BEGINNER'S GUIDE – CD PLAYERS FOR ALL. THEY AIN'T DEAD YET! HERE'S WHY YOU SHOULD BUY A NEW ONE

50 Comments

1. Titus Kent on July 10, 2021 at 3:08 am

   The only downside of CD – and one I consider fairly major – is the so-called "loudness wars" that took over in the 90s and 2000s. Mixers and CD mastering people began to prioritize the loudness of the audio over the actual fidelity, which lead to massive horrible brickwalling, dynamic range completely crushed and parts of the songs that were previously the louder parts are blown out beyond recognition.

   This is most obvious to see by comparing a CD release from the early 80s to any sort of "remaster" version of the same CD from a decade or so later. Often, the only kind of "remastering" they do is just turning up all the levels to the max.

   This was all primarily to appeal to the broadest consumer markets possible, people who wouldn’t be able to tell between good or bad mixes, but would complain about their Chinese knockoff integrated stereo systems not being able to blast a properly-mixed disc loud enough to rattle windows. I have genuinely seen many online argue that the "remastered" releases of many albums sound better for reasons such as "the original was too noisy" or "too quiet". It’s a depressing state of affairs, and it became such a norm and standard to brickwall CD’s, that in many cases, standard downloadable digital releases, or the versions released to streaming services, in many cases are actually better mixed than the physical CD release! Dreadful.

   As you say, CD will sometime soon begin to enter the niche market, and I truly hope that when it does, we get proper CD mixing back, and it becomes a respectable uncompressed digital source once again.

   
   
   
2. jealousofmypuddin on July 10, 2021 at 3:08 am

   Beginner here. Could I pair something like an Onkyo CD player with Kanto Y4s? I mainly stream, but I have SO many cds from my youth I’d like to play in a future stereo setup.

   
   
   
3. Western NOIR on July 10, 2021 at 3:09 am

   You keep referring to streaming as digital when CDs are also digital. This undifferentiated nomenclature is problematic when describing two file systems. Better to call streaming a lossy format.

   
   
   
4. optimalforager on July 10, 2021 at 3:10 am

   I am biding my time to buy the luxman CD player. I auditioned it and it sounded very good played through my luxman amp and KEF R3s. Living in Japan, Luxman are significantly cheaper than in the UK or United States.

   
   
   
5. juddsandage on July 10, 2021 at 3:12 am

   Ripped to FLAC, stored on my personal server and using PLEX I can listen wherever as lossless streaming, but I still prefer CDs.

   
   
   
6. notatestuser on July 10, 2021 at 3:14 am

   CDs are digital but they use a lossless codec which improves audio quality. Newer streaming platforms (e.g. Apple Music) are bringing out lossless for no extra cost, which is worth a look (or a listen!)

   
   
   
7. Larry Hazelwood on July 10, 2021 at 3:15 am

   Technics SL-C700

   
   
   
8. Samojedenzauber on July 10, 2021 at 3:16 am

   Just bought a Denon DCD 600NE and the sound is remarkable! Love that DVD Player!

   
   
   
9. Crokto on July 10, 2021 at 3:16 am

   CD is digital…

   
   
   
10. Doug Reed on July 10, 2021 at 3:17 am

    They certainly are not, long live cds(and vinyl, of course) 👍😊

    
    
    
11. Thomas Kirkegaard Andersen on July 10, 2021 at 3:18 am

    I sold my beloved Rega Saturn a couple of years back, and wen’t for an even older machine, but i did know what i was doing 😉 The Linn Ikemi HDCD player, is perhaps what you would call "older players"? But after owning many different high end players the last 30 year or so, i’m guessing i’m able to hear the small differences. The Linn is a killer player, but i did love my Saturn, and they are both capable of sucking so much out of these silver discs. If i should by a new CD player today, i don’t think i have to spend the same amount of money, as the Linn was costing back in the days, to get the same kind of quality playback. Great issue, as i still plays CD’s, while iv’e been upgraded on my analog front, with Rega P8/Apheta II combo (vinyl nirvana). Cheers from Denmark

    
    
    
12. Chang Kwang Oh on July 10, 2021 at 3:19 am

    Records are for suckas. Like Dre said, “…records only make good frisbees.”

