CD Changer VS Single Player

[Mark111867]

Hi. I have been using a 5 cd changer (Denon DCM270) for about 5 years. Over the past year or so, it has started to skip. Some of the cd's are new, so I know that it is not a cd issue. This situation has left me thinking about buying a new player. Is there a difference in quality between a cd changer and a single disc player? I've been thinking about something like the NAD C521BEE. I enjoy the convenience of a changer, but if a single cd player offers more in the way of sound quality and durability, I would make the sacrifice. My budget is around $300 or less. Thanks.

[20to20K]

Hi. I have been using a 5 cd changer (Denon DCM270) for about 5 years. Over the past year or so, it has started to skip. Some of the cd's are new, so I know that it is not a cd issue. This situation has left me thinking about buying a new player. Is there a difference in quality between a cd changer and a single disc player? I've been thinking about something like the NAD C521BEE. I enjoy the convenience of a changer, but if a single cd player offers more in the way of sound quality and durability, I would make the sacrifice. My budget is around $300 or less. Thanks.

If your only issue with the Denon is the present skipping it may be worth checking out.
It may something as simple as the laser lens needs cleaning or the laser itself needs re-aligning. Ones a $10 solution the other...$50-$75 depending on who you take it to.

For $300 I doubt you can find anything new that is going to be a significant upgrade over your Denon when it is in normal operating condition.

Now if you're just using this little problem as an excuse to upgrade (I do it ALL the time)
then I'll leave well enough alone and tell you to let that upgrade bug bite away.

In my second system I have an old Pioneer PDM-70 6 disk changer that I bought in 1988 that still works flawlessly. While the extra moving mechanisms of a changer probably adds more risk to problems, I think build quality, care, and just sheer luck are more of a determining factor in life expectancy (kind of like us humans!) I pretty sure that a well cared for rotel changer will last longer than a Walmart single disk player owned by a 13 year old.

[Mark111867]

Thanks for the advice 20to20k. Other than the skipping, I really don't have a big beef with the Denon. I guess that I'm a bit "gun shy" when it comes to having repairs done, as in the past, I was better off not having the repair done and buying new, which is how I approached this problem. The repairs were never 100% and I got tired of having to go back to the repair shop. If there is not much of a difference though, I'll consider having this cd player repaired. Thanks again.

[jeskibuff]

I'm a big fan of carousels. I have two Sonys...a CD player with 300-disc capacity that I've played the crap out of since about 1997 (and it keeps on ticking) and a 400-disc DVD/SACD player that I've had a bit over a year now. My sister just got a 400-disc DVD/SACD unit that she's totally thrilled with...no loading, storing or handling discs...everything is sooo convenient! Although she also got a whole new system (Hsu sub, Swan rosewood surround system & Yamaha HTR-5760), she seems to be most pleased with the carousel. We got it from eTronics at just under $300 not including $15 shipping.

I had a Denon 5-disc changer years ago and the loading/changing mechanism failed.

[20to20K]

I'm a big fan of carousels. I have two Sonys...a CD player with 300-disc capacity that I've played the crap out of since about 1997 (and it keeps on ticking) and a 400-disc DVD/SACD player that I've had a bit over a year now. My sister just got a 400-disc DVD/SACD unit that she's totally thrilled with...no loading, storing or handling discs...everything is sooo convenient! Although she also got a whole new system (Hsu sub, Swan rosewood surround system & Yamaha HTR-5760), she seems to be most pleased with the carousel. We got it from eTronics at just under $300 not including $15 shipping.

I had a Denon 5-disc changer years ago and the loading/changing mechanism failed.

Nice setup...I'm impressed.

I'd like to add a changer to my main system as well but I'm holding out for finding a specific one. I've been searching for a Denon DCM-5000 for about 6 months now. It's an audiophile quality 100 disk changer with dual transports, 24 bit Burr Brown DAC, and supports HDCD. The dual tranport feature allow crossfading from track to track which I think is very cool. It has all the other nicities of a modern megachanger but with super high quality construction.

They stopped making them about 5 years ago and they are hard to find on the used market. I recently got outbid on Ebay for one...it went for over $600 and I couldn't be near my computer when the auction closed so my hibid got passed.

Oh well...the search continues...

[jeskibuff]

Nice setup...I'm impressed.

Thanks. I recently made some changes...will have to post the new setup soon.

I've been searching for a Denon DCM-5000 for about 6 months now. It's an audiophile quality 100 disk changer with dual transports, 24 bit Burr Brown DAC, and supports HDCD. The dual tranport feature allow crossfading from track to track which I think is very cool.

It might be cool, but do you think you'll be using that feature much? I think it would be valuable for a DJ, but I wouldn't think it would be used in everyday listening applications. As for the DAC, I let my processor handle the digital signals. For the SACD and DTS discs, the 400-disc Sony sounds great to me. Maybe in an A/B comparison there may be a subtle difference, but I doubt it'd be worth much. For the HDCD issue, are there even many out there? I can't say as I've ever seen an HDCD disc...the SACDs and DVD-As though almost invisible are still more conspicuous than HDCD.

