Blu-Ray player vs. stand alone CDP?

I've recently set-up a little bedroom system with a Marantz PM5005 IA fed by a Vizio TV w/Roku as a source, into NHT SuperOne speakers. I also grabbed an unused Sony BDP-BX110 BR DVD from my other house so I could watch movies. It dawned on me that I could also play CDs and, maybe, avoid a stand alone CDP. Listening to a Pat Metheney CD (Letters from Home) right now, it sounds pretty good. I wonder if I'd gain much in this little system with something like the Marantz CD5005 or similar stand alone CDP. My guess is no but I'm curious for other opinions.

 

I'd keep the Sony.

 

Would you be surprised to know my wife votes with you? I'd been curious about something like the Oppo 103 but it's hard for me to imagine I'd gain much other than forum bragging rights.

 

Bragging rights

Actually you would have quite a LOT to gain in SQ and capabilities by checking out the current crop of quality UDP's.

Several brands with their own house sound and feature sets at varying price points.

GUARANTEED to find something you will love.

 

Wear this shirt home and see what she says.



I would absolutely encourage DAC exploration. Source quality (DAC) does make a difference. The right style of DAC can make an average amp present a sense of depth that you never thought possible form an amp like that. Source quality does matter. But at the same time, there's a large class of DACs where they do sound pretty much similar. The quest is to find the exceptional ones that don't sound like the rest.

Your post got me to listen to "Letters From Home" before heading off to bed. A nice recording with a nice sense of depth and layering. But you'll need a DAC capable of presenting that depth to really appreciate the sense of depth and layering that is in the recording. How much depth and layering did you notice while listening to it? I heard lots, even on headphones. It's because of my big DAC.

The Sony player has a coax digital output. So you can connect an external DAC. Find a good DAC with a coax input and explore. DACs do make a difference. If you explore wisely you can focus on the ones that do make a difference rather than the bulk of ones that sound mostly alike.

 

Ah man ! The Oppo is in an entirely different league. Maybe overkill for a little bedroom setup but that's entirely up to you.

 

My DAC's not as big as yours, apparently. When I listen to music, I'm listening more to the music than the depth and layering of the recording. All I can say is that that CD sounded very pleasing to me. Honestly, I'm not interested in the journey that some of you are on. I simply wondered what I might gain with an Oppo 103 over the Sony Blu-Ray player.

 

I used to run a Sony S370 which was pretty okay. Partnered it with a Spitfire II DAC from Firestone Audio and it suddenly performed as well as a £600 Marantz CD player. So, a £250 DAC with a £100 Blu-ray player. That was about five years ago. Can a universal player sound as good as a dedicated CD player? Yes, I can imagine so. They have done for some time (at least going back to 2007 or so) IMO.

 

The BDP-103 likely sounds better, but in regards to your original question I haven't really found stand-alone CD players to sound better then combo players as a rule. We're all the best judges of what we do and don't need, but for a bedroom system I'd probably be content with the current Sony.

 

Aw, wassamatter, all you boys got a tiny DAC? Tough luck.

Stick with the Sony. By all means explore DACs. Mine's even tinier than all o' yours' (iFi Nano), but at $200, it would wax my most-worthy Oppo 103 (which resides in a separate 5.1 system where it plays multi-format discs) for regular old redbook CDs. There are other DAC contenders for even less money, super-suitable for the bedroom.

Standalone CD players are either pricy (boutique brands) or extinct (mainstream brands).

 

The 103 is first and foremost a video player and a very good one. However, the audio sound quality leaves something to be desired. Even Oppo thinks so, hence their 105 version.

That said, since you think the Sony sounds pretty good perhaps that's all you need.

 

Yeah, that's sort of the conclusion I'm coming to. This system is in a spare room that I hang in to let other members of the family use the good stuff from time to time. Honestly, I'm quite pleased with how the Sony Blu-Ray does as a CDP as well as a DVDP. I find that most of the time in this room, I'm either watching something on Netflix or Amazon or tripping through YT and streaming the audio through the system. At the moment, I'm listening to the Ultra-Lounge Bottoms Up! album on YT:

It sounds great with this system (using the Vizio TV and Roku to get to YT).

