Is there a disadvantage in playing your music CDs on a DVD player as opposed to playing them on a CD player? A friend of mine seems to think you'd get better sound playing your music with a dedicated CD player over using the DVD player for playing music. Is there any credibility in this?

If you are using your receiver to decode the bitstream data from the CD or DVD player, then there will be no difference at all in the sound quality produced. If you are decoding within the players, then the quality will depend on the internal decoders. With modern players I think you would be hard pressed to notice any difference in sound quality.

Unless you're going to go hardcore with an expensive CD player or DVD player, or a stand alone DAC, I would agree from all the research I've done.

As he says, if you pass the signal from the player to the receiver digitally it won't really matter how good your player is. The receiver will be doing the decoding for you. If you go analog and you go top shelf enough you could probably notice some differences then.

-Nick

-Nick

Jason, I'm pretty much in agreement with the previous replies. In particular, the reason why a combination CD/DVD player does just as well with CDs as a CD only player is that it has a dual laser which is optimum for playing both CDs(780nm wavelength)and DVDs(650nm).

As far as DACs, at this point they're excellent and are available to manufacturers in OEM quantities for as little as $1 each. Any differences between them now, while measurable, would be unlikely to be audible.

What is OEM please?

Thanks...

Jim, it's original equipment manufacturer, and refers to a company which makes parts that are sold as part of another company's product. Here, for example, it could refer to Texas Instruments, which sells its Burr-Brown DACs to many audio equipment makers in quantities from 1,000 up into the hundreds of thousands, for as little as $1 each in those quantities.

Just want to weigh in here with a real-world (and cost-conscious) example. I have a circa 1994 Sony CD changer and a 2001 Toshiba DVD, both well-rated at the time but under $175 machines. On my Yamaha AV receiver, RX 1105, I can hear a major volume difference (higher on the DVD) and slight but noticeable tonal differences between the two machines. Basically, the dedicated CD sounds better -- more bass, more range, less harsh. Just barely, but it's enough that I don't want to purchase a new DVD-CD universal player, but will stick to the distinct CD and DVD player route. Just one example, but in this case, it seems, the 2001-era DAC in my receiver is not, for whatever reason, delivering quite the sound quality of my 1994-era CD. And this is listening on old bookshelf speakers.