CD players vs Macs/Dacs

Yes - quality of a digital transport is paramount. A dedicated CD player does sound better than a Mac....

I'd suggest that you have a listen and decide based on what you hear.  I disagree with  Adam on this to be honest.  Computer audio can be very good if done well

Computer audio can sound well.

Perhaps I misunderstood the post - I thoght we are discussing the merits of a cd drive in a Mac, as an alternative to a CD player.

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

I've never actually tried a Naim CD player in my system only DACs with my iMac.

 

 

Try it. I use a Mac and DAC  for some of my music creation... It can be very good, but a Naim CDP seems to be optimised for musical replay enjoyment over engineered neutrality and can sound fantastic. Try a CDX2 for example. They couldn't be more different.

Why not try a good TT as well

I can't comment on Mac/Dac but I've never understood the antipathy to CD. 

In my view all the CDPs from Naim amongst others are excellent. 

Regards,

Lindsay

PS: As ever demo needed. 

I have gone mostly to Mac mini streaming Tidal Hi-Fi. On many occasions compared it to my CD transport. They are very close, but the Mac is quieter, there is less background noise/hiss on the tracks. Also, as for computers being noisy .. I have heard some CD players that make more noise than the mac mini. I cannot hear a peep out of this thing even if I am sitting right beside it. 

The TT is bonkers money. Well at the moment anyway. Although I am tempted I hear there's not much sound difference anyway.

I've found a Maplins optical cable from Mac to Hugo to be suitably more composed than supplied USB. So maybe a USB isolator will suffice. Rob Watts says Optical is best though with Hugo. But i don't know if he has tried somethinf like a Regen or Gustard over USB. I assume so but who knows.

I have CD player coming Friday to compare vs the Mac anyway. It's just an Arcam CDS27 but I'm bypassing the Arcam DAC with SPDIF optical into the hugo to see what happens. The CD player effectively become a disc tray and reader.

In theory the Arcam will merely send the data signal to the Hugo so shouldn't get too much of that Arcam sound.

Can't get hold of a Naim CD. But should suffice for a test.

Pretty satiafied with Mac optical > Hugo though for now.

I'll probably end up with an NDX or Auralic Aries. Or a music server. Get the Mac as far away as possible. I'm not replacing hardrives and all that malarky. Too much hassle.

Computers are a horrible thing to inflict on a hifi.  The revelation for me was getting the Sonore MicroRendu with a good linear psu.  Let your MAC reside elsewhere and run either a dnla server or roon server.

Multiple threads on the microrendu in the streaming area.  Check them out.  Or get yourself a good Naim Streamer.

My honest opinion and experience over the last 4 years is that Macs/Dacs are a compromise.

Going the Mac Audirvana isolator route was a concious decision for me and preferable to going down the Naim streamer route which would have cost much more to get a sound that matches or betters it (to my ears of course).  I prefer the sound and, with A remote, I prefer the user interface to any of the streamers I have tried.  

Brubacca posted:

Computers are a horrible thing to inflict on a hifi.  The revelation for me was getting the Sonore MicroRendu with a good linear psu.  Let your MAC reside elsewhere and run either a dnla server or roon server.

Multiple threads on the microrendu in the streaming area.  Check them out.  Or get yourself a good Naim Streamer.

My honest opinion and experience over the last 4 years is that Macs/Dacs are a compromise.

Starting to see this.

Would you consider Innuous or Melco type products or Auralic streamers (with Mac in another room).

Melco looks promising.

Cheers

Adam

'Computers are a horrible thing to inflict on a hifi'. 

That's about the size of it.

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

Hi all,

I just wondered about using DACs with Macs vs using a dedicated CD player.

I know computers are noisy. Proper CD players not.

I've never actually tried a Naim CD player in my system only DACs with my iMac.

Do CD players sound a whole lot better and more natural than computer audio or not? 

And is it possible to get a good DAC sounding as good as a good CD player?Isolation needed with the DAC etc etc. 

I'm starting to wonder whether computer audio is practical at all and maybe I'd be better off getting a CD player. So far I just don't feel like I've truly found a non digitally harsh sound. Even the Hugo surprised me on plug in yesterday being much more analogue than the 2Qute, I still feel like there's a slight synthetic nature about the sound. 

Cheers

Adam

What is better and what is natural, no  measurement or agreement on these terms. For some no digital sources can reproduce music, others like myself live happyly with cd or streaming solutions.

