Using DVD players as audio CD transports?

[admin_exported]

Hi, wondered if anyone had good experience of using a DVD player as a CD transport- and whether there are benefits over using a reasonable CD player. I'm currently using a Cambridge Audio 540c as a transport which sounds great, but have seen it mentioned by a few people of the benefits using DVD players for the function. What makes them better? I use the toslink output into a DAC, but wasn't sure if many DVD players had optical outputs.

Anyway- some advice and wisdom would be much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[john dolan]

Why do you think a dvd player could beat a cd player when playing cd ? for best sound from cd when using a outboard dac use a dedicated cd transport 2nd best a integrated cd player and as a last resort a dvd player.

 

[radovantz]

I use DVD player to play audio CD connected with coaxial cable.

CD player is much pricier, but I cant find any difference between cd player and dvd player for this purpose, and cannot differentiate between CD, MP3 and WMA in the aspect of sound quality either, they are pretty much the same

 

[Anonymous]

a cd transport was the best i have tried with my m-f x-dac v3
i have a cambridge audio discmagic cd transport,
but i also tried my mates teac transport it was very good indeed
then i bought a blu ray player samsung 1400 ,and tried this through my dac
it is very very good and i cannot tell much difference as i like the bd player
with some music and the cd transport with other music,
so id say swings and roundabouts with both, but i was not keen on the sound
when i tried dvd players digital outs..

 

[john dolan]

I burned 3 copies of the same cd and ran all 3 at the same time through my dac x.Used as transports were my cyrus cdxtse my arcam delta transport and my £70 sony dvd player.I could just select which i wanted to listen to from changing input on the dac x and they all sounded different.The cyrus transport was a clear winner and the arcam sounded very arcam with its big fuller sound and the dvd player sounded lean and thin and a poor 3rd.Transports do make a difference.Dvd players can be bought for little money and will work fine but the sound is bettered with a dedicated cd transport.

 

[Anonymous]

When using an external DAC the DVD player should potentially sound the same.

If it doesn't there is probably a reason why.

Likely examples is the DVD player re-sampling audio to 48khz from 44.1khz.

I am sure a DVD player can extract 700MB of data from a CD?

Jitter may be higher on the digital output, but a reclocking DAC should negate this.

What other variables are there?

It is probably worth reading up on.

The only thing I dislike about a DVD over CD player is that they can be slower and more noisey.

 

[john dolan]

Eddy cd transports do not same the same and you do get what you pay for.Do you think a £20 dvd player sounds the same as a 30 grand ttransport.Believe me theres more to it than just zeros and ones.I used a cyrus cd6 as a transport into dac x and i wasnt impressed at all.After a week or 2 i took it back to the dealers and exchanged it for a cd8 and that sounded much better as a transpoert than the cd6.Then i added a psxr and that improved the sound to another level.Now i have upgraded the cd8 x to cdxtse and raised the bar again.Ive been using dacs and transports for over 20 years and imo the transport is between 30 and 40% of the sound of a 2 box spinner.I did a back to back with the cyrus cdxt and the new cdxtse in a hundred grand system and the new cdxtse is a better sounding unit it is very clear to all that heard it in the shop.I was so impressed i sent my cd8 back to cyrus for upgrade.There is even a difference between a cd8se used as transport only and a cdxtse with the dedicated transport pulling ahead even though they are the same machine and the only difference is the cdxtse has no onboard dac.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, John.

It is interesting to hear of your observations.

I have no doubt that a dedicated CD transport could be better than a supermarket DVD spinner, but because my scientific (albeit non audio) background I always want to know why.

Do you have any ideas why the CD transports sounded better to you? More data extraction? Less jitter? Something else?

