suggest budget CDP for music

wnrao

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dear friends,
i am planning to set up a 2 Ch stereo of reasonable SQ on a shoe string budget.

looking for an amp for 10K. Shortlisted Norge/sonodyne/sherwood amp

Speakers for around 20K. shortlisted Mission M34i/wharfedale 9.5/9.6 and MS 906i

now i need to decide on source. Suggest a good CDP of reasonabe SQ which can play MP3 as well. may be priced around 5-10K. how good is philips CDP for audio

i need some clarity of CDP and amp connection and the requirement of DAC . can i connect the ""audio out" of CDP directly to ""audio in"" of amp (the old fashioned) or its digitally connected.
is there a requirement for external DAC or DAC is part of CD or amp bcause i have read of the requirement of DAC in the forum here.
i know DAC does digital to analog conversion but where does it fit in.

regards
 
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dear friends,
i am planning to set up a 2 Ch stereo of reasonable SQ on a shoe string budget.

looking for an amp for 10K. Shortlisted Norge/sonodyne/sherwood amp

Speakers for around 20K. shortlisted Mission M34i/wharfedale 9.5/9.6 and MS 906i

now i need to decide on source. Suggest a good CDP of reasonabe SQ which can play MP3 as well. may be priced around 5-10K. how good is philips CDP for audio

i need some clarity of CDP and amp connection and the requirement of DAC . can i connect the ""audio out" of CDP directly to ""audio in"" of amp (the old fashioned) or its digitally connected.
is there a requirement for external DAC or DAC is part of CD or amp bcause i have read of the requirement of DAC in the forum here.
i know DAC does digital to analog conversion but where does it fit in.

regards

You can look at Marantz CDP 5001. Quite a bang for the buck. If you can allocate more money to CDP then you can go for Marantz CDP 6002. CDP 6002 has excellent reviews everywhere and was awarded 5 stars...

Cheers,
Ashish
 
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You can look at Marantz CDP 5001. Quite a bang for the buck. If you can allocate more money to CDP then you can go for Marantz CDP 6002. CDP 6002 has excellent reviews everywhere and was awarded 5 stars...

Cheers,
Ashish

thanks for the info. how much a entry level CDP from marantz costs. how much marantz CDP 5001 costs.

regards
 
thanks again. if i go for a DVD player from sony or philips, will it degrade the SQ.will i be making a big compromise on SQ.

regards

A DVD player is meant to be best for playing DVD and related video media like Divx etc. There are of course some DVD players which have outstanding sound quality and definitely can rival entry level CD Player. An excellent choice will be Oppo 980 which is rated for it sound quality and also you won't be dissappointed with picture too...value for money when you want a single player to function for music and movies.
 
A DVD player is meant to be best for playing DVD and related video media like Divx etc. There are of course some DVD players which have outstanding sound quality and definitely can rival entry level CD Player. An excellent choice will be Oppo 980 which is rated for it sound quality and also you won't be dissappointed with picture too...value for money when you want a single player to function for music and movies.

ok, i am making a study of oppo, but i suppose it costs as much or more than an entry level marantz CDP. how much oppo costs. how does entry level oppo compares with entry level marantz CDP in terms of SQ and price

regards
 
ok, i am making a study of oppo, but i suppose it costs as much or more than an entry level marantz CDP. how much oppo costs. how does entry level oppo compares with entry level marantz CDP in terms of SQ and price

regards

I have not heard an Oppo 980 but going by the reviews it can match the CDP 5001 with the added benefit of a good DVD Player..about the cost I have no idea but it must be between 16-20K...
 
I have not heard an Oppo 980 but going by the reviews it can match the CDP 5001 with the added benefit of a good DVD Player..about the cost I have no idea but it must be between 16-20K...

thanks for the suggestion. oppo 980 seems to be a good choice from audio point of view. i am seriously considering it.
 
At the outset, with reference to your discussion with AlladinKiChirag, the Oppo 980 is a good player for music and movies. The only hitch is how to get it. If you buy it in the US and bring it back without any customs you will get it for roughly 8000Rs (USD170 x 45). It is not being distributed in India. So if at all you buy it here, it will through a person who has it and is willing to sell it, or from the gray market. In the later case, the prices will shoot up to anywhere between 20 to 40,000Rs. depending upon how much desperation the seller sees in you.

The Indian distributors are selling only the 981 model which is going at roughly 35K.

now i need to decide on source. Suggest a good CDP of reasonabe SQ which can play MP3 as well. may be priced around 5-10K. how good is philips CDP for audio

Most CDPs do not play MP3, unless the specification mentions it in particular. A good option is to go in for a slightly higher end 2-in-1 that has a decent CDP and connect that to your system. I have been trying my LG 3-in-1 and it provides decent music though it has a DVD player. If you get a 2-in-1 that has a CDO with MP3 capabilities, you may be in luck.

I need some clarity of CDP and amp connection and the requirement of DAC . can i connect the ""audio out" of CDP directly to ""audio in"" of amp (the old fashioned) or its digitally connected.