 

This. I have a BDP 103 and it's a great movie machine but it ain't "all that" for music. Our Marantz CD6004 shows it a clean pair of heels (is that how you Brits say it?).

 

I'm skeptical on the difference in sound quality of transports (in D-to-D mode), but I've convinced myself I've heard differences between DACs. Not huge ones, but they're there. But in truth, I think a modern $20 DAC can probably equal a $1000 DAC from 2005. They've perfected these almost beyond belief these days, even in very small ICs.

 

I don't have Schiit's big DAC. I do have their smallest. I'm not ashamed to admit that.

It could be fun, in an audio exploratory way, to see what a low cost external DAC does compared to the Sony BR player. Something like the Schiit Modi 2 Uber for $150. The Modi 2 Uber has a coax digital input. Would allow for some experimentation and a way to compare. And it's a reasonably good inexpensive standalone DAC. But at the same time that may not be a very user friendly setup if the Sony BR player requires a special setting be set in order to send output to the digtial coax out. It would depend on how the Sony handles that and how user friendly that is. If others are going to be using the system you want something user friendly and something that just works. An external DAC may not fit in that scenario.

DACs can make a difference. This is a place where we can obsess over audiophile remasterings and the sort of sound quality improvements those sorts of remasterings bring us. DAC changes can be a greater change than the difference between a good standard CD and an audiophile remastering of that CD.

 

There's a lot of DACs that do sound similar. In tonality, presentation (set forwardness or set backedness), and soundstage size. There are some though that break free from those restrictions and do something that does sound different. Hearing differences in tonality for different DACs that all measure flat is a lot more subtle.

One area that I hear differences in DACs is in soundstage size and depth (or on headphones what I would call headstage size and presentation). Headphones are restricted in soundstage to begin with. Getting the headphone sound to expand beyond those restrictions is like magic. Some DACs do that. The difference is huge and obvious to me. Those sorts of changes are very easy for me to hear the difference between DACs that do that and DACs that don't. The cheapest DACs I've heard that manage to do that are the PonoPlayer and some of the LH Labs Geek Out USB DAC dongle things. I've heard $1000+ DACs that don't (like Benchmark).

 

I never understand these so called bedroom systems. Who wants to listen to their half-assed system in the bedroom, when they can listen to their kick-ass system in their living room?

 

+1

 

Lots of reasons, which is why there's four separate audio systems in the house. As regards the OP, my best system has a Blu-Ray player and a DVD player. I suspect the 2007 Sony Blu-Ray play was built to a higher standard than the 2004 Sony DVD player. The Blu-Ray player weighs three times as much. The sound on the Blu-Ray player is smoother on Redbook, much better on DVD-a and can also play Blu-Ray audio. Got the Sony DVD player because it also can play back SACDs. The Blu-Ray player cannot. But and in any case—bedroom system? Use the Blu-Ray player and don't worry about what your missing.

 

"Half-assed system"?? Hardly. Smaller system yes. But I like to listen where I am on decent gear and not have to go into another space where someone else in the family is doing something else. I own two homes and have four systems between them. None are what *I* consider "half-assed".

 

I say swap out the Super Zeros for Pioneer a pair of SP-BS22-LR's. The Pioneers have better midrange, more bass and a more musical sound than the Super Zeros. Also the footprint isn't much bigger, though the speakers are considerably bigger than the Super Zeros. Used to have the regular version of the NHT miniatures. Did not find them all that satisfying. Also note that the Paradigm Atoms, closer in size to the NHTs, have more dynamic swing, a little more bass and a lot more efficiency. Changing the speakers will do more to upgrade the sound than changing the CD player of the DAC in your situation.

 

Except they're SuperOnes not SuperZeros, so...

The Pioneers aren't all that in spite of the reviews they've gotten. I've auditioned them at home.

 

I'm sure I'm not the only forum member who relegates equipment after an upgrade. And many of us share living/family rooms with other family members but would prefer to listen to the latest Led Zep remaster over watching Dancing With The Stars.

 

Use the optical digital ouputs of the Blu-Ray player. Digital outputs eliminate the use of DAC analog outputs. It's not necessary to have DAC.

 

But the amp doesn't have digital ins.