BD player as CD player controversy

[nowallet]

Hi folks,

 

I have a cheap Sony BDP-3200 blu-ray player feeding signal through coax to a Cambridge Audio CXA60. I want to improve this part of my setup by upgrading to a BD player that is known to have good CD playback or purchase a separate CD transport. 

 

Anyone out there with experience in a similar upgrade path?

 

Is there a good budget/high quality option I should consider?

 

The online discussions have been quite interesting  to trawl through but often end up with people arguing at extremes (about bits being bits or bits being not just bits!).

 

Thanks for any thoughts and wisdom you can impart here

Dan.

[betty boop]

nowallet cheap blu-ray players likely be ok as a transport for cd... however keep in mind they arent really made for this use. they are primarily digital machines and expected greatly to be used via hdmi. id say even the setup for coax will be very basic

 

with cd what i would suggest is picking up a cambridge cd player and hooking up via analog RCA to the CXA60. cambridge as will see make an array of disc players themselves from entry level to more pricey

 

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/en/products/hi-fi

 

what could suggest as a way forward would be to visit a cambridge retailer .seeing in melbourne there are a few like carlton audio visual who not only sell cambridge but also can check out some other brands there as well. if you take your sony player in... you can soon compare with the other players there and hear for self whether the difference is worth investing in... or just continuing on with your sony....

[Dankeshon]

Hi folks,
 
I have a cheap Sony BDP-3200 blu-ray player feeding signal through coax to a Cambridge Audio CXA60. I want to improve this part of my setup by upgrading to a BD player that is known to have good CD playback or purchase a separate CD transport. 
 
Anyone out there with experience in a similar upgrade path?
 
Is there a good budget/high quality option I should consider?
 
The online discussions have been quite interesting  to trawl through but often end up with people arguing at extremes (about bits being bits or bits being not just bits!).
 
Thanks for any thoughts and wisdom you can impart here [emoji4]
Dan.

I recommend both a bluray and CD player if you can.

A better Sony, or a Pioneer or Panasonic's.

Matters to Know if you need Sacd only Pioneer and Sony has sacd.

I really like Nad cd, I have a discontinued NAD c516bee
I'm sure the new is just as good.

[Cope]

I have a good Panasonic BD player in the main room as a do-it-all, and a proper CD player in the second room setup. I've found that the most dramatic difference is actually user experience. The Panasonic needs the OSD to navigate, has no playback buttons on the unit itself, and likes to do annoying HDMI things unless I deactivate CEC, which I don't want to do as it is otherwise useful. 

 

Basically, I am still considering a CD player for the main room. It's just easier, whatever the sonic differences might be. 

[nowallet]

Thanks @Dankeshon and @twofires  

 

This discussion has made me think of the future - we are likely moving within 12 months which might result in listening area being separated from the main living room (requiring two players). 

 

The OSD is another reason I'd like a dedicated player - the current Sony do-it-all needs the TV on due to the lack of display and controls on the unit. Confusing things, I just played Miles Davis' ******* Brew with this setup and it sounds great (but I guess that record would sound amazing anywhere you play it!).

[betty boop]

12 minutes ago, nowallet said:

Thanks @Dankeshon and @twofires  

 

This discussion has made me think of the future - we are likely moving within 12 months which might result in listening area being separated from the main living room (requiring two players). 

 

The OSD is another reason I'd like a dedicated player - the current Sony do-it-all needs the TV on due to the lack of display and controls on the unit. Confusing things, I just played Miles Davis' ******* Brew with this setup and it sounds great (but I guess that record would sound amazing anywhere you play it!).

you will find players from, cambridge and others will have not only a display but conventional controls and you are quite right that you wont need to use a TV with it to listen to music ! 

[nowallet]

7 minutes ago, betty boop said:

you will find players from, cambridge and others will have not only a display but conventional controls and you are quite right that you wont need to use a TV with it to listen to music ! 

I'm familiar with those players and they are exactly what I would look at when the time comes  I just realised that I was hoping for some of your experiences in terms of audio quality between BD players and budget CD players. If you can speak to whether the difference is small or large that'd be awesome!

[betty boop]

18 minutes ago, nowallet said:

I'm familiar with those players and they are exactly what I would look at when the time comes  I just realised that I was hoping for some of your experiences in terms of audio quality between BD players and budget CD players. If you can speak to whether the difference is small or large that'd be awesome!

it really depends on the individual players and amp hooking upto hence why suggest to go check out in post i made earlier. you will soon know for self   obviously how you hook up matters too. with the CD player you can hook up via analog RCA and coax. with the blu-ray player you can only use via coax or hdmi and relying on digital implementation and dac in the amp...

[Cope]

1 hour ago, nowallet said:

I just realised that I was hoping for some of your experiences in terms of audio quality between BD players and budget CD players. If you can speak to whether the difference is small or large that'd be awesome!

I once bought a second hand Cambridge CD Player (Azur 6- something) and thought it sounded very forthright and clear versus a bd player (which I always thought was a bit relaxed) , but likely that was just gain. And my amp was different then, so it's impossible to know.  It felt solid, but had a worn out belt, which I couldn't be bothered dealing with, so I returned it. 

 

Come to think of it, I've never met an older Cambridge CDP that didn't have tray loading issues.

 

My Marantz CDP sounds very similar to the BD player, albeit in a different system. Probably a credit to Panasonic more than anything.

 

You really do have to audition to be sure. You probably won't take a step backwards, but you might not go forwards either. 

[Snoopy8]

2 hours ago, nowallet said:

I just realised that I was hoping for some of your experiences in terms of audio quality between BD players and budget CD players. If you can speak to whether the difference is small or large that'd be awesome!

As a CD transport, there is probably little if no difference in audio quality (AQ) between BD player and budget CD player because the DAC on your CXA60 has the most influence on AQ.

