I just picked up a Rotel analog Cd player and I have to tell you this thing sounds fucking amazing. It really sounds good with my Marantz amp and my Paradigm Studio 100's. It was a little pricey for a cd player but well worth it. I am a huge audio buff and when I put my Donald Fagan cd in (nightfly), and listened to the first few notes I almost came in my pants.
Analog CD Players
- Thread starter iusedtobeone1
- Start date
Wooly, the pure output from a CD is digital. It is the same for all players. The difference comes on how each player converts it to the sound you hear. If you use a digital-out to a reciever/amp there should be no difference between CD players since the pure digital from the CD has not been converted.
justlooking said:
In that case, my amp and pre-amp DEFINITELY don't have a digital in.
The golden ears of the world will tell you that the transport (the part that gets the digital signal off the disk) has a lot to do with the sound. They talk about things like jitter - the actual timing of the electrical signal.
Personally, I tend to not worry about the technical details and just focus on whether I like one component's sound better than another.
That Arcam stuff is really great for the money, I think.
What you should be talking about is the difference between CD’s made from digital remasters of analog original masters..
Many great analog albums were ruined when they were reissued as digital remasters. Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” comes to mind. The original refastened CD sounded shrill and screechy and totally lacking in warmth when compared to the LP.
Many great analog albums were ruined when they were reissued as digital remasters. Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain” comes to mind. The original refastened CD sounded shrill and screechy and totally lacking in warmth when compared to the LP.
You know what else has changed? Speakers. Does anyone remember the JBL Century 100 speaker system? This speaker was truly fantastic with their fantastic base and punchy mid range. This was the prime example of the highly overblown West Coast sound as produced by these base reflex speakers with their carefully sized and tuned cabinets and air vents. . These speakers sounded best with rock and pop music. They were not considered accurate reproducers of music, and today even JBL base reflex speakers sound much more like Acoustic suspension speakers as made by Acoustic Research, Advant and other speakers of this type.
While today’s speakers are more accurate producers of sound, as seemly dictated by today’s modern digital media standards, the deep base and punchy mid range are missing and music does, in fact, sound different.
Sometimes highly accurate is not best.
While today’s speakers are more accurate producers of sound, as seemly dictated by today’s modern digital media standards, the deep base and punchy mid range are missing and music does, in fact, sound different.
Sometimes highly accurate is not best.
Last edited:
Obviously that's a subjective judgment that differs for each person. If most of your listening is to unamplified live music, then when you listen to records at home, the West Coast speaker sound just doesn't work for you. I agree with you, though, that it's a shame it's no longer available for those who like it.
Last edited: