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From: kiessig@idi.UUCP (Rick Kiessig)
Newsgroups: net.audio
Subject: Re: CD Player listening tests
Message-ID: <175@idi.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Apr-84 21:00:48 EST
Article-I.D.: idi.175
Posted: Fri Apr 27 21:00:48 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Apr-84 10:34:17 EST
References: <1335@vice.UUCP>
Organization: Intelligent Decisions, Saratoga, CA
Lines: 52


	When I was shopping for CD players, I too made some
A/B tests.  Everything I had heard said that there "shouldn't
be any difference" between players, but I thought I'd check
it out, anyway.  Here was the setup:

	Yamaha R-100 receiver/amp
	Revox Plenum speakers
	B&O RX turntable
	Nakamichi LX-5 tape deck
	Yamaha CD player
	Sony CDP-101
	NEC 803

	Comparisons were done between the turntable and CD players,
with the expected results.

	The next tests involved recording some music onto several
kinds of tape from the Sony CD player, and then playing them
back in sync with the CD.  All recording used Dolby C.  There was
noticable hiss on the tape (although very slight and not annoying
except during the quietest passages).  The purpose here was to
see how well the tape deck could capture the dynamic range of
a CD.  It did very well (I have since learned that setting levels
is the hardest problem when recording a CD - there seems to be
a much larger dynamic range than on any vinyl I've ever recorded).

        The final tests were to compare the CDs to one another.
The same CDs were played in sync and A/B'd with the remote
control unit.  This was the most suprising part.  We all expected
there to be no discernable difference between the players.  Or
perhaps a small difference on the high end between the cheapest
(Sony) and most expensive (NEC) units.  WRONG!  There was an
extremely noticable difference between all three units - on both
the high AND the low end.  The NEC had much better imaging.
On a piece like Also Sprach Zarathustra, with the very deep
bass at the beginning, you can really hear a change going from
vinyl to one CD player to another.  It was unanimous that the
NEC sounded better than either of the other units.  Whether the
difference warrants an extra $500 wasn't as clear, though.

	The Yamaha unit subsequently broke down several times,
and the store where these test were done decided to carry ONLY
the NEC player.  I ended up with the above setup and the NEC
player (I have since decided that I don't like the R-100 -
its digital tuner really sucks).

Rick
-- 
Rick Kiessig
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