Which CD Player at 50k?

[ajay124]

Hi Ajay,
I understand that Viki is trying to improve the weak link (source) in his system. I've heard the Arcam CD17 and Viki's Marantz 5001, but not the SB Touch. I found treble-end sparkle better in that Marantz, but coming to "overall SQ" I found Arcam CD17 a step ahead than Marantz ... Do you think that SB Touch is also a step ahead than Marantz?

Regds,

Forum opinions can only act as pointers or reference posts. Ultimately the fidelity of sound one gets depends on the synergy of the system as a whole. An SB Touch paired with a beefy amp like Bryston will sound very different from an SB Touch paired with a low powered amp. The quality of the speakers have the final 'say' in the system. It would be hard to distinguish the relative merits or demerits of a source, unless painstaking and multiple auditions are carried out.

Using the stock interconnect provided with the SB Touch I get lousy sound in my system. I am using a common interconnect at the moment for both the CDP and the Touch. The Touch sounds marvellous with the Transparent Musiclink Super IC. But then this IC costs more than the Touch!

 

[Viki]

Viki
You have a good amp and speakers. A better source will really do wonders for your system. My recommendations based on personal experience, about how to spend your 50K:
Squeezebox Touch/16.5K
WD My Book Essentials 1TB/3.5K
Emerson Liebert GT MT+ UPS 3kva/28K
Dedicated 4 mm power cables to multiple power sockets behind the audio rack/2K

It is possible that folks with less powerful amps may find the Touch lean sounding, but your Krell will add the body and heft required to make the SB Touch a true blue audiophile product. Dac? Not needed!

If the miniscule size of the Touch deters you from buying it, then you can look for a bigger more 'audiophile' looking box. But you would need to sacrifice the Emerson UPS to stay within your budget. Arcam CD17 and Rega Apollo both around 50K would be the best options.

Thanks for your suggestions, Ajay. I dont need the UPS as I already have an APC online 2 KVA, which works well. Also, I already did the 4mm power cables. I am definitely going to start exploring different DACs, starting with Venkatcrs suggestion on the Asus, hopefully Sonospheres.

 

[Viki]

I would suggest that you seriously consider an Audio PC. In my opinion, a PC with something like a Asus Xonar STX or a @Juli sound card will beat the pants off a CDP upto 1 lakh easily. And a CD player in PC costs just Rs.1250/=. If you are worried about the drive getting worn out or something, just replace it every six months.!!

Cheers

Will certainly try this soon. Just a question - what software should one use to play the CD without losing any SQ?

 

[Viki]

Hi Ajay,
I understand that Viki is trying to improve the weak link (source) in his system. I've heard the Arcam CD17 and Viki's Marantz 5001, but not the SB Touch. I found treble-end sparkle better in that Marantz, but coming to "overall SQ" I found Arcam CD17 a step ahead than Marantz ... Do you think that SB Touch is also a step ahead than Marantz?

Regds,

Thanks, Sono, would love to try your Asus sound card during HFV 2011. How will we be able to pair it with my Amp & Speakers? Will we need to have a PC or laptop? Drivers?

 

[venkatcr]

Will certainly try this soon. Just a question - what software should one use to play the CD without losing any SQ?

The same software that you use to play music from the hard disk. I have tested a few and finally settled between Foobar for convenience and cPlay for sound quality. Both use ASIO. There is also the priced J River which, I think, is becoming a bloated gorilla. To many options, too many file management, too many file types, etc.

Foobar gives you the convenience of mixing songs and not forcing you to listen to an album alone. You can drag and drop as many songs as you wants and listen to songs from various genres one after the other. When I am in the mood I jump from English to Hindi to Tamil to Carnatic to Hindustani to Western Classical all within two to three hours!

Cheers

 

[Essarr]

My vote goes for whatever Ken Ishiwata tweeks. Still running on CD63SE/KI-sig.

 

[sonosphere]

... How will we be able to pair it with my Amp & Speakers? Will we need to have a PC or laptop? Drivers?

I'll be getting the "CPU + keybd + mouse" to the HFV meet (but not the monitor). I suppose your LCD TV can connect to the CPU thru the standard 15 pin VGA connector. Then connecting CPU to your Krell is simple case of stereo RCA cable going from CPU's Xonar Line output to Krell's line input.

Regds,

 

[cricfansd]

If you want Value for money player then choose either Oppo BDP-93 and if absolute performance then use BDP-95. For BDP-95, the player's performance beats not only the state of art players but state of art audio analyzers. For SACD playback the DAC in the player has probably the lowest distortion ever measured and with 5-10 pico second average jitter. This kind of performance was audio engineer's dream 2-3 years back and you get that from a $999 player that can play practically any optical or electronic media present currently.

 

[spirovious]

Foobar gives you the convenience of mixing songs and not forcing you to listen to an album alone. Cheers

No need of cue files like Cplay & also plays audio from some of video files.

 

[Viki]

I'll be getting the "CPU + keybd + mouse" to the HFV meet (but not the monitor). I suppose your LCD TV can connect to the CPU thru the standard 15 pin VGA connector. Then connecting CPU to your Krell is simple case of stereo RCA cable going from CPU's Xonar Line output to Krell's line input.

Regds,

Yes, my TV can take VGA input from PC. However, cant we just use the Marantz as a transport, and take digital coax to DAC, o/p to Krell?

 

[nshankar]

+1 to Oppo BDP95, if you can get it within your budget in India.

 

[sonosphere]

Yes, my TV can take VGA input from PC. However, cant we just use the Marantz as a transport, and take digital coax to DAC, o/p to Krell?

Hi Viki,
Unfortunately the Xonar ST can't act as a standalone DAC, because it hasn't got a Digital in provision (only Digi out present). Hence we can't use the Marantz cdp as transport.

I guess the Asus designer's thought the PC users are bound to have a CD drive /or have music on files, so why increase circuitry for Digi in and corresponding cost.

Regds,