CD Player with optical out recommendation please...

[GrumpyGregry]

Well since having children only my naim cd player is used... my naim amp and dynaudio floorstanders have been packed up and put in the loft... avoids little fingers destroying them!

Yep. That's how all my previous "hi-fi" died. But the little ones have both left home now, I've been barred from buying any more bikes, and a bikes worth of money can get some nice entry level "hi-fi" components. In the loft is a large box of LP's that haven't been played in the current Chez Collins which we moved into at least 12 - 14 years ago!

 

[Profpointy]

I've had a Cambridge CD player, lasted about 5yrs. Similarly a Teac one again about 5yrs and currently a Denon one that's 4 1/2yrs old, wonder how long that'll last.

BTW the 'optical out' is a con, the digital signal has already been 'de-coded' and processed by the CD players chip then the now Analogue signal is put through an LED emitter to give the 'lased' output, mind you I use that to record onto my 'Minidisc' simply for convenience (it automatically splits the recording up into the separate 'tracks')
Anyone who tells you they get a better sound through an 'Optical' link into a DAC is talking twaddle unless they own a CD transport instead of a CD Player (ideally with a remote Power Supply)

Couple of things not quite right in the above. Surely the optical out is a digital signal, self-evidently so if it's going into to a DAC. If the external DAC is better than the CD one, then it should indeed sound better. That said, I suspect there's not much in it with modern DACs

 

[raleighnut]

Couple of things not quite right in the above. Surely the optical out is a digital signal, self-evidently so if it's going into to a DAC. If the external DAC is better than the CD one, then it should indeed sound better. That said, I suspect there's not much in it with modern DACs

When the Laser 'reads' the disc it generates an electrical signal (albeit a digital signal) some players can output that signal via a 'Co-axial' socket but in order to output an optical signal that needs to be converted into light.

 

[Profpointy]

When the Laser 'reads' the disc it generates an electrical signal (albeit a digital signal) some players can output that signal via a 'Co-axial' socket but in order to output an optical signal that needs to be converted into light.

Yes, I realise that, but still don't quite get your point. The signal is in a sense "converted" several times as it works its way through various stages, one of them being optical as opposed to electrical is by the by surely

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Yes, I realise that, but still don't quite get your point. The signal is in a sense "converted" several times as it works its way through various stages, one of them being optical as opposed to electrical is by the by surely

Maybe the font used for the 0's and 1's changes if the digitally encoded signal is transmitted optically rather than electrically. Optical being Comic Sans obvs.

 

[User482]

Maybe the font used for the 0's and 1's changes if the digitally encoded signal is transmitted optically rather than electrically. Optical being Comic Sans obvs.

If you have to use optical, at least make sure you use a directional cable.

 

[raleighnut]

If you have to use optical, at least make sure you use a directional cable.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

And it's best to have the CD player higher than the amp so when the electrons dance along the cable the right way the downhill effect means there's less resistance and loss of quality, this will make an audible diffence especially to the midrange and also the flow of the music.

 

[MontyVeda]

Not cheap, but tungsten optical connectors are far superior to standard fibre optics.

 

[Salar]

And it's best to have the CD player higher than the amp so when the electrons dance along the cable the right way the downhill effect means there's less resistance and loss of quality, this will make an audible diffence especially to the midrange and also the flow of the music.

My cassette deck is on the top with a nice gap,away from the cd player . I don't want any of that dirty digital fall out climbing up the cables.
They can go in freefall and pester the amp, it's man enough to take it.

 

[User482]

Not cheap, but tungsten optical connectors are far superior to standard fibre optics.

True, but completely pointless unless the fibres are polished.

 

[Daddy Pig]

But at the end of the day CD quality still feels constrained by lack of bandwidth as it uses 16bit technology. Vinyl will sound richer by comparison if it's a good recording.
Not sure why we havnt got 24 or 48 Bit sound as standard these days.

 

[srw]

But at the end of the day CD quality still feels constrained by lack of bandwidth as it uses 16bit technology. Vinyl will sound richer by comparison if it's a good recording.
Not sure why we havnt got 24 or 48 Bit sound as standard these days.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/inferior-technology-that-did-well.225802/

(Although as I've said somewhere else recently for most people, most of the time, good enough is good enough because, most of the time, most people don't actually listen.)

 

[User482]

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/inferior-technology-that-did-well.225802/

(Although as I've said somewhere else recently for most people, most of the time, good enough is good enough because, most of the time, most people don't actually listen.)

Nothing wrong with cd, as long as you remember to run green marker around the edge.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

And amidst the genuinely amusing snark any specific player or transport recommendations with optical out?