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I guess this thread is aimed at those few among us who still do not route all audio through their computer / workstation. Specifically, I'm talking about CD playback, whether commercial CDs played for reference or CD-R(w)s that you use for 2 track storage.

For those of us who do not playback CDs in their computer's CD drive, what do you use? The reason I'm asking is because I'm considering one of those $99 "do-everything" machines that are stacked to the ceiling at every consumer electronics mall right now.

Surprisingly, the "audiophile" guys actually give high marks to several of the units within a few dollars on either side of $100! (from manufacturers like Toshiba and Sony) And these things can play back CDs, DVDs, and as a bonus for me, SACD. (at least the units that I am considering can do this....)

This seems like an extreme amount of utility for $99, especially when you consider what we pay for good quality pro audio gear. My current "player" is actually my HHB 830+ CD recorder and while it does a good enough job of playback, I'm already wondering how long its cheap mechanical parts (transport, tray, etc.) will last if it gets used for constant playback duty, along with its intended use as a 2 track master recorder. Along with the fact that the tray seems like it is destined to fail some day, the fact that the unit has to be prepared for blank disks means that there is a 20 second "what the hell is it" dance performed every time you load the tray with a disk. I'm hoping that a dedicated player will load a disk in a fraction of that time, even if it does have to sort out CDs from DVDs from SACDs.

The only real downside that I see is that the Sony player is a typical consumer unbalanced, -10 device with rca connectors for analog playback. (it also has a few types of digital audio outputs, so I can playback through outboard DA converters and a bunch of video I/O that I will probably never use.)

OK, thats more than anyone needed to know........so what do you use for disk playback, assuming that you are not using a computer for playback? Are you using a CD recorder for playback, or do you have a dedicated disk player? And if you use a playback machine, did you get one of the few available "pro" units with balanced +4 XLR I/0, or is it one of the common consumer playback machines?

Thanks!

2nd January 2005	#1
hollywood_steve Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: uh..... Hollywood Posts: 1,242 Thread Starter	disk playback I guess this thread is aimed at those few among us who still do not route all audio through their computer / workstation. Specifically, I'm talking about CD playback, whether commercial CDs played for reference or CD-R(w)s that you use for 2 track storage. For those of us who do not playback CDs in their computer's CD drive, what do you use? The reason I'm asking is because I'm considering one of those $99 "do-everything" machines that are stacked to the ceiling at every consumer electronics mall right now. Surprisingly, the "audiophile" guys actually give high marks to several of the units within a few dollars on either side of $100! (from manufacturers like Toshiba and Sony) And these things can play back CDs, DVDs, and as a bonus for me, SACD. (at least the units that I am considering can do this....) This seems like an extreme amount of utility for $99, especially when you consider what we pay for good quality pro audio gear. My current "player" is actually my HHB 830+ CD recorder and while it does a good enough job of playback, I'm already wondering how long its cheap mechanical parts (transport, tray, etc.) will last if it gets used for constant playback duty, along with its intended use as a 2 track master recorder. Along with the fact that the tray seems like it is destined to fail some day, the fact that the unit has to be prepared for blank disks means that there is a 20 second "what the hell is it" dance performed every time you load the tray with a disk. I'm hoping that a dedicated player will load a disk in a fraction of that time, even if it does have to sort out CDs from DVDs from SACDs. The only real downside that I see is that the Sony player is a typical consumer unbalanced, -10 device with rca connectors for analog playback. (it also has a few types of digital audio outputs, so I can playback through outboard DA converters and a bunch of video I/O that I will probably never use.) OK, thats more than anyone needed to know........so what do you use for disk playback, assuming that you are not using a computer for playback? Are you using a CD recorder for playback, or do you have a dedicated disk player? And if you use a playback machine, did you get one of the few available "pro" units with balanced +4 XLR I/0, or is it one of the common consumer playback machines? Thanks! __________________ steve Lexington 125 - High Resolution Location Recording lex125@pacbell.net http://www.lexington125.com