new cd player, vintage player, with or without separate DAC?

[Islet]

Hi,
New to the forum. I know variations of this theme have been beaten to death in the past. Just looking for some practical advice. For background, I enjoy listening to music, and like to think my ear can differentiate poor quality vs other, though clearly I'm not at the level of many of the forum members. I have low-medium equipment and have not invested in years: Denon DCM 350 cd changer, Onkyo TX 8511 receiver, Infinity RS 10 floor standing speakers.
The old Denon carriage has started to fail after 24 years of moderate use, so I have to enter the new century...and with other expenses, want to remain fiscally conservative.
So my question: Is my best bet to go with 1) a new entry level (but better brand such as Rotel, Cambridge, etc); 2) a vintage higher level player; or 3) the cheapest player I can find by add a DAC. All in, want to stay below $500.
If I go the DAC route, will my other equipment (receiver, speakers) limit my ability to really notice?

Thanks!

 

[PENG]

Hi,
New to the forum. I know variations of this theme have been beaten to death in the past. Just looking for some practical advice. For background, I enjoy listening to music, and like to think my ear can differentiate poor quality vs other, though clearly I'm not at the level of many of the forum members. I have low-medium equipment and have not invested in years: Denon DCM 350 cd changer, Onkyo TX 8511 receiver, Infinity RS 10 floor standing speakers.
The old Denon carriage has started to fail after 24 years of moderate use, so I have to enter the new century...and with other expenses, want to remain fiscally conservative.
So my question: Is my best bet to go with 1) a new entry level (but better brand such as Rotel, Cambridge, etc); 2) a vintage higher level player; or 3) the cheapest player I can find by add a DAC. All in, want to stay below $500.
If I go the DAC route, will my other equipment (receiver, speakers) limit my ability to really notice?

Thanks!

Would you consider just rip all your CDs and go the 100% digital route? That way you will have more options that give you more bang for the $.

 

[Islet]

Hundreds of CDs. Will probably have to at some point but am trying to push that off for a bit yet.

 

[PENG]

Hundreds of CDs. Will probably have to at some point but am trying to push that off for a bit yet.

Take a look of the Oppo 103. It would be nice if they make one without the video capability at a lower price but unfortunately they don't. Still, for $500, you can't spend less on a comparable CD transport or CD player + DAC.

 

[Islet]

Peng,
You got me thinking about joining the 21st century.
If I rip all my discs, what software do you like? Should I go to my MAC or a different device?
What lossless format?
What about playback through my sound system? MAC and system in different rooms.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Peng,
You got me thinking about joining the 21st century.
If I rip all my discs, what software do you like? Should I go to my MAC or a different device?
What lossless format?
What about playback through my sound system? MAC and system in different rooms.

Macs lossless is Alac - highly recommend for preserving best quality.
https://gigaom.com/2011/02/04/how-to-preserve-your-music-cd-collection-on-a-mac/
You can use Airport express and use airplay to play it from mac.

 

[PENG]

As BoredSysAdmin said, ALAC is lossless. Obviously you can use your MAC but Windows can run iTune and rip CD lossless too. I have tried dBPoweramp and like it, but iTune works just fine. 90% of the time now I use my Oppo HA-1 to enjoy my ripped CDs. My CD players are mostly there to collect dust.

 

[Islet]

Very helpful. A few last questions: How much hard drive space will 400 cds fill? With XLD will it partition from iTunes (I have 1800 'select' tracks in my iTunes library and don't want to pollute that)?
Lastly I can hook up the Airport express with a 1/8 headphone jack and Y cable to my old receiver. Recommended cable?

 

[Swerd]

Before we get Islet any further involved, remember that his receiver, an Onkyo TX 8511, is a stereo receiver. It has no DAC chip. His old CD player did the conversion.

A Blu-ray player like the Oppo 103 can substitute, for $500. But ripping all his CDs to a digital form will require an outboard DAC of some kind.

Admittedly, CD players are rapidly acquiring dinosaur status, but there might be a less expensive option available.

Islet, be aware that there is no new CD player technology out there, and certainly, there is no CD player worth paying high prices for.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Very helpful. A few last questions: How much hard drive space will 400 cds fill? With XLD will it partition from iTunes (I have 1800 'select' tracks in my iTunes library and don't want to pollute that)?
Lastly I can hook up the Airport express with a 1/8 headphone jack and Y cable to my old receiver. Recommended cable?

1) Flac/Alac lossless compression is typical 50%. So full CD is about 650MB. Flac/Alac version would take about 300-320MB. 400 of these would take only 128 GB.
2) XLD is just music reaper, somewhat improved from stock itunes CD ripper. What it isn't is music manager. If you add XLD ripped songs back to itunes - it will be upto itunes to partition them in some sort. Now I am not itunes or mac expert, but I don't think itunes does that. Maybe filtering or playlist could do that.
3) Since like Swerd mentioned your stereo receiver does not have onboard dac, you could use like you've mentioned an analog 1/8" to Y RCA cable. Apple dac are usually OK. Later on you could replace the receiver with more modern version which supports airplay directly.
Cable - I would try Monorpice first, they are usually OK and very cheap.
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021815&p_id=5598&seq=1&format=2

p.s : Swerd : Airport Express (just like Mac computers) headphone port is dual duty. Ether analog 3.5mm port or a digital optical Toslink if used with correct cable

 

[Islet]

Just to clarify: I don't need an outboard DAC if I use a Y cable from Airport Express to my old Onkyo, is that correct?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Just to clarify: I don't need an outboard DAC if I use a Y cable from Airport Express to my old Onkyo, is that correct?

Yes, that is correct. You can always add dac, but i think it most likely be useless.

 

[Islet]

Here is another helpful site re: setting up XLD
http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=XLD_Configuration

Now I just have to figure out how to compile in a file other than my aforementioned 'select' iTunes library. Suspect I just don't have the output setting correct...

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I wish i could help, but I know very little about macs

 

[JMJVK]

I suggest you rip to FLAC level 2. You'll get somewhat larger files, but they will play on older, slower devices without stutter, like older phones, and using a FLAC means cross-platform playback is less an issue than with a platform-centric ALAC. Keep original sampling rate and bit depth, this will avoid creating noise and distortion.

Store it on a portable USB hard drive. Have a duplicate disk as a back-up. Hundred of CDs is a long process to rip, and re-ripping is no fun. (Been there, it's kinda... "Meh")

As a player, I recommend the Oppo BDP-103. Connect it using analog, L+R, and set speaker management accordingly in player's setup. Should you later want explore audiophile grade audio, like SACD, DVD-A or BD-A, your in business. Decide to get a multi-channel AVR, your in business. (Even with a 100$ used receiver without HDMI, if it has analog inputs, your still in business, even for DTS-HD and Dolby True-HD).

It can also read files from a regular network shares, DLNA servers or straight from a USB mass storage device. Onboard DAC is excellent, analog stage is excellent, no hum, no hiss. Just audio bliss.



My two cents...