WD Live instead of CD Player

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Hi - I am new to the forum, and have just bought a WD Live player. It can play any file except APE files in my opinion. Loading CDs through EAC ripper is a painful process but i am getting through a few a day. I am looking to replace my CD player because the WD Live analog output is a sorry affair.

I am looking to buy a CD player which can take a digital input from an external source like WD Live. Any suggestions (price range Rs1 lac to Rs3 lac).

The rest of my set up is Musical Fidelity A5 / B&W DM3000 / Garrard 401.

Thanks
Gerry

 

[shankarcams]

Why do you need to give an INPUT to a CD player? IMHO you will not get such a player. The WD LIve output should go into your Preamp.

 

[hemantwaghe]

1 lack to 3 lack?
Then
1) Why not Dac?
2) Why not audiophile CD ripper -it Plays CD,Rips CD and stores it.....

1 st option is OK i have tried with cheap dac and sound was satisfactory but not great

2 nd option I'll give some links later..But when you have budget upto 3 L second option seems better.

also what other kit you have? I mean Amplifier,CD player, DAC,DVD Player and Speakers?

have you thought about wireless streaming?

 

[spirovious]

+1 to Hemant,a DAC is best way.

 

[jitubisht]

IF dac is what you decide to go for, there is one awesome DAC on sale in our forum..

 

[venkatcr]

The WD-Live is not a good source for playing music. Irrespective of which DAC you use, the output will still not be satisfactory. A well constructed PC with a Asus Essence card will beat the WD-Live any day, as will a lot of other products.

If you have large collection of music CDs, and are looking to convert to digital formats, you should look for a music only HDD player, that also has a ripping feature.

A good option is Naim's HDX. This not only converts your CD into lossless formats (I suspect they have EAC running inside), it also plays all the music stored on your harddisk. The output of HDX is supposed to be indistinguishable from Naim's own CD players.

There are many more such products available at various price ranges.

Cheers

 

[GeorgeO]

I use my Squeezebox(es) as a front end, one connected to a DAC, another to a preamp and have my music ripped and stored on a NAS. It works well for me.

 

[psychotropic]

With that budget, perhaps you could look at Dr. Bass's Reimyo DAC which is on for sale here http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/12095-reimyo-dap777-mkii-dac.html

 

[iaudio]

Or maybe Op is looking for a cd player like the CA 840 which can also take digital input.

 

[hemantwaghe]

The WD-Live is not a good source for playing music. Irrespective of which DAC you use, the output will still not be satisfactory. A well constructed PC with a Asus Essence card will beat the WD-Live any day, as will a lot of other products.

If you have large collection of music CDs, and are looking to convert to digital formats, you should look for a music only HDD player, that also has a ripping feature.

A good option is Naim's HDX. This not only converts your CD into lossless formats (I suspect they have EAC running inside), it also plays all the music stored on your harddisk. The output of HDX is supposed to be indistinguishable from Naim's own CD players.

There are many more such products available at various price ranges.

Cheers

+ 1 to you sir.
This is what I was suggesting
As a owner of WDTV I myself know that combination of WDTV+ Average DAC produces just decent sound ,not great!

 

[venkatcr]

Thanks Hemant. I have removed his posts as well yours and mine. Not relevant anymore. For those wondering what has happened, a member by id MaxePotter made a spam post.

Cheers

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Thanks for your replies and suggestions folks. I just mentioned that the rest of my system is MF A5 Amp, Garrad 401, B&W DM3000.

I am looking really to add a high end CD Player, and if it has the option of taking optical inputs from the WD Live, which does have an optical out, i suspect that the CD player's DAC being better than its own DAC, the WD Live will become a pretty good player for playing files for which you done have CDs, and save you the trouble of burning CDs.

The trouble with a standalone DAC is that the CD player which i must ultipately add, will also have a DAC, so it would be a better solution to take a CD Player with a provision for accepting other digital inputs...

 

[hemantwaghe]

Thanks for your replies and suggestions folks. I just mentioned that the rest of my system is MF A5 Amp, Garrad 401, B&W DM3000.

I am looking really to add a high end CD Player, and if it has the option of taking optical inputs from the WD Live, which does have an optical out, i suspect that the CD player's DAC being better than its own DAC, the WD Live will become a pretty good player for playing files for which you done have CDs, and save you the trouble of burning CDs.

The trouble with a standalone DAC is that the CD player which i must ultipately add, will also have a DAC, so it would be a better solution to take a CD Player with a provision for accepting other digital inputs...

Are such Cd players there?

Also what venkat sir says that WD TV is not at all good transport or basic source player connected to DAC.

DAC is not miracle device ,,you need a decent transport too...

And when you say budget is in lacks in fact Naim suits best as it is very good cd player and music ripping device too

BTW why not a 100 CD Changer connected to dac? and music pc to another cconnecxtion?

Why not a decent CD player + DAC

 

[venkatcr]

I am looking really to add a high end CD Player, and if it has the option of taking optical inputs from the WD Live, which does have an optical out, i suspect that the CD player's DAC being better than its own DAC, the WD Live will become a pretty good player for playing files for which you done have CDs, and save you the trouble of burning CDs.

In addition to the CA 840C, I suspect there are other CDPs with digital in.

Irrespective of the capability of the CDPs DAC, a poor source such as WD TV/Live will screw things up.

Cheers

 

[madbullram]

Well there are many war about WDTV optical output, frankly my ears have not found any difference in the output. In fact, 6-7 months back they did a detailed study and measured and found WDTV wasnt adding any gain or anything to the optical output and can be considered as good transport.

When we compared Squeezebox and WDTV as transport we couldnt find any difference in the output through DacMagic.

Off course thats my opinion (till I can really hear a difference )

Some interesting threads to kill time:
http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php/13075-Anyone-know-much-about-the-WD-Media-Player

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1146172

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks again for the excellent comments. most thought provoking. i have also heard that a very good DAC can make up for the relatively lower quality of the WD Live in comparison to a good transport and intend doing some tests myself.

I had been looking at AMR, but the CD-77 or CD-777 does not admit external digital inputs.

So i am thinking about this as a choice between taking a high-end CD player which has a DAC admitting external optical / co-ax inputs, or taking a CD player like Naim HDX (which is quite pricey), which also includes some sort of a media player, thus avoiding the use of a WD Live altogether. The primary goal is to get the CD player right, and I am yet to take listening tests of the Naim HDX, to see if it compares with AMR etc. (I was quite thrilled with AMR).

 

[anm]

you can also try naim uniti line of products.

Naim UnitiQute - hi-fi news - whathifi.com


Naim Uniti Micro and style system review - from the experts at whathifi.com

 

[anm]

also, if you are looking for a transport, you can grab an outgoing model of apple tv. I have purchased one recently, and it is quite usable via ipod touch remote if you want to use it headless.

 

[spirovious]

In addition to the CA 840C, I suspect there are other CDPs with digital in.

Irrespective of the capability of the CDPs DAC, a poor source such as WD TV/Live will screw things up.

Cheers

It has spdf in.
Nad higher CDp has optical in.
NAD Electronics :: C 565BEE CD Player

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

OK Folk. I have zeroed in on Esoteric's SA-50. It has everything i need, and seems a pedigreed name. not their top of the line, but suits my budget. Thanks to all of you for your comments.