Using blueray player for cds

[Ashtray83 51]

So recently I have been upgrading my hifi and Av set up, it's more centered around audio but I have just got a 4k tv and blueray player , which has the ability to play all audio formats including sacd and flac files, at a claimed 24bit 192kz . How much better is a dedicated cd player going to be? Is it really necessary 

[anandpkumar 294]

Which model of Blueray player do you have? What is the rest of your chain like (speakers, AV amp etc)?

Are you using the digital out from the Blueray player or the analogue out? If you are using the digital out - then it bypasses the DAC in your Blueray and uses the DAC in the AV receiver. Either way, a dedicated CD player will probably sound much better for stereo music. However, this investment will make sense only if you are also looking for a dedicated amplifier for your stereo, and your speakers are also of a similar quality to get the best out of the source

[Batty 5,027]

I use an aging Pioneer DVD player to play CDs, SQ is surprisingly very good bang for buck ( I paid $200 in 2005). I am using it in a dedicated stereo setup not an AV rig. It also does sound better when using the digital out through a DAC.

As always if your budget is sufficient you will get better performance from higher end dedicated CD players, but to my ears the DVD player is good enough.

[surprisetech 1,034]

I've been using Universal DVD, then BluRay players for my CD playback for years and haven't missed having a dedicated CD player.  To be fair, these players are designed with higher-end audio playback in mind, which helps.

My current/previous players all have a 'Pure Audio' or 'Audio Direct' button which switches off the video circuitry effectively making the unit a dedicated CD/SACD/HDCD player.

[betty boop 15,742]

$ for $ a cd player is a better option than trying to get a universal player wiht similar 2ch ability. blu-ray players have pretty much an after thought for analog, days and power supplies.... mainly because they are often digital machines many dont even come with analog outputs these days.  if you want to get one with better analog its just going to cost as much or more than cd player. there are a ton of cd players out there can pick some up very cheaply ! I use one in my 2nd system thats some 20 years old costing hundreds of dollars and it wasn't embarrassed by much more recent universal player costing over $2k !! puts in some prospecting. said cd player was a $2k thing back in the day ....

[Ashtray83 51]

Current system is tv into fiio dac, vincent sv-236 hybrid amp which only has analog inputs and spendor a9 speakers. The blue ray player is sony x700, I haven't looked yet but I think it has two hdmi outputs one for DVD the other audio. My other source for music is either technics 1200 turntable or digital music from phone. I am slowly upgrading as I go along

[betty boop 15,742]

13 minutes ago, Ashtray83 said:

Current system is tv into fiio dac, vincent sv-236 hybrid amp which only has analog inputs and spendor a9 speakers. The blue ray player is sony x700, I haven't looked yet but I think it has two hdmi outputs one for DVD the other audio. My other source for music is either technics 1200 turntable or digital music from phone. I am slowly upgrading as I go along

 

yes just HDMI and coax out...

 

 

if you get the chance id encourage to try a dedicated cd player just analog out into your vincent

[SSV Redline 11]

I just bought a Rotel 965bx Cd player 2nd hand 3 months ago. It's from 1993!

All I can say is an Effie impersonation...OMG!

I am not one to say this sounds better than that and it's more musical or warm etc.

But WOW! this sounds F&*C!NG awesome!

So much so, that I bought a second one for the office

I was playing cd's with a Panasonic Blu-ray player before.

It sounded really tinny ( massive understatement ) compared to the Rotel

Just my 2c

[PSherriff 92]

1 hour ago, SSV Redline said:

I just bought a Rotel 965bx Cd player 2nd hand 3 months ago. It's from 1993!

All I can say is an Effie impersonation...OMG!

I am not one to say this sounds better than that and it's more musical or warm etc.

But WOW! this sounds F&*C!NG awesome!

So much so, that I bought a second one for the office

I was playing cd's with a Panasonic Blu-ray player before.

It sounded really tinny ( massive understatement ) compared to the Rotel

Just my 2c

Used to love my Rotel gear back in the day when I was still living in the UK...  great sounds for not too many pounds!

 

My aesthetic advisor didn't like it much thought as I had a bunch of the larger power amps set as monoblocks via the little jumpers inside!

 

Dedicated CD player would definitely get my thumbs up, I've tried a few video players and games consoles with CDs and I reckon Spotify (Premium) through a Chromecast Audio sounds at least as good as the Pioneer Blu-ray that's sitting in a pile somewhere.

[mikey d 3,410]

2 hours ago, SSV Redline said:

I just bought a Rotel 965bx Cd player 2nd hand 3 months ago. It's from 1993!

All I can say is an Effie impersonation...OMG!

I am not one to say this sounds better than that and it's more musical or warm etc.

But WOW! this sounds F&*C!NG awesome!

So much so, that I bought a second one for the office

I was playing cd's with a Panasonic Blu-ray player before.

It sounded really tinny ( massive understatement ) compared to the Rotel

Just my 2c

The Rotel is a ball-tearer. Blackgate caps in the output circuit. The laser is it's weakness.

