Is a $17 DVD player better than a $600 CD Player? You may be surprised! Sony DVD vs Rotel CD11ii

My Denon DCD-735 rocks on strong since I bought it in the late 90's.
Pushing those good sounding photons into my XTZ Class A100D3 via the optic TOS-LINK.

The great thing is all CD players with a digital output can play DTS 5.1 audio CD's, Philips made the best CD players

I like a Cd player that play Cd

I've been out of home theater/audio for a decade (got married, had a kid, life got busy) and I cannot believe how much it's changed in the last decade! SO I could take my Sony X700 4K DVD player with a coax digital out, pipe the digital out to a DAC and I'll have audiophile output from my CD collection? Couldn't my Onkyo AVR do the same thing? Gen X'er here and managed to keep most of my music CD collection, curious to learn how these DACs will improve sound quality. .

Guess I should upgrade my 1997 Sony DVD player, I do use it for transport only.

The weak link in my system is my hearing

I have a CD player that holds 6 CDs

The constant swinging of the Sony is so annoying, buy the video is great.

The discussion about weight of stuff reminded me of a SUPER HIGH END speaker maker at High End Munuch saying they have "added ballast" to give a sense of "quality" to new products...

Randy, ya goober! What did you do to your little piggie? What did you do to your finger?! I hope you're on the mend as soon as possible. Yup, I have been on the CheapAudioMan trip for quite some time by happenstance. People started ditching all their DVD players and so I have picked up 6 (Panasonic, Onkyo, Sony) players as transports into my AVR DAC priced from $9.99-$19.99. It was the Onkyo 6-disc DVD changer on the high end. I have 3 systems going and one Sony was part of a Hi-Fi that I gifted my little nephew.

Gawd, I would have killed for a system this good when I was his age (16-yo). I got a Sony STR-DE485 80-watt 5.1 AVR, DVP-NS725 DVD player, Sony SS-CS5 squeakers (open box new), remotes, and cables, all-in for $200 (retail $600). What a time to be alive for entry-level Hi-Fi!

Millennial here. Grew up with CDs, starting my collection next year!
Gen Z. Girlfriend has 0 experience with CDs (and USB Drives for some reason).

Millennial here, I have experience with every music format,
Vinyl, tape, CD, mini disk (remember them), downloading and streaming,

I think as millennials although we where born in the tape/CD era, most of our parents had vinyl,

Im pretty sure the vast majority of millennials have cd and cassette players and a good portion with vynil.

Though I will say its probably better to use purpose built units as it helps reduce wearing out stuff. I don't use my game consoles to play music or movies, i don't use my movie players tonplay music either.

I've been using the Sony DVP-NC80V 5-DVD/CD Changer, the one with the wide tray that slides out and has a 5 disc rotating platter inside (like the Rotel CD11 but with 5 moving discs inside) for two decades now. I don't think the RCA Audio outputs have ever been used I have always used the Digital Coax out.

This video makes the perfect case for ripping your cds to flac. With a cd ripper like DBpoweramp using AccurateRip you have verifiable proof that you have perfectly ripped the exact data from the cd. You never have to worry about the transport or the disc condition. All of my CDs get ripped, verified and then put in a cd case sans jewel case. The digital files go to a local nas with a plex server and also into the cloud in case my house burns down.

YES! I have the same Sony player, I could not believe it had a digital output for that price. I have a large CD collection, bought an entire new system in the mid-1980s just to play that first CD. So thrilled with the lack of noise and dynamic range I bought hundreds of CDs. It is in my kitchen system, but going to bring it over to my livingroom with a Schiit DAC.

A significant problem with cheap DVD (or CD players) is the quality of the clock inside the unit that causes very high jitter, and cannot be bypassed by using these players as transports since the player retains the clock timing (as masters).

Put a JVC up against a Curtis. Curtis is better than the terrible JVC.

Over the last few months, I have been using my 24 year old Toshiba DVD player as a transport to my Topping DX3 Pro+ and for most of that time I have been very happy, but the player is getting on a little and has been having a few issues. So I have been thinking of buying a dedicated CD player, but found it hard to justify the cost.

But on Friday, I decided to take the plunge for seeing that I could get an Arcam CDS50 for £450 (annoyingly if I had waited 2 days I could have bought it for £424). Which is £250 less then the price when introduced in 2018.

Now I did take a look at the Rotel CD11 Tribute, but whilst I do have well over 100 cd's, it was very hard to justify, but by adding the a network streamer, Arcam covered both bases, and it came in a much less than the asking price of something like the Blusound Node X streamer, which have downstairs (and really regret buying).

Unsurprisingly, the sound quality of the CDS50 is almost the same as the Topping DX3 Pro+, which is not a big surprise, as both have the sabre ESS9038Q2M DAC. My only issue is that whilst the sound is good, it is quite safe, so having some more lively headphones can make a big difference.

