Is It A Bad Time To Buy A CD Player?

[kage]

Most people are saying the audio cd format is dead and has inferior sound quality than the downloadable music from iTunes, but I know that the music from iTunes is compressed and it is actually has worse sound quality than the lossless sound from the audio cd. They also say that manufacturers stopped making cd players a few years ago and the resale value on cd players are worse than iPods.

I want to buy a cd player thats under $400, but I'm not sure if I should buy one. If its not a bad time to buy a cd player, please recommend me a reliable, good sounding cd player.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Most people are saying the audio cd format is dead and has inferior sound quality than the downloadable music from iTunes, but I know that the music from iTunes is compressed and it is actually has worse sound quality than the lossless sound from the audio cd. They also say that manufacturers stopped making cd players a few years ago and the resale value on cd players are worse than iPods.

I don't know whom are referring by "most people", but even a common sense should tell you that lossy compressed audio from itunes and other sources sounds much worse on original cd. Now, not all CD's are that great to begin with due to decisions during recording/cd production stage, but CD will always be better (or same if it's compressed with lossless compression) never worse
If you have any DVD or BluRay player - you most likely don't need a dedicated CD Player.

 

[its phillip]

Most people are saying the audio cd format is dead and has inferior sound quality than the downloadable music from iTunes

I dunno where you are getting that info from...whoever told you that is dumb and should be slapped. It's good that you know otherwise of course.

I wouldn't bother getting a dedicated cd player, because what BSA said is correct - any dvd or bluray player will work just fine.

 

[j_garcia]

How could the resale value of an iPod be any good? I would never buy a product that one can't easily replace the battery to, especially a used one. Since the resale value is low, perhaps you should look at a used one because that means you can get a good CD player cheap.

LOL@ iTunes having better sound quality than a CD.

 

[markw]

Like the others have said, someone is tinklin' on your shoe and trying to tell you it's raining, but where did you pull that $400 figure from?

"Most people" you know seem to be idiots and/or deaf and, from what I've read, you will be better off following your own instincts.

But, I've never heard of anyone buying this stuff with resale value as a consideration.

 

[j_garcia]

But, I've never heard of anyone buying this stuff with resale value as a consideration.

Yep. A player is more like a computer than a car. A car's resale value is a good thing to factor in, but with a player, a new model with new features is going to come out long before you decide to sell it in all probability, so resale value for a typical player isn't something I'd worry about. Unless you were buying a TOP tier player, resale value really isn't going to be a factor anyway.

These people who the OP is getting this information from are the ones responsible for the sad state of music today.

 

[kage]

Right now I'm using my 160 GB PS3 Slim as a Home Media Device. I use it to watch blu-ray and dvd movies, playing games, and listening to uncompressed music from music cds. I have the PS3 connected via HDMI to my Pioneer VSX-1120 receiver. When I listen to music or play games on it, I use my Sennheiser HD558 Headphones. I use PCM direct mode on my receiver and my audio settings on the PS3 to listen to music cds are:
1. Output Frequency: 176.4 kHz
2. Bitmapping: Type 3
3. Dynamic Normalizer: Off

With these settings I hear great sound quality, much better than sound quality from Apple Lossless sound that I rip and store on my MacBook Pro. I wish that iTunes or Amazon offer lossless audio versions from the music that they sell on their sites.

I guess I really don't need a cd player after all, because I'm happy what the PS3 offers to me.

 

[markw]

As it stands, you're in a very good position as it stands. You have a true universal player that does everything one could currently want.

About the only reason I could see you wanting a CD player is possible convenience, particularly if you want a changer. While not necessary, a changer ia a nice convenience to have when you have people over or you just want to be lazy, like me.

... but you don't need to spend anywhere near $400. Just check out Amazon.

 

[jonnythan]

Why would anyone buy a $400 CD player??

 

[Pyrrho]

Why would anyone buy a $400 CD player??

Because they have more dollars than sense. Other reasons are for features or for how it looks.

The idea of spending a lot follows from old ideas about the costs of sources (as good analog sources tend to cost a lot), and it also has to do with salespeople and manufacturers wanting to part people from their money.

 

[kage]

Afterall I decided not to use the PS3 for cd playback due to these reasons:
1. There is a difference in sound quality with the PS3 cd upsampling set to 176.4 kHz and at 44.1 kHz. At 176.4 kHz, the sound quality is somewhat too digital, and at 44.1 kHz is sound quality is normal.
2. I prefer to have a display panel on the unit, instead of turning on the tv to know what song number and time I have left.
3. The PS3 is not energy efficient just to listen to cds.
4. I do not want to wear down the PS3 blu-ray drive.
5. If I want to use my PS3 as a music juke box, I have to rip my cds in lossy format (AAC or MP3), because there is no lossless ripping feature in the PS3.
6.

