World’s Best CD Player

[audiozorro]

After reviewing some older CA posts I came across a recommendation for using the SuperDrive in your Mac as the transport and the LIO-8 as the DAC. This did not work very well with my MacBook Pro since the SuperDrive in that laptop computer is too noisy. However, even if the MacBook Pro optical drive was quiet, my experience with building a cMP computer leads me to believe that having a CD drive in your music server should be avoided. I wonder how much better a Mac Mini music server would sound without its SuperDrive?

 

Fortunately I remembered that I already have an external EZ-Dub DVD drive that I hardly ever use. So with USB from the external DVD drive to my MacBook Pro, then out to my LIO-8 via firewire and voila – the best CD player I ever heard. Perhaps considering the price of the individual components it should. But in my case everything was already there; all I had to do was connect the pieces.

 

The gorgeous sonics and details from Redbook CDs were significantly better than SACD playback through my Oppo. It reminds me of something that I think PeterSt, the developer of XXHighEnd software and the Phasure No1 DAC, implied; that with the right equipment our 16/44.1 files are better than many will admit. This also reminds me of those readers that have found their computer audio systems are inferior to their high end CD players. I am a firm believer that computer audio can sound much better than any CD player but this is not always the case.

 

In any case, I am ready to ditch the Oppo and I no longer have the desire to upgrade to the new Oppo BDP-95 with or without any third party mods. Perhaps what Ted_b recommends for taking SACD and Blu-ray hi rez directly to the LIO-8 would be a further improvement, but I have too few SACDs and Blu-ray discs for me to spend another $500 for an Oppo BDP-93 and $300 Atlona Technologies AT-HD577 Audio De-Embedder, given this solution is limited to 24/88.2 or 24/96 for SACDs.

 

Of course since external Blu-ray drives can be connected to computers via USB, like my external DVD drive, I’m not sure why I even need the Atlona, especially for Blu-ray. In addition, two other people replied to another of my posts saying that they have DVD-A and SACD playback in their cars. So all we really need are external optical drives that can read these discs and computers that can decode and play them. I don’t need a complete optical player since the DAC and analog output is a waste.

 

 

[SteveChicago]

All I can say is "wow."

 

[bixby]

So you are saying you like the sound of the cd played in your external dvd player better than the same files on your computer? And what player software are you using?

 

I may have to break out my new ext dvd player that I use to rip since my superdrive is somewhat temperamental or dying.

 

And is it quiet mechanically?

 

[bixby]

triple post ....sorry have to run some virus software because I did not hit save 3 times

 

[bixby]

.....

 

[audiozorro]

so my declaration is to be expected since the basis of those excellent sonics is the LIO-8. That the LIO-8 sounds better than the DAC section in any CD player is also no surprise to anyone who has heard the Metro Halo products.

 

No, I am not saying that the CD played in my external DVD player sounds better than the same music files on my computer. Though when I first played a few CDs through the external DVD player, they sounded so good, I did think that this combo bettered the same files played on my computer. This is not the case; playback from the computer sounds better but close and compared to anything else both seem to be head and shoulders above any digital playback I have heard in my home or elsewhere.

 

The beauty of such excellent optical disc playback (in addition to never wanting to buy another CD or Universal Player for audio) is that I no longer feel the urgent need to rip all my CDs though it’s still my goal to rip the majority of them. Using the external DVD player to my Mac is just another option for playback flexibility. And the EZ-Dub external DVD drive is super quiet.

 

Currently I only have my MacBook Pro connected to the LIO-8. I use Pure Music 1.74a, AyreWave 1.0b, and Audirvana 0.5e. Thanks for asking; it is a reminder that I need to upgrade my software. I also forgot that I need to try out some DSD64 and DSD128 files using playback through the AudioGate software that will convert the files to 24/176.4 in real time.

 

 

[SteveChicago]

It's extremely cool to know that every piece of gear need not be "high end" to achieve great overall sound. I agree that 44.1 can and often does sound terrific.

 

How does your system sound just via iTunes?