Buying a CDP is outdated?

EDO, when you say "played around with the puck", did you replace it with a new one?

If the mech really has died, then first check with Naim whether they have any VAM1205 replacements - it's worth a try as things can turn up.  Failing that, give someone like Darran at Class A a call, as he may be able to advise further.

+ 1 for cd,  +1 for vinyl, +1 for streaming.... at the moment I’m enjoying all 3 formats, i don’t see the need to choose one over the other...

winkyincanada posted:

We can't imagine going back to physical media. We have no room nor inclination to clutter our living space with boxes of shiny plastic discs, just for some sort of retro-buzz.

I clutter my living space with CDs, LPs, and books. That's how I prefer it to be - and it helps with the acoustics. I don't really wish to live in a bare room, straight out of House and Garden. I'm not sure what you mean by "retro-buzz"...

Blackmorec posted:

Hi Patrick, 

I use a Network server from Innuos with built in CD transport/Ripper. What are the benefits?

1. Sound quality. The ripped CD is stored on a SSD and plays from an internal memory cache, so there’re  no motors, stepper motors and servos whirring away, putting loads of noise into the system. My server SQ is better than a reasonably high-end analog system in terms of every quality you care to compare, including soundstage, imaging, resolution, noise, warmth, listener involvement, PRAT. 

I would accept the first argument - and I'm not ruling out getting an NDS2 one of these days.

The other points seem irrelevant to me. I know where my music is, I can read the notes, I have no wish to be told what music I might also like - I can discover new music on my own.

A year or more ago, the CD player was considered outdated and those of us preferring CDs had to increasingly rely on florid rhetoric to get the point across (romantic, tactile feeling, smell of CDs in the morning, etc).

Nowadays, and I say this having spent some time re-evaluating a few streaming softwares and updating my Bryston media player, I feel CD has aged far more graciously than file-based playback.

I recall an old post on this forum claiming streaming was as soulless compared to CD, as CD was to vinyl. That still strikes a chord with me.

Cheers

EJ

SamClaus posted:

winkyincanada posted:

We can't imagine going back to physical media. We have no room nor inclination to clutter our living space with boxes of shiny plastic discs, just for some sort of retro-buzz.

I clutter my living space with CDs, LPs, and books. That's how I prefer it to be - and it helps with the acoustics. I don't really wish to live in a bare room, straight out of House and Garden. I'm not sure what you mean by "retro-buzz"...

Our living space isn't bare, but there is still no room for CDs...

By retro-buzz, I mean the notion that the use of CDs or LPs is appealing because of how it evokes a bygone age. Like a vintage car or an antique piece of furniture. Each to their own.....

Looks like your lovely dogs agree with you!

best

David

winkyincanada posted:

SamClaus posted:

winkyincanada posted:

We can't imagine going back to physical media. We have no room nor inclination to clutter our living space with boxes of shiny plastic discs, just for some sort of retro-buzz.

I clutter my living space with CDs, LPs, and books. That's how I prefer it to be - and it helps with the acoustics. I don't really wish to live in a bare room, straight out of House and Garden. I'm not sure what you mean by "retro-buzz"...

Our living space isn't bare, but there is still no room for CDs...

By retro-buzz, I mean the notion that the use of CDs or LPs is appealing because of how it evokes a bygone age. Like a vintage car or an antique piece of furniture. Each to their own.....

 

Don’t like to worry you but you have a huge bug on your wall, I suggest you get out the fly spray quickly.... other than that it’s a good looking room....

wenger2015 posted:

winkyincanada posted:

SamClaus posted:

winkyincanada posted:

We can't imagine going back to physical media. We have no room nor inclination to clutter our living space with boxes of shiny plastic discs, just for some sort of retro-buzz.

I clutter my living space with CDs, LPs, and books. That's how I prefer it to be - and it helps with the acoustics. I don't really wish to live in a bare room, straight out of House and Garden. I'm not sure what you mean by "retro-buzz"...

Our living space isn't bare, but there is still no room for CDs...

By retro-buzz, I mean the notion that the use of CDs or LPs is appealing because of how it evokes a bygone age. Like a vintage car or an antique piece of furniture. Each to their own.....

 

Don’t like to worry you but you have a huge bug on your wall, I suggest you get out the fly spray quickly.... other than that it’s a good looking room....

I think you will need a fly spray with lead propellent on a bug that size?? the room does look rather nice 

I still want and need a CDP but I would not spend a fortune on it. My current CDP is a Marantz CD6004 serving as a transport into NDX and I have the anlog out connected directly to my 282. The later gives a better sound! 

When I needed to replace a CD player a few years ago, I looked around and decided that though CD may not yet be dead, straming was clearly the future medium, so went for a streamer instead - and have never looked back. Less to intrfere with the signal, access to highr resolutions, no periodic replacement or repairs as mechanisms wear, reduced storage space, etc etc. So, in my view, the answer is emphatically yes, CD is outdated.

Patrick

I am old. And with age comes wisdom.  Everyone here thinks this is about sound quality.  It is not about sound quality.  It is about your girlfriend.  Your girlfriend wants a CD player.  She probably does not care about sound quality.  Get her a CD player.  Get a cheap DVD player that you can use as a transport that you plug into the DAC of your network player.  She can play CDs.  You have a network player for serious listening.  You are happy.

