Is the CD player era finished?

[Kenwatch]

<font color='#000000'>I am presently looking into buying a new CD player. I have a DVD player and I am very unsatisfied of the way he is playing audio CD's. Should I look into buying a better DVD/CD player or should I go for a CD player ? Is it still worth to buy a CD player ?</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>I seriously doubt the CD is going away anytime soon. &nbsp;Predictions to the contrary are wishful thinking on the part of Big Music, IMO. &nbsp;DVD is of course huge, but DVD-A &amp; SACD is just a blip at the moment. &nbsp;And DVD Video is not threat to the audio-only supremacy of the CD.

What DVD player are you using, if I may ask? &nbsp;I've all but retired my CD player in favor of my DVD deck, but my DVD costs twice as much as the CD unit. &nbsp;And it sounds like it!</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>I agree with Ken. My old Yamaha cd player also sounds better with a basic cd than my new Yamaha dvd with a basic cd. And the dvd player is using tos-link, while old unit is rca!</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

<font color='#000000'>I've heard that a lot of inexpensive DVD decks have el cheapo DAC chips &amp; that's why they suck at playing CDs.

I agree: CD's are here to stay for awhile. Eventually all plastic disks will be replaced by data on a hard drive but not yet...</font>

 

[Kenwatch]

<font color='#000000'>I have to recognize that I am using a cheap DVD player. It is a Samsung ( bought from COSTCO). Honestly, not the quality is the most annoying thing, it's the fact that is cutting the end of the songs ( just simple jumps to the next song). It's not the CD quality or the recording quality. It could be that this machine in particular is doing such a thing. It's the first time when I experience such thing. Anyway I am decided to buy a CD player and to keep the DVD player just for movies (where actualy works fine). I was considering an ONKYO DXC390B. Anyone can give me some feedback on this ? On internet there is not too much feed back for this model.</font>

 

[Kenwatch]

<font color='#000000'>To Rob Babcock

I hope you are right. I see a lot of fight out there for a new format in audio. Hopefully this fight will end up in our advantge( not like the video tape format). Anyway looking at the thirst for MP3 format that took over the market in the last 4 years. It seems that we will lose a lot, from the quality of the music to the way we wil buy the music (let's think how much work you need to create a good CD without having any errors or flaws). We will buy a compressed format song that nobody will give you a warranty for the quality of the download, then you will eventually translate in a better or easier to read format and by the time when you have the song burned onto the CD you will have already plenty of errors. But hey, this is what we are looking for: cheap songs and cheap quality.
You guys, consider that I am an old fashioned and conservative. But let me tell you something. I still have 2 LP's (vinyl) that sounds great ( 22000HZ and 116db with DBX filter). I am still dreaming for that tehnology which will gonna give me the same quality at the same affordable price. Till then my friends I will try to compensate my desires with CD's, DVD's, DVD-audio, SACD's and so on......( by the way, to be honest, I didn't tried the DVD-Audio yet because nobody has it in stores here in Canada).</font>

 

[JAB]

<font color='#000000'>Kenwatch,

You don't mention a budget limit, but The Perfect Vision has given the Yamaha DVD-S2300 Universal Player the DVD player of the year award because will play all the current formats (DVD, CD, DVD-A. SACD) with excellent all around sound. Thre article does mention the picture is a little soft, but would only be noticable on large screen formats. Retails for $999 U.S., but I am sure there are deals out there.

Al</font>

 

[Kenwatch]

<font color='#000000'>To JAB

Thanks for the information. First, I am looking for something no more than $500. I like the quality a lot but I do not have too much money to spend. So, I have to look for something in this range. Second, I am more interested in the sound quality than in the picture quality. I do not look too much at the TV, but I listen a lot of music.</font>

 

[Dan Banquer]

<font color='#000000'>The CD player isn't dead for some of us old farts. Neither are outboard DAC's for that matter.
To JAB: I would take the reviews from Perfect Vision with a grain of salt. The reviews on this web site have much more depth.
           d.b.</font>

 

[ED27]

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>

Kenwatch : <font color='#000000'>To JAB

Thanks for the information. First, I am looking for something no more than $500. I like the quality a lot but I do not have too much money to spend. So, I have to look for something in this range. Second, I am more interested in the sound quality than in the picture quality. I do not look too much at the TV, but I listen a lot of music.</font>

<font color='#000000'>Look at the Denon DVD-2200. &nbsp;It will also play all formats and is right around your budget ($599). &nbsp;It's probably the best multi-format unit right now in that price range. &nbsp;The Pioneer DV-563A is a solid performer and a steal right now ($150 at Best Buy). &nbsp;I have this unit along with a Sony DVP-NS999ES ($999) and the differences are not as significant as one might think.</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>You can buy the Denon DVD-2200 for a bit under $500 from a few etailers. &nbsp;You might lose warranty support, however.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I would like to thank all of you guys for the support. From your information I chose the Denon DVD-2200 but it will take me a while till I can buy it. The orice is far from what you told me. Check this site and convince yourself:
http://www.easthamiltonradio.on.ca/
Maybe the price you saw was in US dollars. Here in Canada there is none under $900. I will definitely not buy from etailer. I saw another model DVD-910 which comes very close to my price. Anybody knows anything about this model ?</font>

 

[zumbo]

<font color='#000000'>Well, my dvd player is by no means a cheapo! It cost twice as much as my 5 disc cd player, and it still does not sound as good!

</font>

 

[Rob Babcock]

<font color='#8D38C9'>What do you have, Zumbo? &nbsp;Certainly not all DVD players are great CD players, but a well designed machine should be able to play both. &nbsp;I should also have clarified that mine is primarily used as a transport, but it still bests my carousel as a player.

Sorry, Kenwatch. &nbsp;I didn't realize you were in Canada- I don't know what pricing is like up there.</font>

 

[abe]

<font color='#000000'>IMHO,  CD player is on its way out.  But CD media is here to stay for a while because of the user base and legacy.

Most mass market CD players and DVD players don't sound anywhere near decent out of their own DAC, but if you use them as mere DIGITAL TRANSPORTs and your Receiver to decode/amplify, then a fairly well constructed DVD player (such as those from Costco) will be adquate for the job.  Therefore no need for a separate CD player anymore.

My $179 SONY DVD 5-disc changer digitally feed into Yamaha 1400 sounds as good as a high end 2 channel setup in my own experience.  

So using the Receiver's DAC is the key to great sonic enjoyment!


Abe</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>To Abe,

Thank you for advice. I will try that.</font>

 

[Kenwatch]

<font color='#000000'>To Abe,

Thank you. I will try that.</font>

 

[abe]

<font color='#000000'>Ken,

You are welcome! &nbsp;please keep us posted on what you find out.

enjoy!

Abe</font>

 

[mustang_steve]

<font color='#000000'>For brokearses, such as myself (

), the CD will remain a viable format.

The price to sound quality ratio is excellent, and the technology is reasonably portable and durable.

Plus, I only watch DVD's on my PC, so why buy a stand alone component?

EDIT: darn smilie codes.....</font>

 

[abe]

<font color='#000000'>mustang_steve,

I totally agree with you that CD is here to stay.  But not CD PLAYERS though.  

Say you are in the market for a new player (old one smoked :-( ,  will you still get a CD player?  Given the price/performance ratio, choosing DVD player is a no brainer.   Using computer is not an option for the majority of people due to the lack of good audio output, location issues, no changer, no remote, ....


Abe</font>