[mdistel]

Hello,

This week my Odyssey Cyclops should be arriving! I currently have a Sherwood CD changer and a PS2 for DVD's. I want to upgrade my source but I can't decide which route to go. I will be using the Cyclops for CD audio and DVD playback. I don't watch very many movies but I do have a benq projector so I would like decent quality DVD.

I. Nad CD player & seperate DVD player (have to swap cables:(
II. Channel Island VDA1 Dac & inexpensive Sony NS775 DVD player.
III. Denon 1910 DVD player with plans to add CI DAC
IV. Cambridge DVD540D DVD player (supposedly good CD playback)

Or... wait a few months and just use the current pieces I have and decide latter.

Mark

[aviar]

hi

I suggest you to look for BenachmarkMedia DAC1 - Stereophile product of the year 2004. Price - about 1000 USD with shipment - excelent sound

[Eduardo AAVM]

I think that CI DAC can be a nice unit anyway I think that a tubed CD could do a nice job also...

Sherwood presented new universal and affordable players and Onix has a new affordable CD too.

[mdistel]

I think for the mean time I'm going to continue to use my Sherwood Newcastle CDC-680. I didn't realize till tonight that it has a coaxial output so I could hook up an external DAC. It weighs a hefty 16lb and has been super reliable for the last 5 years. I should try a side by side comparrison with a new player first.

Mark

[mdistel]

I looked up specs using the web archive and here is what I found for the CDC-680.

How does this compare to an inexpensive DVD player?

 1 Bit (Twin) Digital Audio Converter
 8x Oversampling Digital Filter
 Bitstream Design
 Coaxial Digital Output
 3 Beam Laser Pick-up

Compact Disc Specifications      
Frequency Response 10 Hz-20 kHz -
Signal to Noise Ratio 105 dB -
Dynamic Range 96 dB -
Channel Separation 100 dB  
Distortion <0.0025%

[alex_odyssey_sg]

I looked up specs using the web archive and here is what I found for the CDC-680.

How does this compare to an inexpensive DVD player?

 1 Bit (Twin) Digital Audio Converter
 8x Oversampling Digital Filter
 Bitstream Design
 Coaxial Digital Output
 3 Beam Laser Pick-up

Compact Disc Specifications      
Frequency Response 10 Hz-20 kHz -
Signal to Noise Ratio 105 dB -
Dynamic Range 96 dB -
Channel Separation 100 dB  
Distortion <0.0025%

All I can say is bitstream is history...Anyway, it's tough to judge how good a piece of equipment sound from specs.

But you should really have a look at Benchmark DAC1. We are also authorised dealers for DAC1 in Singapore. Still waiting for shipment ... But I do expect it to have a 'accurate' sound given its pro-audio pedigree...

Alex
www.odysseyaudiosg.com

[mdistel]

The bitstream is part of the DAC right? So if I use an external dac like the benchmark or Channel Island DAC this could potentially be a good transport? I'm going to be buying a DVD player soon so I'll be able to compare the two. Thanks,

Mark

[alex_odyssey_sg]

well...DAC uses different decoding technologies and bitstream is one of the earliest ones. There are others like 16bit, 20bit, 24bit and there are different upsampling frequencies...

With a DAC, you will still need a transport... And you can use your DVD as a transport for this purpose.

[mdistel]

My cd player has a coax digital out, so would it work as a transport? Am I better off using a DVD player? DVD wise I was only going to get something like a Dennon 1910, Pioneer 578A, Panasonic S97 basically only about $250 or less. I figured a dedicated CD would be much better than a DVD even if it were just a transport.

Mark