Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Question about CD players and DAC's

I've been trying to find information on a good changer CD player and it's relatively difficult because so many people use DVD players for both.

Finally I took my research to popular companies websites and just looked at what they offered and searched for information based on product numbers.

One that I came across was the Rotel RCC-1055. Looking for further information led me to a discussion about how to hook up this unit to your receiver.

It was quite insightful, but led me to some further questions or statements I'd like to have verified if I could.

1. If I purchased a RX-V2400 or similar grade Receiver and plan to use their internal DAC's does it really matter how great the actual CD player is?

2. If I didn't want to use my receievers DAC's I would need to pipe the audio from the Rotel via analog cables right?

3. Analog cables ARE just regular RCA cables right?

4. If I am going to use the receivers DAC's and get the music via a digital connection, is there an advantage to optical or coaxial?

I have some other assorted questions about audio/visual, but I'll post them later when I have more time.

-Nick

In reply to:

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1. If I purchased a RX-V2400 or similar grade Receiver and plan to use their internal DAC's does it really matter how great the actual CD player is?

2. If I didn't want to use my receievers DAC's I would need to pipe the audio from the Rotel via analog cables right?

3. Analog cables ARE just regular RCA cables right?

4. If I am going to use the receivers DAC's and get the music via a digital connection, is there an advantage to optical or coaxial?

I have some other assorted questions about audio/visual, but I'll post them later when I have more time.

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1. Somewhat true. For the most part, if the reciever's doing the decoding, it shouldn't have too much of a QUALITY difference given that the CD is in perfect condition.

2. Yep.

3. Yep.

4. You wouldn't really be able to hear a difference between one or the other, but coaxial may be more long lasting and cheaper.

As to #1, if the CD's in crappy condition, it's a good idea to get something slightly more expensive than the $50 player at Good Guys. I've got CDs that will play just fine in my car CD player that don't stand a chance in my cheapo CD changer.

Exactly.

I agree with the both DJ and kcarlile. Most CD players/changers with digital outs that you can add to your home theater system will output the same quality of digital signal to your receiver. Some have better error correction than others, however. When the surface fo a CD is not perfect, the laser light can scatter and not all of it gets back to the laser pickup in the CD player intact. Depeding on the quality of the CD player's error correction subroutines, it might be able to recreate the bit and play flawlessly -- or it might cause a skip in playback -- or it might cause CD playback to die altogether.

I just picked up the Denon DCM-380(refurb) for 90 shipped, which is a great price for a decent cd player. The 280 is just over 50 shipped. Both at ecost, so it comes with the warranty.

In my random experience, I can tell you that the level of tolerance for platter imperfections has nearly ZERO correlation with the price or "quality" of the CD player. Only way to find out is to actually feed a crappy CD to the player.

Also, the speed of transport actions has ZERO correlation with the price or quality of the player.

So if I'm going to trust the DAC's of my receiver and use a digital connection, any player will do as long as it's good quality, handles scratched disks well, and loads well?

But if for some reason I don't trust the processing of my receiver I'd want to use analog inputs and have a kick butt CD player?

Since everyones been so helpful in this thread already perhaps I'll go with a few other questions.

1. Do I need an amplifier? This is probably a stupid question, but I don't really know the advantages of one. I realize it'll make music louder but does it really do anything else?

2. Does anyone have any experience with the Pioneer 55tx or the Yamaha RX-V2400 and Axiom speakers? I know that sound is a personal opinion but I was curious if anyone had any experience with this sort of setup. Everytime I think I prefer one or the other of these two receivers I read something bad that points me back to the other.

3. If I'm purchasing this stuff new, is there any real advantage of buying it over the internet or buying it in a store? It seems that most of these manufacturers won't honor warranties unless you buy from an authorized dealer and I assume that most of the cheaper online sites (that still maintain a good reputation) aren't authorized dealers.

4. If it is possible to get good service and a good price online is there any widely regarded sites you could point me to? I'm thinking of a newegg.com equivelant for A/V.

There...that's 4 more questions to chew on.

BTW I love the feedback here. It's just big enough that there's people that seem to know what they're talking about, but not so big that I get lost in the crowd like a lot of the forums.

-Nick

0. I am pretty sure that the DACs on the latest Yamaha 2400 is VERY decent. You can rely on them.

1. An added power amp will NOT make music louder. Although a good power amp with significantly higher max power (I'd say, at least 2-fold higher) will provide a few dB more "headroom," you will be hard pressed to hear a discernible difference, unless you routinely play EXTREMELY LOUD.

2. I own the Elite 45TX, the predecessor to the 55TXi. It is driving my VP150 and QS8s very nicely. So far, I am extremely happy with the receiver.

3. Personally, I wouldn't recommend those online discount shops, unless the factory warranty is honored. They often solicit you to buy a third-party warranty, which is often very expensive. However, you can buy the Elite products online with full factory warranty -- contact the member DocDVD at the AVSforum. He might also deal with the Yamaha receivers.

Yo uknow, I read the warranty you can buy from hooked on tronics, and the thing said you have to have a manufacturer's warranty for that warranty you bought to count! Of course, you do not have the manufacturer's warranty from buying from them.