Hello and welcome to the whatishifi blog.
The spark for this post came from an article I was reading a few days ago at part-time audiophile under the title of "The list: Five of the best CD Players on the planet". Reading the intro of the article, I realized that for quite a while now, I am treating my CD player almost the same way I treated my turntable in the 90's: obsolete. The hi-res digital files and the vinyl is back thing are monopolizing my listening sessions. Of course, apart from trendy, there is a practical reason for this; the sound quality of hi-res files and LPs is superior, or it is supposed to be superior. However, I realized that there is some prejudice at the way I treat my CD player and my CD collection, so the time for a test has come. Actually the tests became two, one regarding the evolution of CDp sound quality with sound comparisons and one regarding CDp Vs computer audio.
It was back in 1987 when I bought my first CD player, a Sony 16-bit CDP-M35. This player comes from an era that one DAC per channel was not something self explanatory and the remote control was often an optional accessory that could be purchased as an extra. This player is still alive today, never refusing to play a disk, even a CDR one. The only thing it needs is a drawer belt replacement every 10 years or so, a very easy procedure in this machine.
So I took my Sony and went to Pano's house, where three more CD players were waiting:
- A Yamaha 1-bit CDX-390 from 1996.
- A Pioneer PD-S504 1-bit Legato Link with stable plater mechanism from 1995.
- Our reference system of a Pioneer PD-S707 transport and a Parasound DA/C-1500 tweaked DAC. Tweaking has occurred only at the analogue part, let's just say that the DAC chip is more directly connected to the analogue out. This tweak has proven it's value as I have described at this older post.
For our listening test we choose to use track 3 ('Round midnight) from the "Live at Ethell's" CD (Mapleshade MS 56292). Unfortunately, our favorite blind A/B instant comparison kind of test was not possible, due to different output levels of our CD players. So after checking the correct mains polarity of each player with the procedure described at this older post, we left them to warm up and we proceeded to our listening sessions. The interconnect we used for all the players of course was the same.
We started with the older fellow, which in our case is the Sony. The first thing that stroke us immediately was the size and depth of the soundstage. However, this was the only good characteristic at the sound of this CDp. The hue of some instruments was not very impressive; the piano was sounding like a piano in a saloon played by Lucky Luke and the saxophone was sounding a bit aggressive. Let me also add here that the Sony is very sensitive to vibrations; place it close to a big floor standing speaker and at increased volumes a virtual dj starts making some endless loops.
We continued with the Yamaha. The sound was very different here, making us believing for a while that in the 9 years that have intervened between the production of Sony and the Yamaha, the world of digital Hi-Fi found it's path. However, after a while we realized that this is only part true. The 1-bit Yamaha gave us a piano sounding more physical and full bodied than the 16-bit Sony and the saxophone was less aggressive. But we realized that the low end was somehow weak and the nice soundstage of the Sony was simply gone. Also, we made a rather funny discovery: the output channels of the player were reversed, meaning the player was outputting from it's analogue R out the left channel and vice versa. We double checked that we are not making something wrong, but we didn't.
Next came the Pioneer PD-S504. Although it is a 1 year earlier design than the Yama, the sound had only the good parts of both previous players; the soundstage was big and impressive like the Sony, the hues of the piano & saxophone were natural and the low end was solid, full of energy. Unfortunately, we do not remember how much more expensive was the Pioneer compared to the Yamaha, however the built quality feels superior to the Yamaha. Also, according to our opinion and opposite to the common belief about Pioneer Legato Link conversion, there is not a harsh sound coming from this machine. Listening to Pioneer 504 after the Yamaha and the Sony made us feel that yes, you can live with this level of sound quality and up; from this point there isn't any sense of wrongness in the sound.
Curious to understand how much better our reference CD system sounds compared with the Pioneer, we focused our listening between these two. Oddly enough, we couldn't pick up a winner. But we were already tired after so many listening tests so we decided to get some rest and repeat the comparison using a different recording.
And so we did. This time we used track 1 (Instead) from the Madeline Peyroux Bare Bones CD (DECCA LC 00171). For a start, we confirmed again that this recording is the best spotless CD recording we are aware of up to now. Listening to it from the Pioneer PD-S504 CDp was nothing less than extraordinary. Immediately we relaxed by the music, subconsciously moving our foot to the rhythm. The soundstage was enormous, the little details were crystal clear but not irritating. The "door bell" sound as described at this older post about reference recordings was discrete and airy. There was nothing left to be desired. It was only after repeated back to back listening tests that we finally understood that our reference system of Pioneer transport and Parasound DAC is indeed providing a little bit more; it felt like a veil was removed from the sound. However, this veil was more like a thin cloth than a heavy curtain. The soundstage was deeper and higher. Yes, listening to the Pioneer 504 was feeling like nothing is missing, however after treating yourself with the sound coming form the Pioneer / Parasound combo, by going back to the 504 you realize that you have become wiser and now you are aware that you are missing something.
