|
Frank Yang Unregistered guest | I'm sure this has been touched on in a number of threads, but I haven't seen a firm concensus answer yet... I'm currently using a Panasonic DVDF65S DVD carousel for my audio source. Because I have more money than sense (in a very limited budget context), I'm wondering about the benefits of getting a dedicated CD player - the NAD C521BEE being the obvious choice. What I'm curious about is will the NAD sound appreciably better? On a superficial level, the Panasonic actually specs out better than the NAD: Panasonic vs NAD THD: 0.0025% vs 0.0035% DAC: 192kHz/24-bit vs 20bit Dynamic range: 98db vs 96db Frequency response: 4Hz - 20kHz vs 5Hz - 20kHz S/N : 115dB vs 108dB So seriously - what would the benefits of the dedicated CD player be? The rest of my system is an NAD 302 into Paradigm Reference Studio 20v3s, if it's important. Thanks. |
|
New member Username: ShahrouzPost Number: 2 Registered: May-04 | I think the "Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 20 bit" DAC inside the C521 BEE is much better than DAC of your DVD player. To take advantage of this DAC, you should connect your CD player through it's analog out to either: 1) a stereo pre/power amplifier (or integrated amp), 2) an AV-receiver that has "true analog bypass: Take a look on these threads to learn more: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188336 http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115229 (see the post of John Dawson) http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=4133 |
|
Gary Whyte Unregistered guest | Buy the NAD CD player! About 6 months ago, I bought a Toshiba DVD-Audio player hoping to start listening to higher quality sound. Unfortunately, the CD sound quality was terrible. So I moved it to my TV-surround sound system for playing DVDs. I then bought an NAD C542 CD player and the sound quality is unbelievable. You will not be disappointed by jumping up to the NAD C521 BEE. For music, buying the dedicated NAD CD player was the best move I've ever made. I don't even worry about not being able to play DVD-Audio or SACD discs anymore. The thing is, the NAD CD player is designed to play music. The designers are able to devote more of the cost of production to higher quality components for sound reproduction. But the Panasonic DVD carousel you mention would be designed for DVD and would not contain the high quality components, etc. dedicated to high quality CD sound reproduction. My current audio system includes the NAD C542 CD player, the NAD C352 integrated amplifier, and Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 3 tower speakers. This is a gorgeous combination at a truly affordable price. Good luck! |
|
Silver Member Username: John_aPost Number: 931 Registered: Dec-03 | Frank, You write "...for listening to music". What you are missing in all that is DVD-Audio. It is the best thing for decades. I really think CD-only players are history. Link to thread on this forum: Twilight of the Compact Disc That's my opinion, based on getting the new NAD T533. Its CD performance is excellent, too. There are more and more DVD players that include DVD-Audio. |
|
fyang Unregistered guest | John - I've read your posts on DVD-A with great interest, and while I don't doubt it's aurally superior to CD, I'm not convinced that it's a format that's going to make it over the long haul. I've got over 1100 CDs and having just gone over the list of titles available in DVD-A on www.digitalaudioguide.com, there are exatly 1% of the CDs I own available on DVD-A, and the only one that I'd really consider buying again is Neil Young's "On The Beach". My Panasonic DVD player also does DVD-A, it'll probably hold me over until the format becomes more entrenched. In the meantime, I want to improve my listening experience for the music I do own, so it looks like the NAD C521BEE wins out. Thanks for your suggestions, though. |
|
Silver Member Username: John_aPost Number: 940 Registered: Dec-03 | fyang, I guessed the Panansonic DVDF65S did not do DVD-A, but this is obviously incorrect. A lot of people simply do not know about DVD-A. Good to see you are not one of them! Thanks for responding! |
|
Silver Member Username: Rick_bNew york Usa Post Number: 197 Registered: Dec-03 | Frank, The dedicated CD player, or transport, is always going to sound better than the do everything DVD player. I have just purchased a new CA Azur 540D. While it plays CD's as well as any $300-$400 CD player, it comes up way short of my California Audio Labs CL20. But then you can't ask a $400 machine to compete with a $2500 one. The do alls are much better than the ones of 4-5 years ago, because the technology today is better. The dedicated player will always sound superior, because it doesn't have to compromise, to accommodate other formats. |