Are all CD players really equal?

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What really annoys me, is the marketing of high priced cables. So many overblown, unsubstantiated claims, to justify their exorbitant prices.
And that is as good a reason as any to justify forum cable debates.
Not to change the unchangeable minds of contributers - but to allow newby readers to get some balance (realism) before parting with any money.
 
I’m guessing you don’t own any CDs. Otherwise not having a cd player would be a fundamental issue in not enjoying one’s collection 😊

I amassed a collection of around 4000 CDs when I was avidly buying/collecting them.

Still enjoying them to this day just in a better, more convenient way, ie they're all ripped and safely ensconced on my NAS
 
I amassed a collection of around 4000 CDs when I was avidly buying/collecting them.

Still enjoying them to this day just in a better, more convenient way, ie they're all ripped and safely ensconced on my NAS

Are there more ways you find it 'better' than mentioned in your post. I love that word as it means so much to us, yet is almost guaranteed to be a preference that is completely & utterly unique to you alone.

I'm a recent convert to NAS & rapidly found myself wanting a cd player. Streaming music on a hifi somehow allows me to drift off & not experience what's happening in the present. I'm a huge fan of the tactile & physical ritual of loading & playing albums..

Just now I realised that I'd say physical media is 'better' as it keeps me present during music listening. Quite literally, knowing it will stop or need to be flipped over forces me to be there & feel how music pervades my whole nervous system. When streaming, I do feel less connected to the music, esp if it starts playing recommended songs after an alum has finished.
 
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Are there more ways you find it 'better' than mentioned in your post. I love that word as it means so much to us, yet is almost guaranteed to be a preference that is completely & utterly unique to you alone.

I'm a recent convert to NAS & rapidly found myself wanting a cd player. Streaming music on a hifi somehow allows me to drift off & not experience what's happening in the present. I'm a huge fan of the tactile & physical ritual of loading & playing albums..

Just now I realised that I'd say physical media is 'better' as it keeps me present during music listening. Quite literally, knowing it will stop or need to be flipped over forces me to be there & feel how music pervades my whole nervous system. When streaming, I do feel less connected to the music, esp if it starts playing recommended songs after an alum has finished.
Nothing beats the convenience of NAS or having your downloads on file.

I like mowing through it, finding stuff to add to my favourites or randomly looking for music I've not listened to in ages but if I'm focusing on playing a single album, I will switch to my cd or SACD collection.
Nice to browse through the cover sheets while listening to it playing.
It's is ceremonious and nice always to allow yourself to disappear into your own personal zone.
 
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I must confess my cardinal sin for buying expensive USB cable from *Chord and their speaker wiring for networking the walled terminal plugs in my lounge setup and also got lengths of AudioQuest cabling but these days, I can get the same quality for much less on AliExpress! 🙂

*Chord speaker cables have extra layers of insulation, which are ideal for long lengths.
Erm 😂
"Et tu brute"
Only recently I must to admit I swapped a worryingly thin, but fine free digital coxail that came with the Marantz knowing the on/off nature of digital holistically doesn't respond near as much as analogue to cable differences, swapping to the overly thick hard to bend but very nicely constructed Cambridge audio stuff.
I hear predictably no difference but I suppose that's it with the unconscious nature of "always" looking for improvement.

I see its a prominent trait of the hifi enthusiast cohort me included, even with those counterintuitive things we do or try contrary to our personal opinions or understanding we try it anyway.

I know I used to poo hoo over speaker burn in effects, finding speakers where at their best straight from the box until right upon the time I finally blow them up 😂 joke I take care of my gear, yet the large Fynes have nothing but mellowed in with the sometimes harsh top end treble starting to disappear which is just aswell as I can't live without their excitement, but always remaining silently skeptical yet still ever open minded means I get to say that without having the embarrassing task of proving myself wrong or worse backtracking on something I've said.

As writing away up came -
Friesiansam said:
One of the things I like about headphones, just close your eyes and it’s just you and your music.
Magic.

One advantage of living alone is that you can do that with speakers too 👍

Which is exactly what I'm doing 🤔

My neighbour was in this morning so in the interest of not being a **** I had my headphones on listening to "The Head And The Heart" giving me a way to still silently to others, blast my ears full of frission, as she has gone out and I have a day free I'm eagerly swapping over to the speakers.

Maybe I should start a thread/poll on "whats your favourite given the choice, headphones or speakers?" 😂
I think that inline with me it would be speakers but by what margin I'm unsure.
Obviously the reasoning is indeed obvious for why headphones are usually used but as I've found with the Sennheiser HD 650 they can be a very pleasurable experience and a viable alternative in their own right.
Going off topic to get back on topic 😊 I've had a few pairs on loan for demo in which I discovered I much prefer open back headphones, I don't mind admitting I've never really bothered much other than with cheaper pairs whilst using them as djay monitors going through countless amounts until my neighbours wk hrs slightly changed thus getting a pair of Austrian HI-X15 not to disturb her and being impressed until they after only light use broke.

I've been pleasantly surprised with the CDP's separate headphones amp although it reviewed well it's not always an accurate account, the CD 60 has different gain settings with more than enough power to drive the difficult stuff like the 300ohm Sennheiser's as the smartphones I have can't even get them outta bed.
The Sennheisers are way ahead in sound quality imo to the Hifiman Sundra I have here to try but not for a headphones usual merit thats for sure 😂
Without a separate amp they aren't loud enough with my phone anyway to be portable and being open backed let in all the noise.
Saying that if I venture the separate portable amp and dac route I think I know who to ask for advice
 

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