Panasonic dmp bdt500 for cd playback

[iceman16]

I was quite surprised how this bdp really sounds very good as a cd player. IMO it can actually compete with some dedicated budget cdp.

 

[macca]

I was quite surprised how this bdp really sounds very good as a cd player. IMO it can actually compete with some dedicated budget cdp.

I'm currently using it as a cd player and find it very good also, i wonder how it would stand up against the marantz 6005.

 

[iceman16]

I was quite surprised how this bdp really sounds very good as a cd player. IMO it can actually compete with some dedicated budget cdp.

I'm currently using it as a cd player and find it very good also, i wonder how it would stand up against the marantz 6005.

Hi macca

Are you using the 2 ch analogue out?

 

[Overdose]

Level matched and tested blind, you'd be hard pushed to differentiate it from any other modern disc player.

 

[macca]

I was quite surprised how this bdp really sounds very good as a cd player. IMO it can actually compete with some dedicated budget cdp.

I'm currently using it as a cd player and find it very good also, i wonder how it would stand up against the marantz 6005.

Hi macca

Are you using the 2 ch analogue out?

Hello iceman, yes i'm using the analogue outs. Using chord cobra vee 3 cable into my primare i30 amp, very impressed with the sound, also have 2tb hdd connected to the usb with various flac & mp3 320 files, very good sound quality. The burr brown dacs are doing a great job. I keep thinking about getting a dedicated cd player, but while i'm getting this sort of sound quality i'll stick with what i've got for now.

 

[iceman16]

I was quite surprised how this bdp really sounds very good as a cd player. IMO it can actually compete with some dedicated budget cdp.

I'm currently using it as a cd player and find it very good also, i wonder how it would stand up against the marantz 6005.

Hi macca

Are you using the 2 ch analogue out?

Hello iceman, yes i'm using the analogue outs. Using chord cobra vee 3 cable into my primare i30 amp, very impressed with the sound, also have 2tb hdd connected to the usb with various flac & mp3 320 files, very good sound quality. The burr brown dacs are doing a great job. I keep thinking about getting a dedicated cd player, but while i'm getting this sort of sound quality i'll stick with what i've got for now.

Hi macca..welcome to the forum.

I've been using the bdt500 for ht coupled with a Pioneer lx53 and Paradigm 5.1 and a 50" Samsung 3d plasma tv.. I did'nt realised that it is so good with cd playback until recently. BTW Im using chord anthem1 rca cable and powerchord to Rega Brio-R.

 

[iceman16]

Level matched and tested blind, you'd be hard pushed to differentiate it from any other modern disc player.

[/quote

Sorry Overdose.. what do you mean by level mached?

Regards

 

[Overdose]

Output level or volume. This is the biggest differentiator with digital sources in particular and when the levels are matched between components, it makes it very difficult or impossible to separate them audibly.

 

[iceman16]

Output level or volume. This is the biggest differentiator with digital sources in particular and when the levels are matched between components, it makes it very difficult or impossible to separate them audibly.

Hi Overdose

Correct me if Im wrong.. So you mean if two different cdp with same output level will sound the same?

 

[Overdose]

Output level or volume. This is the biggest differentiator with digital sources in particular and when the levels are matched between components, it makes it very difficult or impossible to separate them audibly.

Hi Overdose

Correct me if Im wrong.. So you mean if two different cdp with same output level will sound the same?

More or less.

 

[iceman16]

Output level or volume. This is the biggest differentiator with digital sources in particular and when the levels are matched between components, it makes it very difficult or impossible to separate them audibly.

Hi Overdose

Correct me if Im wrong.. So you mean if two different cdp with same output level will sound the same?

More or less.

you may be right.. But my bdp500 and Electrocompaniet EMC 1UP sounds different side by side both using unbalanced rca output!

 

[Overdose]

Try to get the volumes matched as accurately as possible and then get a willing partner to humour you by swapping the two players without your knowledge as to which is which. I use two identical CDs with the players on different source inputs on the amp. I think that you would be surprised at the similarities.

As lovely as some hifi is to look at and admire, I couldn't justify the cost of expensive hifi when faced with equivalent performance at a fraction of the price, hence why I only have computer based playback nowadays.

I still listen to my CDs, only it's the ripped versions, with the physical 'library' stored for posterity (and legal reasons ).

 

[iceman16]

Try to get the volumes matched as accurately as possible and then get a willing partner to humour you by swapping the two players without your knowledge as to which is which. I use two identical CDs with the players on different source inputs on the amp. I think that you would be surprised at the similarities.

As lovely as some hifi is to look at and admire, I couldn't justify the cost of expensive hifi when faced with equivalent performance at a fraction of the price, hence why I only have computer based playback nowadays.

I still listen to my CDs, only it's the ripped versions, with the physical 'library' stored for posterity (and legal reasons ).

Have you heard the EMC 1 UP? If not sorry OD..I've had arcam cd 192/ naimcd51/cdx2.

Even from arcam and naim cdp makes a difference. Sorry mate.

 

[Overdose]

Even from arcam and naim cdp makes a difference. Sorry mate.

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No need to be sorry, but if you haven't tried what I've suggested, then you won't know for yourself.

Digital sources have such flat frequency responses and low distortion (inaudible in fact), that there is far more likelyhood of similarity than difference.

 

[Overdose]

The image is of a fairly typical digital source, in this case a Marantz CD5004. Note the flat frequency response and when there is a bump or dip, it is less than 0.5 dB.

This is what most frequency responses from digital sources look like and their levels of distortion, or lack of, make them audibly transparent, leaving only the output level to separate them.

