HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

As posted a while back my much loved Kandy cd player gave up the ghost, with spares no longer avaliable (so Im told) I dug out some old dvd players, we had a few, kids etc. So far I have settled on an old sony seems to do a reasonable job, not quite the roksan. So I wonder would a cheap dac improve it? if so what would you recomend?

I’ve read a lot of the cheaper DVD players tap the digital out from the hmdi, so not even sure it’s being used as a true transport- what u spend on dac a new cdp would be better???

I've never used a DVD player as a cd transport, but from what I've read dedicated cd players will always sound better: My suggestion would be to look on ebay or any other sites for Denon or Rotel cdp's

I have a Denon DVD player with the TV in the lounge. Excellent machine, reliable and enjoyable sound quality.

Mechanically there is no practical difference between a CD transport and a DVD transport the difference is in the density of data on the disc and the laser for reading it. The DVD has a greater density of data so needs a more precise tracking mechanism. I would have thought that a DVD transport would do very well at playing CDs. Suck it and see.

Doing that at the moment, sounds good/ok just wonder if a cheap dac might help?

Yes it probably will.
I used an old philips dvd player as a transport for a while as a stand in while i was messing with my modded cd371.
There is however, no guarantee that what is coming out of the spdif output is actually data that the dac can accept. You will need to check what its outputting first, the philips needed setting up so it didnt put out a 48k 5.1 signal (which was meant to be fed into its matching surround sound processor that i didnt have) and put a normal 44.1k signal out.
It was a proprietary philips thing.
Worth checking first

I use a Denon 3910 with digital out to a Topping D50s DAC.
Sounds fantastic. Way better than pretty much any CD player I’ve had before. It’s got a liveliness to it, the music is very details, and highly enjoyable. Not cold and flat like some CD players I’ve had.
Sounded pretty much equally as good with the humble Topping D30 too!

I seem to remember Max Townshend recommending laser disc players as CD transports...

Maybe a topping d30 might be worth a punt? will look for a used one(cheaskate) Thanks.