GREGU of course has the right answer. As a young man when I first meet my beloved SWIMBO I laughed at other men who employed the time honoured tradition of ' Yes Dear' many, many headaches ensued and many a long day was spent in the dog house looking at my beloved SWIMBO's cross face her back so straight in the marital bed that you could have ironed your shirts upon it.

Then I broke and uttered those words 'Yes Dear' for first time and now I say them many times each day and our life is a happy one so Patrick say 'Yes Dear' and buy the girl a CDP and yourself a Network Player and after six months I'm pretty sure she will be using the Network Player.

Although my own beloved will not use my system at all now she says she is scared to cue up a £700 cartridge and that getting to Tidal via LMS >> iPingu and finding music is too much hassle.  She now listens to music when I'm not  home either on the radio or from her phone through the bluetooth on our Roberts Radio.

winkyincanada posted:

 

Absolutely lovely room and dogs Winky. No clutter and you should be proud of it. Don't see your your music control device, but maybe you used it to take the pic?

GregU posted:

Patrick

 

I am old. And with age comes wisdom.  Everyone here thinks this is about sound quality.  It is not about sound quality.  It is about your girlfriend.  Your girlfriend wants a CD player.  She probably does not care about sound quality.  Get her a CD player.  Get a cheap DVD player that you can use as a transport that you plug into the DAC of your network player.  She can play CDs.  You have a network player for serious listening.  You are happy.

Thats very patronizing and chauvinistic.

Innocent Bystander posted:

When I needed to replace a CD player a few years ago, I looked around and decided that though CD may not yet be dead, straming was clearly the future medium, so went for a streamer instead - and have never looked back. Less to intrfere with the signal, access to highr resolutions, no periodic replacement or repairs as mechanisms wear, reduced storage space, etc etc. So, in my view, the answer is emphatically yes, CD is outdated.

Nah, just don’t get this ... CDP and streaming are intrinsically linked... a media server is effectively a CDP transport, and the streamer the CDP interface, and the DAC is  the DAC. Sure a streamer can play local CDs or remotel CDs, as well as hidef media so it offers greater flexibility, and a streamer can optionally support web stream services, but effectively a streamer and it supporting components is effectively a variant CDP...or another way of looking at it a CDP is a simplified streamer... if you don’t need or want the extra features a streamer offers the traditional CDP is a simpler variant..... they are siblings of the same family.

Not to mention that mainstream digital music is generally mastered at the CD level (most of it is bought as MP3 anyway). Spend for hi-res files? Maybe you're simply paying a premium for the very same thing an up-scaling CDP can do .

leni v posted:

GregU posted:

Patrick

 

I am old. And with age comes wisdom.  Everyone here thinks this is about sound quality.  It is not about sound quality.  It is about your girlfriend.  Your girlfriend wants a CD player.  She probably does not care about sound quality.  Get her a CD player.  Get a cheap DVD player that you can use as a transport that you plug into the DAC of your network player.  She can play CDs.  You have a network player for serious listening.  You are happy.

Thats very patronizing and chauvinistic.

I disagree - it is simply the way to peace and happiness. Like it or not, women rule. Maybe that’s why many men are chauvinistic pigs, asserting their “masculinity” to try to ignore this fact. The way if the world seems split in two in this, those who recognise the above fact, consciously or otherwise,  open acceptance often coming with the benefit of experience as GregU alluded, and those who treat women like pieces of meat.

So maybe in this case the answer is right, and if it is indeed about the OP’s GF wanting a CD player, yes it is reasonable to demonstrate the benefits of streaming, but at the end of the day if she still wants CD the why not, if it can live alongside and the OP can rip every CD to stream when he is choosing what to play, while she can play CD when she is choosing, a win-win situation and no clash. Different, however, if funds wouldn’t allow both, when the argument would need exploring further.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

When I needed to replace a CD player a few years ago, I looked around and decided that though CD may not yet be dead, straming was clearly the future medium, so went for a streamer instead - and have never looked back. Less to intrfere with the signal, access to highr resolutions, no periodic replacement or repairs as mechanisms wear, reduced storage space, etc etc. So, in my view, the answer is emphatically yes, CD is outdated.

Nah, just don’t get this ... CDP and streaming are intrinsically linked... a media server is effectively a CDP transport, and the streamer the CDP interface, and the DAC is  the DAC. Sure a streamer can play local CDs or remotel CDs, as well as hidef media so it offers greater flexibility, and a streamer can optionally support web stream services, but effectively a streamer and it supporting components is effectively a variant CDP...or another way of looking at it a CDP is a simplified streamer... if you don’t need or want the extra features a streamer offers the traditional CDP is a simpler variant..... they are siblings of the same family.

A media server isn’t a CD transport if it doesn’t have a CD mechanism, and it is the reading of physical CDs that represents a potential compromise in a CDP compared to reading a file from a store. For clarity, my consideration here is purely of streaming from a locally held store, ideally one directly connected to the player so that not even a network is needed. 

