I was/am thinking of buying a CD Transport. I have quite a lot of CD´s just sitting in the garage. So to start using them again (a few CD´s does not exist on streaming platforms) and also get the feeling of sitting down, listening, while reading the complimentary notes is so much fun and also takes me back to my younger days.
Then a thought crossed my mind. I have an old CD Player, at the time a really good Pioneer bought in 1999. This player can handle optical output and hence become a CD Transport. I hooked it up and let my Hegel amps DAC do the job and i think it sound as good or even slightly better than my streamer. That might be imagination though… However, is it the DAC or the optical reading that has improved most over the years since I bought it? The mechanics are superior to many of the players I´ve been looking at now. Steady, quiet and none of the plastic feel you get from most players today. So, here comes my question:
In your opinion, is it worth buying a new CD-transport or do I get almost the same result from using my old, realtively good, CD-Player as a transport instead? My Hegel seems to do a pretty good job with it´s DAC.
I think that if you’re happy with the way the older CD player sounds when used as a transport, then stick with that. No need to spend extra money on something new if you’re already happy.
But if spending money doesn’t bother you and you want to experiment, then be happy that way too.
Bottom line is, if you’re happy that’s all the counts.
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AceRimmer
(Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)
3
Just use that old player as a transport connected by the digital optical and you should be fine, I used a charity shop purchase $5 Sony DVD player as a CD transport for a long time, sounded good
I posted this because I was quite happy that I thought of my old CD player. When I saw the optical option I started to rethink buying a new and use it again as transport. Your answers confirms that, I will stay with my player for a while longer. And, as a bonus, it´s environmentally right as well
I would not put much trust in anything Uncle Paul says, but DACs did improve significantly since 1999; reading a CD accurately, especially at 1x speed, has been a long-solved problem in 1999.
There are conflicting opinions on how good Hegel’s DACs are, but many people do like their sound. If you are happy with how it sounds, it’s very unlikely that getting a different transport would make any difference.
Like you, I was thinking about getting a CD player/transport to start enjoying all those old CDs I held on to. I came across an old Sony DVD player in my garage, dusted it off and noticed it had optical-out. Luckily I had the foresight to remove batteries from the remote back when I put it in storage, so the remote is still good. Hooked it up to the optical-in on my new WiiM Pro Plus, and I’m very happy with it as a CD transport! If there’s any sound penalty from the old mechanism or circuitry, I can’t tell. The only real issue day-to-day is that there’s literally 44 buttons on that remote! But the play & pause buttons are fairly obvious. Sony sure does have a knack for big, cluttered remote controls.
Personally, I would purchase a transport or use an existing CD player as a transport based mainly on ease of use. If the interface is to your liking (and it reads all of your CDs), then I would stick with it.
I am using my Denon DCD-1015 (born August 1994) because it is the perfect interface for me. Dead quiet, perfect remote, dimming/defeatable front display, and plays all but two of my CDs. I have two other CD players in the main system, but this is the only one that gets used.