Interesting conversation. I have a Enlightened Audio Designs CD Transport, the 2000-T, and I will never part with it until death. It reads cd’s so well and I’ve tried it with different dacs. I find the reading of the cd and the purity of the info sent through that 75 ohm coaxial cable is pretty important as well. However, you’ve got to have a good dac to turn those 1’s and 0’s into decent sound.

Late 90s dvd players that retailed for $1000 or so seem to give you a great blend of build quality and overall quality with low prices. I have the Sony in the video and it works fine using the digital output to my receiver but it just feels cheap. It looks like OG Sony dvd players have a slight premium but I picked up a Toshiba SD-5109 from 1999 (Msrp $1k) for $30 and it’s about everything you could want

Millennials are very familiar with CDs and remember them well. And some of us are getting sick of "you will own nothing and be happy."

I've got an old DVD player and was hoping to see how to use desktop computer speakers with it, lots of questions.

I bought a 2001 Pioneer DV-440 [DVD/CD Player] in excellent condition w. remote from the thrift shop for $14 and it plays every kind of disc except SACD and has a very good Burr Brown dac. It has optical and coaxial digital outputs as well to shove into the Modi+. Always make your thrift shop rounds people :)

I use a Sony CX355 multi CD player that can hold 300 CDs as a transport with an external DAC. Without the DAC it was nothing special but with the DAC it sounds amazing.

Few questions if you can please answer: I have RT85 connected with Klipsch The Fives. I'm looking to upgrade my stereo system, and first I was thinking about Klipsch The Sevens, but I would like to listen to CDs too and also to be able to connect to the TV . 1. What you recommend to buy between Marantz Cinema 70 and Marantz 40n? which one has a better phono stage and works better with a CD player? Is the $1500 difference between them worth to go with 40n? I'm ok spending $2500 for the 40n if it makes more sense. (I'm not watching a lot of movies or playing games). 2. Is Marantz CD 60 the best match with 40n, or works ok with Cinema 70? 3. What bookshelf speakers you recommend up to $2000 ($2500) per pair? (I have a Klipsch Reference R-10SW 10" 300w Powered Subwoofer and I was hinking about Klipsch 600M II to match the subwoofer, but I'm ok spending more for better quality or better match with Marantz). 4. Can I replace (after 1000 hours) the 2 M Blue with the 2m Bronze cartridge on my RT 85? Thank you very much!



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What you say is true, however, there are a lot of things you get with the higher quality CD player. Build quality counts too. Which you are saying too.

I just got the Eversolo AMP-D6. I installed a 2TB ssd in it for ripping my CDs to flac files. Plugged in a really cheap USB DVD drive (~$35). The ripped files sound great. Then I noticed that the Eversolo had the option to play CDs directly from the cheap USB drive. The CDs still sounded great, no noticeable difference from an Onkyo CD player (~$350) using a Modi 3+ dac. I think it is crazy to even consider an expensive CD player or transport. Bits are bits. Spend your money on better dacs / speakers / headphones.

Thanks! I love to listen to music, and I want equipment with quality in mind. I find myself on your channel constantly as you point me to things I don't feel bad about spending my money on. I hope you continue to bring people to that step a little higher than whatever is handed to them. This gear really helps to feel what the artist was trying to convey.

Are you telling me that a $650 CD player doesn't have gapless playback? 🤔
My old Technics players still kick ass. I'll stick with those as long as possible.

Interesting. Many self claimed experts once said or wrote, (after up-market CD players first started getting built into 2 seperate boxes) "There can be no difference in CD drives, the digital stream is always identical from any drive" but then i learn about "error correction" & drop-out differences in digi-streams b4 they get to a DAC, so they spoke balls. I once had a Pioneer Laser Disc Movie Player for CD playing but it dounded so dull compared to a l8r bought mint (& not-cheap at £350) multibit s/h Sony CDP 557 ESD player, (1986'ish made) at 17'kg net was larger than most, very easily beat all my previous s/h CD players on sound quality alone & remains here to this day, tho i'd like to.. (& will eventually try) ..hear a good modern DAC [@ or < £3 or 4 hundred max £.G.B.] on it's digi-out, but i'd pass if i couldnt get a home demo first. When vinyl is your prime source 98% or more of your listening time, it aligns proportionately with what your willing to spend on CD related upgrading

For me it's a no brainer to use a commodity Blu-ray player for disc listening. My victim of choice is the Sony UBP-X700. Which I have connected to an Onkyo RZ50. The reason for this choice was that:
A: it was available
B: it play 4k blu-ray's
C: it plays SACD

All connected over HDMI. This allows the uncompressed surround sound from bluray's. Watching live concert recording in DTS-X or LPCD at 24-bit 96kHz in 5.1 is amazing. Listening to SACD's in 5.1 is amazing and listening to Blu-ray Pure-Audio is amazing. Not to mention 4k Bluray's and their DTS-X or Dolby True-HD audio tracks. Hell, even older DVD concerts recorded in compressed Dolby Digital still sound great, but there are limitations in that codec.

