DACs vs another cdp

cusco69

Hi
I have a Marantz CD6004 and find it ok. I have lots of riped material but the 6004 cannot be used as a DAC. Is it better to get another cdp or sadc that can be used as both player and dac or use the current unit (marantz cd6004) and buy a dedicated DAC. What is the price point to get equal or better quality sound equal or better than my current cdp? Please give your feedback freely. I will be glad to hear all critics before deciding on a budget.I am prepared to invest another couple of hundreds at most.

soundfreak1

Get a dac. U can get a very good vintage dac for a few hundo, and later mod it for a hundo or so. Great wat to go if on a buget. The adcom 600 or 700 will fit the buget and sounda great with lots of "mod" room for later. It will make a good cdp sound great! Imho

steveinaz

For your purpose, a dedicated DAC would be best; however, a "couple-hundred" dollar DAC will likely not out-perform your current CD player.

EndersShadow

When you say "ripped" material are you talking about digital files? If so what format (FLAC, Apple lossless, MP3, ect). Also are they stored on a computer or NAS near your setup?

All of these factors can change what folks will recommend as far as setup, and if you need a DAC for your ripped files. If your ripped files are MP3 then buying a couple hundred dollar DAC wont really do anything since the source is bad. If they are FLAC though you can get a "decent" USB DAC for around that price that will be able to do what you want.

All depends on the source file type and where its stored.

Some folks would recommend a Squeezebox Touch, or something like a Keces 131 or 151 (the USB model of those two). All can be had for a couple hundred and will produce a pretty good result if the source file is up to snuff.

Will it be better than your Marantz, probably not I would posit (havent heard one), but it will be more convienent more than likely.

cusco69

Thanks. I rip most of my music in WAV format. Currently I have to transfer it to flash sticks to use on the cdp. There is a strange problem as the files sometimes does not play back fully. It occasionally skip to the next song half way thru and when checked in my com found the files to be ok. I do not know if I could feed the 6004directly from my computer using the USB as its not written in the manual. Has anyone tried this?

this_is_vv

I tried feeding music to marantz using USB was unable to do so was only able to get through flash

BlueFox

this_is_vv wrote: »

I tried feeding music to marantz using USB was unable to do so was only able to get through flash

You need to practice your spamming skills. Reported since we now have multipile posts saying the same thing on different threads.

cusco69

Hi Bluefox
Sorry I dont mean to spam. I read other threads but did not find this particular model except one. But did not get response as they are talking about other things. I also responded in other similar threads in other forums but also no response. Again, sorry but at least now I know what the cđ6004 can and cannot do.

tonyb

It should be able to play off a memory stick but that may be limited to mp3. I don't believe the 6004 was ment to be used directly with a computer.

Get yourself a dac, a decent one. You'll never go back to doing without one. We had a Cambridge Dacmagic in the FM for 200, see if it's still there.

blehmbo

A DAC will make managing your music library very convenient.

Take into consideration the noise your computer makes. A DAC could create the desire/need for a silent PC if you don't already have one.

bthogan

Howdy, cusco69! I got the same cd player recently, and I've been yelling about it all over these forums. I do use it as a DAC; I've got a lot of ripped audio on my 2 ipods, almost entirely in ALAC. I've never had any problem plugging either ipod into the CD6004 and getting sound; I've also never had any issues with songs skipping, although I think I may have seen someone mention that issue somewhere or other. I haven't tried to play anything off of any other sort of drive. Do you have an ipod or iphone that you could try playing some of those WAV files from?

Here's a thread that you may already have seen, where a few of us try to figure out the player's functionality, with the help (?) of the manual, and end up pleasantly surprised:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?137143-New-Toy-Marantz-cd6004&highlight=cd6004

You may already have looked at that...the upshot is that it seems to play every format but FLAC (every format, that is, that an ipod will play), even the manual says it can only play mp3, wma and AAC.

I've wondered about the computer idea. The manual doesn't say it can be done, but it also doesn't say it can play ALAC or WAV files, and it can. In my case, it would require a very long cable...I may have to give it a shot some time.

I'm actually so happy with the player as a DAC for my ipods that I'm gonna stick with the player for a bit longer than I'd expected. I'd been kind of antsy about upgrading to a higher-end cdp, but I also love the convenience of playing things off of my ipods, with very good sound quality. I took a look around at options - better-sounding (perhaps) but more expensive players, and DACs that wouldn't be much cheaper...and decided that, all things considered, this is the most convenient, low-cost, and least cluttered way of getting great-sounding audio from my cds and other digital audio sources.