[audiofeline 2,370]

I have an Oppo BPD95, the model (in the range from a number of years ago) specifically designed for enhanced audio quality.  It has CD, DVD-A, SACD (audio), DVD/BluRay, plus a usb input for playing flac/mp3/avi/and many more a/v digital formats from a flash or hard disk drive (I use this more than I anticipated). 

 

In audio terms - much better than the (higher-end but old) Marantz it replaced.  In video terms, much better DVD playback than the better-quality DVD player it replaced. 

 

Inconvenience: needed to get a board installed for region-free video playback, need to press remote buttons for blu-ray region free settings (not a big problem for me).

 

This model was superseded by the current range (I think the 105 is the equivalent), the newer model does not have the cooling fan my model has (so it's quieter).  And now Oppo has discontinued production of all disk players (not good, as I and others thought they did it very well).

 

 

Edited April 12, 2019 by audiofeline

[Irek 565]

Hi,

If you like or need one box solution than Pioneer UDP-LX500 4K Blu-ray player might be for you. 

The review is very positive. 

https://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/review-pioneer-udp-lx500-4k-uhd-blu-ray-player 

[initforthemusic 616]

A good quality CD Player will be a massive upgrade in Sound Quality. It depends on how serious you want to get. How many CD's do you own? What is your budget?

 

@TerryO just recently heard the difference over his Oppo 205, after I'd been badgering him for a long time, about getting a Dedicated Redbook CD Player.

[Pieface 1,086]

3 hours ago, SSV Redline said:

I just bought a Rotel 965bx Cd player 2nd hand 3 months ago. It's from 1993!

All I can say is an Effie impersonation...OMG!

I am not one to say this sounds better than that and it's more musical or warm etc.

But WOW! this sounds F&*C!NG awesome!

So much so, that I bought a second one for the office

I was playing cd's with a Panasonic Blu-ray player before.

It sounded really tinny ( massive understatement ) compared to the Rotel

Just my 2c

 

I picked up an older Marantz cdp with a multibit DAC from the early 90s a while back. Kills my midrange Blu-ray player. Certainly not the last word in resolution but soundstage, dynamics and bass weight it is streets ahead. Especially dynamics. For $40. It's worth taking a couple of punts on the 'tree imo. Not much financial risk involved.

[Ashtray83 51]

1 hour ago, Irek said:

Hi,

If you like or need one box solution than Pioneer UDP-LX500 4K Blu-ray player might be for you. 

The review is very positive. 

https://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/review-pioneer-udp-lx500-4k-uhd-blu-ray-player 

If this is the one I'm thinking it comes in at $2000, a bit out of my budget. 

[Ashtray83 51]

Thanks everyone so far for the input.  There is lots of different opinions and some good real life examples of people experiencing vast improvements. It would seam quite a few also who are happy with their current blueray player for audio.  

[Snoopy8 3,341]

3 minutes ago, Ashtray83 said:

If this is the one I'm thinking it comes in at $2000, a bit out of my budget. 

What is your budget?  And how many SACDs do you have?  The Panasonic UB9000 is cheaper but can only play DSF files (ripped SACD).

 

I am with the others who suggest a dedicated CD player in preference to a universal player.  The universal player is a convenient all in one box and cannot be expected to compete with a dedicated CD player.  

[Ashtray83 51]

1 hour ago, initforthemusic said:

A good quality CD Player will be a massive upgrade in Sound Quality. It depends on how serious you want to get. How many CD's do you own? What is your budget?

 

 

At this point I'm not overly serious in getting a high end cd player but I do want something that is going to work well in my system.  To have a guess I would say I have around 100 or so cds. And the budget is open for now depends what I find. 

[Ashtray83 51]

2 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

What is your budget?  And how many SACDs do you have?  The Panasonic UB9000 is cheaper but can only play DSF files (ripped SACD).

 

I am with the others who suggest a dedicated CD player in preference to a universal player.  The universal player is a convenient all in one box and cannot be expected to compete with a dedicated CD player.  

I dont currently own any sacd. And I have never heard them. I have always loved music but only really started getting into hifi / audiophile grade equipment in the last few years. Before that i was a dj when i was younger and i owned a large PA system which i sold to buy something more suited to my current lifestyle. 

[Snoopy8 3,341]

Given the number of CDs and no SACDs, suggest you rip the CDs into FLAC and skip the CD player. Consider a streamer wth a built in DAC e.g. Bluesound Node, Cambridge Audio CXN, quite a few in Classifieds, and within your budget.  

[Irek 565]

The only purpose of budget is to go over budget. Starting from the affordable level I like Yamaha S300, N301 and Marantz 6006. 

[initforthemusic 616]

1 hour ago, Ashtray83 said:

At this point I'm not overly serious in getting a high end cd player but I do want something that is going to work well in my system.  To have a guess I would say I have around 100 or so cds. And the budget is open for now depends what I find. 

