I was thinking about this the other day. I know too many people that buy expensive CD players and plug it into their receiver via a digital connection - thereby rendering the expense as a waste of money.
I would have thought that what makes a good CD player good is the DAC thats in it. After all, a CD player reads 1s and 0s and then has the ability to convert it to analog. Its the conversion which is the value part of the chain. Also, given that a lot of people have music stored on hard drives these days - isn't it more prudent to buy a good quality DAC that can have inputs from a budget CD player and hard drive?
It amazes me how this simple fact is seldom mentioned and how most audiophiles purchase expensive single disc CD players where they can achieve the same goal by buying a good DAC and have the convenience of having all your music stored lossless on a server. You would lose nothing in terms of quality and gain a lot in terms of flexibility.
Which brings me to the question - how come there are so few DAC options available or reviewed. Surely this has to be the future of Hi-Fi.
Furthermore - CD quality in itself is compressed. I wonder when you can buy music that is stored at far higher quality levels that can be bought digitally. Some say that turntables offer the most natural sound due to its analog nature - but in theory, digital music could be far better than what is currently available - even exceeding CD quality.
I would have thought that what makes a good CD player good is the DAC thats in it. After all, a CD player reads 1s and 0s and then has the ability to convert it to analog. Its the conversion which is the value part of the chain. Also, given that a lot of people have music stored on hard drives these days - isn't it more prudent to buy a good quality DAC that can have inputs from a budget CD player and hard drive?
It amazes me how this simple fact is seldom mentioned and how most audiophiles purchase expensive single disc CD players where they can achieve the same goal by buying a good DAC and have the convenience of having all your music stored lossless on a server. You would lose nothing in terms of quality and gain a lot in terms of flexibility.
Which brings me to the question - how come there are so few DAC options available or reviewed. Surely this has to be the future of Hi-Fi.
Furthermore - CD quality in itself is compressed. I wonder when you can buy music that is stored at far higher quality levels that can be bought digitally. Some say that turntables offer the most natural sound due to its analog nature - but in theory, digital music could be far better than what is currently available - even exceeding CD quality.