Brand new CD player or DAC with existed Blu-ray player

[admin_exported]

Just ignore my signature. I’m in the progress to setup my first Hi-Fi system. Speakers and AMP should be settled on Tannoy DC6T and Creek EVO2. Originally I want to buy the Marantz CD6004 to play CD and music on my iphone.

But after some research on the web, it seems there is another option. I have a blu-ray player Sony S380 which has coaxial out. And there are DACs with similar price as CD6004 (E.g. Arcam rDAC, MF M1 or a little pricey Rega).

So only compare the sound quality between the CD player and cheap blu-ray player connect to a DAC in this price range, which will be better? I would restrict the price under 500, so for the CDP side, will include Marantz CD6004, Rega Apollo, Creek EVO2, and on the DAC side, it will include Arcam rDAC, Music Fidelity M1 DAC, Rega DAC.

Any idea is appreciated. Please focus on the sound quality!

 

[Anonymous]

I think a dac would be the better option, a Dac is flexible and can be used for listening to music through a PC or a streaming device. I use the Musical fidelity M1 Dac, i love the sound from it.

 

[plastic penguin]

Agree with jimm - A Dac is more flexible and you can use either a Blu-ray player or your Marantz as transport. I'd be looking at Arcam rDAC as minimum. If you're looking at dedicated CDP look at Creeks own Evo2 or Arcam CD17, but will generally work out more expensive.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the confusion. I've not owned the Marantz CD6004 yet. So I'm want to compare a CD player or a blu-ray with DAC.

As most music currently I have are on CDs, I mainly want to compare the sound quality on playing CD. If the CD player have better sound, I will definitely go for CDP. If not, sure, I will buy a DAC and enjoy the flexibility as a bonus. So the core is the sound quality of playing CD. :help:

 

[busb]

I also recommend going with the DAC option. Doing so will mean any money you spend won't be wasted going towards a transport that you already have but soley on the DAC that you could then use to play computer based music at a later date. I personally believe the CD's days are numbered as a means of delivering digital music.

BR players need to stream reliably a hell of a lot more data per second than a CD produces so I'd put my money on a BRP being up to the task.

 

[Rick1979]

I just bought a v dac ii, it just beats my old rotel cd player, sky hd and Xbox fed via hdmi through the tv. Hardly worth £150 is it? Very very unhappy. If you think, like i did, a dac will make a big difference you're in for a big letdown.

 

[paradiziac]

So only compare the sound quality between the CD player and cheap blu-ray player connect to a DAC in this price range, which will be better? I would restrict the price under 500, so for the CDP side, will include Marantz CD6004, Rega Apollo, Creek EVO2, and on the DAC side, it will include Arcam rDAC, Music Fidelity M1 DAC, Rega DAC.

Any idea is appreciated. Please focus on the sound quality!

If you are playing CDs, a CD player is designed to do just that! I've heard the CD6004 and it's very good for the money.

DACs are more flexible and that's what I use, but depending on the transport, the cable and most importantly the DAC, YMMV. A lot of these budget DACs have cheap "wall wart" power supplies and this affects the sound quality.

On the Rega side, people say that the Rega DAC is a lot better than the Apollo, so it really is hard to generalize. Consider both options and pick the best sound for the money! You are going to demo, aren't you?

 

[Anonymous]

The source, be it a Dac or Cd player will only be as good as the gear your partnering it with. I found the v-dac 2 to be excellent in my system, you will have to spend close to £500 to better it, you should look at buying a better amp or pair of speakers to get the best from the fantastic Musical fidelity v-dac 2.

 

[Rick1979]

Thanks jimm!

However, I'm running a nad 370 and monitor audio rs6 and it ain't improved my system. Could there be something I'm doing wrong????

 

[Anonymous]

It seems music streamers are more flexible and also include the future of DAC. Marantz NA7004, Pioneer N-50, Cambridge ones a in the range. More hesitate now :wall:

 

[shafesk]

Just ignore my signature. I’m in the progress to setup my first Hi-Fi system. Speakers and AMP should be settled on Tannoy DC6T and Creek EVO2. Originally I want to buy the Marantz CD6004 to play CD and music on my iphone.

But after some research on the web, it seems there is another option. I have a blu-ray player Sony S380 which has coaxial out. And there are DACs with similar price as CD6004 (E.g. Arcam rDAC, MF M1 or a little pricey Rega).

So only compare the sound quality between the CD player and cheap blu-ray player connect to a DAC in this price range, which will be better? I would restrict the price under 500, so for the CDP side, will include Marantz CD6004, Rega Apollo, Creek EVO2, and on the DAC side, it will include Arcam rDAC, Music Fidelity M1 DAC, Rega DAC.

Any idea is appreciated. Please focus on the sound quality!

I think you are going about this the right way. A transport (cd player) makes little to no difference when connected to a dac, as long as it reads cds well that is good enough. You get most of the sound quality from the dac. Looking at your setup, I'd suggest the Rega Dac if you want things smoother, the M1 dac is very neutral from what I've read, so your system along with your Creek could make things a little dry.

