When did you start getting Good sound from CDs?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Robin L, Oct 20, 2014.

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  1. Nielsoe

    Nielsoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aalborg, Denmark
    That's my story mate! Not shure what you mean by vinyl not being final though...
     
  2. Daz

    Daz Forum Resident

    From the moment the laser kissed that silver disk, I got perfect sound. Forever.
     
  3. SammyJoe

    SammyJoe Up The Irons!

    Location:
    Finland
    Yep, right from the start. :)
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  4. I know I was.
     
  5. jeatleboe

    jeatleboe Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY
    Because it's still there, and people still collect it. In all the years I took a break from it, I thought it was dead forever... but those who loved records never gave them up, and there are still records everywhere in used shops and online. Now they have RECORD STORE DAY every year, artists keep making brand new records, and new kids are into collecting vinyl. Records will never go away, just like the cockroach!
     
  6. Nielsoe

    Nielsoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aalborg, Denmark
    Oh yer, like that. Then I'm with you. Or I certainly hope it's the case. Vinyl is a lovely medium when it comes to music listening, the best IMO.
     
    Shak Cohen likes this.
  7. Quiet Earth

    Quiet Earth Forum Resident

    Joe P. likes this.
  8. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    Fresh out of college about 14 years ago I bought a California Audio Labs Icon MkII off ebay for $300 or so. It was the first piece of "real" Hi Fi gear I'd owned, at the time I marveled how a CD player could weigh more then my Onkyo surround sound receiver. I absolutely loved it, but gave it to a friend of mine when I realized the occasional skipping problem wasn't going to magically fix itself.

    Still the best CD player I've heard IMO - from time to time I hear people suggest anything with a newer DAC chip sounds better then anything with an older DAC chip and just smile and shake my head.
     
    Brother_Rael likes this.
  9. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    And you call yourself a tweaker? ;)

    This player has always sounded hard to me. Once in a while when my dac is away being serviced, I hook the DX-2 direct and cannot take more than half an hour of listening to this set-up in one go. Btw, it's got electrolytic caps doing output coupling, which is as bad as it gets.

    Otoh, the DX-2 makes for a very competent cd transport, more so since I have increased its power supply capacitance tenfold. There are other modifications at play here (Bybee, lots of Soundcoat etc.), though.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2014
  10. mfidelity

    mfidelity Senior Member

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Same here. I really noticed a big difference in CD sound when I bought a first generation Rega Planet. Then another big upgrade to Naim CD5.
     
    Static Discharge likes this.
  11. David Ellis

    David Ellis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire, UK
    Robin. You know I always respect your opinion, and I think you must be right about speed stability though I can't hear it nor can I hear the background noise on vinyl. This is so system dependant that is a debate not worth pursuing. My analogue front end cost about three times as much as my CD front end all in so I would be very disappointed if the analogue isn't far superior. I could live with the CD alone if I had to but it would take time.
     
  12. Peter Pyle

    Peter Pyle Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario CAN
    The first CD I ever bought. :)
     
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  13. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    It's absolutely program dependent. Don't know if you listen to much Classical music, particularly piano, organ or choral but off-center records destroy the pitch centers of such music. For those sensitive to pitch off center records are painful to listen to and there's tons of them. I'm sure it's a major reason why CDs took off with Classical music fans first. That and the wide dynamic range possible. I realize that a really good turntable can make a lot of LPs shine, display their true glory. But as regards pitch stability, Digital is far superior to Analog recording, CDs beat LPs.
     
  14. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Oddly enough I always thought I was tone deaf - my singing could curdle milk - but apparently I'm hypersensitive to pitch issues. From what I've read the problem with those of us who can't sing isn't that we can't hear pitch issues, but that we simply can't recognize them in our own voice (or have the skills to correct for them). To ourselves we sound like we're on-key, even though we aren't.
     
  15. jfeldt

    jfeldt Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF, CA, USA
    My Transition to Good Sound: Sony CD Changer in 1995 or so.
    My Transition to Great Sound: Around 1998 when I got a Theta Transport (Data II Universal) to go with my Theta DAC (Pro Prime IIa)
     
  16. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    Leaving aside SACDs which by definition are Not CDs, I would have to say not until I got an Esoteric player 5 years ago. (I had some other SACD players starting in 2001 but never was that happy with their CD performance.) I finally am able to play my CD collection without listening fatigue. They don't sound as compelling as the best analogue pressings to me but they are eminently listenable at least.
     
  17. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, Mass.
    And CDs are far more Morton Feldman-friendly.
     
    Schoolmaster Bones and Robin L like this.
  18. Markym

    Markym Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Personally, I much prefer the convenience and hassle-free option of digital (CD or laptop based) over vinyl. And I have never really had much issue with the sound, certainly in recent times (software issues aside). But that's a different debate.

    I found good CD sound pretty much from day 1:

    1990 - Marantz CD40

    1995 - Sony CDP-715E (Hi-Fi Choice Best Buy, Paul Miller raved about this machine, I would have kept mine had the laser assembly not been giving out)

    2001 - Sugden CDMaster (I still have this now - creamy analogue sound and looks the biz, I have the other Sugden Bijou gear except for the Phonomaster which I stupidly sold, cannot find a 2nd hand anywhere)

    2007 - Benchmark DAC1 (more resolving than the Sugden but not a quantum leap, great headamp which drives my HD800's very well even though I have been through numerous other examples e.g. SPL Auditor, Sugden HA4, currently have a Lehmann BCL, still relevant with computer audio because I use with a M2Tech HiFace2). Need to hear a DAC2 at some point!
     
  19. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    When I bought my first CDs in 1987.
     
  20. formu_la

    formu_la I'm not a robot

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
  21. Humbuster

    Humbuster Staff Emeritus

    From the start as well.

    Fell in love all over again when I updgraded my system last year which included adding a real nice CD player.
     
  22. JeffMo

    JeffMo Format Agnostic

    Location:
    New England
    And you have a bought a couple or three since then!
     
  23. David Ellis

    David Ellis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire, UK
    I can understand that but I just got Lang Lang's Liszt album and I cannot hear any pitch instability but I don't have a musician's ear to be fair. I have a few solo piano albums CD and LP bought over the last forty or more years. Some of the LPs are poor but so are some of the CDs. I have an original Bernstein Rhapsody In Blue which my Dad bought for me to wean me off pop music which sounds absolutely amazing on my system.
    Anyway I think you explain why it's difficult to get recent classical LPs.
     
  24. Rodney Toady

    Rodney Toady Waste of cyberspace

    Location:
    Finland
    Pretty much right from the start (1987 for me), but I must say that having had my ears (coincidentally) rinsed not very long after getting my first CD player made a huge difference in sound quality - one of the best (and cheapest) audio upgrades I've ever had.
     
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