I went from a cd s3, to a ns01 server plus Ndac, with xps and to my ears the difference was small. I had some time to compare, on some tracks the s3 was best on others the streamer won.

 but computer audio in any form is not totally plug and play, there are  often network issues, upgrade issues, and constant new optimizations, what used to sound good suddenly sounds half awfull without the latest tweak.

On the other hand most people that  change from cd or tt to a computer setup find that we play more music and more from records we have forgotten about.

Claus

Well, CD players are a type of computer as well.

As things stand, there are a bewildering array of options to use a computer-based source for music, with almost infinite opportunities to mess things up! I loved my 555, and it's a brilliant CD player. but my DAC surpassed it in my system, so there really was no point hanging on to it.

tonym posted:

Well, CD players are a type of computer as well.

As things stand, there are a bewildering array of options to use a computer-based source for music, with almost infinite opportunities to mess things up! I loved my 555, and it's a brilliant CD player. but my DAC surpassed it in my system, so there really was no point hanging on to it.

What is your DAC please? Cheers

Adam

It's a Chord QBD76HDSD.

gary yeowell posted:

'Computers are a horrible thing to inflict on a hifi'. 

That's about the size of it.

Pretty much what I thought until I actually tried one set up properly into a decent dac. Each to their own I guess 

Oh yes, mine wasn't set up correctly of course. Sorry, please ignore!

dayjay posted:

gary yeowell posted:

'Computers are a horrible thing to inflict on a hifi'. 

That's about the size of it.

Pretty much what I thought until I actually tried one set up properly into a decent dac. Each to their own I guess 

exactly. 

Personally I went down a huge winding road. It is a bit much to relay. But I have tried many combinations including a properly setup mini computer directly into a DAC. I even tried a Qute as a source feeding a proper DAC.  The best it ever sounded was with a USB drive directly into it.  I believed that computer based audio was inherently flawed, that the TCP/IP transport somehow ruined the music.  

I was ready to give up on the whole computer audio idea until I tried the MicroRendu. 

It lives up to the hype, which is why those of us who have tried it are promoting it for no personal gain. 

I I have not tried a Melco or Aries device. 

Brubacca posted:

Personally I went down a huge winding road. It is a bit much to relay. But I have tried many combinations including a properly setup mini computer directly into a DAC. I even tried a Qute as a source feeding a proper DAC.  The best it ever sounded was with a USB drive directly into it.  I believed that computer based audio was inherently flawed, that the TCP/IP transport somehow ruined the music.  

I was ready to give up on the whole computer audio idea until I tried the MicroRendu. 

It lives up to the hype, which is why those of us who have tried it are promoting it for no personal gain. 

I I have not tried a Melco or Aries device. 

Do you use a 3rd party PSU with the rendu? 

I have a CDS3 CD player and a Mac Mini with DAC. Very similar to my ears, and i am a fan of the CDS3...

Regards,

Nick 

ThatsNotMyNaim posted:

Brubacca posted:

Personally I went down a huge winding road. It is a bit much to relay. But I have tried many combinations including a properly setup mini computer directly into a DAC. I even tried a Qute as a source feeding a proper DAC.  The best it ever sounded was with a USB drive directly into it.  I believed that computer based audio was inherently flawed, that the TCP/IP transport somehow ruined the music.  

I was ready to give up on the whole computer audio idea until I tried the MicroRendu. 

It lives up to the hype, which is why those of us who have tried it are promoting it for no personal gain. 

I I have not tried a Melco or Aries device. 

Do you use a 3rd party PSU with the rendu? 

My initial impressions here on the site were with the iFi supply.  I recently added a TP psu and have yet to quantify the differencex.  A quick impression reminds me of how people describe the different Naim levels.   I really enjoyed ths iFi it was really fun to listen to.  Ths TP is more refined and better, but to my ears a little less "fun" on rock and roll tracks, although it is not yet settled in.

This reminds me of how people desribe a Nait 5i/Cd5i vs a xs based systsm.  

Depends how you connect the Mac to the DAC and what codec you use.

Through an nDAC I use a CD5XS and a Mac/"The Bridge" USB-SPDIF interface/Amarra HiFi.

Not a huge difference between the two but the CD is more foot-tappy!

I still like rifling through CD's....

James L posted:

 

I still like rifling through CD's....

 

Complete opposite here. I am incredibly happy to be free of the CD clutter in our living space. Love just browsing on the laptop or iPad. Just seconds to select and play an album.