Advice on New CD Player Purchase

[SBBSoundman52]

Our old Denon CD player is almost 12 yrs old and we want to replace it. We have a tight budget, about $600 so I'm considering one of these two rack mountable decks:
1. Denon DN-C635 or
2. Tascam CD-500B

We use a A&H GL-2400 board and record with Tascam CD-700 recorder. My main concern is the deck can play MP3s and CD-RWs, which I believe both models can handle. The Tascam comes in a less expensive 500 version without balanced outputs..can I get by without those? Our existing Denon player is connected via RCA cables with phone jacks to the board. Will using balanced outs to the board make any noticable sound difference? Anyone have experience with either of these two decks?

[wogster]

Originally Posted by SBBSoundman52

Our old Denon CD player is almost 12 yrs old and we want to replace it. We have a tight budget, about $600 so I'm considering one of these two rack mountable decks:
1. Denon DN-C635 or
2. Tascam CD-500B

We use a A&H GL-2400 board and record with Tascam CD-700 recorder. My main concern is the deck can play MP3s and CD-RWs, which I believe both models can handle. The Tascam comes in a less expensive 500 version without balanced outputs..can I get by without those? Our existing Denon player is connected via RCA cables with phone jacks to the board. Will using balanced outs to the board make any noticable sound difference? Anyone have experience with either of these two decks?

Don't know either of those decks, both companies have been making excellent products for decades though, so I don't think there is a huge risk either way.

I have a question though, is there something wrong with the old deck, or is it just old? If it skips or gets cranky then, it may just need a good cleaning. If your budget is tight, then $50 - $75 to get the existing deck cleaned by a reputable repair shop is a lot cheaper then $500 or $750 for a new deck.

As for outputs, if it's less then 10' from the output of the deck to the input of the board, your fine with unbalanced cable, if it's more then 10' then you want a DI box which takes the unbalanced output and converts it to balanced output. DI boxes are expensive though and you would need one for each channel.

[bobbycito]

your current setup seems to be unblanced (RCA) so if audio has been fine you sould see no difference. Also how do you connect to the board (2-mono Channels or 1 stereo channel) reading the manual ST 1&3 (1/4" TS) are unblanced inputs and ST2 &4 are balanced inputs (1/4" TRS)

[SBBSoundman52]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Wogster - to answer your question, the old Denon has been acting up, skipping, etc. But the main issue is it won't play MP3s and our music leader told me she will be getting her choir music in MP3 format from now on, so that's why we want to just go ahead and replace the deck now. We should be find with unbalanced outs since that's what we have now (deck is less than 2 ft from the board) and audio is fine. It's connected via two mono channels into the board. I'm leaning toward the Tascam deck since we already use a Tascam CD-700RW for recording.

[pdc]

That's too bad that she is doing MP3s. MP3s have an average of 25% distortion, even with the best codecs. They do not have the channel separation and fidelity of CDs, wavs, AIFF, etc.

[pdc]

Originally Posted by wogster

As for outputs, if it's less then 10' from the output of the deck to the input of the board, your fine with unbalanced cable, if it's more then 10' then you want a DI box which takes the unbalanced output and converts it to balanced output. DI boxes are expensive though and you would need one for each channel.

This is not a set rule. I have some churches in the KC area that cannot go more than a couple of feet. I have been using the 3' length for decades. You do not need a DI box to balance. You can use a simple transformer. DIs are not expensive either. Some can be had for less than $20. Since they are using MP3s, sound quality is not the most important thing, so a cheap DI is not going to make things any worse.

[pdc]

Originally Posted by SBBSoundman52

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Wogster - to answer your question, the old Denon has been acting up, skipping, etc. But the main issue is it won't play MP3s and our music leader told me she will be getting her choir music in MP3 format from now on, so that's why we want to just go ahead and replace the deck now. We should be find with unbalanced outs since that's what we have now (deck is less than 2 ft from the board) and audio is fine. It's connected via two mono channels into the board. I'm leaning toward the Tascam deck since we already use a Tascam CD-700RW for recording.

Tascam is a better bet. Denon/Marantz has never been as reliable or road worthy as Tascam, IMO. TEAC makes pretty good transports, and is the largest supplier of OEM transports to high end and mid-fi manufacturers, as well as the FAA.

[Arlin]

+1 for the Tascam. We have 2 CD-500 units and I like em. Also have 2 older CD-01U units which the CD-500 replaces. All good reliable CD players.

The CD-500B adds balanced output, AES/EBU digital out and a parallel control connector.

[wogster]

Originally Posted by pdc

This is not a set rule. I have some churches in the KC area that cannot go more than a couple of feet. I have been using the 3' length for decades. You do not need a DI box to balance. You can use a simple transformer. DIs are not expensive either. Some can be had for less than $20. Since they are using MP3s, sound quality is not the most important thing, so a cheap DI is not going to make things any worse.

Outside the US that $20 DI box is going to be $100 or more... Yes you can us a simple transformer, providing someone in your church has experience in soldering electronics, and you can get the parts, without needing to drive to the big city, some 5 hours away. At $1.25/L for gas, I make that trip as rarely as possible. Around here getting someone to weld a hitch onto the back of a tractor, that's easy, getting someone to solder delicate electronics, that's hard....

It's not a set rule, it's a general rule, another general rule is to keep all cable runs as short as possible. MP3's are not the best, although I doubt the average congregation member will be able to tell the difference.

[pdc]

1.00 USD = 0.638303 GBP
1.00 USD = 0.813448 EUR
1.00 USD = 0.953935 AUD
1.00 USD = 3.67300 AED

As for soldering, you don't need to solder. You can use numerous types of connectors to make the connections.

All that aside, if they are buying a unit with balanced outputs, this is all moot.

[wogster]

Originally Posted by pdc

1.00 USD = 0.638303 GBP
1.00 USD = 0.813448 EUR
1.00 USD = 0.953935 AUD
1.00 USD = 3.67300 AED

As for soldering, you don't need to solder. You can use numerous types of connectors to make the connections.

All that aside, if they are buying a unit with balanced outputs, this is all moot.

It has little to do with the currency values, here in Canada for example where it takes $10 to see a difference between a CA$ and a US$, stuff generally costs a lot more, even stuff that is imported into both countries and a lot of people are angry about that. Stuff that is specialized tends to be even more. I priced out DI boxes, and found that they generally run about $100 in this country. Means the two that we already have are a lot more valuable When budgets are tight, $200 for adapters is a little much.... Realistically though, if you need balanced cables on a less then 3' run, then you should only buy equipment with balanced lines, or figure out what is causing that much interference. Because it could cause interference inside the cabinets as well.