This morning I ordered an inexpensive Sony cd changer at amazon.com due to these reasons:
1. I really like the idea of convenience on the cd changer.
2. I really don't want to spend $400 on cd player because I will be using an optical digital audio cable so there will no difference in sound quality.
3. It will be used a transport.
4. Display panel on the cd changer.

I will be connecting an optical digital audio cable between the cd changer and my Pioneer VSX-1120 receiver, because the cd changer probably has an inferior audio dac than my receiver.

 

[markw]

Good move but don't dismiss out of hand, the DAC in the CD player. Try it at least. Sometimes, not all the time, a DAC dedicated to one purpose might surprise you over one that's been designed to wear many hats.

 

[sonicman]

About the only reason I could see you wanting a CD player is possible convenience, particularly if you want a changer. While not necessary, a changer ia a nice convenience to have when you have people over or you just want to be lazy, like me.

... but you don't need to spend anywhere near $400. Just check out Amazon.

Hi all - been away for a while and seem to come back when my equipment is giving me a problem.

I've been collecting CDs since 1984 and now have nearly 4000; my first CD player was purchased at that time and I've owned many over the years changing a long time ago to a 5-disc carousel (I've probably owned 3-4 of those, they all seem to malfunction after a while).

Now own a Yamaha 5-disc carousel which is starting to not recognize the discs inserted - listening to my music now from my DVD player which is attached to my stereo receiver - it's a single disc machine - thus as put in bold above, I do like the convenience of a multi-disc CD changer, but don't want to blow a LOT of money (even in the store here some CD players are going for $2000 - yikes!).

Unfortunately, I've looked at the reviews on many of these less expensive carousel CD changers (i.e. < $400), and there are always a handful of poor ones mainly related to discs not being recognized even from the start).

So, not sure what to do at the moment, i.e. cheap Sony for $150 or something double-triple that price - would miss the carousel at this point in my life (just retired and slower on my feet - ). Thanks!

 

[jonnythan]

Your money would be much better spent to ripping all those CDs to FLAC or similar format and plopping them all on a hard drive/network share and installing a media box into your system.

 

[markw]

I guess everything has a life span and the more complex the mechanisim, the more chance you take of a scewup. But, I love the shuffle play function.

I bought a refurbished Marantz Cd changer from Accessories4less about five years ago and it's still churning out the tunes. Sometimes It's the luck of the draw.

I think they have one there now for about $200 or so.

I used to have a Pioneer "Magazine" changer that my ex took and that worked for all the time we had it. I think they still make one. I liked that one because the interval between songs was shorter that that of my carousel. But, I still have the spare magazines.

Then again, there's always those megachangers but they scare the bejeezus outta me.

 

[sonicman]

Your money would be much better spent to ripping all those CDs to FLAC or similar format and plopping them all on a hard drive/network share and installing a media box into your system.

Well, I've thought of that too, but most of these discs are classical music and dealing w/ ID3 tagging can be a grueling and time consuming nightmare - and then to contemplate that many discs -

Not that I cannot do it - I've ripped plenty of CDs over the years to either MP3 or FLAC, and have 40 or so discs on my iPod Touch - sitting at the moment in my den and looking at the wall & cabinets full of CDs is just too daunting - I'd rather travel and go out to eat -

 

[jonnythan]

Well you can either rip all those CDs once and be done with it forever, or deal with opening and closing and loading all those discs for the rest of your life

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

CD Changers are just so archaic technology - it's just begging to break.
Rip all cds to Flac. Add cheap NAS (with 2 tb green drives in raid 1) and SB Touch and you'll have all the benefits , conveniences and low-power.

 

[markw]

Oh, you young 'uns.

Well you can either rip all those CDs once and be done with it forever, or deal with opening and closing and loading all those discs for the rest of your life

Dunno about sonicman but I'm 62 and grew up carefully taking vinyl LP's from the sleeve, gently removing the dust, placing it on the turntable, putting the tone arm on the begining of the disc, taking it off at the end, replacing the tone arm it on it's stand, taking the record off the turntable, and then ever so gently reinserting them in the sleeves.

Taking a CD out of a jewel box. pushing a button, dropping it on a sjhelf, pushing another button, pushing another button to play it, and putting it back in the jewel box when it's over is not really a problem.

 

[jonnythan]

Dunno about sonicman but I'm 62 and grew up carefully taking vinyl LP's from the sleeve, gently removing the dust, placing it on the turntable, putting the tone arm on the begining of the disc, taking it off at the end, replacing the tone arm it on it's stand, taking the record off the turntable, and then ever so gently reinserting them in the sleeves.

Taking a CD out of a jewel box. pushing a button, dropping it on a sjhelf, pushing another button, pushing another button to play it, and putting it back in the jewel box when it's over is not really a problem.

It takes a nonzero amount of time, especially if you don't want to listen to an entire CD at a time.

It might not be as intricate as playing vinyl, but there's still a process involved. Rolling your eyes doesn't change that.