Most CDPs will have an internal DAC and an audio out. This you can connect directly to the amp. Be careful as many amps (particularly the ones you have chosen) may not have a digital in at all. In that case you have to get a CDP that has an analog out or what you call 'audio out'.

is there a requirement for external DAC or DAC is part of CD or amp bcause i have read of the requirement of DAC in the forum here. i know DAC does digital to analog conversion but where does it fit in.

Two channel amps, unless you specifically look for one with it, rarely have DAC processing. They would expect to receive only analog signals through their 'audio in'. At the prices you are looking at, I am fairly positive the amps you are choosing will NOT have DAC processing. Please confirm this, before you decide the CDP.

The Digital-to-Analog conversion can be done anywhere in the chain - at the CDP, between the CDP and amp, or at the amp. At the budget level, most amp manufacturers try to keep the prices low, and will usually avoid incorporating an DAC. Most CDPs and DVD Players have a DAC built in. Many of them also have the option of a digital out where they allow an external unit to do the DAC conversion. So basically you have the following options

CDP/DVD with DAC --> Amp with Analog (Audio) in.
CDP/DVD with DAC and Digital Out --> Amp with DAC
CDP/DVD with DAC and Digital Out --> DAC Engine --> AMP with Analog (Audio) in

Now why have a DAC in between the CDP and Amp? This is done when you feel the CDP is not doing a good job in DAC conversion. But all this adds to the cost and makes sense only to 'audiophiles' who try to extract more and more warmth, transparency, or whatever they think is missing in the CDP or somewhere in the chain.

For general and decent listening, a CDP with a DAC, or a AMP with a DAC is more than sufficient.

Cheers
 
At the outset, with reference to your discussion with AlladinKiChirag, the Oppo 980 is a good player for music and movies. The only hitch is how to get it. If you buy it in the US and bring it back without any customs you will get it for roughly 8000Rs (USD170 x 45). It is not being distributed in India. So if at all you buy it here, it will through a person who has it and is willing to sell it, or from the gray market. In the later case, the prices will shoot up to anywhere between 20 to 40,000Rs. depending upon how much desperation the seller sees in you.

The Indian distributors are selling only the 981 model which is going at roughly 35K.



Most CDPs do not play MP3, unless the specification mentions it in particular. A good option is to go in for a slightly higher end 2-in-1 that has a decent CDP and connect that to your system. I have been trying my LG 3-in-1 and it provides decent music though it has a DVD player. If you get a 2-in-1 that has a CDO with MP3 capabilities, you may be in luck.



Most CDPs will have an internal DAC and an audio out. This you can connect directly to the amp. Be careful as many amps (particularly the ones you have chosen) may not have a digital in at all. In that case you have to get a CDP that has an analog out or what you call 'audio out'.



Two channel amps, unless you specifically look for one with it, rarely have DAC processing. They would expect to receive only analog signals through their 'audio in'. At the prices you are looking at, I am fairly positive the amps you are choosing will NOT have DAC processing. Please confirm this, before you decide the CDP.

The Digital-to-Analog conversion can be done anywhere in the chain - at the CDP, between the CDP and amp, or at the amp. At the budget level, most amp manufacturers try to keep the prices low, and will usually avoid incorporating an DAC. Most CDPs and DVD Players have a DAC built in. Many of them also have the option of a digital out where they allow an external unit to do the DAC conversion. So basically you have the following options

CDP/DVD with DAC --> Amp with Analog (Audio) in.
CDP/DVD with DAC and Digital Out --> Amp with DAC
CDP/DVD with DAC and Digital Out --> DAC Engine --> AMP with Analog (Audio) in

Now why have a DAC in between the CDP and Amp? This is done when you feel the CDP is not doing a good job in DAC conversion. But all this adds to the cost and makes sense only to 'audiophiles' who try to extract more and more warmth, transparency, or whatever they think is missing in the CDP or somewhere in the chain.

For general and decent listening, a CDP with a DAC, or a AMP with a DAC is more than sufficient.

Cheers

thanks for the info. a friend of mine is currently in USA on a 2 weeeks business tour, i have asked him to get OPPO 980 and a 2 Ch amp, provided time n baggage limits permit him.
alternately how does an ipod/CD walkman/sony ericcson mobile fare as a source. i am not looking at audiophile quality but quality better than the mass market music systems around.
 
alternately how does an ipod/CD walkman/sony ericcson mobile fare as a source. i am not looking at audiophile quality but quality better than the mass market music systems around.

There have been some discussions on this. Some people are happy with SE, Sony, and other mobile phones. In terms of connectivity and third party support, iPod is the best.

I have been using an iPod both at home and in the car, and I get decent music. I use MP3 files ripped at 320kbps and each file size comes to between 15 to 30 MB. If you want real good quality you have to use lossless formats.

If you use reasonably ripped MP3 files, you will certainly get better than 'mass market' quality. If you are going to use such a system, rather than just an amp, you should look for amp or a two channel receiver that understands MP3 music, and has something called an MP3 Enhancer. During playback, these amps try to recreate some of frequencies that were lost during compression.

Cheers
 
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