I did a bunch of research a few years ago and settled on a mid range Marantz CD6004 player. I see the current version of it is the CD6006. It is a single disk player but accepts a USB input. I use a CD when I want to sit down and listen, but plug in an iPod when I want background music without the bother of changing disks.
I concluded that jitter was one of the issues in CD playback that potentially can produce the digital noise that some object to. There are high end CD playback systems which break up the player and D/A conversion into separate units, but they tend to have clock matching issues which can produce jitter. I think it is better to keep it simple and all in one box, where the designer can control the whole process.
Theoretically, CD players contribute to jitter. Streaming music files tends to avoid this. The best DACs will be separate from anything mechanical and anything that can add electrical noise to the signal.
Iām not intimately familiar with many of the high end DACs. Only by name and reputation. My ears have found the benefit from Auralic DACs (China). The timing clock is one of the more expensive components in a DAC and is rarely of the best quality in DACs under $1000. Iāve heard the Benchmark DAC 3 (US), which is closer to $2000 and it is excellent. Auralic clearly surpassed it though (both in sound quality and price). Other names that people swear by are dCS (UK) and Chord (UK). Some of this stuff can get ridiculously expensive and is only for serious hobbyists that have the means.
More down to earth DACs that are solid and above anything you would hear from Best Buy, for example, might be Cambridge Audio (UK) or Schiit (US).
Iām glad this discussion is in its own thread or we would be seriously off topic.
Iām also glad for some recognition about hearing aids and music that is not music streamed directly to the aids. Thatās another animal entirely.
This article about Myths and Misconceptions About CD players and DACs I think pretty much summarizes what I concluded about the technology 8 years ago or so when I bought my CD6004. Separating the CD player and DAC opens a whole can of worms that is really difficult to put back in the can again.
This said, now that I am into hearing aids and realize how bad my hearing really is, this is all pretty much a moot point! Compared to the issues that hearing aids induce in our music quality, the CD player or even the phono playback system is the least of our worriesā¦
With one of my Trax 42 programs set to eliminate compression, feedback reduction, and all possible digital processing, I am getting good results with music. I donāt turn the aids up as far as I do with the regular program. Iām not getting feedback, but if someone needed higher gain, feedback could become an issue with this approach.
Interesting article. Do you know the date? It is not on the page. I read it not that separating the CD player for the DAC as a problem, but as having the master clock at the CD player rather than the DAC as the problem. The author advocates having the clock at the DAC, which is what is normal now. With any good quality DAC (maybe all standalone DACs), the clock in the DAC is used as the master. In fact, my Auralic has a separate, optional, master clock unit. So, really into separates over here!
Although, now that I think about it, I may be closer to your approach than I initially thought. If I were to use a CD player, it would be my Blueray player. It is the $100 CD player approach he talks about that loses nothing when fed to a good quality, clock controlled DAC.
And, my DAC is actually a combination streamer/DAC so, for streamed files, it is like the integrated CD transport/DAC combo for streaming.
No!!!
Not that I understand everything or have the money for these whizbang doodads.
I used my OEM cd drive in my laptop to rip my CD collection to flac. yeah yeah I know.
A weird sense I sometimes have is that some sounds seem like theyāre somehow moved to the back as it were. Maybe thatās the DAC in my laptop. Dunno. That is not with headphones. If I headphone jack out from the laptop to another little amp I guess with its own DAC then I sometimes get that sense.
Ripping CDs with your laptop is fine. It doesnāt use the laptop DAC at all since it all stays in the digital domain. I use an $80 Lenovo USB DVD drive to rip CDs to flac. As the article Sierra linked, you wonāt find a difference in the digital files between rips from a cheap or an expensive CD player.
On the other hand, using your headphone jack, you are using the DAC in your laptop since that is an analog out.
Not sure what you are hearing with recessed sounds. You may just need equalization. If the midrange, or upper midrange, is low in gain relative to other frequencies, you might experience vocals as recessed, for example.
Can someone please help? I got new digitsl HA. Music sounds great to an extent. Vocals sound amazing. I am able to hear all the nuances in music that didnt exist before. However my issue is anything with heavy bass or bass with guitars it starts to sound off. How can I explain that? If I where to ask my Audi? So I can enjoy other genres of music. Mostly Country, Rap, Dance & Pop is decent but if I could just fix the one part it would be perfection, IMO. For example Iāve noticed by using the equalizer and turning the 63 dB all the way down on the equalizer helps but I feel like itās still lacking. Analog no problem just flip the t-switch & go. Digital I feel like I must be an musical engineer., if I want to enhance my digital beyond what my analogs could ever do. Iām on the right path just need somebody who has a musch better understanding of what I am looking for and how to explain it.