 

Have seen arguments that the better resolution of the laser in a BD player makes it better, but others say a better CD transport will beat the BD player.

 

However, as CD player, a budget CD player will beat BD players that are without dedicated 2 channel analogue outputs. I made this comment many years ago when analogue outputs were more common in BD players, eg comparing ancient NAD entry CD player with Oppo 103 using analogue. However, today, there are not many BD players with analogue out.

[Guest Mr Thorens]

I have the Pioneer BDP-100 which has RCA audio out and they’re quite good, just a little bit more forward and slightly  less detailed than through the DAC (Pioneer N50) but you need to listen closely. The Pioneer stuff seems quite impressive for the money. I’m running through Audia Flight FL3S integrated amp and Wilson Benesch speakers, which is a transparent setup. 

[needlerunner]

There has been some great cd player bargains in classifieds. Quality ones too.

Blue Ray players are for playing DVD.
CD players are for playing CDs. No argument.

[Dankeshon]

Nad I've got is a killer budget on good CD recordings...

Sony bd can't compare here...

But on the other hand, Sony is great on bad recordings and CDs with issues in the mix.

Due to the DSEE HX chip...

[Dankeshon]

I want to add an opinion about the CD versus BD transport to Dac...

Yes it is relatively easy to run CD on a BD player.

I just want to add that a BD player is multifunctional... CD,BD, USB etc Hdmi..

This costs money, where they cut costs vary....

For the more expensive Sony bd Panasonic's bd and Pioneer BD I think they do a good job on CD..

But for a multi functional BD player 300+ it's logical to think that a CD player 300-500 gives more on laser, Dac, signalway, and tray, power.


I heard some say that BD laser? Is more resolving?

I have heard that both the speed and the laser is easyer on CD player..
The mechanism is trickyer on bd.

I don't remember the technical issues.

[surprisetech]

I haven't had a dedicated CD player for many years, and haven't missed it.

 

However, I have spent the extra $$ on well engineered universal DVD players (Pioneer/Yamaha) & a BD player (Cambridge Audio) that were designed to excel on CD/HDCD/SACD/DVD-Audio disk playback.

 

I don't see any issues using any decent quality BD player as a CD transport, but if you don't want/have a decent external DAC, then I think it's worth paying the extra for the better audio DACs, output buffer circuits, etc. in the better players.

 

The argument that CD players are for CDs and BluRay/DVD players should only be used for BD/DVD might have applied in the early days of DVD before the universal players were available, but player choices have been available since about the mid 2000s that made that argument redundant.

Going forward, and with Oppo out of the game, it will be interesting to see how long these players survive.  I note Snoopy8's comment on 2-channel analogue outputs already becoming less common.

 

[was_a]

Over the last 20 years I've done countless listening comparisons of disc spinners, and believe me, you really do get what you pay for. Even budget dedicated CD transports have too many compromises (power supplies, light weights, vibration control) to do proper justice to a decent DAC. 

 

To those who believe a DAC has the greatest influence on sound, I say that the delivery of the audio signal is equally important. You can't skimp on anything in the digital replay chain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by was_a

[needlerunner]

I haven't had a dedicated CD player for many years, and haven't missed it.
 
However, I have spent the extra $$ on well engineered universal DVD players (Pioneer/Yamaha) & a BD player (Cambridge Audio) that were designed to excel on CD/HDCD/SACD/DVD-Audio disk playback.
 
I don't see any issues using any decent quality BD player as a CD transport, but if you don't want/have a decent external DAC, then I think it's worth paying the extra for the better audio DACs, output buffer circuits, etc. in the better players.
 
The argument that CD players are for CDs and BluRay/DVD players should only be used for BD/DVD might have applied in the early days of DVD before the universal players were available, but player choices have been available since about the mid 2000s that made that argument redundant.
Going forward, and with Oppo out of the game, it will be interesting to see how long these players survive.  I note Snoopy8's comment on 2-channel analogue outputs already becoming less common.
 

I read somewhere that dvd players are notoriously noisy and that there is quite a delay before the CD starts playing?

[surprisetech]

Just now, needlerunner said:

4 hours ago, surprisetech said:

I haven't had a dedicated CD player for many years, and haven't missed it.
 
However, I have spent the extra $$ on well engineered universal DVD players (Pioneer/Yamaha) & a BD player (Cambridge Audio) that were designed to excel on CD/HDCD/SACD/DVD-Audio disk playback.
 
I don't see any issues using any decent quality BD player as a CD transport, but if you don't want/have a decent external DAC, then I think it's worth paying the extra for the better audio DACs, output buffer circuits, etc. in the better players.
 
The argument that CD players are for CDs and BluRay/DVD players should only be used for BD/DVD might have applied in the early days of DVD before the universal players were available, but player choices have been available since about the mid 2000s that made that argument redundant.
Going forward, and with Oppo out of the game, it will be interesting to see how long these players survive.  I note Snoopy8's comment on 2-channel analogue outputs already becoming less common.
 

I read somewhere that dvd players are notoriously noisy and that there is quite a delay before the CD starts playing?

Yes, both can be true of budget BD/DVD units, but even budget units from the reputable brands can be exceptionally good.  And budget CD players can also be noisy due to cheap drives, poor layout, poor PS isolation, etc.

 

The delay issue is certainly a fair generalisation and can even be significant in better BD/DVD players depending on the designer's priorities.

The uProcessor in them has a lot more to do than the one in a CD player.  I would say the delay is noticeable in all the players I've had, but not excessive.  Gives me time to get to the listening chair!  Generally, I guess you get what you pay for.

[nowallet]

Thanks for this discussion, folks. Learning a lot about the various considerations before investing in a player. I shall save my pennies and trawl the classified for a dedicated player