If you want to play music through your iphone you can get an airport express or apple tv for very little money and use the optical output to connect it to the dac!

Hope this helps,

Shafin

 

[shafesk]

It seems music streamers are more flexible and also include the future of DAC. Marantz NA7004, Pioneer N-50, Cambridge ones a in the range. More hesitate now :wall:

A streamer doesn't negate the need for a dac, you can always upgrade the sound quality of a streamer with a dac.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you, the airport express and apple tv looks interesting.

 

[Anonymous]

The streamer has dac inside. So you mean the D/A chip in the standalone DAC is better than the streamer, rigth?

 

[shafesk]

The streamer has dac inside. So you mean the D/A chip in the standalone DAC is better than the streamer, rigth?

Its not just the D/A chip that counts, there are plenty other factors such as power supply design, analogue circuitry implementation among others. I have a Cowon mp3 player which has the same chip as my dacmagic but the dacmagic sounds a lot better.

To keep things simpe, 400 dac should sound better than a 400 pound streamer simply because the same amount of money is spent for a single purpose.

 

[jockey.wilson]

A transport (cd player) makes little to no difference when connected to a dac, as long as it reads cds well that is good enough.

Shafin

Absolutely untrue. Why would manufacturers invest in new transport and error correction mechanisms?

I have fed a Cyrus CD XT SE and cheap DVD player into my Naim NDX via the digital inputs, and the differences when playing music are very stark and clear to hear...

 

[Overdose]

Just ignore my signature. I’m in the progress to setup my first Hi-Fi system. Speakers and AMP should be settled on Tannoy DC6T and Creek EVO2. Originally I want to buy the Marantz CD6004 to play CD and music on my iphone.

But after some research on the web, it seems there is another option. I have a blu-ray player Sony S380 which has coaxial out. And there are DACs with similar price as CD6004 (E.g. Arcam rDAC, MF M1 or a little pricey Rega).

So only compare the sound quality between the CD player and cheap blu-ray player connect to a DAC in this price range, which will be better? I would restrict the price under 500, so for the CDP side, will include Marantz CD6004, Rega Apollo, Creek EVO2, and on the DAC side, it will include Arcam rDAC, Music Fidelity M1 DAC, Rega DAC.

Any idea is appreciated. Please focus on the sound quality!

I'd go for a DAC with preamp section, for added options in the future. DACmagic plus looks good, although the volume control is digital, if that makes a difference to you.

 

[the record spot]

A problem with the S370 which I used with a Spitfire II DAC was the rather noisy and cumbersome transport. Compared to a dedicated CD player with a fast load time (e.g. Marantz CD52 MkII SE) there's no comparison.

I'd get a CD transport and then see what you think in terms of a DAC thereafter. I've been very impressed with the aforementioned Marantz since I bought mine (£65 all in) and performance is hard to fault.

 

[omnibeard]

I think we might be becoming a bit over obsessed with DACS - I would just try the set up you have with whatever CDP/BDP you're using and see how you like it. Home demo a DAC to see if it makes any difference to your ears.

I've tried DACs between various CDPs and streamers in various systems, and although there is a difference I'm not convinced that it's the first place you should be spending money to achieve SQ improvement.

Others may disagree, but pretty sure that the CDPs we used to think sounded fabulous without a DAC still sound fabulous. Guess it depends on how good you think your ears are. Mine aren't great. They look nice though, nicely proportioned and not sticking out.

 

[Anonymous]

Absolutely untrue. Why would manufacturers invest in new transport and error correction mechanisms?

I have fed a Cyrus CD XT SE and cheap DVD player into my Naim NDX via the digital inputs, and the differences when playing music are very stark and clear to hear...

So if I rip the CD to FLAC or other lossless format and flow it into DAC via digital input, it should get better sound compare with the cheap DVD player right?

However, how to connect PC/MAC to DAC is also a costing part as most usb input in entry level DAC is not so good.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go for a DAC with preamp section, for added options in the future. DACmagic plus looks good, although the volume control is digital, if that makes a difference to you.

What is the benefit from the preamp section in a DAC? If use the DACmagic plus as preamp, I need to use power amp not intergration amp, right?

 

[shafesk]

A transport (cd player) makes little to no difference when connected to a dac, as long as it reads cds well that is good enough.

Shafin

Absolutely untrue. Why would manufacturers invest in new transport and error correction mechanisms?

I have fed a Cyrus CD XT SE and cheap DVD player into my Naim NDX via the digital inputs, and the differences when playing music are very stark and clear to hear...

Well if you compare a cyrus cd xt se to a dvd player the differences better be good and clear. In this case I own the marantz 5004 and have the same blueray player as the op. I couldn't tell any difference here whatsoever. So I don't think he will too as we have almost the kit. I already said that I get fewer skips with damaged cds with the Marantz, but sound quality remains unchanged. I think manufacturers investment in transport and error correction mechanisms to help the drives read cds more accurately.