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Thread: New(ish) to CD

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: West Yorkshire

    Posts: 714
    I'm Andy.

    Default New(ish) to CD

    Bought my first (and last) CD player around 1987 and after it broke around 93 never bothered again.

    With the local secondhand shop selling hundreds of CD's at a pound ago I thought perhaps I should have another look.
    Was going to buy a very early CD player a few weeks back but when I got to the sellers house, the demo showed that it wasn't worth anything as it wouldn't play a single CD.
    My wife reminded me that we have a bluray player that hardly ever gets used and could I use that - why didn't I think of that......

    Now plumbed into the amp and playing some old CD's that I have and the sound is fairly promising
    Midrange seems a little muddled at times but fairy warm sounding (not bright as I remember) but that could be down to the valve amp.

    A quick pic of the unit:



    I noticed that it has a digital out (coax) so my look at a DAC next year to see if I can make this player sound better - who knows, might buy a proper CD player
    Main system:
    Analogue.
    Michell Orbe with arm decoupling kit & Pete's Pylons. SME V arm, Denon DL103M (FGS), Firebottle OPT MKII phono amp
    Technic SP-10 in Obsidian plinth, AT1010 PMAC v8b arm, Goldring Elite MC Cart and BB3 Phono Amp
    Leak Lenco GL75 with Ortofon OM10 cartridge
    Technics RS-BX404 Cassette Deck
    Network Player.
    Raspberry PI plus R2-R DAC (also used as a CD player) plus Pi NAS Server
    Digital.
    Philips DCC 730 player
    Marantz CD50SE
    Amp.
    Audiolab 8000A
    Speakers.
    Reiver Jenna floor standers
    HeadPhones.
    Sennheiser HD545 Ref, HD600, HD477

  2. #2
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    almost certain to sound better via coax if the dac you get is half decent.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
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    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

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    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

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    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  3. #3
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,782
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    You could do better but it will be perfectly adequate. I used a fairly inexpensive Pioneer DVD player for CD for a couple of years, it wasn't easy to find fault with it.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: West Yorkshire

    Posts: 714
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Thanks for your comments gents.

    Currently looking at some cheap but well regarded DAC's to see if this will help. But my current vinyl system will take some beating to be honest.

    Will be interesting to see where I end up over the next few months as I have now finished with the spending on the amp, speakers and vinyl side (very happy with how they work together).
    Main system:
    Analogue.
    Michell Orbe with arm decoupling kit & Pete's Pylons. SME V arm, Denon DL103M (FGS), Firebottle OPT MKII phono amp
    Technic SP-10 in Obsidian plinth, AT1010 PMAC v8b arm, Goldring Elite MC Cart and BB3 Phono Amp
    Leak Lenco GL75 with Ortofon OM10 cartridge
    Technics RS-BX404 Cassette Deck
    Network Player.
    Raspberry PI plus R2-R DAC (also used as a CD player) plus Pi NAS Server
    Digital.
    Philips DCC 730 player
    Marantz CD50SE
    Amp.
    Audiolab 8000A
    Speakers.
    Reiver Jenna floor standers
    HeadPhones.
    Sennheiser HD545 Ref, HD600, HD477

  5. #5
    Join Date: Nov 2018

    Location: Grimsby

    Posts: 398
    I'm David.


  6. #6
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by antonio View Post
    A couple of suggestions without knowing your budget.
    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOPPING-D....c100752.m1982
    + 1

    The Topping D30 gets my vote. It's a stunning sounding DAC. Forget the price, it is embarassingly low, but the sound is imho amazing.

    You can buy them from Amazon for £93 delivered. -- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Topping-D30...ds=topping+d30
    .

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: West Yorkshire

    Posts: 714
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Thanks for the recommendations.
    Initially will be looking to spend not a lot and the Topping recommendation is within that budget.

    Has anyone used a XiangSheng DAC-01A Tube DAC as it appears these can be tweaked and the reviews seem favourable?
    Main system:
    Analogue.
    Michell Orbe with arm decoupling kit & Pete's Pylons. SME V arm, Denon DL103M (FGS), Firebottle OPT MKII phono amp
    Technic SP-10 in Obsidian plinth, AT1010 PMAC v8b arm, Goldring Elite MC Cart and BB3 Phono Amp
    Leak Lenco GL75 with Ortofon OM10 cartridge
    Technics RS-BX404 Cassette Deck
    Network Player.
    Raspberry PI plus R2-R DAC (also used as a CD player) plus Pi NAS Server
    Digital.
    Philips DCC 730 player
    Marantz CD50SE
    Amp.
    Audiolab 8000A
    Speakers.
    Reiver Jenna floor standers
    HeadPhones.
    Sennheiser HD545 Ref, HD600, HD477

  8. #8
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,782
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gninnam View Post
    Thanks for the recommendations.
    Initially will be looking to spend not a lot and the Topping recommendation is within that budget.

    Has anyone used a XiangSheng DAC-01A Tube DAC as it appears these can be tweaked and the reviews seem favourable?
    Yes, although I didn't use it with the valve stage switched on. I thought it was a mixed bag. Good midrange, lots of clear detail, a bit odd in the bass. After a while I decided I couldn't live with it, it all seemed a bit too contrived.

    It isn't a tube DAC though, the tube is a buffer in the pre-amp stage, all it does is add a bit of distortion - or 'flavour' if you like. I don't like personally as the more of this you add the less of the actual recording you hear.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

    Default

    The XiangSheng has been one of my favourite DACs for several years.
    I think much more highly of it than Martin does.
    It was the first cheap Chinese DAC I had tried that handily beat (imo) some well reviewed £1k+ DACs from mainstream makers.

    Then the Topping D30 came along and imo is even better sounding.
    Also, recent XiangSheng DACs seem to have reliability issues - much to my embarassment someone recently purchased one based on my recommendation. Faulty. The replacement was faulty, too. Hmm.
    And then the co-ax digital input on my own one died with a quiet sfffft sort of sound.

    I'd go with the Topping D30. Amazing thing.
    .

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: West Yorkshire

    Posts: 714
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Thanks both.
    Will look to get the topping soon then.
    Main system:
    Analogue.
    Michell Orbe with arm decoupling kit & Pete's Pylons. SME V arm, Denon DL103M (FGS), Firebottle OPT MKII phono amp
    Technic SP-10 in Obsidian plinth, AT1010 PMAC v8b arm, Goldring Elite MC Cart and BB3 Phono Amp
    Leak Lenco GL75 with Ortofon OM10 cartridge
    Technics RS-BX404 Cassette Deck
    Network Player.
    Raspberry PI plus R2-R DAC (also used as a CD player) plus Pi NAS Server
    Digital.
    Philips DCC 730 player
    Marantz CD50SE
    Amp.
    Audiolab 8000A
    Speakers.
    Reiver Jenna floor standers
    HeadPhones.
    Sennheiser HD545 Ref, HD600, HD477

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