Wintersun's Groundhog's Day Thread

[Neon_Knight_]

Assuming that you are using a seperate dac all the CD player will do is literally read 1s and 0s off the disc and then send that information to it. Only difference will be maybe cheaper cd players will have a harder time reading scratched up cds but if youre going to split hairs that much then I would assume your collection is in immaculate condition.

If you're going to oversimplify it that much, then all guitar pickups sound the same because all they do is pick up string vibrations and send them to the amp.

Why wouldn't my collection be in immaculate condition? It's pretty effortless to take a tiny bit of care when transferring CDs between their case and a CD player.

The difference between vinyl and cds is slight, if you are pairing a set of speakers to the medium of choice then you are delving deep into mintuae that I'm sure 999/1000 people wouldnt be able to pass a blind test on. There'll be a difference, but wheather one is massively subjectively better or worse is another story altogether, especially as you go through different decades and genres of mixes.

If you are not choosing a set of speakers to compliment your amp + medium of choice (CD player / turnable / streamer) then how are you choosing them?

 

[Ataraxia2320]

If you're going to oversimplify it that much, then all guitar pickups sound the same because all they do is pick up string vibrations and send them to the amp.

Why wouldn't my collection be in immaculate condition? It's pretty effortless to take a tiny bit of care when transferring CDs between their case and a CD player.


If you are not choosing a set of speakers to compliment your amp + medium of choice (CD player / turnable / streamer) then how are you choosing them?

I think you misunderstood me. I wasnt trying to make a slight saying your cds wouldnt be in immaculate condition. My point was that you care so much your cd collection would be in immaculate condition and your going to have a seperate amp and dac so therefore the player part of your setup is not going to matter.

I choose my speakers like most audio engineers do: get the best speakers possble and the cleanest A-D and D-A converters. Not that any of this matters without a properly treated room of course which is half the battle in itself.

And of course the main thing is that I have a sauna in the room next door! We all know that there's nothing to be done audio wise without one!

 

[nightsprinter]

Booooo I wanted to see a heated argument about compact disc care

 

[Neon_Knight_]

I think you misunderstood me. I wasnt trying to make a slight saying your cds wouldnt be in immaculate condition. My point was that you care so much your cd collection would be in immaculate condition and your going to have a seperate amp and dac so therefore the player part of your setup is not going to matter.

Just like all other audio equipment, DACs vary massively in quality. A separate DAC will only be an improvement over a CD player's inbuilt DAC if it's superior - not simply because it's an extra seaprate piece of equipment added to the system. The DAC in a CD player that costs ££££s will generally be much better than a separate DAC that costs £££s, so to get an improvement you'd need to buy a DAC that costs ££££s not £££s.
Yes, there are DACs available that would be an unpgrade on the one in my CD player. There are also CD players out there that would have a better inbuilt DAC and be a superior CD transport. I haven't gone down either route to upgrade my system because I can't justify the expense to myself currently. There's plenty of room for improvement in every part of my system, but I own what I found to be the best available to me within a certain budget.

I know it has become more and more common for people to use a relatively low-end CD player as a "CD transport", with a higher end DAC + amp + speakers. Just because some people have decided to go down that route doesn't mean it's best. If I was to use a separate DAC, I would still want the CD transport to be of equivalent quality to the rest of my system.
I'm going to go back to the guitar pickups analogy again. Plenty of people think pickups don't matter, so use low-end stock pickups with higher end amps and pedals. 99% of people who have used lots of different pickups through lots of different amps and with lots of different pedals will agree that the pickups do make a difference.
Rubbish in = rubbish out.

I choose my speakers like most audio engineers do: get the best speakers possble and the cleanest A-D and D-A converters. Not that any of this matters without a properly treated room of course which is half the battle in itself.

At any given price point (including when money is no object), the what the "best" speakers are is subjective. IME it's very normal for someone to trial equipment together in the actual room that it will be used in, rather than buying something on the assumption that it's the best option. Home trial periods are commonplace for this reason.

And of course the main thing is that I have a sauna in the room next door! We all know that there's nothing to be done audio wise without one!