It is a subject that interests me as I have been using a computer on and off for a while now and to be honest cannot tell much difference 🙁

 

[john dolan]

My experience with the cyrus spinners shows the power suppliers to make a difference.The cd8se also has a onboard dac so by taking it out to make the transport cdxtse the psu has a easier time and its possible the onboard dac might cause interference.Also when adding a psxr even more gains can be heard.Cyrus also spent a lot of time and money to develope the new slot drive in the SE players and if you dem the old against the new you can easilly hear the gain the new drives give.In comparison the onboard psu in a cheap dvd will be small and not to the same quality.As you spend more with transports you can expect better digital outputs and faster more accurate internal clocks that have less jitter.When you get into true high end transports you can expect battleship build quallity.The likes of teak spent large sums of money to develope the VRDS transports to get better sound when it would be very cheap and easy to use a plastic drive from the likes of phillips or sony.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, John.

You seem to be an expert here.

What does the "PSU" do? Spin the disc? Is it like a turntable motor?

 

[john dolan]

Psu is the power supply.Here is the TEAC transport http://www.esoteric.jp/technology/vrdsneo/indexe.html

 

[john dolan]

Here is a internal pic of the cyrus psu the psxr http://www.cyrusaudio.com/prd_downloads/PSXR_Int.jpg when added to a cyrus cd players it powers only the transport section of the player leaving the internal psu to power the dac and display.I have one on my cdxtse and it does give better performance than the stand alone player.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, John.

What will adding one do?

Spin the disc more precisely?

 

[john dolan]

A PSX-R connected to the CD 8x provides a smooth battery like DC current to the transport mechanism, removing the strain of the motor from the internal power supply and allowing the internal power supply to focus on the sensitive audio circuitry in the DAC and analogue audio stages.

 

[manicm]

Eddie Pound:

When using an external DAC the DVD player should potentially sound the same.

If it doesn't there is probably a reason why.

Likely examples is the DVD player re-sampling audio to 48khz from 44.1khz.

I am sure a DVD player can extract 700MB of data from a CD?

Jitter may be higher on the digital output, but a reclocking DAC should negate this.

What other variables are there?

It is probably worth reading up on.

The only thing I dislike about a DVD over CD player is that they can be slower and more noisey.

You've just contradicted yourself here and I strongly disagree:

7 years ago buying my first DVD player I got a Pioneer with a 24/96 DAC and sounded like mud with CDs, then immediately exchanged it for the next one up with a 24/192 DAC - guess which one sounded a hundred times more transparent??

Something like a DAC Magic should definitely improve something like an old budget DVD player. Although I doubt it with my Pioneer - I have a UAE model DV-535 (the European was DV-444 I think) and to this day I find its transparency and depth incredible, if a bit too bright but my ears got used to it.

 

[D.J.KRIME]

Surely the quality of the sound produced by a DVD player when playing a CD is down to the quality of the DAC's and PSU's found internally?

I use a Denon DV3930 for both DVD and CD's and IMHO it sounds fantastic with CD offering a clear transparant and well times sound (I do use it in direct mode when playing CD which shuts down all video side of the dvd player) but the Denon does have high quality DAC's and PSU's.

 

[manicm]

D.J.KRIME:

Surely the quality of the sound produced by a DVD player when playing a CD is down to the quality of the DAC's and PSU's found internally?

I use a Denon DV3930 for both DVD and CD's and IMHO it sounds fantastic with CD offering a clear transparant and well times sound (I do use it in direct mode when playing CD which shuts down all video side of the dvd player) but the Denon does have high quality DAC's and PSU's.

Very true but then again Cyrus paid more effort into a new transport and related software than the DACs in their integrated CDSE Cd players, which leads one to believe that their existing DACs were of a very high standard to begin with.

 

[Anonymous]

D.J.KRIME:
Surely the quality of the sound produced by a DVD player when playing a CD is down to the quality of the DAC's and PSU's found internally?

I use a Denon DV3930 for both DVD and CD's and IMHO it sounds fantastic with CD offering a clear transparant and well times sound (I do use it in direct mode when playing CD which shuts down all video side of the dvd player) but the Denon does have high quality DAC's and PSU's.

We're talking about DVD players as a transport, so the internal DAC is irrelevant.