Sound quality: Cd vs Computer

[highjump]

Hi everyone, as the title says what are your opinions? To me music sounds better playing off a cd player then computer.

[Alex Murphy]

Depends on the machine itself. My mac sounds better than my PC, then my PC would sound better if plugged on a MOTU. Then my CDJ sounds great, but still not as good as my hifi CD player.

To go your way in terms of better, I would say my cd players have no fan noise at all. Some desktops are right down noisy.

[KLH]

There are too many variables to make a general observation. DAC, filters, amplification method, and speaker quality can each make a significant difference in sound quality.

Even the mood of listener makes a difference...

-KLH

[Alex Murphy]

^^^ I think that thread is pretty much covered.

[Sigma]

Hi everyone, as the title says what are your opinions? To me music sounds better playing off a cd player then computer.
It depends what you're comparing and how you're comparing it.

[Era 7]

also most onboard soundcards in PCs are not made for the audiophile user. its more of an allrounder. doing everything but nothing particularly exceptional while a hifi soundsystem is built for the task.

[Alex Murphy]

motherboards have poor sound quality indeed.


It depends what you're comparing and how you're comparing it.

:teef:http://gizmodo.com/363154/audiophile-deathmatch-monster-cables-vs-a-coat-hanger

Just to put some snake oil on the fire.

[Sigma]

Oh yeah, lol, all of that "£100 a metre" speaker wire stuff is a load of old bollocks IMO, but does the OP have the PC hooked up to the same amp/speakers as the CD player? Is he comparing low bitrate MP3s with CDs?

[Alex Murphy]

This. Depends on what you use basically. And I paid a fortune for my speaker wire thank you very much :teef:

[fueledbymusic]

I feel that cds sound better than the computer. But I dont have an complaint on the computer. Use the computer more than cds. Still sounds good to me.

[Damon_Chambers]

what about CDs being played on a computer?

eh? eh?

[Wakka]

Depends on a lot of things really. The computers sound card, the format of the song being played from the computer, Ect Ect. I think it's all already been covered in this thread already.

[Estacy]

Oh yeah, lol, all of that "£100 a metre" speaker wire stuff is a load of old bollocks IMO,

because your music will sound more dynamic with this triple shielded, braided cable that is 99.8% oxygen free, has tungusten diamond inserts for enhanced clarity, and music travels in waves trough the cable, and we cut it up just right so that the wave hits the connection at the exact right spot for superb detailed reproduction of audio.
(I'm not even making this up)

[fueledbymusic]

what about CDs being played on a computer?

eh? eh? I think cds sound better through cdjs than being played through computer. Might as well just stick with playing mp3s through the computer

[pete]

Computers have the potential to sound better than a Cd player because they can reproduce music at higher quality than CD (24 bit).
But you need a good soundcard.
And there are hifi Cd players that sound amazing as they are.

However, the quality of the sound is also affected by the quality of all the components in the supply chain.

Without spending a fortune it is possible to get clear enough sound from a computer.
I use modified Alessando headphones and a Fiio DAC headphone amp. They both cost very little but sound nice enough to my ears.

Although CD is 1970s technology created as a compromise between quality and size, it is almost as good as can be for normal ears. Hence it has lasted so long. But it is well overdue for an update, I wish higher quality FLAC would become standard.

As for the sound quality of DJ equipment. It is not even close to hifi.

[Alex Murphy]

what about CDs being played on a computer?

eh? eh?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/fireaza/unsuccessful_troll.jpg

[mostapha]

Computers can sound better because they're not limited to 16/44.1 and prosumer (at best) converters and analog processing, but from a DJ's perspective that doesn't matter. It depends on the converters the computer uses, what comes after them, and which one is run correctly.

If you're talking just about DJ sets…the answer is whichever one is neither clipping nor limited to all hell…which tends to be CDs or SSL over Traktor because NI doesn't believe in legitimate metering…but only if the SSL DJ had a clue how to set it up because their defaults suck.

I'm convinced that bad metering (mostly NI's fault) and DJs not understanding how digital audio works is 100% of the reason why there are people who think CDs sound better than Computers. Those people are right…because NI doesn't care about sound quality and SSL is still fighting a loudness war that we all already lost.

[Brom]

Last fall I ripped the remastered version of The Cure's "Disintegration" into iTunes as an AIFF file and afterwards the CD started playing while still in the drive. It sounded nice and loud and then I played the AIFF version of the same track and it wasn't as loud. It's supposed to be an "exact" copy with no compression but whatever. I started out as a laptop DJ in 2003 and have only used CD decks a few times. Even though I think CDs sound better (and I'm sure a good vinyl setup sounds better yet - just never DJ'd on one of those) the convenience of the laptop outweighs any of the sonic limitations. And drunk people at a wedding or a bar aren't going to notice any difference.

