Dedicated CD player or External DAC

Not everybody likes the DAC sound. And also I once opened a DAC by Cambridge audio priced 22k. I was really wondering........what the hell is there in it for that price. I don't know why they are charging so much for a DAC. My friend purchased a DAC by Nuforce for a lakh. Ooops!!!
Not sure what you mean by 'DAC sound', since every DAC sounds different from one another!
 
DACs of that price range need not sound good. But if you can get a CD player for that price, it will definitely be better. If you want a DAC to sound better than the 20k cd player, you will have to invest in a DAC costing around 50k. Why bother? CD player is the way to go.....as yet.
Not everybody likes the DAC sound. And also I once opened a DAC by Cambridge audio priced 22k. I was really wondering........what the hell is there in it for that price. I don't know why they are charging so much for a DAC. My friend purchased a DAC by Nuforce for a lakh. Ooops!!!

Not necessarily true that a similarly priced CDP will outperform a dedicated DAC.
It all depends on what is being fed as content and format capabilities.
Dedicated DACs have options to connect to multiple sources viz USB, Coax, Opt, etc.
Also they can work with different sampling/bitrates (CDPs usually don't have these).
Some DACs have choice of filters that can be turned on/off as per user's listening preference.

A user having a large CD collection that is going to stay should invest in a CDP.
Many of us have moved on from physical media and have needs such as connecting PC, TV, ChromeCast, etc
A dedicated DAC is useful and there are many that don't break the bank.

BTW, a CDP has a DAC built-in, so what does "Not everybody likes the DAC sound" mean?

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Got my new Denon dcd 720ae CD player... It is nice player with sweet sound.... It plays mp3 files via USB port too. Sound quality difference is easily hear able.... Overall nice deal in 17K.
Enjoy your CD collection
Cheers,
Raghu
 
There is nothing like internal DAC of CDP sounds better vs external DAC.
You get an external DAC for the price of say 500 USD and also CDP for that money

And also you get one box CDP and external dacs worth thousands of dollars
Both are available at all price points

And yes as you move up the chain there is surely an improvement. It does not stop only at more bass and highs
There are several more things to good sound apart from details and bass

But yes one should stick to whatever budget is in affordable and enjoy the music , else it will be just running after one equipment or the other
 
Now I can Clearly differentiate sound of CD player vs DVD player.... There is huge difference, in fact sound changed completely.... I didn't make any other change.... Although I never listened music with external DAC so can't comment on this...
 
Thanks to dear members of the forum who guided me well enough to choose right thing in limited budget... I learnt another lesson from one of the member that sound quality of the song is more important than the source of playing it.
 
That means the song format(mp3,wav or flac) /its recording quality(original motion picture sound or any other pirated source) matters a lot ...all other affects but
Of course, garbage in garbage out, no matter how you process it.
 
I am listening to new CDP since last 1 month & I would like to share my observation.... Nothing changed in my set up except player.... I can hear entirely different sound with my CDs Now... It playes mp3 format songs well which are recorded well.... Although there is no huge difference in old songs with mp3 format or poorly recorded.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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