Rip from a cheapo portable USB DVD drive into FLAC, than play it on a budget Topping/SMSL DAC?
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Cayin Mini-CD MKII CD Player Review
- Thread starter amirm
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Rip from a cheapo portable USB DVD drive into FLAC, than play it on a budget Topping/SMSL DAC?
Speaking as someone who has just purchased a CD player (admittedly at £21 I didn't pay very much) - I do know.
I'm a recent refugee from the Amazon prime grab back of being able to choose what to stream, but was fortunate enough at a similar time to get a free trial of Apple music with some airpods.
Conclusion I've found is I dont like streaming - and I think (for me) the probem is too much choice. What the hell do I want to listen to? I have no idea.
I also like the fact that when listening to CD I tend to listen to a whole album as intended rather than skipping at the first indication a track is not grabbing me.
So my future music will be Radio Paradise for finding new (to me) music - together with purchasing a couple of CD's (at retail price) for around the apple subscription cost - plus whatever I find at close to free in the charity shop bins.
Plus of course the odd vinyl purchase
It would be really interesting to see how an entry level 80s model such as mine performs compared to the two measured here.
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Assuming the digital out is not malfunctioning it is providing all the info on the disc. So transport to DAC should get you as good as the DAC is or the CD medium. Going to CD drive to PC then DAC could allow DSP if you are using that.
I still buy CDs, I have a Cambridge Audio CXC Transport in my Topping D90 DAC. That being said, I do also rip the CDs, and can listen via Roon (raspberry pi4 with ropieee streamer into the same DAC). So I can still see a market for players.
jamescarter1982
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is there a way to test what comes out of that drive ? do we know what level of noise and distortion that gives us .my cd players sound pretty good to me I wonder at what point the sound becomes acceptable or decent or really good . what level of distortion and noise is that
Mulder
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I can see several reasons to collect CDs.
One reason is that several of the big companies only invest in commercially viable artists. Some smaller independent record companies on the other hand, for example when it comes to jazz, don't put their music out on streaming platforms at all (because they don't get paid).
I also buy records to support the artist.
Another reason could be that older versions of music released on CD are better mastered than the remasters available on the streaming platforms. It's actually quite common. This happend for example with all the older Tom Waits recordings. Another example are the records once recorded by DECCA with Rolling Stones on CD from London Recordings. They are much better sounding than todays crappy remasters.
The third reason is that music you are listening to can suddenly disappear from the selection on your streaming plattform - or not exist at all.
A fourth, as others have already mentioned, is that you play entire albums in a more focused way. I would not be completely surprised if the price of used CDs will soon increase. At least for some CDs. I think I already see tendencies towards that.
One reason is that several of the big companies only invest in commercially viable artists. Some smaller independent record companies on the other hand, for example when it comes to jazz, don't put their music out on streaming platforms at all (because they don't get paid).
I also buy records to support the artist.
Another reason could be that older versions of music released on CD are better mastered than the remasters available on the streaming platforms. It's actually quite common. This happend for example with all the older Tom Waits recordings. Another example are the records once recorded by DECCA with Rolling Stones on CD from London Recordings. They are much better sounding than todays crappy remasters.
The third reason is that music you are listening to can suddenly disappear from the selection on your streaming plattform - or not exist at all.
A fourth, as others have already mentioned, is that you play entire albums in a more focused way. I would not be completely surprised if the price of used CDs will soon increase. At least for some CDs. I think I already see tendencies towards that.
DSJR
Major Contributor
I used to sell the Mimik and out away from a Linn system, the 'sound' was always a touch 'grainy' to my ears (yes, a subjective comment but it was consistent, at least when compared to the 2.5x price Karik III/Numerik III and replacement Ikemi machines). Still a better focused 'sound' on dem to an Arcam of the period or similar.
Gawd this hobby/interest is so damned *tribal*!
