how to transport the CD to Dac

[admin_exported]

It's a techie question- hence I ask it ! I want to connect my CD player to my Beresford Dac so that the CD is only the transport.

But how to do it ? Digital Coax from CD digital out to Coax input of DAC ? Yes .... so why not working ?

Thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

Could be:

1) The CD player has a facility to turn off the digital output
2) The cable is duff
3) The digital input on the DAC is duff
4) The digital output on the CD player is duff
5) Any combination of the above, or a problem in the player or DAC.

It should work fine.

 

[Anonymous]

Just answered my own question ! Hadn't selected the correct source on the pre amp. I'll do an A/B comparison.

I am using the Astin Trew 3500 plus - a well regarded red book with a good internal dac 24 bit/96hz , into a Beresford 7520 with op amp mods. According to the spec I can't see how a 1500 pound CD player can be matched by a 200 pound external dac....

maybe the techies can tell me what is happening with the cd player when it is used as a transport only

thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

Magnum Opus:Just answered my own question ! Hadn't selected the correct source on the pre amp. I'll do an A/B comparison.

D'oh!

Magnum Opus:maybe the techies can tell me what is happening with the cd player when it is used as a transport only

Nothing different whatsoever, except it now has a load connected to the digital out rather than the analogue outs.

 

[The_Lhc]

Magnum Opus:I am using the Astin Trew 3500 plus - a well regarded red book with a good internal dac 24 bit/96hz , into a Beresford 7520 with op amp mods. According to the spec I can't see how a 1500 pound CD player can be matched by a 200 pound external dac....

It does slightly beg the question as to why you bought the DAC really.

maybe the techies can tell me what is happening with the cd player when it is used as a transport only

It's simply bypassing the CD player's DAC and passing the digital stream to the Beresford.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks - Yes ! Very Homer Simpson ! Doing the comparison now and can't yet here what the extra 1300 pounds has been spent on in the CD player .

The Bersefords is doing a great job - or is the CD helping it to sound on a par with the CD alone in terms of detail.

I know it's all in the ear of the hearer , but what should I actually be listening out for as a measure ? I read words like soundstage etc but wonder if they are not all part of the subjective experience which music is ?

How much more do you need to spend on a Dac to get the up lift ? I am conisdering the Rega Dac , the M Tech Young Dac and the Wyred 4 Sound

Sorry - I have merged questions with observations.... pick out the bones

thanks

Neat Elite Speakers btw , astin trew pre/ power

 

[Anonymous]

so does that mean I should hear no difference in sound ?

I do want to upgrade my dac soon and have noticed that dacs vary in price and in what they purport to deliver. So before I audition the Rega Dac for example I want to hear what my entry level Beresford is capable of in combination with a great CD player

 

[Anonymous]

In general the DAC is the clever bit whether built into the CD player or external therefore you would on a blind test notice no difference between a, say, £300 and £1000 CD player when used as transport only through the same DAC, amp speakers.

 

[Andrew Everard]

...depending on how accurately the players in question read the disc, the amount of error correction needed, their relative amounts of jitter...

 

[Anonymous]

Ah there's the rub ! Jitter ..... it gets taken over by the science which I assume does mean something for the listening experience.

Have now completed an hour of A/ B with Jack Johnson streaming PC to Dac via USB and same tracks using CD player as either transport to DAC or stand alone

There's not much in it - hardly a great descriptor !! It shows what even an entry level can bring to the party.

The CD in DAC mode or stand alone produces an identical sound to my ears . Can this be so ? This suggests that the combo does not add quality ( separation, detail, soundstage ) . The DAC USB PC is not as good in all those areas but not by the price of the difference in cost of kit.

So a mid level Dac , and certainly higher end dac may improve on the CD ?

 

[datay]

Can't believe you spent an hour A/B testing in order to find out you couldn't hear any difference at all. Surely a couple of minutes could have shown you that?

Settle for what you've got, it's already doing a good job and you've admitted yourself you don't even know what it is the more expensive dacs will be doing better. Spend a few weeks listening as you would normally do, that is in fact a better test than A/B, which usually turns out to be completely unreliable as the poor brain is called on to do something it quite simply can't do.

On the other hand, it seems you've money to throw at this and that's probably what you'll end up doing.

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:...depending on how accurately the players in question read the disc, the amount of error correction needed, their relative amounts of jitter...

Not many manufactuers quote jitter specs though the THD is often lower on the mid range mass produced units than the high end stuff. My CA Azur 640C V2 quotes 0.001% THD where as the OP's Astin Trew is quoted as 0.005%.

 

[DavieCee]

Magnum Opus:

It shows what even an entry level can bring to the party.

The CD in DAC mode or stand alone produces an identical sound to my ears . Can this be so ? This suggests that the combo does not add quality ( separation, detail, soundstage ) .

This was my experience with a Roksan K2 CD player and the Caiman. It is also why I sold my CD player. I was using optical out though.

You may be able to improve on the Caiman with a better/more expensive piece of kit but the Caiman really is wonderful value for money. How much you would have to spend to hear a difference is the question.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Childs1962:Not many manufactuers quote jitter specs though the THD is often lower on the mid range mass produced units than the high end stuff. My CA Azur 640C V2 quotes 0.001% THD where as the OP's Astin Trew is quoted as 0.005%.

Interesting, but THD is more usually a function of the quality of the digital to analogue conversion and subsequent filtering/amplification of the analogue signal, rather than the transport.