Is there a real difference?Can you notice it?

[Nervozni_Zika]

I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with either
NAD 521i or 541i.

People tell me I will never hear the difference. I need to by CD player in
next 2 days. Tell me what you think and help me make up my mind
Thank you

[All Ears]

A god dealer will let you take both with you home, and allow you to return
the one you don't want to keep.

KE

"Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04...
> I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with either
> NAD 521i or 541i.
>
> People tell me I will never hear the difference. I need to by CD player in
> next 2 days. Tell me what you think and help me make up my mind
> Thank you
>

[Mkuller]

>"Arny Krueger" wrote:>
>If you want something a little extra crispy, consider the Pioneer DV-563
>"universal" DVD player which handles SACD and DVD-A.
>

Inventing a new audiophile term here, Arnie? Perhaps you could tell us what
"crispy" means. And "extra crispy" (that's the way I like my bacon but not my
music). And then perhaps you could share the measurements those terms
correspond to.
Regards,
Mike

[Yoan Paquet]

I went through the same process and opted for the 541i. Main difference:
Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 24 bits digital to analogue converter vs 20 bits. It
DOES make a difference; higher sound detail and very precise high
frequencies is what I was able to discern. Other difference, the HDCD
decoder. I've played the same CD on the 521i and 541i (Holy Cole) in HDCD
and its very much richer on the 541i. Or course, HDCDs are not that
popular... The 521i has no optical out or NAD link jacks. The 541i also uses
Nichicon capacitors; not a major difference but they are of better quality
than many other suppliers (AVX, TDK...).

Yoan

"Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04...
> I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with either
> NAD 521i or 541i.
>
> People tell me I will never hear the difference. I need to by CD player in
> next 2 days. Tell me what you think and help me make up my mind
> Thank you
>

[Uptown Audio]

Actually you have touched on what makes most better CD players better.
It is easy enough to look at bit numbers and processor speed, but that
is actually very deceptive. Some of the best sounding players are
single bit/bitstream and use lower than 96k processing speed. Some use
a higher speed and also do very well, so that gets confusing right?
What is not written in the specs is the quality of the analog output
section and that is what has a far greater impact on the sound than
the similar digital devices. Better components and better designs
yield better sound almost regardless of the chipsets chosen for many
units. The selection of especially quiet op amps (few makers do that)
and other integrated and passive components makes for a better unit.
As with any amplifier, the power supply is very important and the
better devices use better power supplies. All that attention to detail
and use of superior parts adds up to a higher cost. The guys that tell
you that DVD players are better and that CD players are not "high-end"
anymore are misguided and need a good listen to the better Cd players.
As far as the original poster goes, he needs to listen for himself.
You can't hash out sound via specs alone. You have to listen.
- Bill
www.uptownaudio.com
Roanoke VA
(540) 343-1250

"Yoan Paquet" > wrote in message
.net...
> I went through the same process and opted for the 541i. Main
difference:
> Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 24 bits digital to analogue converter vs 20
bits. It
> DOES make a difference; higher sound detail and very precise high
> frequencies is what I was able to discern. Other difference, the
HDCD
> decoder. I've played the same CD on the 521i and 541i (Holy Cole) in
HDCD
> and its very much richer on the 541i. Or course, HDCDs are not that
> popular... The 521i has no optical out or NAD link jacks. The 541i
also uses
> Nichicon capacitors; not a major difference but they are of better
quality
> than many other suppliers (AVX, TDK...).
>
> Yoan
>
> "Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
> news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04...
> > I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with
either
> > NAD 521i or 541i.
> >
> > People tell me I will never hear the difference. I need to by CD
player in
> > next 2 days. Tell me what you think and help me make up my mind
> > Thank you
> >
>

[Howard Ferstler]

"All Ears" > wrote in message news:<ZQq3b.285362$Ho3.39297@sccrnsc03>...
> A god dealer will let you take both with you home, and allow you to return
> the one you don't want to keep.

I assume you mean a "good" dealer. In any case, what about the
rejected player? If you were a followup customer would you want to
come into a store and end up purchasing a player that someone else had
taken home, run hard, maybe even abused a bit, and then rejected?

I am not sure this "loaner" idea is a good thing for those who end up
purchasing "used" gear at "new" gear prices.

Just how "good" is a dealer that does stuff like this?

Howard

> KE
>
> "Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
> news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04...
> > I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with either
> > NAD 521i or 541i.
> >
> > People tell me I will never hear the difference. I need to by CD player in
> > next 2 days. Tell me what you think and help me make up my mind
> > Thank you
> >

[nubi]

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:42:15 GMT, "Arny Krueger" >
wrote:

>"Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
>news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04
>
>> I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with
>> either NAD 521i or 541i.
>
>> People tell me I will never hear the difference.
>
>Not only that, but you probably won't hear the difference between these
>players and far less costly ones.
>
Is it also true that one wouldn't hear the difference between a
computer cd rom and and a dedicated cd player if they were both
connected to the same output?

[Arny Krueger]

"nubi" > wrote in message

> On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:42:15 GMT, "Arny Krueger" >
> wrote:
>
>> "Nervozni_Zika" > wrote in message
>> news:yud3b.279653$uu5.62673@sccrnsc04
>>
>>> I am in a process of buying cd player. I have made up my mind with
>>> either NAD 521i or 541i.
>>
>>> People tell me I will never hear the difference.
>>
>> Not only that, but you probably won't hear the difference between
>> these players and far less costly ones.

> Is it also true that one wouldn't hear the difference between a
> computer cd rom and and a dedicated cd player if they were both
> connected to the same output?

This depends on how well your computer's CD ROM plays audio CDs.

Computer CD ROM players have historically had analog outputs that were
pretty mediocre or worse.

There has been a slow improvement in the audio quality of CDROM analog
audio outputs, but they are still considerably substandard compared to a
good $100 stand-alone DVD player. In numbers we're talking the difference
between dynamic range in the 60-70 dB range versus dynamic range in the 90
dB range.

Someplace around Win98SE Microsoft changed their Windows software so that
audio CD playback could bypass these mediocre-or-worse analog circuits in
the CDROM. At that time this mode of operation was optional and the default
was still to use the analog circuits in the player. Over time MS has changed
the defaults in their audio player software, and at this time, most PC audio
playback bypasses the analog circuits of the CD ROM.

This then puts responsibility for the sound quality of audio CD playback on
your PC squarely on your PC's sound card. PC sound card sound quality also
ranges from ridiculously bad to sublimely good.

The average quality of PC sound playback through the output jack on the back
of the PC has also improved, but it's still generally not nearly as good as
a good $100 stand-alone DVD player unless it has been upgraded.

Then, there is the problem the sound quality of your typical PC speaker
system, which again can vary tremendously.