dedicated DVD & CD player vs combo

[corysmith01]

I was thinking about picking up some entirely new gear. In doing so, I noticed that the gear I was looking at did not sell a DVD/CD combo like I currently have (a sony 5 disc DVD/CD changer). With the new gear, if I wanted each, I'd have to buy 2 pieces. My dealer told me not necessarily as the DVD player would also play CD's. But I was noticing that there are features on the CD player that aren't on the DVD player. If it helps, I'm looking at the Rotel RCD 1072 CD player and the Rotel RDV 1040 DVD player. As I was saying, the dealer said the 1040 would also play CD. But if that's the case, why build 2 units, and more importantly why buy 2 separate units. There has to be a difference. Can anyone elaborate on what the significant differences are that would warrant the purchase of 2 units vs. one? I've got to believe that there's good reason, isn't there. As I can see, the only thing that really stands out on the CD player that isn't present on the DVD player is the Burr Brown 1732 D/A converter. Can anyone explain the need for two...and it doesn't necessarily need to be limited to these Rotels, but just a DVD vs. CD player discussion in general. I'm really in the dark.

 

[MDS]

My opinion is that there is no need for a separate CD and DVD player. As the dealer mentioned, all DVD players can play CDs.

- If you are using a digital connection to the receiver then the quality of the DACS in the player are irrelevant because they will not be used. The argument then turns to the quality of the transport and some will say that a dedicated CD player will be better as a transport. That of course depends on so many factors it's not even worth arguing over - there is no guarantee that a dedicated CD player will be a better transport.

- If you are using an analog connection to the receiver, then the quality of the DACS may be an issue. But, really how many people can truly hear a difference between say Wolfson DACS and Burr-Brown DACS? DACS are so good today that there is little difference between them.

- Features may be different, but unless the DVD player doesn't have one particular feature that you just can't live without, like say Random play, why bother to have two separate units? The DVD players I have now and all of those I've had in the past had nearly identical features to a CD player.

If you are really concerned about quality of CD playback on a DVD player, then the best approach would probably be to buy a higher end DVD player like the Denon 2910, 3910, or 5910. Then you know you would be getting top notch DVD AND CD playback and still retain the convenience of one device.

 

[tbewick]

You might want HDCD, which isn't likely to be featured on a cheap DVD player.