    
    
    
13. Du sköna nya värld on July 10, 2021 at 3:19 am

    Your selection are really cool but you can get a good second hand player with a lot of features as headphone amp and digital output for cheap. There are models from manufacturer such as Philips. Some viewers are not dentists who have high income. Music is a good hobby for all.

    
    
    
14. Jeff Williams on July 10, 2021 at 3:20 am

    I can’t believe this guy mentioned PDO (Philips DuPont Optical) as a maker of high quality CDs. Most of them won’t play anymore due to "bronzing" I.e. disc rot.

    
    
    
15. Vic Wahby Photography on July 10, 2021 at 3:20 am

    I spin on a Marantz SA-8001. Stereophile says: This, for me, is about as good as "Red Book" gets. And, I’ve been content. But, it’s a 2007 player and I’m finally wondering if I’m missing out, albeit in the sub-$1,000 ball game. Is my FOMO justified or not? Is there a specific new tech that would make an upgrade worthwhile? Thanks to all who respond.

    
    
    
16. jocie on July 10, 2021 at 3:21 am

    also fun fact.. if you want a really cheap.. but really good CD player and you don’t have the hundreds for this… there is a very easy option… a PS1

    
    
    
17. Prabhu Ja on July 10, 2021 at 3:22 am

    Hows a Myryad mxv3000 DVD mp3 player brother ??pre loved

    
    
    
18. margix on July 10, 2021 at 3:24 am

    Rather than a DUMB streaming service I’d buy just ONE cd or vinyl.

    
    
    
19. wacio on July 10, 2021 at 3:27 am

    I’m not buying CDs any more. I had many of the older ones failed (even with optimal storage) due to rot. So, ripped them all and tossed originals. Now buying FLAC files only.

    
    
    
20. Benj Lopez on July 10, 2021 at 3:28 am

    Still using my rega apollo from 2013. Never stopped buying cd’s. Still love the format since my first cd in 1988.

    
    
    
21. Mr Right on July 10, 2021 at 3:29 am

    I don’t think I can agree here. If I was spending 2000 quid or more I’d rather drop my money on a set of decent speakers and just play FLAC files.

    
    
    
22. iBurley on July 10, 2021 at 3:30 am

    I’m not a hundred percent certain that I buy the premise here, but I do still own and occasionally buy CDs. Personally I consider them a great source of FLAC files, but who knows, maybe I’ll end up getting a player eventually and enjoying them that way as well. I can’t help but feel though that the time might be better spent improving disk readers themselves instead of full players. Once ripped the files can be verified for integrity using checksums, the only potential barrier is how well the CD is read in the first place to perform a rip. Assuming the reader that you hooked into your computer was of the same quality as is in these units, your DAC takes on the work of the rest of the box.

    
    
    
23. Nick Tsoulli on July 10, 2021 at 3:30 am

    CD’s are still my preference. At the Car boot sales at the mo I can’t help myself and new releases are the same price to buy on CD as to download a lossless digital file, it only really Bandcamp where you know the artist(s) are getting a most of what your paying. I buy CD’s to get the lossless audio to rip digitally and accurately even if the Cd’ is a bit duff ( bit perfect with EAC, read 2x and check sums verified against other people ripping the same disk, repaired with cue tools if necessary ) transported to my DAC. The Samsung TSST Corp SH-224 is my CD drive weapon of choice for ripping bad disks but it is very slow. I still use my ipod classic in the car!

    In the Age of streaming I think it’s best to stick with the flexibility of a good dac and a CD transport if you want one, just make sure a way to get jitter free audio from you or PC or streamer USB /SPDIF noise suppressor or just a dac that has really good re-clocking abilities of it’s own. This is all useless though if you can’t get your room and speakers setup optimally or have a good pair of headphones.

