Mac mini or a new cd player
Posted by: Lee Henley on 18 February 2010
Hi
My old (12 years) CD3.5 has never been serviced, although it plays quite fine, occasionally tracks might skip but overall its been quite a loyal friend to me.
I was looking at the new price of a CD5XS (£1700)to partner my Naim Nait XS which still may be my choice but not to overlook the computer route I was contemplating a mini mac and a decent DAC. With the arrival of the new Naim DAC there is quite a few secondhand decent DAC's on the market to consider.
The mini mac would be fed via the optical out to the DAC and I would not be streaming as our internet connection is not that great and cannot be upgraded with the current supplier, I already have an Imac upstairs in the office combined with an ipod touch so I am quite conversant with Apple.
After all that my question to mac users direct into a DAC then amp is whats the overall consensus of the sound quality compared to a cd player? Also whats the quality like when played through the transport of the mac as opposed to ripping to the hard drive and playing back in lossless format?
Apologies for a long winded post and thanks as always in advance to any responses
Cheers
Lee
My old (12 years) CD3.5 has never been serviced, although it plays quite fine, occasionally tracks might skip but overall its been quite a loyal friend to me.
I was looking at the new price of a CD5XS (£1700)to partner my Naim Nait XS which still may be my choice but not to overlook the computer route I was contemplating a mini mac and a decent DAC. With the arrival of the new Naim DAC there is quite a few secondhand decent DAC's on the market to consider.
The mini mac would be fed via the optical out to the DAC and I would not be streaming as our internet connection is not that great and cannot be upgraded with the current supplier, I already have an Imac upstairs in the office combined with an ipod touch so I am quite conversant with Apple.
After all that my question to mac users direct into a DAC then amp is whats the overall consensus of the sound quality compared to a cd player? Also whats the quality like when played through the transport of the mac as opposed to ripping to the hard drive and playing back in lossless format?
Apologies for a long winded post and thanks as always in advance to any responses
Cheers
Lee
quote:Originally posted by scottyhammer:
Wish some traders would stick to selling hi-fi and leave the forum to naim owners. business cant be too good for you as you seem to post on here so much there cant be time to sell hi-fi.
The forum is open to all, whether you own Naim or not, whether you're in the trade or not, a journalist, or not... You get the picture. So long as you have a love of music, an interest in Naim, a tolerance of another points of view, and leave any agendas at the door, you're welcome here.
I think the trade members on here bring a great deal to the forum. After all, they are listening to stuff day-in, day-out, and their collective "hands-on" knowledge is invaluable. The fact that they post here is indicative that they are interested in the opinions of the Naim community and their enthusiasm is heartening.
quote:Originally posted by scottyhammer:
Wish some traders would stick to selling hi-fi and leave the forum to naim owners. business cant be too good for you as you seem to post on here so much there cant be time to sell hi-fi.
Wish some members would pick fights, in person, with people they know.
quote:Originally posted by Richard Dane:quote:Originally posted by scottyhammer:
Wish some traders would stick to selling hi-fi and leave the forum to naim owners. business cant be too good for you as you seem to post on here so much there cant be time to sell hi-fi.
The forum is open to all, whether you own Naim or not, whether you're in the trade or not, a journalist, or not... You get the picture. So long as you have a love of music, an interest in Naim, a tolerance of another points of view, and leave any agendas at the door, you're welcome here.
I think the trade members on here bring a great deal to the forum. After all, they are listening to stuff day-in, day-out, and their collective "hands-on" knowledge is invaluable. The fact that they post here is indicative that they are interested in the opinions of the Naim community and their enthusiasm is heartening.
Wouldn't be the same place without the trades members. They're welcome here as far as I am concerned. I find their views interesting and informative. This is great way for them to see how some of the customers think, too; that can can only be a good thing.
All's good. There's nothing wrong with getting what you pay for and value is in the eye of the beholder. There's always happy exceptions but you'd expect this to be the norm.
To the OP, I'd recondition your clamp and see if the occasional skip ceases. If so, sit tight and save up.
Goodness is still source driven
To the OP, I'd recondition your clamp and see if the occasional skip ceases. If so, sit tight and save up.
Goodness is still source drivenquote:Originally posted by AllenB:
And why do some always have to add a footnote.
Move on, Scotty has apologised, get back to the OP.
You mean like your comment above??? I dont know why people do that...
x2