Is a DVD/Blu Ray player a good choice for Hi-Fi?

[admin_exported]

Hello everyone,

I own an Onkyo DX-7355 CD player, paired with an Onkyo A-9155 integrated amp and QA-1030i speakers and an active sub.

I've been considering buying a DVD/Blu-ray player (possibly Onkyo BD-SP308) to play movies too. I am not sure if the Blu-ray player should replace my CD player and whether it will affect the performance of the music, or should I keep the CD player in addition to the Blu-ray player with the Blu-ray player feeding into my amp. The THD of both are comparable, both being approx 0.005%.

So the question really is: Is a DVD player or a Blu-ray a good choice for a Hi-Fi system?

Please help me decide!

Regards,

DSG

 

[richardw42]

Depends on budget but generally a CD player will out-perform a similarly priced BD player at music.
You say you canl keep the CDP so sounds like space isn't a concern.
If you'd like to up the performance of the cdp maybe add a DAC, again depending on your budget as to what you should go for.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Richard, but why would I need a DAC? Should the Blu-ray player not have a DAC? How else would it feed into an AV receiver?

Forgive me if I'm being naive...

 

[richardw42]

No you're right the players have got DACs built in. Just suggested it as a possible upgrade for your CDP but if you're already happy with the sound you needn't worry about that.
Personally I was very happy with the CD performance of my Blu-Ray player, but then added a Roksan CD Player into system and it was a big step up.
So if you can keep the CD player for music I would.

 

[RobGardner]

I agree, keep your CD player for CDs and get a BD for movies. My Denon DVD2500T isn't a patch on my Cyrus CD XTse for music, but my Cyrus can't play movies. If you check out the reviews I believe that the Cambridge Azur 650 Bluray player is good with music and film, but even then it probably won't come near your dedicated player and it will cost about £400!

 

[Anonymous]

 

[the record spot]

I have a Sony S370 Blu-Ray player and it's practically as good as my Marantz SA7001-KI. Yes, you can use your Blu-Ray player for CD duties and chances are it'll be fine. Not sure what the Onkyo players will be like, but they seem to optimise a lot of their equipment for music playback and they're throwing the chequebook at their recent lineup, so by all means give it a try.

 

[CnoEvil]

It's a personal decision. There are many people quite happy playing CDs on their B'ray. In my case, it's too much of a compromise (except the dearer Arcam stuff).

Cno

 

[busb]

My 25" Sony CRT TV went West 4 months ago. I replaced it with a Panasonic P42V20B plasma followed by a Panasonic BDP110 BR player. I've retired an ancient Panasonic SVHS recorder, Pioneer DVD player & 20yr old Sony FM/AM tuner.

The analogue out from the BR player is surprisingly good but if I play CDs from it, the sound gets sent to the TV via a 3m HDMI cable that then gets fed to a Beresford DAC via a 3m optical link.

The BR player cost me £180. This cheap model does not play SACDs or DVD Audio discs. It is also physically noisy compared to my Rotel RCD-1072. However, the BRP's sound quality is effectively determined by the DAC. In my my case the Beresford sounds a little less expansive than my Rotel.

Separate DACs are going to feature more & more in people's setups or feature more often in either pre-amps or integrated amps IMO. In most cases, this will mean their inputs will be remote controllable.

As I write this reply, I'm listening to a Front242 CD on my BR player. If I press the Play button on my TV's remote, my TV's screen un-blanks & shows the track list with track times then blanks again. Although the TV is connected to the Internet, it isn't clever enough to access a music database & list the CD contents but that will happen.

The latest edition of WHiFi reviews a batch of multiformat players costing between £800-1000. This route will allow for SACDs, the players will hopefully being physically quieter than some cheap BR players but do lack some feature such as Internet access.

 

[the record spot]

The cheapest universal player offering SACD, DVD-A and HDCD in addition to the CD playing and DVD/BR capabilities would be the Cambridge BD650. Sony's BDP-S370 (now the 380, but that's not the one I have) offers SACD as standard, plus a host of internet features. The transport is a tad noisy, but not massively so and isn't noticeable under normal playing conditions.

 

[DavidNorway]

I no longer have seperate cd and dvd players,i have been using the Cambridge 650 since christmass and im more than happy with it.The picture is very good and i dont have the latest tv about 3yrs old Samsung 37,the sound however is excellent from films and from cd.Go get one!

 

[Anonymous]

My advise is not to bother with a dedicated CD-player. It's 30 year old technology and it has been "done" by now - you'll get a different impression if you read too much into the (magazine) reviews but reality is these days that the difference between players is minimal. And there is no reason a DVD or Blu-ray player can't sound just as good or better to an dedicated CD-player.

