Will I see any benefit using an external DAC?

[Robin L]

Would I see any benefit to feeding the digital optical out to a more modern external DAC? Sound quality wise that is?

Probably not. If your only digital source is going to be your CD player. That EQ you're using will have more noise/distortion than nearly any DAC. "It's only as strong as the weakest link in the chain" and the DAC in the Kenwood CD425M is most likely the strongest link in your signal chain. Your speakers and your room will be the weakest links, those things that would most likely improve the sound quality if their flaws are addressed.

I was mostly just wondering if I could improve on the CD sound using the digital out from my model year 2000 cd player. I thought maybe the intervening 25-ish years might have made for some better tech.

I guess I'm lucky. I got practically all my gear at a thrift store—Yamaha AVR, Sonus Subwoofer, Infinity floorstanding speakers. I'm using a pair of small floorstanding speakers as near-field monitors. They are both raised a little over a foot off the floor—the tweeters are slightly above ear level—and one is sitting on top of a powered sub that goes down more or less "flat" to a little under 30hz. Because I'm sitting close to the speakers I don't have to drive them hard, distortion is minimal. In the past I would be sitting much farther away from the speakers in a bigger room. If you want to improve the sound of your system you might consider reconfiguring your room/listening position and/or get a powered sub.

 

[flightops]

yawn.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Every (mechanical) CD player I've ever had eventually went belly up; some quicker than others. Panasonic, Kenwood, Sony-ES, Denon. Laser failure etc.

So, I now "stream" even if the digital files come from my own physical media. ie inhouse streaming. One side benefit of this approach is multi-room.

I doubt you will hear SQ differences among the DACs. Certainly not anything significant.

EQ & room correction most definitely.

 

[antcollinet]

Would I see any benefit to feeding the digital optical out to a more modern external DAC? Sound quality wise that is?

Almost certainly not. And even if you were able to detect a real difference, it would be so slight as to be not worth bothering with.

Only if the external DAC offers features you need - but not for sound quality.

 

[krabapple]

Would I see any benefit to feeding the digital optical out to a more modern external DAC? Sound quality wise that is?

You might see some, but you won't really hear any.

 

[Rit]

Well, SMSL SU-1 was available from Amazon for 105 bucks (CDN, incl taxes).

Free returns, so if I don't think there's any point to it after a listen, I can send it back and no money out of pocket.

Worth giving it a try at least since I can return it with no costs to me. At least I'll know if an external DAC is worth pursuing further, although the reviews on this one seem pretty good overall.

I'm kind of skeptical it will make a diff, but willing to try it.

Supposed to arrive friday.

I was surprised by the new dac smsl d6s, didn’t expect any change, all that matters is that your happy.

 

[flightops]

Every cd player I've ever bought still running today. From discman's to carousels. I've got ones from the 80's that still run fine.

So I'm not worried about them failing. If one does, I'll either fix it or just pull another out of storage if parts are NLA.

Again, please keep this thread about DAC's. It's not about streaming, eq's or room treatments. There's plenty of other threads for those things if that's what you want to talk about.

 

[Robin L]

Every cd player I've ever bought still running today. From discman's to carousels. I've got ones from the 80's that still run fine.

So I'm not worried about them failing. If one does, I'll either fix it or just pull another out of storage if parts are NLA.

Again, please keep this thread about DAC's. It's not about streaming, eq's or room treatments. There's plenty of other threads for those things if that's what you want to talk about.

It's about "will I see any benefit using an external DAC?", and you won't.

Asked and answered. If you want to improve the sound you're going to have to do something else.

 

[flightops]

That's it. I'm done.

I got some suggestions from some considerate and knowledgeable people about the subject asked about and some reasonably priced equipment to try for myself.

The rest is just the usual ignorant forum noise about irrelevant points to the question. It's something that seems pervasive everywhere these days.

Ramble on and be as ignorant/irrelevant as you want.

I won't be back to see it.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

The OP has been remarkably lucky with the longevity of mechanical, spinning devices. Panasonic Gen-1 players had a shockingly high failure rate. So much so there was subsequently a class action law suit.

To recap:
Q: will the DAC matter to SQ?
A: No

 

[Rit]

All, thank you. I ended up with Arendal 1961 bookshelf speakers, the WiiM ultra and the Purifi amp from Buckeye audio. I discovered a white paper titled “setup of controlled directivity waveguide speakers” it’s listed on liberty instruments website, I am very happy with this setup and as for fatigue it’s gone.