Being the nerd audiophiles that we are, we decided to expand our test by using the very same Accuphase DP-500 unit that we used a while ago at our post about CD transports. Since we have a winner up to now, we wanted to compare the sound of the Accuphase with the sound of our reference CD system. I have to admit that the test would be more interesting if our Parasound DAC was not tweaked, but we were not willing to cancel and do again our mods since this would mean two visits at our tech guru plus expenses. Sorry!
We loaded the Madeline Peyroux CD and we started our listening session. Differences were very small and we had to listen back and forth at the two machines the same part of a track for several times in order to spot them. The Accuphase ads a very thin veil to the sound, but this veil is made from an expensive and elegant material. The little details which the "Instead" track is full of, loose a little off their crispness. They are still there, but not so much three-dimensional. Also, the low end looses a little of it's control as the notes disappear. The piano sounds a little sweater, this is not bad but it is also not necessary, meaning that the piano was not sounding harsh or metalic. Overall we preferred the sound of the moded Parasound, we welcome it's ability to further reveal the details of the music without being harsh.
Apart from the joy of listening to 5 different CDps with one of them coming back from 1987 and sharing this experience with you, what we also got from this test is this: CD as a media is indeed capable of sounding marvelous. I can't speculate if CD is going to be dead soon or not, however if it dies at least it deserves to be buried for the right reasons. Sound quality is not one of them. Now, please do not confuse the sound quality of the CD as a media with the sound quality of a certain CD album or a certain CD player. As I have repeatedly explained at this blog, it is the Recording with capital R that plays a major role at the sound quality of your system. Take Madeline Peyroux as an example: listening to it is a pure joy. Everything seems right, you subconsciously let yourself go with the music. So, CD as a media has the power to carry the soul of music at your home, even if your player is an easy to find and cheap to buy Pioneer PD-S504. You get a sound that is already more than good enough. By this I mean that you won't be destructed by faults in the sound even though the hi-res digital file is supposed to sound a little better. How little? Well, you have to read our next post of CD Vs. computer audio and Hi-Res digital files.
Till then, just enjoy your CD collection. If not, at least blame the sound engineer or your player manufacturer, not the CD as a media.
Christos
P.S. If you liked this post, you will probably like most of this blog. Why not having a look at all the things we have wrote about here.
The spark for this post came from an article I was reading a few days ago at part-time audiophile under the title of "The list: Five of the best CD Players on the planet". Reading the intro of the article, I realized that for quite a while now, I am treating my CD player almost the same way I treated my turntable in the 90's: obsolete. The hi-res digital files and the vinyl is back thing are monopolizing my listening sessions. Of course, apart from trendy, there is a practical reason for this; the sound quality of hi-res files and LPs is superior, or it is supposed to be superior. However, I realized that there is some prejudice at the way I treat my CD player and my CD collection, so the time for a test has come. Actually the tests became two, one regarding the evolution of CDp sound quality with sound comparisons and one regarding CDp Vs computer audio.
It was back in 1987 when I bought my first CD player, a Sony 16-bit CDP-M35. This player comes from an era that one DAC per channel was not something self explanatory and the remote control was often an optional accessory that could be purchased as an extra. This player is still alive today, never refusing to play a disk, even a CDR one. The only thing it needs is a drawer belt replacement every 10 years or so, a very easy procedure in this machine.
So I took my Sony and went to Pano's house, where three more CD players were waiting:
- A Yamaha 1-bit CDX-390 from 1996.
- A Pioneer PD-S504 1-bit Legato Link with stable plater mechanism from 1995.
- Our reference system of a Pioneer PD-S707 transport and a Parasound DA/C-1500 tweaked DAC. Tweaking has occurred only at the analogue part, let's just say that the DAC chip is more directly connected to the analogue out. This tweak has proven it's value as I have described at this older post.
 |
| Our tower of CD players warming up. |
We started with the older fellow, which in our case is the Sony. The first thing that stroke us immediately was the size and depth of the soundstage. However, this was the only good characteristic at the sound of this CDp. The hue of some instruments was not very impressive; the piano was sounding like a piano in a saloon played by Lucky Luke and the saxophone was sounding a bit aggressive. Let me also add here that the Sony is very sensitive to vibrations; place it close to a big floor standing speaker and at increased volumes a virtual dj starts making some endless loops.