If you want to invest in sound quality, put your money towards an external DAC instead as that will also drive any other sources you may have (cable/satellite TV, computer audio, video games, etc).

 

[Anonymous]

I have directly compared DX-7355 and Panasonic DMP-BD80 for CD playback. Onkyo has been more detailed, but it lacked bass and was too light or open for my preference. Panasonic lacked detailes, but balance was better. As I also had the same dilema, is there anyone to have compared DX-7355 to DX-C390? I do not need a carusel, but these are the only two available Onkyo CDs. The later also quotes VQA and jitter noise reducing. If there are any experience for analogue CD/MP3 playback with DV-SP506 and BD-SP807 is welcome. I have tested CD output of DV-SP504, it is very distortion free and smooth, but lacks details. In comparisson, despite reviews Pioneer DV-600 has great picture, but soundwise a crap, despite all reviews. It has a lot of distortion and cold. Denon DVD-1930 in CD sounds very nice, warm, a lot of details, but suffers a bit of distortion.

 

[MajorFubar]

My advise is not to bother with a dedicated CD-player. It's 30 year old technology and it has been "done" by now...the difference between players is minimal.

I'm not sure that's true. Your reasoning is sound: the technology is so old that you'd think by now it's been optimised for at least a decade, but I can very easily prove that for example my fifteen year old CD63mkII KI absolutely whips the backside of my (cheap) DVD and BD players. Outboard DAC well fair enough that's a different story; a BD, DVD or CD player playing through the same outboard DAC are obviously going to have a related sound.

 

[FunkyMonkey]

Whenever this topic comes up, people never mention how good the DAC circuitry is in modern receivers.E.g. music through my Sony 470 and 4 year old onkyo 850 receiver is far better in every way than my 10 year old yamaha cd and marantz amp. Which I still love by the way. Plus, the versatility of modern players, I.e multi format and streaming makes it a no brainer.

 

[manicm]

I have a Sony S370 Blu-Ray player and it's practically as good as my Marantz SA7001-KI. Yes, you can use your Blu-Ray player for CD duties and chances are it'll be fine. Not sure what the Onkyo players will be like, but they seem to optimise a lot of their equipment for music playback and they're throwing the chequebook at their recent lineup, so by all means give it a try.

My Solo Mini may not be the last word in CD replay, but it easily bests the 370 - which I find passable at best - unless you're bypassing its DAC? Let's not get carried away here. I find it hard to believe it's as good as your Marantz.

 

[Sizzers]

My S380 isn't even passable against my CD6003; it sounds somehow veiled and indistinct in comparison.

 

[chebby]

Sony's BDP-S370 (now the 380, but that's not the one I have) offers SACD as standard, plus a host of internet features.

It might be important - for anyone thinking of buying the Sony BDP S380 - to note that Sony have dropped the optical digital output on this model. (It still has a digital coax output and analogue RCA phono). Some stand-alone DACs (and other equipment with digital connectivity) may lack a coax digital connection.

 

[the record spot]

I have a Sony S370 Blu-Ray player and it's practically as good as my Marantz SA7001-KI. Yes, you can use your Blu-Ray player for CD duties and chances are it'll be fine. Not sure what the Onkyo players will be like, but they seem to optimise a lot of their equipment for music playback and they're throwing the chequebook at their recent lineup, so by all means give it a try.

My Solo Mini may not be the last word in CD replay, but it easily bests the 370 - which I find passable at best - unless you're bypassing its DAC? Let's not get carried away here. I find it hard to believe it's as good as your Marantz.

Nope, running it directly. A very nice sounding machine and not, as I say, too far off the Marantz. I'll use the DAC as well from time to time as well and that's obviously different. Stock, the S370 is a good buy for the money and stacks up well.

 

[Anonymous]

Denon DVD-2930 could be one of the best choices for price ever. It is including also HQV upscaler.

 

[Anonymous]

Denon DVD-2930 could be one of the best choices for price ever. It is including also HQV upscaler.

 

[Anonymous]

Denon DVD-2930 could be one of the best choices for price ever. It is including also HQV upscaler.

 

[DandyCobalt]

I was going to add a Cyrus CD Player to my system, but my Cambridge Audio BD751 universal player (newish big brother of the 650) has been superb. Great DACs (much better than my Pioneer LX53 a/v).

 

[Anonymous]

I tried a whole load of dvd players and blu ray players in the past (Sony, Marantz, Panasonic, Denon), with various dacs, and the only one that sounded comparable to a good cd transport was an Oppo 93. I believe the Cambridge Audio ones are a similar design. (Note, only tested using digital coaxial outputs)

 

[Inter_Voice]

I am using an universal player for CD and Bluerays playback. I am very happy with the SQ.