    The better versions and originals can get a bit pricey, but I can’t wait for the mass market to die down and quality of whats being put on the disks to matter more, I can’t wait for mastering engineers to be allowed to get out of a loudness war frame of mind and exploit CD’s dynamic range more, Like it is for a many Vinyl releases now( there is still alot of crap too). Hopefully DCC and MFSL type treatment particularly when the original disk from the record company was bad become the norm.

    The quality part of that is in starting to become a factor in streaming with lossless becoming standard, and streaming services deal with the loudness war anyway and auto adjust the playback volume, so that excessively loud masters get brought into the crowd and instead of being loud get shown up lack the impact and dynamics it should have which makes good mastering more important than ever. Good mastering can be as clear and obvious listening via an Ipod on the car stereo as it is on good hi-fi kit partially when many CD’s or digital files/streams are just too loud, distorted and hard to listen to even when the music is otherwise good.

    I have a few bit’s of vinyl I really love , but i really can’t be arsed ( to make the space in the limited space i have) and setup my record deck.

    
    
    
24. rabitus on July 10, 2021 at 3:32 am

    Thought provoking video. I’m an avid user and collector of audiophile stuff but also as an engineer, I know my Marantz CD player does not put out a better S/PDIF bitstream than my Sony CDP-201 (still running great) or the no-name Chinese DVD player that i use most often. Likewise, music CDs are just differently encoded CD-ROMs with data structures that music CD players can read. CD-ROM error correction provides even with imperfections or wear in hardware, fingerprints or jazzercise accidents. your flight sim ’99 disc reads the same exact 5 billion bits each time, everytime, even likely 2 decades later. Audio CDs are much more forgiving of errors but in most cases, the its the same data no matter how the disc is manufactured or if its a cheap burned CD. The thing that interests me are the attempts to improve on the audio CD format like SACD & DVD-A of which I have probably 40 albums worth.

    
    
    
25. The Audiophile Man on July 10, 2021 at 3:34 am

    TIME STAMP: to fast forward to the hardware section, click: https://youtu.be/9-E_eUME86k?t=974

    
    
    
26. Closed Not available anymore. on July 10, 2021 at 3:34 am

    Sooner or later CDs will come back and when they do it will be huge! Im talking about the same way vinyl did.Dont believe me?Because whats old always becomes New again.So i say to everyone getting rid of ur CD collections, Thank you!!! Because when CDs come back , i will still have my CDs and my original CD players from the 1980s.👍😃✌ So if ur smart, find those cool CDs now while they are cheap! 👍👍👍😃😃😃✌✌✌A CD revival will come back in the near future.Question now is – will you be ready???? ✌👍😃

    
    
    
27. Jacques Nadal on July 10, 2021 at 3:35 am

    Hi Paul need to replace my old Denon DVD 2900 SACD player.I would highly appreciate yours expert advice on the Quad Artera play+ cd player.Is it an audiophile cd player better than the DVD2900?anticipated thanks

    
    
    
28. John Garbutt on July 10, 2021 at 3:37 am

    I think CD is the purest way to listen to music. Get a good transport rather than a player and a separate dac. CD will certainly be around for a long time yet and the quality will improve too.

    
    
    
29. Groomy The Clown on July 10, 2021 at 3:37 am

    I love how the British pronounce some words like people’s names:
    René Sance
    Al U. Minium

    
    
    
30. Joe Blankenship on July 10, 2021 at 3:38 am

    People are definitely forgetting how good CD sounds. Streaming is super convenient, but if you’ve got good speakers, you really should throw a CD on now and then to hear the difference.

    
    
    
31. Andrew Watson on July 10, 2021 at 3:38 am

    Elements cd player better than a Rega Apollo R cd player with the out board matching Apollo R DAC?

    
    
    
32. Uncle Chubby on July 10, 2021 at 3:38 am

    Sony CDP-XB930E

    
    
    
33. Taco on July 10, 2021 at 3:41 am

    CDs are amazing when mastered righr

    
    
    
34. John Conway on July 10, 2021 at 3:45 am

    Do these play through cds in rough shape?

