COMPUTER HARDRIVE OR CD PLAYER?.....

[admin_exported]

On all the articles I have read, no one seems to give a simple, definitive answer regarding Sound Quality?

My question is thus:-

Does music from (uncompressed files) on a hard drive, sound better when played Via:-

Computer - Dedicated AMP- via DAC- To Floor Standing Speakers?

Compared to

CD PLAYER – Dedicated AMP – Floor Standing Speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

I can only speak from personal experience. Look at my kit below and note that I do not have a CD player with my Cyrus PreVS2 (pre-amp) & X-Power (power amp) into floorstanding Spendor S6e. (These 3 items cost around £3K including Chord interconnects and speak cable).

Instead of a £900 CD player (like the Cyrus CD6SE) I tried, I am using my Sony laptop streaming Apple lossless files via Apple Airport Express into DACMagic into my pre amp. What does that tell you?

 

[oldleodensian]

There are so many threads that debate this topic...so many differing points of view...I predict there will be many responses to this seemingly simple question

. Are you ready for the deluge?

I personally prefer a good old hi-fi kit for CDs and vinyl, but then I don't own anything other than an average desktop and an ailing laptop. No DAC, no streaming capabilities and my only portable player is my Sony mobile phone for when I'm walking to work. However there are many good people on these here forums with great advice, just differing opinions!

 

[Anonymous]

PS to my post above, I use both CD player and PC based system, but the latter more regularly because I am lazy and I find it more convenient. As always, listen with your own ears, all the opinions expressed on these forums are subjective and no two people have the same hearing ability or perception of "sound quality".

 

[Messiah]

I would say that a PC connected to a DAC at any price point could
compete with a CD player. I mean if you had a £1000 CD player you could
(as has been mentioned) get a very similar sound with a PC and DAC for
a lot less money. Just like if you had a £10k player you could buy a
better DAC and get a very similar sound although the costs involved may
also be similar.

At the Bristol Show I heard the Meridian
DSP8000's (£45,000) connected up to the Soloos music server and they
sounded stunning! Nothing bettered this sound in any other room.
Meridian also used their reference CD player and it sounded no better
than the sound coming from the music server. A lot of this is obvioulsy
down to the quality of the speakers but it did not matter what the
source was.

So I would conclude (so much so that I have sold my
CD player (Cyrus CD6s)) that PC based music can certainly perform up
there with the best CD player.

With this in mind you can then consider the remaining factors of the sheer flexibility of a PC based system.

I hope this has helped to actually answer your question.

THIS IS MY POST FROM THIS THREAD ABOUT THIS SAME SUBJECT

 

[idc]

Sewage man, you are as likely to get a definite answer on this subject as I am going to be able to get a second wife (Lysette Antony, if she will have me). Your question is way too broad anyway. Quote specific systems and you will get more meaningful answers. The one area of agreement that is likely, is the one the Messiah has already mentioned; you can get the same quality of sound cheaper through a PC based system.