Replace CD Player??? - CD vs. MP3 (1 Viewer)

[apn73]

I know that this is a home theater forum, but it seems like most you listen to music on your systems as well. That being the case I have a question about my CD player. I can't remember exactly when I bought it; I believe it's about 15 years old. It's a Denon DCM-370 that has served me very well and works just fine, but has technology increased enough for me to warrant a replacement? The other thing that I am wondering about is the sound quality of a good CD in a good CD player against the sound quality of an MP3 or hifi iTunes. Have any of you critically listened to these two to see which one is better? It just seems like the MP3 in its various versions have made the record store (if you can even call them that anymore) obsolete. Is the sound quality of good CD going to keep them around for a while or is it a dying format? Thanks, Adam.

 

[gene c]

MP3's and the like are all about storage and convenience, not sound quality. That old Denon 370 you have has a signal-to-noise level of 112 db. That's even better than the Marantz 4003 (110 bd). As long as it still functions well then I say keep it. I'm sure the build quality is excellent and it probably has some heft to it. A newer cd player will probably be a bit on the lite side in comparison. I used an old H/K 8380 for many years before selling it with my other H/K equipment. I now have a Pioneer 301 disc player but it's not the same. O.K. for the mainstram cd's I have but the good cd's are played on the DV58av dvd player. Maybe cd's are slowly on the way out but there have been 100's of millions of them produced. Many of them will still be sold new years after the last one comes off the line. And ebay will always be full of them. If the music was made before 2010 you'll be able to find it on cd, new or used, for the next 50 years. Of course, internet streaming will eventually be the way most music is listened to in the home but there's no reason streaming and cd's can't co-exist. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but when I buy something, I like to be able to hold it in my hand. Makes me fell like I actually got something for my money. Iwasn't sorry to see cassettes and 8-tracks disappear but cd's are another thing. Ac4l.com still sells the DCM 390 for $139 as a factory refurb.

 

[apn73]

Thanks Gene. I've been thinking about picking up an iPod or some other MP3 player just so I can pick and choose which songs I want without dropping full price for a CD that has one or two good songs on it. That got me to thinking about the sound quality of one vs. the other and why a lot of people seem to be clingining tenachiously to their CD players, and that most hifi equipment manufacturers are still turning out CD players just like they always have been. It also sounds like the hi end BluRay's are able to produce just as good sound quality with CD's as the top CD players, so I'm weighing that as well. Adam.

 

[gene c]

Thanks Gene. I've been thinking about picking up an iPod or some other MP3 player just so I can pick and choose which songs I want without dropping full price for a CD that has one or two good songs on it. That got me to thinking about the sound quality of one vs. the other and why a lot of people seem to be clingining tenachiously to their CD players, and that most hifi equipment manufacturers are still turning out CD players just like they always have been. It also sounds like the hi end BluRay's are able to produce just as good sound quality with CD's as the top CD players, so I'm weighing that as well. Adam.

I'm not going to say a top Bluray player will play cd's as well as an "audiophile" cd player will. There are some highly regarded and very expensive cd players on the market. But a BluRay player can play TrueHD and DTS Master Audio which is better than the standard cdformat. Unfortunately there isn't much music on BluRay using those formats. For old-timers like myself who just aren't interested in too much new music, virtually everything I'll want will be on cd for a very long time. I'm also buying up a lot of cd's that are priced at a buck or two on Amazon and/or ebay, even craigslist once in a great while. I use an old but very capable H/K CDR20 cd recorder to copy the songs I want and then re-sell the cd at a local flea market for .50 to a buck. Doesn't cost me much at all.