[mostapha]

You had sound check on in iTunes preferences. It applies auto-gain and compression if necessary. Playing a CD doesn't.

[highjump]

I should of started off with " why is there a difference in sound of a song 320kbps played through your pc and that same song recorded to cdr and the cd sounding better?

[mostapha]

The quality of the audio card and any processing you may or may not know about (like the Sound Check issue above).

(yes, CD players have audio cards)

[Brom]

You had sound check on in iTunes preferences. It applies auto-gain and compression if necessary. Playing a CD doesn't.

Good catch. I usually don't listen through iTunes so Sound Check and Sound Enhancer were both on. I'll have to compare the CD v. AIFF again sometime without them being on.

[Unknown DJ]

it's doesn't matter because most PA systems don't sound that good.

[mostapha]

Good catch. I usually don't listen through iTunes so Sound Check and Sound Enhancer were both on. I'll have to compare the CD v. AIFF again sometime without them being on.It's on by default. And, yeah, it's kind of ridiculous.

Yeah…Sound Check just peak-normalizes everything. Well, I think it does…it might do RMS normalization, but without any settings, I doubt it. When I've left it on before, it doesn't play quiet enough to not cause all hip hop to distort like mad from clipping the DAC.

Sound Enhancer is even more BS…I'm pretty sure it's an aggressive peak limiter that's more like radio broadcast equipment than anything you'd ever want.

For as dominant as the iTunes store is, iTunes itself is a pretty crappy media player. It doesn't even have a decent EQ. I use it almost solely out of laziness, and their BS has me seriously contemplating moving to Android for my phone just so I'll have a good media player on my phone.


it's doesn't matter because most PA systems don't sound that good.

That's completely legit. But it doesn't mean you shouldn't care just in case you play on a good one at some point.

In general:

Fortunately, all DJ-oriented gear is about the same in terms of actual quality…and it's all good enough. The difference between a $5,000 2-channel DAC and a $70 Numark card is smaller than you'd guess. It's audible, but you have to have good ears, good speakers, and a good room to call it "night & day".

The harder part is making sure your software is set up well…and that's mostly because SSL's output is hot as hell by default and NI hates meters. You have to read SSL's manual to know how to set it up right, but at least it has good meters. Traktor's manual kinda sucks in that regard, and it's so common in NI's software that I'm beginning to wonder if they care at all about sound quality. Every single one of the demo tracks I've looked at for the Maschine expansions cause intersample modulation distortion on output. Most of them are just flat-out clipped. They sound better than they should, implying that NI actually does care but that they don't think their users have a clue what they're doing, so they're doing some kind of processing that you can't see or control to prevent it sounding horrible…but I can't find any real documentation on it.

But it's starting to really piss me off that I have to use up effect slots on AU meters because they just didn't bother including any in the UI…and it's one of the big selling points for cross grading to the new MPCs over Maschine if I decide to stick with a computer-based groove box.

[Alex Murphy]

Fortunately, all DJ-oriented gear is about the same in terms of actual quality…and it's all good enough. The difference between a $5,000 2-channel DAC and a $70 Numark card is smaller than you'd guess. It's audible, but you have to have good ears, good speakers, and a good room to call it "night & day".

I still have some numark decks, I think they sound cold and ever so slightly dull. Side by side tests and pioneer shows pretty much the night and day difference you're talking about.

[mostapha]

Numark cd decks? Yeah…I probably should have said that DJ gear is all really similar once you get above the "not crap" threshold. That threshold is pretty low compared to how much a "not crap" guitar setup costs, for example, but it still exists.

[highjump]

Hi everyone, sorry for bringing this topic after a 1 1/2yrs but I believe I found the answer to my question. And I think this is my answer " HRT Music Streamer II " its states "MS II connected to a computer is the equivalent of a very high quality CD player with a fixed 2.25V output & Asynchronous Mode Operation eliminates timing errors (jitter)" does anyone use this product or a similar USB DAC?

[allensmusic]

The problem is, CD's arent all that great. get a turntable and play records.

[Panotaker]

I use a couple of DAC's. My main one is a Logitech Transporter. It sounds incredible when playing Flac files ripped from CD's, or playing vinyl rips recorded at 24/96. My other Dac is a lot cheaper and smaller, but since it is newer, it sounds incredible too, and sounds a whole lot better than the sound card on my MBP. It is a USB Dragonfly that plugs into the USB port. It also doubles as a headphone amp, which is what I mostly use it for. Neither one I use for DJing, just for audiophile listening.