Looking at the rest of your set-up. You have an ok Amp and the Speakers appear quite decent. You would be strangling the sound using the Sony for CD Playback. Remember your Speakers are only as good as what is put into them. Although you only have a small CD Collection I think you can justify a reasonable CD Player. With one I think your CD Collection would grow exponentially. Personally I would go for a pretty recent Player. A good one will be leaps and bounds ahead of the older gen. Players in Sound Quality. Plus some Older players may need work, lasers etc.

 

Look through the Classifieds or put a Wanted To Buy.

 

Good Luck.

[TerryO 2,649]

6 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

Given the number of CDs and no SACDs, suggest you rip the CDs into FLAC and skip the CD player. Consider a streamer wth a built in DAC e.g. Bluesound Node, Cambridge Audio CXN, quite a few in Classifieds, and within your budget.  

Hi Snoop, I have a Node2 and hardly use it, in my system it doesn’t begin to compare to a decent CDP player.

 

cheers Terry

Edited April 12, 2019 by TerryO

[Ashtray83 51]

I know I have answered a few questions regarding my system and budget etc. This post was supposed to be more an open question. Although I am definitely taking it all on board. So I will pose another question would a flac file at 24 bit 192kz played through a cheap blueray/DVD player sound  better or worse than a cd on a hi end player. Has anyone tried this. ? 

[emesbee 3,047]

You may be better off buying a decent quality stand alone DAC and using it for all your digital sources.

 

[Irek 565]

First of all cheap bluray players don't have a DAC, so they can work only as a transport. Unless you think about something like $600 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player DP-UB820. So, the answer is $600 bluray player with whatever high resolution files cannot compete with $2000 CDP. 

$300 BRP + $1000 DAC still is worst than $2000 CDP.

$1000 DAC with asynchronous usb connection to laptop will get close.  

CD quality is actually very good, I have a problem to distinguish the difference between CD and high res files. 

Have a look at http://www.2l.no/hires/ 

[Ashtray83 51]

3 hours ago, Irek said:

First of all cheap bluray players don't have a DAC, so they can work only as a transport. Unless you think about something like $600 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player DP-UB820. So, the answer is $600 bluray player with whatever high resolution files cannot compete with $2000 CDP. 

$300 BRP + $1000 DAC still is worst than $2000 CDP.

$1000 DAC with asynchronous usb connection to laptop will get close.  

CD quality is actually very good, I have a problem to distinguish the difference between CD and high res files. 

Have a look at http://www.2l.no/hires/ 

I find it quite fascinating all the different options and possibilities.  Especially with the advancement of technology.  

[Ashtray83 51]

4 hours ago, Irek said:

 

CD quality is actually very good, I have a problem to distinguish the difference between CD and high res files. 

Have a look at http://www.2l.no/hires/ 

I did read an article the other day about streaming audio that after 320 kbs alot of people cant hear much difference with cd quality.  I'm guessing the difference with cd and flac would be even smaller. I will check out the link thank you

[proftournesol 8,428]

I use my Panasonic 4K player as a transport into my Weiss DAC as well as my dedicated CEC CD transport, also connected to my Weiss via SPDIF. It's no contest really, the Panasonic is way behind in sound quality

[Ashtray83 51]

So the general consensus would be even though the blueray player has ability to play sacd and flac I would be better off looking for a good cdplayer and upgrading my dac, to get the most out of my speakers 

[Hi-Fi Whipped 1,138]

24 minutes ago, Ashtray83 said:

So the general consensus would be even though the blueray player has ability to play sacd and flac I would be better off looking for a good cdplayer and upgrading my dac, to get the most out of my speakers 

Yep

[Ashtray83 51]

I should probably start a new thread for this, but I have been looking at a few cd players local to me and a primare D20 is available for under $500 it looks reasonable.  Has anyone used this before

[Ashtray83 51]

Another local option I could look at is a  marantz cd 63 mkii ki signature. Again around $400, I had not set a budget yet but just looking at what is around that could be good

[Ashtray83 51]

Ok new thread started as no reply s to this one. 

[rudihaas 7]

Keep your Blu ray and add a external DAC for your 2 channel , or have I missed something (didn't you say there was a Xtra HDMI)......

[Ashtray83 51]

On 12/04/2019 at 2:18 PM, betty boop said:

 

yes just HDMI and coax out...

 

 

if you get the chance id encourage to try a dedicated cd player just analog out into your vincent

Sp dif and two hdmi one is audio only

[betty boop 15,742]

23 minutes ago, Ashtray83 said:

Sp dif and two hdmi one is audio only

Indeed I was suggesting dedicated CD player via analog out to the Vincent.

 

other option as suggested above I’d get a dac, though no idea how good pana is as a transport  and CD players are so cheap !

[mixdown 24]

I use a Denon Pro CD/MP3 player as transport for CD's connected via coax to a Musical Fidelity DAC. Works a treat but still doesn't sound as good as vinyl.....  😀