How does one shop for a CD player nowadays?

[Mr Perch]

I am confident that the OP will be pleased with his new $33 Sony CD player that he purchased on Amazon. I think that he is a victim of inflation, though. If I remember correctly, I paid $19.98 for the Toshiba CD/DVD player here in my office when I bought it at Walmart 10 years ago.

As it turned out, I wasn't pleased and I am returning the item. I don't have a problem with the sound quality. However, neither the push buttons on the unit, nor the remote, work well. Sometimes it responds to commands, sometimes it doesn't. When it does respond, it takes up to 3 seconds, so you wait. If 3 seconds goes by and nothing happens, you have to push the button again and hope for the best. It's annoying. Also, I missed having an LED screen that displayed track info.

I'm going to try a used player from Craig's List, since it is apparently the case that the cheapest new player is $350.

 

[oldunc]

Goo

As it turned out, I wasn't pleased and I am returning the item. I don't have a problem with the sound quality. However, neither the push buttons on the unit, nor the remote, work well. Sometimes it responds to commands, sometimes it doesn't. When it does respond, it takes up to 3 seconds, so you wait. If 3 seconds goes by and nothing happens, you have to push the button again and hope for the best. It's annoying. Also, I missed having an LED screen that displayed track info.

I'm going to try a used player from Craig's List, since it is apparently the case that the cheapest new player is $350.

Good luck- always a crapshoot with anything depending on moving parts, but I took a look on Amazon and you're right, the $350 Cambridge Sound player looks like the cheapest worth considering. Just remember, the DAC's the thing.

 

[buster poser]

Why not just rip them to FLAC/ALAC?

 

[teleman1]

WOW! A farm load of misinformation here. Let me break it down for you. Old CD players, SUCK. They would need a digital out and a MODERN Dac to make any shining. Folks in this thread are probably not so critical from what they describe they use for CD. I have a recent cd/DVD player. It has a modern Dac inside and it is just fabulous compared to any cd player I ever had and the Audio alchemy stuff I had 20 years ago,(actually still have it in a box). Tip for CD users, break them out of the hard plastic and use sleeves, cuts about 2/3rds of your space.

 

[teleman1]

Why not just rip them to FLAC/ALAC?

Because you are not volunteering to do the job.

 

[buster poser]

Because you are not volunteering to do the job.

Good luck then, sounds like it's going great!

 

[421JAM]

As it turned out, I wasn't pleased and I am returning the item. I don't have a problem with the sound quality. However, neither the push buttons on the unit, nor the remote, work well. Sometimes it responds to commands, sometimes it doesn't. When it does respond, it takes up to 3 seconds, so you wait. If 3 seconds goes by and nothing happens, you have to push the button again and hope for the best. It's annoying. Also, I missed having an LED screen that displayed track info.

I'm going to try a used player from Craig's List, since it is apparently the case that the cheapest new player is $350.

This is my exact experience. The Open/eject buttons just can’t be counted on to work, making the machine useless and or risky to use.

 

[teleman1]

CD's & albums

Good luck then, sounds like it's going great!

I was hoping you were going to ask how long of a drive it is to Phoenix.

 

[421JAM]

Just remember, the DAC's the thing.

I don’t even know what this is, and I’m not particularly interested in finding out. But I’ll bet I either don’t have one, or I have a low quality one, and this is a large part of the reason why I feel like vinyl sounds better than CDs on my stereo system.

 

[Chester P Squier]

I would think if you have a DVD (it actually stands for digital versatile disk, since it plays movies and CDs) and have the audio going to your stereo receiver, that should work fine.

 

[oldunc]

I don’t even know what this is, and I’m not particularly interested in finding out. But I’ll bet I either don’t have one, or I have a low quality one, and this is a large part of the reason why I feel like vinyl sounds better than CDs on my stereo system.

Digital/Analog Converter, changes a digital signal to music, basically. A lot of people feel that vinyl sounds better on their systems, largely because digital tends to overemphasize square (odd) harmonics.
A good DAC will minimize this problem. Just as the quality of your vinyl sound will depend mostly on your cartridge, and boy is there a quality range on those.

 

[4wotitswurth]

That’s the problem with old age… can’t recall if I responded to this or not! Doesn’t look like it… anyway, similar dilemma earlier on, most lowish end stuff, has lost the analogue outs, and in line with that, most receiver/amp gear at the lower end has gone hdmi, tho not all. My approach was to use dvd blueray player, Xbox or PlayStation for cd, dvd playback and couple that with yamaha receivers. I still have an older Yamaha analogue receiver and older dvd, blueray with analogue outs but once they meet their fate, my analogue days, for most part are done. Still have these cravings, now and again for another record player (see even that dates me), but I really can’t see that happening, especially now that all my LPs are long one… see I should have said vinyl right? So… buy some games, justify an xbox, hook that up to a Yamaha receiver, tie in your trusty old speakers and try to explain where all that money went!

 

[desert_dweller]

like others have said, any good blu-ray player will play DVDs and CDs. the only problem is ya gotta have your TV on to see the user interface, which can be annoying.

Because you are not volunteering to do the job.

can't wait until my son is old enough that i can task him with ripping my CD collection

 

[flathd]

Radio Shack or Monkey Wards would have some.

 

[oldunc]

like others have said, any good blu-ray player will play DVDs and CDs. the only problem is ya gotta have your TV on to see the user interface, which can be annoying.

can't wait until my son is old enough that i can task him with ripping my CD collection

It will play them, but you won't get optimum sound.

 

[desert_dweller]

It will play them, but you won't get optimum sound.

Depends on the system. I have a Sony bluray player that plays lossless audio into an Onkyo receiver with JBL speakers. Not an audiophile setup by any means, but it sounds fantastic.

 

[bgmacaw]

And remember that coating the edge of your CDs with green marker will make them sound better.

(This was an early internet myth. I remember it being vehemently debated on the old Harmony Central forum circa 1998.)

 

[oldunc]

Depends on the system. I have a Sony bluray player that plays lossless audio into an Onkyo receiver with JBL speakers. Not an audiophile setup by any means, but it sounds fantastic.

Lossless audio still needs a DAC to turn it into music. I've never looked into blue ray players, maybe some have DACs made for music.

 

[Hamstein]

I am dreading the failure of my current cd player, which is just a sony cdp-xe370, but it sounds fine, and I like the 'jog' knob to move between tracks.
A while back now I had all on to get that one out of my local 'hifi' shop, I had to explain the concept of a 'separate' cd player - anyway the guy had a rummage in the back room and managed to find one, - I can't complain, I like it!
When it eventually dies I will scrape the pennies together and buy a Cyrus!

 

[middy]

On a related note, where can I pick up a buggy whip?