Dedicated Red Book CD player vs. "Universal" type players....


I surmise this discussion has been debated a fair amount but here goes....I'm searching for the "final" cd player. Red Book playback is important to me as I have an extensive cd collection and am not into computer based sound (yet). So, I don't mind grabbing and popping those silver disks into a player. What are my fellow Audiogoner's thoughts on a dedicated cd player vs. the universal (see Oppo) type of player? Does a one-box solution sacrifice some cd playback performance trying to be a jack of all trades? If so, can you hear that difference? Input and comments most appreciated!
128x128beernut

Showing 1 response by georgehifi

beernut
  Dedicated Red Book CD player vs. "Universal" type players....

For doing PCM, Redbook 16/44 or 24/96, and DXD it's best to use a cdp or dac that uses digital to analogue (D/A) converter that is Multibit, rather that one that uses Delta Sigma d/a conversion.

This is the reason why.
From MoJo Music:
" When a PCM file is played on a native DSD single-bit delta sigma converter, the single-bit DAC chip has to convert the PCM to DSD in real-time. This is one of the major reasons people claim DSD sounds better than PCM, when in fact, it is just that the chip in most modern delta sigma single-bit DACs do a poor job of decoding PCM"

Cheers George