I see no reason to invest big $$ in a dedicated CD player for the vast majority of punters as today, it's highly likely that you'll have other digital sources that will require a DAC as well. Better to invest in a good DAC and send all digital signals there. Harley from Pearl Acoustics recently did a large CD player round up. And while they came to similar conclusions surrounding the use of internal DACS's. When connected digitally to an external DAC, there were no-perceivable differences. So unless there's a CD player hat has a DAC that you simply can't live without. Transport to external DAC.

I know the RZ-50 isn't the best AVR or DAC in the world. but it sits right at the top of the price to performance curve and forms a great hub for my home entertainment system. Certainty the best I could justify. Could I hear the difference of a better system in my living room? possibly, but I feel I'd have to spend alot more and as it is it sounds good to me.

If you can not hear the difference in sound quality between CD and Streaming - you should not be doing hifi review.... §;-) - Tidal and Qobuz claims their complete streaming catalogue is in CD quality. it is a big BIG LIE §;-(

- if you A/B test on a decent set up the original CD sound at least 35-45% better much more dynamics, detail, space, soundstage and musicality. It is even worse compared to an LP.

- Only their HiRes sounds better most of the time but not even always.

So I am forced to go back to my 1400 CDs and 1200 LP´s which I am now very glad I kept.

The better set up you have the greater the contrast will be. My DAC is the $4000 Audio Alchemy DDP 1 DAC and PS 5 Power Supply + Audio Alchemy DMP-1 Streamer (Roon Ready & DSD Streamer) PrimaLuna EVO 400 a 75 watt tube amp, GoldenEar Triton Reference speakers with this tube amp is a combination made in heaven.

Millennials? Don't know CDs? I'm offended lol, I grew up with my mom playing vinyls, 8-track, and cassettes. Then CD players. Then MP3 player, and iPod. I finally upgraded my home audio setup, (Luxman M-113 and Marantz NR1602) and added an Onkyo DX-C390. I'm trying to convince myself to leave it setup through the marantz (digital coax, optical is taken up on the marantz), but the onboard DAC is actually good. I cannot hear the difference between the Onkyo and the Marantz. Admittedly Marantz NR1602 isn't very good, so the bar is low. Avant AS2 and Hafler M5.
Edit: Marantz goes to pre-amp/mixer, and cd player when using onboard DAC goes direct to the mixer bypassing the Marantz in my comparison.

Sony wins on its ability to be swung with the electric cord

UPDATE!!! For $9.99 open Box from Best Buy I am stunned!! I was looking for something just like this to connect, funny the cable I am using as an interconnect cost $50.00 (SVS rca) 😂😂😂😂 but had it just sitting in a box so.....now I will concentrate on an additional sub as this truly works for me!! Bonus, gapless playback! Still cracking me up $9.99!! 😮😂💥💯✅ now I can pull my 100+ cd's out of the basement.

Open Box at Southland mall Best Buy this evening for $9.99!!! Yep grabbed it and hey it wasn't even $10.00!! So well worth the roll of the dice! And.....a 14 day return policy 💯🎶💥 hooking up tonight ✅

Aguante el dvd. 🎉

You realize that when millennials started driving, cassette players were often still standard in cars...

You're comparing a $35 player to a $600 player, I don't think that's fair.

Does cd 11 play gapless

why didn't you compare the dvd palyer via coaxel out to a gisellilabs dac vs the rotel?

I'm puzzled by the whole "gapless playback" thing, and why there are some players that don't do it. CDs contain a continuous stream of PCM audio, with a separate subcode channel to tell the player where the track boundaries (among other metadata) occur within that stream. There are no actual gaps in the audio recorded on the CD, so why design a player to hesitate when it comes across a track marker on the entirely independent subcode channel?

Love my CDs DVDs and Blu Rays hell i even have Compact cassettes. Physical media is my preferred way of watching or listening to my stuff:)

Come on, click bait is misleading and undesirable. "You may be surprised!" in the context implied the Sony DVD player held its own weight (punch intended) against the Rotel. But the "Yes, it (the Rotel) is 20X better!" comment really irked me to the lies in the title. Yes, I was surprised by the misleading context and content.

So what is a millennial? They say I am. I didn't see streaming music until my 30s. I am familiar with CDs, cassets, SACD, minidisc, DVD-A.

I'm considering using a fat PS3 for audio, especially as it has great SACD playback.

Just get a middle of the road SONY CD=Player as this is all you need . Sony makes great CD-Players that are reliable , not overpriced and sound great as they can also be had at Thrift Stores on a regular basis for around $10 . For example the SONY Playstation 1 & 2 are both regarded as one of the best sounding CD-Players that money can buy 👍 the only problem is you need a tv screen to see what you're doing . Yes , I know people have to justify that they're $400 CD-Player sounds better but I guarantee that it doesn't as I've been in that boat 😉 if there is a difference , it's so miniscule that you'd need cat ears to hear it .

Or if you happen to stumble upon a higher end CD player from the late 80s/early 90's like a Marantz, they're practically giving them away because nobody plays CDs these days.