Been binge buying pre-owned CDs from ebay and discogs for the last 3 months.
Mostly SACDs that previously slipped through my net, 1st pressing CDs and promo CD singles.
Some interesting comparisons:
the same song, a duet between Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, released by both artistes, by their respective labels.
Missy Carey would surely have a fit if she ever found out how much sucking worst hers sounds compared to Whitney's.....
Do not throw out your CDs. I repeat, do not… I did. A couple of years ago. About 500 of them (most replicated in my LP collection or available to stream). The conventional thinking was streaming and the LP’s resurgence was going to consign the Perfect Sound Forever silver discs to the rubbish heap.
My dealer played a streamed music track for me to compare to my CD version, his goal was to get me into a streaming system. I gave them a listen, then told him to put my CD on now with my own player the Marantz SA-10S1, it took me 20 seconds to know the CD sounded better, the salesman a bit longer for him to come around due of course to them pushing Servers and DAC's. My experience is in vinyl, I grew up with viny and collected them from age 8, but I no longer feel the need to play vinyl, I have over 1,500 CDs and counting. I know most follow trends, and it is modern to stream, use your phone or tablet, and just pick a recording to play. But after what I heard on a system 100K that cost much more than the SA-10, I was not at all impressed to where I ditched buying CDs or start over buying Vinyl over again of the same recordings I already own, why would I do that, that be a waste of money and boy the cost 4-5X the cost of each recording, and many I could never replace because they never are rereleased in any format due to lack of sales.
My dealer played a streamed music track for me to compare to my CD version, his goal was to get me into a streaming system. I gave them a listen, then told him to put my CD on now with my own player the Marantz SA-10S1, it took me 20 seconds to know the CD sounded better, the salesman a bit longer for him to come around due of course to them pushing Servers and DAC's. My experience is vinyl, I grew up with vinyl, I no longer feel the need to play vinyl, I have 1,500 CDs and counting. I know most follow trends, and it is modern to stream, use your phone or tablet, and just pick a recording to play. But after what I hard on a system that cost more than the SA-10, I was not at all impressed to where I ditched buying CDs or start over buying Vinyl of the same recordings I already own, why would I do that, that be a waste of money and boy the cost, and many I could never replace.
I have commented on the first thread page about my approach. Just recently I had another interesting experience in a friend's system. I brought over my Empirical Audio reclocker (for details, see my signature) that I use to reduce jitter after my CD transport and leading into the DAC, and we compared with his streaming.
No contest. Better timbre, more subtle information, more believability. For vinylistas, more analog if you will. You didn't have to go back and forth to compare in order to be certain, it was glaringly obvious to both of us. The CD transport alone did things better, but with the reclocker the streaming was left in the dust.
I know that streaming can be very good, but it wasn't that day. And it often isn't. It is rare when I hear convincing streaming. To me the solutions are either way too cumbersome or way too expensive. On my stereo, I stick with physical CD.
Some of my friends call me old fashioned for not "going with the times" regarding streaming. I don't care. I made the choice that is best for me, and I am super happy about it. Proud of it, actually. They are proud of theirs, it's their choice.
And I have never owned a separate DAC and transport because I have not encountered any that made me want to move on from my fully tweaked out Modwright modified Marantz SA8005 sacd player (and the earlier Modwright modified Sony players - I've owned them all) with tube analogue output stage and separate tube rectified power supply. I have heard DAC/transport combos that were more resolving than my modified Modwright players but on balance none that matched their musicality. Similarly the Marantz SA-10 super player is more resolving but to my ears sounds sterile/clinical compared to the Modwright SA8005. From my perspective I'm in the sweet spot. What I have yet to hear is the PS Audio Perfectwave SACD transport with a great tube DAC.
A CD player has a sound it was voiced on
so if you rip the cd you no longer hear it as from a CD player
so for anyone who has spent big bucks on servers and dacs think about this hard.
Even if you use an outboard dac you may get an improvement over the CD player alone
it seems the transport section alone has a sound
lens and digital converter used from Lenz to its internal or buffer for an ou out to external dac. It still has a sound not what a steamer does.
To me it’s more powerful has more dynamics
but it also can have more grunge too. an ext dac helps sometimes
it seams a server to a dac is more refined more detailed in micro and macro this might be why it’s a bit softer
less visceral over all.
my goal is to make a server amd dAC have a cd sound in some ways.
Every time I hear an esoteric CD player
stack to me it’s beyond a server dAC stand alone
even if it uses your own dac there magic or some of it is there.
am I alone in this thought ?
A CD player has a sound it was voiced on
so if you rip the cd you no longer hear it as from a CD player
so for anyone who has spent big bucks on servers and dacs think about this hard.
I don't know. My reclocker, which lowers the jitter of my CD transport, also lowers the jitter-associated sound signature.
if you use an outboard dac you may get an improvement over the CD player alone
it seems the transport section alone has a sound
lens and digital converter used from Lenz to its internal or buffer for an ou out to external dac. It still has a sound not what a steamer does.
I have found that any streamer has a sound, with sounds varying from dark, heavy and even dull, to light and airy. Two friends of mine once compared their servers in the same system and were shocked at how different they sounded.
To me it’s more powerful has more dynamics
but it also can have more grunge too. an ext dac helps sometimes
it seams a server to a dac is more refined more detailed in micro and macro this might be why it’s a bit softer
less visceral over all.
I have not found a server to be intrinsically more refined and detailed. I did hear once in a friend's system a high res file that seemed to have more recorded space and slightly more detail than my already highly detailed CD at home, but the difference in detail could also be ascribed to slight differences in tonal balance (which can always play tricks on you; my balance is slightly warmer) and the difference in space to his better room.
Some high res files clearly sound much worse than the Redbook CD file (observed on the same servers/streamers). Mastering seems much more important than format. Unless, of course, you get into compressed formats like MP3 or AAC.
Every time I hear an esoteric CD player
stack to me it’s beyond a server dAC stand alone
even if it uses your own dac there magic or some of it is there.
am I alone in this thought ?
Yes it’s my point I’m not claiming they all sound the same
but it’s obvious no matter what sever dac combo a cd player a good one not a garbage one has qualities the combo does not.
Ty for replying I can agree with most you posted
many given server has a sound and the player used makes it more complex
so is your reclocker spidf ?
Coaxial spidif is prown to jitter but if the right cable is used it’s much better
hi Rez can sound worse in some ways but not always
a I can see some cd transports being more or less detailed as a powerful sound effecting it.
Still playing the silver discs with a real player ~ McIntosh MVP 861 Universal Disc Player (SACD) sometimes through an out board DAC
which is whatever is on loan, as I have not decided which is a worthy trade for my coin . I don't mix the playing of vinyl with digital formats for reasons depending mostly on my level of energy and receptibility to oscillating amplitude. I refer to the quality of oscillation according to a rule more or less close to harmonic and sometimes even in references to oscillations which are far from harmonic. (CDs)