Simon is drawing parallels between what the various things do, not how they do it. If you read his post with that in mind, it makes perfect sense. 

Innocent Bystander posted:

leni v posted:

GregU posted:

Patrick

 

I am old. And with age comes wisdom.  Everyone here thinks this is about sound quality.  It is not about sound quality.  It is about your girlfriend.  Your girlfriend wants a CD player.  She probably does not care about sound quality.  Get her a CD player.  Get a cheap DVD player that you can use as a transport that you plug into the DAC of your network player.  She can play CDs.  You have a network player for serious listening.  You are happy.

Thats very patronizing and chauvinistic.

I disagree - it is simply the way to peace and happiness. Like it or not, women rule. Maybe that’s why many men are chauvinistic pigs, asserting their “masculinity” to try to ignore this fact. The way if the world seems split in two in this, those who recognise the above fact, consciously or otherwise,  open acceptance often coming with the benefit of experience as GregU alluded, and those who treat women like pieces of meat.

So maybe in this case the answer is right, and if it is indeed about the OP’s GF wanting a CD player, yes it is reasonable to demonstrate the benefits of streaming, but at the end of the day if she still wants CD the why not, if it can live alongside and the OP can rip every CD to stream when he is choosing what to play, while she can play CD when she is choosing, a win-win situation and no clash. Different, however, if funds wouldn’t allow both, when the argument would need exploring further.

BTW, in disagreeing with leni v I was referring to the meaning of GregU’s post, not the words “yes, dear”, which can indeed be said in a patronising way, and the response itself not relevant to the point.

Innocent Bystander posted:

Innocent Bystander posted:

leni v posted:

GregU posted:

Patrick

 

I am old. And with age comes wisdom.  Everyone here thinks this is about sound quality.  It is not about sound quality.  It is about your girlfriend.  Your girlfriend wants a CD player.  She probably does not care about sound quality.  Get her a CD player.  Get a cheap DVD player that you can use as a transport that you plug into the DAC of your network player.  She can play CDs.  You have a network player for serious listening.  You are happy.

Thats very patronizing and chauvinistic.

I disagree - it is simply the way to peace and happiness. Like it or not, women rule. Maybe that’s why many men are chauvinistic pigs, asserting their “masculinity” to try to ignore this fact. The way if the world seems split in two in this, those who recognise the above fact, consciously or otherwise,  open acceptance often coming with the benefit of experience as GregU alluded, and those who treat women like pieces of meat.

So maybe in this case the answer is right, and if it is indeed about the OP’s GF wanting a CD player, yes it is reasonable to demonstrate the benefits of streaming, but at the end of the day if she still wants CD the why not, if it can live alongside and the OP can rip every CD to stream when he is choosing what to play, while she can play CD when she is choosing, a win-win situation and no clash. Different, however, if funds wouldn’t allow both, when the argument would need exploring further.

BTW, in disagreeing with leni v I was referring to the meaning of GregU’s post, not the words “yes, dear”, which can indeed be said in a patronising way, and the response itself not relevant to the point.

And 'I am old. And with age comes wisdom' is also patronizing. I'm old, so I know :-)

But the intention is probably right.

My wife is using our CD5i - it works for her - she spins the same 10 disks over and over and it sounds good.

winkyincanada posted:

SamClaus posted:

winkyincanada posted:

We can't imagine going back to physical media. We have no room nor inclination to clutter our living space with boxes of shiny plastic discs, just for some sort of retro-buzz.

I clutter my living space with CDs, LPs, and books. That's how I prefer it to be - and it helps with the acoustics. I don't really wish to live in a bare room, straight out of House and Garden. I'm not sure what you mean by "retro-buzz"...

Our living space isn't bare, but there is still no room for CDs...

By retro-buzz, I mean the notion that the use of CDs or LPs is appealing because of how it evokes a bygone age. Like a vintage car or an antique piece of furniture. Each to their own.....

 

Beautiful room Winky,

As you say with the Clutter of loads of Vinyl and compact discs it's a personal thing.Personally I take a lot of comfort from my collection of 3000 albums on Vinyl and 1500 compact discs and 1000 cassette tapes.Built up over 40 years. I enjoy the packaging,art work a great deal.And looking at the vinyl spines on the racks  it brings back memories of different decades in my life.I am not knocking streaming at all as a conviniance medium but just find it a bit souless.

BTW how's your gravel gravel bike doing ?

That was a great thread last year of yours.

Cheers Ian

Innocent Bystander posted:

... it is the reading of physical CDs that represents a potential compromise in a CDP compared to reading a file from a store.  

As I've stated here before, no one doubts the greater bit-fidelity of a ripped file versus direct CD replay. The germane question is whether or not an audible difference is realized, notwithstanding the inextricable differences in the replay hardware chain. These can't be isolated. Ergo, the mathematical virtues of ripped files over direct CD replay become irrelevant from the end user's perspective.

Hungryhalibut posted:

Simon is drawing parallels between what the various things do, not how they do it. If you read his post with that in mind, it makes perfect sense. 

Indeed, though he said he didn’t get my point, which had focused on practicalities and differences, rather than what they do...