We continued with the Yamaha. The sound was very different here, making us believing for a while that in the 9 years that have intervened between the production of Sony and the Yamaha, the world of digital Hi-Fi found it's path. However, after a while we realized that this is only part true. The 1-bit Yamaha gave us a piano sounding more physical and full bodied than the 16-bit Sony and the saxophone was less aggressive. But we realized that the low end was somehow weak and the nice soundstage of the Sony was simply gone. Also, we made a rather funny discovery: the output channels of the player were reversed, meaning the player was outputting from it's analogue R out the left channel and vice versa. We double checked that we are not making something wrong, but we didn't.
Next came the Pioneer PD-S504. Although it is a 1 year earlier design than the Yama, the sound had only the good parts of both previous players; the soundstage was big and impressive like the Sony, the hues of the piano & saxophone were natural and the low end was solid, full of energy. Unfortunately, we do not remember how much more expensive was the Pioneer compared to the Yamaha, however the built quality feels superior to the Yamaha. Also, according to our opinion and opposite to the common belief about Pioneer Legato Link conversion, there is not a harsh sound coming from this machine. Listening to Pioneer 504 after the Yamaha and the Sony made us feel that yes, you can live with this level of sound quality and up; from this point there isn't any sense of wrongness in the sound.
Curious to understand how much better our reference CD system sounds compared with the Pioneer, we focused our listening between these two. Oddly enough, we couldn't pick up a winner. But we were already tired after so many listening tests so we decided to get some rest and repeat the comparison using a different recording.
And so we did. This time we used track 1 (Instead) from the Madeline Peyroux Bare Bones CD (DECCA LC 00171). For a start, we confirmed again that this recording is the best spotless CD recording we are aware of up to now. Listening to it from the Pioneer PD-S504 CDp was nothing less than extraordinary. Immediately we relaxed by the music, subconsciously moving our foot to the rhythm. The soundstage was enormous, the little details were crystal clear but not irritating. The "door bell" sound as described at this older post about reference recordings was discrete and airy. There was nothing left to be desired. It was only after repeated back to back listening tests that we finally understood that our reference system of Pioneer transport and Parasound DAC is indeed providing a little bit more; it felt like a veil was removed from the sound. However, this veil was more like a thin cloth than a heavy curtain. The soundstage was deeper and higher. Yes, listening to the Pioneer 504 was feeling like nothing is missing, however after treating yourself with the sound coming form the Pioneer / Parasound combo, by going back to the 504 you realize that you have become wiser and now you are aware that you are missing something.
Being the nerd audiophiles that we are, we decided to expand our test by using the very same Accuphase DP-500 unit that we used a while ago at our post about CD transports. Since we have a winner up to now, we wanted to compare the sound of the Accuphase with the sound of our reference CD system. I have to admit that the test would be more interesting if our Parasound DAC was not tweaked, but we were not willing to cancel and do again our mods since this would mean two visits at our tech guru plus expenses. Sorry!
 |
| The impressive Accuphase. |
Apart from the joy of listening to 5 different CDps with one of them coming back from 1987 and sharing this experience with you, what we also got from this test is this: CD as a media is indeed capable of sounding marvelous. I can't speculate if CD is going to be dead soon or not, however if it dies at least it deserves to be buried for the right reasons. Sound quality is not one of them. Now, please do not confuse the sound quality of the CD as a media with the sound quality of a certain CD album or a certain CD player. As I have repeatedly explained at this blog, it is the Recording with capital R that plays a major role at the sound quality of your system. Take Madeline Peyroux as an example: listening to it is a pure joy. Everything seems right, you subconsciously let yourself go with the music. So, CD as a media has the power to carry the soul of music at your home, even if your player is an easy to find and cheap to buy Pioneer PD-S504. You get a sound that is already more than good enough. By this I mean that you won't be destructed by faults in the sound even though the hi-res digital file is supposed to sound a little better. How little? Well, you have to read our next post of CD Vs. computer audio and Hi-Res digital files.
Till then, just enjoy your CD collection. If not, at least blame the sound engineer or your player manufacturer, not the CD as a media.
Christos
P.S. If you liked this post, you will probably like most of this blog. Why not having a look at all the things we have wrote about here.
Really interesting thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteBrilliantly compared and analysed
ReplyDeleteThank you
Thank you!
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