I'm actually currently experimenting with high-end aftermarket USB cables, to try to squeeze every drop of sound quality that I can out of this player, because I like it so much...I need to give the new cable (AudioQuest Carbon) a little more burn-in time before I give a credible opinion, but I will say that so far, results have been encouraging.

Clipdat

Nice bthogan, another sound post! I will try to grab a USB A to A cable from work on Monday and try the PC to Marantz hookup. I doubt it will work but hey, at least we will be able to ease cusco69's curiosity!

cusco69

Hi All,
Good to know that so many people are chipping in here, thanks to all. I have been using only flash with wav files and it works fine. As mentioned, the skipping songs are in foreign language, maybe that is the problem.
The cd playback is fine and with reasonable detail. Good cable is a must. I found lots of difference when I upgraded my cable. Will wait for the usb test results, umphhhh.

slider2828

Dedicated DAC does give you a bit more air.... If you are handy with a soldering iron, then ebay dacs with different chips and output caps are a great investment.

cusco69

hi skide
Its nice to see so many dacs on ebay and other sites. The reason is I am still not sure what is good for me. The descriptions are so confusing, the different connections, the output/input and the sound quality like "beliavable" sounds are all new to me. I am currently looking around for an audition and from there I would have a reference point to start comparing. Thanks a thousand for all the contributions so far, I am slow but surely soaking in all these new info.

cusco69

Clipdat wrote: »

Nice bthogan, another sound post! I will try to grab a USB A to A cable from work on Monday and try the PC to Marantz hookup. I doubt it will work but hey, at least we will be able to ease cusco69's curiosity!

Hi All,
Tried myself, the usb cannot work with the cd6004. The flash works fine with my WAV files. The skipping problems solved. Reason: the file copied from media folder to flash have funny way of creating numbers and also different level of folders when copied from different computers and different cds. I clear up all the numbers by "rename" each file to remove all "???? and numbers" and also ensure there is only 2 level of folders, main and sub and song title or files next and all skipping is now gone. For foreign languages, the file will play but will be displayed with "****" but plays fine.
Once again thanks for all the help and feedback. I find this forum most interesting and responsive and also members are so "direct" and honest with their thoughts, like it, thanks again.

Clipdat

Cool, thanks for reporting your findings. I wasn't able to find a USB A to A cable at work, but now I'll stop looking. Nice that you also found a solution to the skipping issue, I guess these types of systems tend to get confused if there's too many subfolders.

About how many hours do you have on your cd6004 now? Is it still in the break in process? Just curious, as it's built in DAC seems to be quite nice and only improving over time. (I only have about 25 hours on my unit).

Out of curiosity, what type of RCA cables are you using on the 6004?

sandman012

DAC all the way

bklynNupe

I find a cd that is well recorded/mastered sounds better with a good cd player. I have a tube cd player and prefer this for tracks with good vocals. For me it sounds almost like a turntable that would be way out of my price range. However, I find my dac does a better job with rendering better detail from ripped files from not-so-perfect source material. I also use Pure Music over I-tunes to send the music to my dac. Of course flac files also sound great.

cusco69

Hi Clipdat,
I posted the reply, but somehow it did not get thru.
I have more than 150 hours on the cd6004 now, and I am using Chord cobra (1 meter) interconnect to my amp. I was using audioquest golden gate but found the chord to be a better match for the accuphase (my personal opinion). I find the playback with flash sticks a little bright compared with playing with the cds, please see if you have the same finding on your cd6004.
I have now replaced the M703 with the M705, found the sound stage a lot better. I am using magnum hybrid cables (2 meters) for the speakers. Its still breaking in, barely 20 hours on it.

cusco69

I had ordered a audioengine đ1 to test if it improves the sound quality of music from my com. I may pass this on and get another dac if it improves the quality, not expecting a night/day diff but hope it should be noticeable. I have seen most of the feedback above but none mentionef nuforce ion dac and pre amp which I can get it easily here rather then hunting around. Any one with experience with nuforce?
Again all feedback welcomed. No intend to spam this topic but no info on the item mentioned

cusco69

Hi All,
Got the audio engine D1 and hook up to my laptop (Dell Latitude), supply to Marantz KI PM Pearl Lite (70wpc) and driving DSW440i and RTi A1. I tried with and without the dac and can hardly hear any difference. Its a plug and play and there is nothing to tweak, and I did not adjust the eq from day 1 of the laptop. Could there be something I could do to make it better or this is the sound of 200 buck dac?