still learning wrote:
Mark doesn't believe:

Says you.
I stand by my statement. Do you really believe, for example, that a
59.00 RCA 5-disc player made in China by Hu-Nos-Hu and sold at
Walmart is really going to have as good a D/A section as a big,
heavy Denon from 1989 with Dual Burr-Browns? Or that the digital
output of this cheap player would not sound better through an
external DAC? Give me a break. I'm not saying I could reliably tell
the difference in an A/B test, but I sure as heck think I could tell
after living with one or the other for a while.

Mark Z.

Then you have things backwards, since it's easier to tell things apart
in a quick switch comparison than in a long term one.
If you can't tell the difference in a quick switch test, then for you
at least, there is no difference and no reason to spend the extra
money. BTW, big and heavy are not synonymous with better or even
good.

Even in the unlikely event that you could tell them apart, it doesn't
mean the original poster could. This should be something to be
celebrated, since it means you can save some money and buy more music.


Let me put it this way:

1. Wouldn't you rather have a nice CD player than a piece of crap?
2. Don't you suppose there's at least a chance the better built CD player
might sound better?
3. Don't you suppose a high-quality external DAC might possibly sound better
than the cheapest possible 1-chip DAC section of of the cheapest built CD
players in the world (which is exactly what this Chinese stuff is, for the
most part) ?

Mark Z.