It has all the other nicities of a modern megachanger but with super high quality construction.

Well, 100 discs is just a quarter the capacity of a 400-disc carousel. It would take seven of them to equal the capacity of my two carousels.

Look how many discs fit into just my 300-disc player:

They stopped making them about 5 years ago and they are hard to find on the used market.

Do you really want to buy a player that's at least 5 years old? From my understanding the lasers have a limited lifespan, degrading over time. Maybe that's much improved now, but I'd want a player that I'll be able to use for some time.

Just for the record, I am not a Sony sales rep!

[20to20K]

Oh yes...I will definitely use the crossfade option. I love the sound of crossfading one song into another between tracks and I would make all my analog cassette recordings, burned CD's, and minidisk recordings that way if I got it. It would also be a good feature for when I am entertaining . It's all a matter of personal preference...I'm sure the feature wouldn't be seen as useful to many which is why it isn't available on many many units.

Going from 1 disk to 100 disks would be an enormous improvement for me. I can also daisy chain multiiple DCM 5001 slave units which hold an additional 100 disks each if I so desired.

I may have to ultimately settle on a Sony ES or Pioneer Elite mega-changer to fill my void if I don't find my Denon pretty soon though...

[Beckman]

Do you have or need a DVD player. DVD players make good cd players. Also you might want to look into DVD-Audio/SACD/DVD/CD players, the prices on these have come down a lot.

[StanleyMuso]

My CD player was once stolen during a break-in, but it was only a single and I lost the disk which was in it at the time. What if it had been a 400 changer? I'd have lost a goodly proportion of my hard won collection. Any body else worried about losing their collections?

[20to20K]

My CD player was once stolen during a break-in, but it was only a single and I lost the disk which was in it at the time. What if it had been a 400 changer? I'd have lost a goodly proportion of my hard won collection. Any body else worried about losing their collections?

I appreciate your point...and it is a valid one. On the other hand I can't let criminals dictate what gear (or anything else) I will or won't buy because I'm living in fear of theft. My wife does stuff like that all the time and I'm just not built that way. Some people won't even take vacations because they fear leaving their house unoccupied will result in their home being robbed. That's a lame way to live...and life is too short to let thievin' scumbags determine my purchases. I would suggest getting a really good insurance policy if you have such concerns.

[StanleyMuso]

rule your life. However, I have lots of much loved music which is no longer available, so I dread the thought of losing it all. I could never replace everything.

I was thinking of getting one of those hard disk drive based units, copy all my CDs onto that, and then stash them somewhere as backup archives. If the hard drive unit went missing or crashed, I could do it all again from mint fresh, unscratched disks.

[20to20K]

rule your life. However, I have lots of much loved music which is no longer available, so I dread the thought of losing it all. I could never replace everything.

I was thinking of getting one of those hard disk drive based units, copy all my CDs onto that, and then stash them somewhere as backup archives. If the hard drive unit went missing or crashed, I could do it all again from mint fresh, unscratched disks.

I lived in Europe for the better part of the past 10 years until just recently moving back and I attained several rare, bootleg, out of print, and import only CD's that I would NEVER be able to replace if some dirtbag got his hands on them. The sad part is most of it is obscure jazz so he probably wouldn't appreciate it and toss it anyway!

If some of those disks got stolen I would go nuts. I already had a similiar experience. I had 2 hours worth of video I shot from the North Sea Jazz festival from 1997 that I had compiled onto a single S-VHS cassette that was inside my VCR when my house was robbed in 1998. I'm betting the thief looked at if for five minutes and just tossed it!

Despite that experience I still feel the way I do...like you say...I should have backed it up!

[jeskibuff]

I should have backed it up!

Backing up! What a concept! That's probably good advice for anyone with a decent CD collection. With the ridiculously cheap price of CD-Rs nowadays (many times free after rebate), I'd prefer the copy method. My full collection probably wouldn't fit on a hard drive unit without some undesireable compression. No way to back up the DVD-As and SACDs though!

Yep...you can't let thieves rule your life, but at least you can take precautions to make sure your loss is minimized. The same goes for fire or other Acts of God and all your other valuables and keepsakes.

[StanleyMuso]

I'm an old fashioned audiophile, and I wouldn't allow any system to degrade quality by compressing. I'd only put it onto a hard drive if I knew there was no degradation of sound quality. Don't know if that's the case - haven't done my research yet. Still, with hard disk drive technology dropping in price all the time and increasing in capacity, I dare say it might even be possible to add extra disks to accomodate the whole collection. If I ever go that way, I hope to put my vinyl and old tapes on it as well.