ark@rabbit.UUCP (09/30/83)
One possibly significant difference between CD players is that some use all 16 bits of each frame and some use only 14. The difference should amount to 6 dB S/N.
dsj@alice.UUCP (David S. Johnson) (08/13/85)
Just two put in my two DAC's worth: The experience of the netter who found the sound of triangles much more vivid on a Yamaha CD player agrees with mine. Although my tests were certainly not double blind, and I did not have equipment to match levels, I detected (or thought I detected) a SUBSTANTIAL boost in high frequencies in the Yamaha versus my Revox This was apparent even when the Yamaha was playing significantly softer, and was so obvious I am sure I could detect it in double-blind testing. As partial confirmation, I later came across an article in the British Magazine NEW HI-FI SOUND (April 85) which contained response curves for about 9 players, including both my Revox and the Yamaha CD3. The latter has a sharp rise from 10K to 20K, approaching a full dB, which was quite pronounced compared to all other players studied (it also had more distortion at high frequencies, another possible explanation for its brightness). Incidentally, this article was quite refreshing, as it actually was able to display substantial measurable differences between CD players (although whether they are all audible is another question). Much was made of the different distortion spectra for the various players, in addition to the response curves, most of which lay in the 0 plus or minus 1/2 dB range. My Revox looked typical of the quadruple oversampling machines, and they didn't think it offered any sonic improvements over the much cheaper players of that type (This seems to be the consensus of the British Hi-Fi Press, whose current favorites are the Meridian, the updated Mission, and the Akai). Oh well, it sure looks nice and is convenient to use. (I must admit I preferred the sound of the Yamaha on some CD's, although it sounded overly harsh on others.)