Denon DCD-900NE Review (CD Player)

[Rednaxela]

Given this review and its conclusions, it’s fascinating to watch how Denon themselves presented the unit in this 2022 webinar (timestamp included).

This is not an attempt at mocking Denon by the way. They have to play their role in an audio industry that is shaped this way. Still I found it a somewhat surreal experience in the light of @NTTY’s findings.

 

[Schlippwhip68]

As purely a consumer here and owning both the Marantz CD6007 and the Denon DCD-900NE I returned the Marantz and kept the Denon.
Far better sound from the Denon and better looking too.
I ran the Denon via some cheap external dacs over the last 6 months too for giggles. The Fiio R2R didn’t match very well imo, just did not sound right to my ears. I also tried SMSL’s little SU1 which did sound a lot better than the Fiio, very nice little dac for the money.
The inbuilt ESS9018 sounds just fine via analogue to my amp, quite warm for the Dac chip in question but not a clogged or muddy warmth at all, more rich and full sounding whilst clean and clear.
Using the Coaxial and bypassing the internal dac leaves the sound open to interpretation from whatever to plug it into which is a given.
The USB plays very well, very clear and accurate sound using a Sandisk 64gb drive and flac files.
Using any decent external dac maybe the Topping E70v for example and this player does give excellent results much like the measurements for those whom interested by such. Very pleased with the DCD-900NE indeed whether using it with external or internal dac, an excellent player.

 

[Barry_Sound]

As purely a consumer here and owning both the Marantz CD6007 and the Denon DCD-900NE I returned the Marantz and kept the Denon.
Far better sound from the Denon and better looking too.
I ran the Denon via some cheap external dacs over the last 6 months too for giggles. The Fiio R2R didn’t match very well imo, just did not sound right to my ears. I also tried SMSL’s little SU1 which did sound a lot better than the Fiio, very nice little dac for the money.
The inbuilt ESS9018 sounds just fine via analogue to my amp, quite warm for the Dac chip in question but not a clogged or muddy warmth at all, more rich and full sounding whilst clean and clear.
Using the Coaxial and bypassing the internal dac leaves the sound open to interpretation from whatever to plug it into which is a given.
The USB plays very well, very clear and accurate sound using a Sandisk 64gb drive and flac files.
Using any decent external dac maybe the Topping E70v for example and this player does give excellent results much like the measurements for those whom interested by such. Very pleased with the DCD-900NE indeed whether using it with external or internal dac, an excellent player.

Very brave of you to talk about different sounding DACs here.

 

[Rednaxela]

In bold.

 

[pinger]

As purely a consumer here and owning both the Marantz CD6007 and the Denon DCD-900NE I returned the Marantz and kept the Denon.
Far better sound from the Denon and better looking too.
I ran the Denon via some cheap external dacs over the last 6 months too for giggles. The Fiio R2R didn’t match very well imo, just did not sound right to my ears. I also tried SMSL’s little SU1 which did sound a lot better than the Fiio, very nice little dac for the money.
The inbuilt ESS9018 sounds just fine via analogue to my amp, quite warm for the Dac chip in question but not a clogged or muddy warmth at all, more rich and full sounding whilst clean and clear.
Using the Coaxial and bypassing the internal dac leaves the sound open to interpretation from whatever to plug it into which is a given.
The USB plays very well, very clear and accurate sound using a Sandisk 64gb drive and flac files.
Using any decent external dac maybe the Topping E70v for example and this player does give excellent results much like the measurements for those whom interested by such. Very pleased with the DCD-900NE indeed whether using it with external or internal dac, an excellent player.

LOL dont kid yourself. They sound the same

 

[EJ3]

Of course they sound different, when you are looking at them. The perception of how they look in your system affects how they sound.
All blind testing does is pick out the ones that sound correct (despite measurements). Maybe 3 of 20 "sound correct". Then you pick based on budget and aesthetics of how it looks integrated into your room. Which affects how it sounds to you in your room.
It has a secret hidden feature set (they all do) that aesthetically psycho-acoustically adjusts to your personal sound/budget sensibilities preference.

 

[Joseph Allan]

One of the RCA outputs on my DCD-685 has broken which has led me here. I’m looking for a replacement (and to upgrade the DRA-1000). But the denon stereo integrated amplifiers either come with bluetooth and too much candy, or are beyond my budget. I am considering Yamaha but don’t know anything about their CD players. What would you recommend? And thanks for your post.

 

[antcollinet]

One of the RCA outputs on my DCD-685 has broken which has led me here. I’m looking for a replacement (and to upgrade the DRA-1000). But the denon stereo integrated amplifiers either come with bluetooth and too much candy, or are beyond my budget. I am considering Yamaha but don’t know anything about their CD players. What would you recommend? And thanks for your post.

One option is to keep the 685, but use the toslink out, and pair it with an inexpensive external DAC. Or if you get a new amp with toslink input, connect directly to that.

