schaffa@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/21/85)
I am in the "difficult" process of choosing a CD-Player.
I have been looking in the literature and basically I noticed that
the major electronic building blocks that the "sound" has to go thru
are: (in parenthesis is the characteristics of the block)
Error-Detection/Correction
(single byte, block, interpolation)
Sampling
(44.1Khz, 2X44.1K, 4X44.1K)
D/A
(one or two)
Filter
(analog, digital)
Well, different units have a different path among these blocks:
Nakamichi :all error stuff, 4X sampling, 2(?) D/A and analog(?) filter
Yamaha CD-X1: all error stuff, 2X sampling, 1 D/A, digital filter
NAD: all error stuff, 1X sampling, 2 D/A, analog filter
NEC: all error stuff, 4X sampling, ?, ?
and so forth.
The price range goes from $1300 for the Nakamichi, $750 for the NEC, $500 for the NAD, $300 for the CD-X1.
So far I have listened to the Naka, NAD, NEC, and Yamaha CD-2. All in different
systems. The sales person didn't want to connect them to the same system.
It doesn't make much difference he said, and of course, the Naka
is much better.(is it?)
From the sound point of view, is there anybody out there that had
experienced the difference in quality among different CD-Players?
I know that by over-sampling, the filtration stage can be "simplified",
therefore, it makes it easier to built the filter. But I don't know
how different the analog and the digital filters sound.
By using a single D/A, a phase shift between the channels is created
due to the settling time of the D/A. Can we hear the difference?
Does that change the "image" of the sound?
Or the difference in sound quality is so small that I should go by
the "programmability" and others fancy stuff they can offer?
Thanks for any advice, opinion you can offer me. If I get enough
response, I will summarize to the net.
Frank
ARPA: schaffa@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!schaffagino@sdchema.UUCP (Eugene G. Youngerman) (03/22/85)
>I am in the "difficult" process of choosing a CD-Player. > >Nakamichi :all error stuff, 4X sampling, 2(?) D/A and analog(?) filter >Yamaha CD-X1: all error stuff, 2X sampling, 1 D/A, digital filter >NAD: all error stuff, 1X sampling, 2 D/A, analog filter >NEC: all error stuff, 4X sampling, ?, ? I also have been looking at CD players. I have been recommended to the Nak, the Kyocera, the Denon, the Mission, the Meridian, the NAD, and the Kenwood. I also have been unable to listen to the same CD in the same system. Prices in these are Nak 1000 non-remote 1300 remote Kyocera 1600 remote Denon 1000 remote only Mission 650 non-remote 750 remote Meridian 700 don't know NAD 550 no remote, no programmability Kenwood 725 don't know The concensus of opinion (over many stereo stores, is that the Mission, the Meridian and the NAD are rated best. I plan to buy a mission. These are all three made in England, with essentially Philips 4x oversampling technology, and better analog electronics. For what its worth Another opinion from GINO
dw@rocksvax.UUCP (Don Wegeng) (03/25/85)
I have had the pleasure to compare several different models of cd players
at a local audio shop (Sound Concepts, for those of you in Rochester).
I can't remember the specifics of which preamp, amp, etc. were used, but
they were definitely high end stuff (mostly Mission, I believe).
The cd players that I listened to were made by Yahama, NAD, and Mission.
The test we performed was not perfect, but it was very interesting. It
was an A/B comparison between the cd and lp versions of the same recording.
In general, the turntable (a Mission, I believe) sounded better than the
cd. The high frequencies (such as strings) were much more harsh on all of
the cd players that I listened to. I also noticed that the mid range was
not always as pronounced as on the lp (this varied between cd players).
We listened to a large mix of cd's, some being analog recordings, some digital
(the cd's came closer to the lp on these), etc.
My final conclusion was that a $2K turntable sounds better than a $800
cd player. Of the cd's, the Mission sounded much better than the NAD
and the Yahama. However, I was not interested in paying for the remote
control unit (I'd rather pay for better electronics to reproduce the
music). The NAD sounded almost as good as the Mission, and cost ~ $300
less ($500). The Yamaha sounded pretty poor, in my opinion.
I finally bought the NAD unit. Sure, it doesn't sound as good as the
Mission cd (or the turntable), but on my less-than-high end equipment
the difference in sound quality isn't that great. I also believe
that I'll end up buying another cd player in a couple of years, for I'm
convienced that cd's have not reached their full potential.
/Don
--
"Ah yeees, when the ships were wood, and the men were steel."
arpa: Wegeng.Henr@Xerox.ARPA
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uucp: dw@rocksvax.UUCP
uucp: {allegra,amd,decvax!rochester,princeton}!rocksvax!dw
uucp: ihnp4!tropix!ritcv!rocksvax!dwdep@allegra.UUCP (Dewayne Perry) (03/25/85)
[] I listened to a comparison of the NAD and the Mission CD player at Bryce Audio in NYC and the Mission came off better than the NAD. As I mentioned in the Fable, Meridian beat the Revox. Has anyone done a comparison of the Mission and the Meridian? BTW, both players sell in England for 399 pounds or $460 less the 15% vat refundable on exported goods. So if anyone is going to England ...