Gawd this hobby/interest is so damned *tribal*!
as i keep saying i dont think any CD player is worth it to me given that the ACT of playing a CD is now foreign to me
find the disc, stick it in the player, for most discs you have to read the track list and hit the right track numbers and skip the ones you dont want to hear
how far we have come
its easier for me to just FLAC new CDs and send them to a nas
as far as CD prices... most of the discs i find are super cheap... not unusual to find sub $10 delivered... this is a no brainer
however there are some discs that just cost money... eg. $40-$50 or more... simply because they were limited print and that's just the way it is
to me i just pay it... there's no other way and i dont like spotify... i did use spotify to run the album to see if i like it but in the end, just pay what it costs
BTW... i do remember seeing compact player units for around $100? I wonder if they still there?
find the disc, stick it in the player, for most discs you have to read the track list and hit the right track numbers and skip the ones you dont want to hear
how far we have come
its easier for me to just FLAC new CDs and send them to a nas
as far as CD prices... most of the discs i find are super cheap... not unusual to find sub $10 delivered... this is a no brainer
however there are some discs that just cost money... eg. $40-$50 or more... simply because they were limited print and that's just the way it is
to me i just pay it... there's no other way and i dont like spotify... i did use spotify to run the album to see if i like it but in the end, just pay what it costs
BTW... i do remember seeing compact player units for around $100? I wonder if they still there?
I was very proud of myself when I found instructions online and managed to fix my early 90s Sony cd player's tray, that needed some grease, but besides that was in perfect working condition, very fast from charge to play (opposite to optical drives) and very silent (same) and with buttons that give you direct access to the tracks.... only to find out that my very praised 2022 sota topping DAC would not manage to give music without constant dropouts from it...
Yes, sometimes technology goes in circles.
This forced me to spend 6 months ripping my CD collection, and since the topping DAC is gone, I went to streaming and returned to CDs (fully agree with @tonycollinet + I found out that my most of my treasured box sets of my favourite artists were not in the streaming services)... but too late for the Sony to return to service, now I stream the rips and sometimes look at the box and leaflet while listening.
Would I start to buy CDs today? Probably not. Would I dump the ones I have? Not voluntary
Yes, sometimes technology goes in circles.
This forced me to spend 6 months ripping my CD collection, and since the topping DAC is gone, I went to streaming and returned to CDs (fully agree with @tonycollinet + I found out that my most of my treasured box sets of my favourite artists were not in the streaming services)... but too late for the Sony to return to service, now I stream the rips and sometimes look at the box and leaflet while listening.
Would I start to buy CDs today? Probably not. Would I dump the ones I have? Not voluntary
In other words you said 16-bit is too much as we can't hear the difference when the resolution is lower?
witching to S/PDIF on Cayin we still can't get the ideal 16 bit dithered response (about 93 dB):
To compare,
I measured the DAC section on my SONY PCM-R300 DAC recorder
SINAD
We are very close to the CD players performance
I also measured the digital loopback with a 44.1kHz 16 bits test signal
SINAD 44.1kHz 16 bits
This sets the maximum -perfect result- we could hope in 16 bits.
(See the full measurements post for more results)
EDIT: I burned my own test CD.
See my first results here, in this thread.
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Nango
Major Contributor
Front plate labeled right, only one source, even the display letters with no serifs, is this really a chinese brand?
Very true.
This test shows that the Cayin player cant output a correct 16 signal from the spdif output - this is clear evidence that one can not trust in that ” all ” cd transports are the same . Blumlein 88 needs to think this over .
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Amirm - can you measure the digital output from the mimik player ?
IMV a CD player has to output the data on the CD at its digital output exactly as they are stored. It must not dither them - this is the task of the DAC.
To find out whether a CD player outputs correct data just record a CD digitally and compare the data with the rip of said CD. They should be identical. Have you (or anyone else) done this?
I'll try to do that.
I'll need to find back a working CD recorder and blow the dust of it, though
Or a soundcard with digital input.
Sorry, I misunderstood.
Yes, sure.
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