 

[NTTY]

You can also consider an older Denon PMA-520AE or PMA-720AE. They can be found at very low price
I think Yamaha is a very good brand but I did not test any of their recent devices.

 

[DVinylfan]

It begins with an impeccably presented suite of test results. Then members graciously contribute with thanks and relevant questions, fielded by the OP with concise, generous, helpful responses.
A focused and rational discussion of the broader questions follows.
Then, Deleted member 77012 shows up, in a mask of faux naïveté, whose slide into a grimace of deliberate obtuseness was while predictable, compelling to watch.
The patience with which members dealt with a flood of inauthentically dumb questions was a lesson in kindness and the willingness to teach that the world could learn from.
Then the bread-making analogy, Lol, a perfectly judged takedown. The presentation of stupid prizes follows.
After, the quiet turning back to the point: the merits as measured and their implications, of the Denon DCD-900NE CD player.
This thread is a tour de force. May every audio/hifi forum out there take a lesson. Thanks to all who contributed; ASR, you made my night.

 

[antcollinet]

Then the bread-making analogy, Lol, a perfectly judged takedown.

Why thank you sir.

 

[kauffman]

Hi, I think I'm now done with the review.


________

whats about some vital parts to do a tune up denon 900ne ?
any ideas for tuning guys ?

 

[NTTY]

What for?

 

[antcollinet]

whats about some vital parts to do a tune up denon 900ne ?
any ideas for tuning guys ?

Don't bother they can't possibly make a positive difference.

EDIT
Hi - you're new here. Welcome to the forum.

You do seem, from. your first two posts, to have brought a bag of subjective nonsense with you though. This is quite common with newcomers, but it is not what this place is about.

Start your journey to enlightenment here:

Message to golden-eared audiophiles posting at ASR for the first time...

Hello friend. Hey, listen...we know how it is. Believe me, most of us have been there too. You've spent years toiling in the muck of audiophilia. You read ALL the reviews. You watched ALL the youtube videos. You visited ALL the other forums where everything always makes a difference. You...

www.audiosciencereview.com

It is a long read, but you should get the jist from the first few pages.

If you have (genuine) questions from what you read there - feel free to ask them.

 

[cdrocks]

A slightly different question: Does the DCD-900NE support gapless playback of CDs?

Some players insert a gap between each track - even it was not the intention of the creators. E.g. Dark Side of the Moon should play continously, lots of classical/opera records, concept albums etc. are not intended to have gaps between tracks.

Here's a video illustrating the problem:

(A modern Cambridge Audio cd player plays with gaps, whereas a crappy old Grundig device does not! Cambridge Audio have on later cd players begun marketing "Gapless" as some kind of new feature)

I just want to be sure the DCD-900NE is gapless before splurging!

 

[NTTY]

This is a good question and a valid concern. I did not try but I will certainly add that test in my future reviews.
I need to pull out the Denon from storage and I’ll test in the course of next week, maybe tomorrow if not too busy.

 

[amper42]

Maybe I'm just old, but I have no need for a gapless playback feature. In fact, I actually like a gap between songs. To each his own. First world problems?
When my music sounds great, gap or no gap between tracks makes no difference to me. Even with Dark Side of the Moon.

 

[Scytales]

A player that is not gap-less is an absolute no-go as far as classical music is concerned though, because that alters many music art works that have been written to be heard without gap between movements (famous example among many others : the transition between the third and fourth movements of Beethoven's 5th symphony). Moreover, a player incapable of gap-less play-back ruins the reproduction of the acoustical ambiance where the recording took place and that is also very annoying, even when a movement do not succeed attaca to another.

 

[cdrocks]

Maybe I'm just old, but I have no need for a gapless playback feature. In fact, I actually like a gap between songs. To each his own. First world problems?
When my music sounds great, gap or no gap between tracks makes no difference to me. Even with Dark Side of the Moon.

It is fine that you like gaps between songs - to each their own and all that

But it's not some new fancy feature or weird requirement. The redbook specification is gapless by design. There's a lead-in portion (that contains the TOC (table of contents)), one (1) continuous audio track and one lead-out portion on a CD. The tracks selected by the users is defined in the TOC as timecodes, so the player knows where to jump to on the one continuous audio track.

Or in short: It's a design flaw, if a CD player is not able to reproduce the recording without gaps if that was the intention of the creators of the album.

 

[amper42]

To answer your question, I loaded Pink Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon CD From The Original US Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab 24 KT Gold Cd (Udcd 517) on my Denon and Sony players. Gapless playback was fully supported on all configurations.



Each of the following CD Players supported gapless with Dark Side of the Moon:
Denon DCD-600NE
Denon DCD-800NE
Denon DCD-900NE
Sony BluRay UBP-X800M2

And for those who use Qobuz instead of CD, it also supports gapless playback via Moode and/or Audirvana.

Have fun!