 

[nopiano]

Glad to learn all digital sources sound the same. You'll put WHF out of business if you tell everyone.

 

[wclough]

Hi. As my Arcam CD player is fussy about what CDs it plays (see other thread) I am in the market for a new player. Before I decided on this I put a CD in my Panasonic DVD player DMR-EZ28EB. I compared it through the same amp and same speakers. The DVD sound was awful compared to the Arcam Alpha 7SE CD player which I will be trading in. I have to say that the cable from the DVD is not of the same quality as that used from the Arcam but that was the only material difference and the sound difference was massive

 

[Overdose]

Hi. As my Arcam CD player is fussy about what CDs it plays (see other thread) I am in the market for a new player. Before I decided on this I put a CD in my Panasonic DVD player DMR-EZ28EB. I compared it through the same amp and same speakers. The DVD sound was awful compared to the Arcam Alpha 7SE CD player which I will be trading in. I have to say that the cable from the DVD is not of the same quality as that used from the Arcam but that was the only material difference and the sound difference was massive

And yet, there never seems to be any objective evidence to back up these sorts of claims.

*unknw*

 

[iceman16]

Im not quite sure if the BDT500 quad burr-brown 192Khz/32-bit dac makes a difference in sound quality for cd playback. But IMHO it's really sounds very good with cd.

 

[Al ears]

Im not quite sure if the BDT500 quad burr-brown 192Khz/32-bit dac makes a difference in sound quality for cd playback. But IMHO it's really sounds very good with cd.

I am glad you find it good with CD replay. I have found a few players that were pretty dire.

Personally, unless finances do not allow, or you really must only have one box for Blu Ray / CD playback then I would get a dedicated CD player (at least you know all the money has gone on making it sound good and none spent on the video side of things).

 

[abacus]

Most DVD/Blu-Ray players are designed to output multi-channel sounds digitally to a separate unit that does all the conversion to analogue, with their own analogue sections playing second fiddle.

CD players are the opposite in that the conversion to analogue is paramount, thus the best quality components are used.

This is the reason why CD players sound better via analogue out, but sound no different when outputting digital. (The final sound is determined solely by the external equipment with digital)

A lot of the more expensive DVD/Blu-Ray players use high quality components in their analogue sections (In most cases the same as that used in CD players) so will sound the same as an equivalent CD player. (Hence the reason why the Panasonic 500 sounds identical to the equivalent quality CD player)

Contrary to what some manufactures would have you believe there is no black art just solid engineering.

Bill

 

[Al ears]

Most DVD/Blu-Ray players are designed to output multi-channel sounds digitally to a separate unit that does all the conversion to analogue, with their own analogue sections playing second fiddle.

CD players are the opposite in that the conversion to analogue is paramount, thus the best quality components are used.

This is the reason why CD players sound better via analogue out, but sound no different when outputting digital. (The final sound is determined solely by the external equipment with digital)

A lot of the more expensive DVD/Blu-Ray players use high quality components in their analogue sections (In most cases the same as that used in CD players) so will sound the same as an equivalent CD player. (Hence the reason why the Panasonic 500 sounds identical to the equivalent quality CD player)

Contrary to what some manufactures would have you believe there is no black art just solid engineering.

Bill

I quite agree with your summation Bill and am glad to see you quote equivalent quality CD player and not equivalent cost.

For devices with roughly the same RRP the dedicated CD player will generally sound better (unless the engineers have severely crocked-up).

 

[Leeps]

Most DVD/Blu-Ray players are designed to output multi-channel sounds digitally to a separate unit that does all the conversion to analogue, with their own analogue sections playing second fiddle.

CD players are the opposite in that the conversion to analogue is paramount, thus the best quality components are used.

This is the reason why CD players sound better via analogue out, but sound no different when outputting digital. (The final sound is determined solely by the external equipment with digital)

A lot of the more expensive DVD/Blu-Ray players use high quality components in their analogue sections (In most cases the same as that used in CD players) so will sound the same as an equivalent CD player. (Hence the reason why the Panasonic 500 sounds identical to the equivalent quality CD player)

Contrary to what some manufactures would have you believe there is no black art just solid engineering.

Bill

Strangely (and genuinely unexpectedly), I had the opposite experience with my CD player. For some time I'd been using the RCA output into my AV receiver (with the CD doing the conversion), but then later used the optical out with the AV receiver doing the conversion. The sound was really markedly better, with more detail and a more organised sound. I'd really expected my CD to be better.

I think this illustrates some problems with the points made before by overdose. I don't dispute the graphs or the principles of digital sources sounding similar WHEN THE DIGITAL OUTPUTS ARE USED, but I do believe there are differences in the quality of components between the digital conversion the analogue output. Perhaps it's this as much as anything that can account for the differences in sound that our ears and brain can detect.

So in my experience with the AVR, much of the difference could be explained by the differing quality of the analogue vs digital inputs of my AVR. Evidently, the analogue inputs are inferior, or is it the analogue output of the CD that's inferior? See what I mean? Comparing like for like isn't always easy as it looks or sounds.

To take an extreme example, compare a Cyrus CD player with a Roksan (again, crucially using the analogue outputs) and tell me they sound the same.

 

[wclough]

Hi. Not sure what evidence can be provided other than my opinion. I suppose sound quality is a bit like wine tasting. How can you describe to someone what it is you are tasting or hearing?

 

[Overdose]

Hi. Not sure what evidence can be provided other than my opinion. I suppose sound quality is a bit like wine tasting. How can you describe to someone what it is you are tasting or hearing?

Which is my point, opinion is not the same as fact.

As for describing the taste of a wine, it's quite easy to use objective terms to accurately describe it.