it, if designed from the ground up as a Music PC. Such has been my experience. Admittedly limited.

 

[moktan]

Yes Titus - that is what I always say.

For a fiddler, a PC is irreplaceable and immensely versatile. For the traditional audiophile, the CD Player is an efficient and soothing influence. He does not have to tear our his hair worrying about Operating Systems or even the various media players out there. Or just in general worry about data corruption, viruses and system crashes!!

With the right kind of setup though, a PC can be every bit as good a source as an equivalently priced CD Player and will, more often than not, beat it, if designed from the ground up as a Music PC. Such has been my experience. Admittedly limited.

i am a bit confused here..apart from the media player (and obviously the OS) do some computer hardware configurations have the edge over others even though one may be taking the digital output to an external DAC through usb...and if such configurations do exist could someone kindly give some pointers....
thanks

 

[gobble]

i am a bit confused here..apart from the media player (and obviously the OS) do some computer hardware configurations have the edge over others even though one may be taking the digital output to an external DAC through usb...and if such configurations do exist could someone kindly give some pointers....
thanks

Your DAC should talk about Galvanic isolation for usb as a feature. If its not then it is unlikely to transport the SQ into the stratosphere.

The best connection for an external DAC is Firewire. In the case of FireWire, many firewire chips introduce latency/interrupt problems. Always look for a TexasInstrument TI FW chip on the motherboard.

That said, even with galvanic isolation you will never get an absolutely jitter-free player even with VCO mumbo-jumbo re-clocking or asynchronous bufferring etc.

No real gyaan here, just giving you some pointers that it is almost impossible to get that perfect analog like quality out of such a source. But in real life, you will find or take a liking for the SQ of some gear despite all its imperfections which one may not perceive, and this acceptance of the SQ on the emotional plane often confuses us about what can be so bad about the gear we own. The best way to understand I guess is to own an analog source like TT. Then realization will set in. Another example is in all the docs and pages you read about crossover coloration but the only time you really understand is when you purchased the full-ranger and listened to it for a long time. Now I am certain you can hear the cross-over in an instant

Cheers

 

[rallynut]

as always,the arguments will continue .i play all my music off my laptop,and it never ceases to amaze me just how good music can get to sound even on a budget .that said in a comparo a cd player should come out tops,considering the very purpose of that thing....to play cd's and even more cd's!!!!cheers

 

[iaudio]

Iaudio,

I agree with you when you say cdp > pc source. The question is how much is the difference. Is it audible to everyone and on every system. I guess not.

Mine is a reasonable resolving system. I am going to work on it to implement it using another USB cable and see how it works.

PC maynot be as good as CDP. Are there any other alternatives. Like squeezebox etc. I am not knowledgeble enough to experiment so soon.

Enlighten me on any other alternatives. CDP is a problem because, it is difficult to manage hundreds if not thousands of CD titles. I am happy with my 12 year old Technics CD changer. But when I buy a new CD, I need to find a CD in the CD changer such that I can replace it.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks
pandu

Thats true. How much of a difference is a pertinent question. If you are a critical listener you will notice, else you might not, unless you have a very resolving system.
I think we will know better once more and more members among us with cd players get DACs and speak from personal experience.

 

[thevortex]

i am a bit confused here..apart from the media player (and obviously the OS) do some computer hardware configurations have the edge over others even though one may be taking the digital output to an external DAC through usb...and if such configurations do exist could someone kindly give some pointers....
thanks

Well, technically, if you build a computer as a Music PC from the ground up and then plonk a basic PSU in it, then the overall performance is going to suffer.

There is going to be less of a noticeable difference with the PC as a source if you are also going to have a DAC. There is going to be a lot more noticeable difference if you are using the Analog outs from the PC.

Going further, if you are using the PC's CD drive to play CDs that is definitely second best to playing stuff straight off the hard drive which have a much higher read/write speed. And of course nothing beats playing straight off the RAM - which is what cPlay (an audio player) does.

Lastly as you have already mentioned, there are a host of other factors related to the OS and media players (such as ASIO, WASAPI etc.) that can affect sound output.

 

[KDM]

I prefer using a CD player.

Can't stand spending ALL that time converting my entire library of CDs to FLACs just so I can hear music using a PC/Audio Server/Media Tank. I prefer plonking the CD into the player when needed and taking it out when I'm done with it.

 

[thevortex]

I prefer using a CD player.

Can't stand spending ALL that time converting my entire library of CDs to FLACs just so I can hear music using a PC/Audio Server/Media Tank. I prefer plonking the CD into the player when needed and taking it out when I'm done with it.

Indeed. I know many who have similar opinions.

But in my case, I have stopped caring about the physical CDs themselves! All of them are in my hard drive - along with a couple of backups, just in case. Yes, it is a laborious process to build the collection but once done, you have convenience which is unbeatable. That at least is my line of thought.

 

[rallynut]

I prefer using a CD player.

Can't stand spending ALL that time converting my entire library of CDs to FLACs just so I can hear music using a PC/Audio Server/Media Tank. I prefer plonking the CD into the player when needed and taking it out when I'm done with it.

what about so many people,me included,who happen to have more files digitally stored,and relatively few physical cds's???like i said,the arguments will forever continue :indifferent14:.cheers