    
    
    
35. Michael Bradley on July 10, 2021 at 3:45 am

    A 4K disc player would be a better investment for playing CDs. The sound is quite good with the upsampling.

    
    
    
36. adam mistal on July 10, 2021 at 3:48 am

    Listening to streamed music is like riding on the bus. Listening to your own CD is like driving your own convertible.

    
    
    
37. CY Bourne on July 10, 2021 at 3:51 am

    I’m afraid there are more high end cd players build in China than anywhere else old dude

    
    
    
38. Melanie Turner on July 10, 2021 at 3:51 am

    From the year 2000 recording studios have pushed the average level ie perceived loudness up to the digital saturation level. Peaks are flattened, bass modulates treble and clipping is awful. CDs have been ruined by the so called loudness wars. I have many pre 2000 cds and they have dynamic range. Nothing g wrong with cds they are ex element, recording engineers are stone deaf.

    
    
    
39. mrpositronia on July 10, 2021 at 3:56 am

    People are too hung up on minimalist, empty looking home environments now. Thanks to interior design mags and tv shows. They don’t want stuff like hifi systems, speakers and CDs/records cluttering their homes. Silly billies.

    
    
    
40. ghogue61 on July 10, 2021 at 3:56 am

    So this buyer’s guide is why CD players on eBay went from "you can’t give them away" to selling like hotcakes!

    
    
    
41. Nick Bitten on July 10, 2021 at 3:57 am

    I don’t use streaming. Still have my records, CD’s SACD’s, cassettes, 8- tracks . Also like recording audio onto VHS. Also some Blu-ray audio and DVD-Audio. * CD’ are far from dead and i have several CD players still. Call me old fashioned but i don’t mind. Are some great bargains to be had out there with regard to CD’s.

    
    
    
42. Carol Saxton on July 10, 2021 at 3:58 am

    Love my simaudio moon equinox player.had a Rega planet for years,nice little CD player.

    
    
    
43. Andy Parker on July 10, 2021 at 3:59 am

    Still rocking my Marantz CD-63 Mk II Signature.

    
    
    
44. Alex Stewart on July 10, 2021 at 4:00 am

    So is the sunshine man here in reality talking about a would be "remnant" of sorts…? Love those baby cds two , and if they mature it’ll be that much the better. Saw that Vangelis record on the background , but does like it though …?

    
    
    
45. RedcoMusic on July 10, 2021 at 4:02 am

    These are all great! I’ve be slowly reducing my CD footprint though, in favour of ripping them all to quality files. I still continue to purchase discs however, but more with an eye toward ripping eventually.
    – Red

    
    
    
46. Taco on July 10, 2021 at 4:03 am

    where is Rotel?

    
    
    
47. 1oriss on July 10, 2021 at 4:04 am

    I have more than 700 CDs that’s why I would buy one.

    
    
    
48. richclips on July 10, 2021 at 4:04 am

    New tends to be better in sonic terms, due to the build and the component quality? You’re kidding right? This might be the case for high end, but for the majority of affordable players that most people might buy, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Also you say that old CD players didn’t address noise, and had poorer sound quality, definitely not true, sorry but whilst a very interesting video, there is no much here that doesn’t ring true at all. Some of the finest players are 20 years old and as such are generally very affordable, even if you might risk having a failure at some point, most of the Philips and Sony based players, of which there are millions, will be perfectly serviceable and repairable. New high end kit generally costs a fortune, old mainstream higher end players can be had for a song and mostly sound superb.

    
    
    
49. Don Farrell on July 10, 2021 at 4:04 am

    I went out today in search of a new entry to mid-level CD player since my inherited Sony CDP-C345 began to fail. I suppose I was mildly surprised to find that not a single shop carried one. Walmart, BestBuy, PC Richards, Microcenter, Target, etc. They carried vinyl supplies. Recievers and speakers were plenty too. But no CD compatible devices. I should have just ordered online and left it at that!

    
    
    
50. Tina Clark aka Aunt Tina on July 10, 2021 at 4:06 am

    Jay’s Audio is there between CEC and Luxman.