Ditch the CD transport and go with computer?

[ck42]

Tossing around the idea of possibly moving away from (selling) my CD player and just going with a dedicated computer for my music source.
The plus's are that it would free up space...and if I could get a decent price for it, would fund other upgrades. It would also be much more convenient being able to have all my audio so readily accessible (vs CDs)
If curious, it's a 1991 Sony CDP-X777ES (near perfect condition, very low use)

Just thought of this today so haven't had much time to ponder. Would love to hear thoughts from others.

 

[jhwalker]

Tossing around the idea of possibly moving away from (selling) my CD player and just going with a dedicated computer for my music source.
The plus's are that it would free up space...and if I could get a decent price for it, would fund other upgrades. It would also be much more convenient being able to have all my audio so readily accessible (vs CDs)
If curious, it's a 1991 Sony CDP-X777ES (near perfect condition, very low use)

Just thought of this today so haven't had much time to ponder. Would love to hear thoughts from others.

I haven't had a CD player since the turn of the century. I do buy CDs (occasionally), but only if the music is not otherwise available to download.

Over the years, my partner and I (both music lovers) have bought over 7,000 albums - nowhere near enough room to store them all in physical format.

Technically, you'll get exactly the same bits streaming from a music server as you would from a CD player (unless one or the other is defective), so there's really no reason these days to use physical discs. IMHO.

 

[RayDunzl]

so there's really no reason these days to use physical discs. IMHO.

Depends on whether the discs in your collection are appreciating or not...

Random example, first one that came to mind:

No, I haven't tried to sell any at such exorbitant prices.

 

[suttondesign]

To properly extract data, one must use the physical medium of a CD and then have a completely vibration-free mechanism. It is vital to obtain a nuclear-powered, underground-bunkered, resonance-free CD transport mounted on a large damping system grounded to the earth. Hey, BTW, I have a Lux-Sound 3000 granite and unobtainium CD transport, c. 2002, for sale for $25,000 if you happen to need one . . .

 

[suttondesign]

Or you just just turn on your Mac Mini with an SSD and cue up a few thousand tracks in pristine digital at the press of a button . . .

 

[Prana Ferox]

The X777ES' value is in its D/A conversion + analog stage, and it's a collector's item for that. If you're only using it for digital out, you could sell it and get a cheaper player for transport.

I would keep it as a collector's item but that's me.

 

[ck42]

The X777ES' value is in its D/A conversion + analog stage, and it's a collector's item for that. If you're only using it for digital out, you could sell it and get a cheaper player for transport.

I would keep it as a collector's item but that's me.

Yea, only being used as a transport. Not sure what I realistically could get for it (never considered it before now) but that would likely determine if I did sell it...or just kept it around as a museum piece. The thing is a mechanical masterpiece...

 

[JeffS7444]

Cost certainly isn't an issue these days, given that a fine digital front end can be built around a Raspberry Pi! If you have any OCD tendencies, PC audio can be it's own rabbit hole, particularly in regards to FLAC tags and album cover art. Quality of track and album info drawn from online databases can be uneven.

 

[RayDunzl]

Not sure what I realistically could get for it

Current listing

 

[ck42]

Uh......yea, if I could get anywhere near that.....I'm buying some new toys!
Plus $188 for shipping? LOL....yeah, that sounds about right. The frickin thing weighs nearly 38 pounds.

 

[ck42]

Cost certainly isn't an issue these days, given that a fine digital front end can be built around a Raspberry Pi! If you have any OCD tendencies, PC audio can be it's own rabbit hole, particularly in regards to FLAC tags and album cover art. Quality of track and album info drawn from online databases can be uneven.

Yeah, if I went this route, that would be a whole other project - trying to figure out what sort of platform I want to go with. RPI4 or some other SBC? Or just build a more standardized mITX system...

 

[RayDunzl]

Uh......yea, if I could get anywhere near that.....I'm buying some new toys!

Post it for $1250 Buy it Now

Looks like you'd get a hit.

If not, no loss other than the effort to post.

Maybe somebody around here would want it... https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?forums/audio-equipment-for-sale.29/

 

[ck42]

Just may do that. If nothing else, it might show if there's even any interest.

 

[DuxServit]

Yes. (Ditch the CD player).

 

[RayDunzl]

My old 1997 CD player (used as a transport) became skippy, so I bought a new cheap one.

Tascam CD 200, but the base model is no longer distributed here.

 

[raistlin65]

Listening to CDs in a CD player is so limiting unless you like to change the CD between every song. How else do you listen to a mix of songs from a genre or artist, or have a favorite playlist that pulls songs from different albums?

I like being able to take parts of my digital collection with me on my DAP and listen to them with headphones in any room in my house.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to go on vacation for about a week. Got 800 songs for my collection on my phone and on a DAP.

So time to get ripping your collection. Be sure to get an external hard drive to use for backups of your music library as you don't want to have to re-rip them more than once because of a hardware failure.

 

[RayDunzl]

Listening to CDs in a CD player is so limiting unless you like to change the CD between every song. How else do you listen to a mix of songs from a genre or artist, or have a favorite playlist that pulls songs from different albums?

Don't want to.

I like being able to take parts of my digital collection with me on my DAP and listen to them with headphones in any room in my house.

Don't want to.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready to go on vacation for about a week. Got 800 songs for my collection on my phone and on a DAP.

Don't want to.

So time to get ripping your collection. Be sure to get an external hard drive to use for backups of your music library as you don't want to have to re-rip them more than once because of a hardware failure.

Excellent advice for those who want to.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Just thought of this today so haven't had much time to ponder. Would love to hear thoughts from others.

I have several player which I still use for special purposes but all my music playing is from ripped and downloaded files. It is not a matter of time, space or cost. I prefer it in all ways.

 

[A800]

Over the years, my partner and I (both music lovers) have bought over 7,000 albums

Wow.
Almost a year of non-stop listening.

 

[Hypnotoad]

Yes. (Ditch the CD player).

+1
My CD player is gathering dust since I got a USB dac and have all digital files on a PC as a music server.