Inexpensive and simple CD player recommendations

Simon_M

I'm doing some remedial work on an AV system for a local church. Over time their needs have changed and, also in part due to deterioration, the AV system is no longer fit for purpose. Mostly, the congregation plays hymn backing tracks from a large CD collection they purchased. The CDs were not cheap however the reproduction equipment is appalling. Currently they're using something like this with the headphone output jury rigged into the fixed installation (think gaffer tape and xlrs):



So, as part of me sorting the thing out, I'm going to spec a new cd player for permanent installation. Normally I deal with mid to high end and customers with deeper pockets than the church so not something I have an immediate answer for. I'm looking for something robust and simple. A remote would be nice. Output doesn't need to be balanced particularly. The cable runs are short and the location and nature of the installation means that the cabling should be subject to negligible noise.

Oh, and here's the hard part - sub £100! Tricky.

crunchman

Slightly over budget but unless you go second hand there won't be much else around:

https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-audio-cd-player.html

mcsdan

If it's just CD and not amplificiation then you could just use a dvd player - many cheap reliable ones around for not much. Most have phono and optical outputs and cheaper than a dedicated CD. Sure the DAC may not be brilliant but should be sufficient for what you need. Depends what the AV system is and it may well have a better DAC to use via optical.

You can pick up a sony dvd for £30 or less.

ESBlonde

From time to time DJs sell off their old CD players. You should get a decent dual player for not too much money. Try the usual evil bay and crash converter type options.

darthed1981

mcsdan said:

If it's just CD and not amplificiation then you could just use a dvd player - many cheap reliable ones around for not much. Most have phono and optical outputs and cheaper than a dedicated CD. Sure the DAC may not be brilliant but should be sufficient for what you need. Depends what the AV system is and it may well have a better DAC to use via optical.

You can pick up a sony dvd for £30 or less.

Yeah I think this is a good option.

The DAC won't have been sprinkled with unicorn spunk but it will be a capable modern one that will do just fine in this application.

The only problem will be most don't have RCA outputs these days, often just a single HDMI to save costs, but you should be able to find one.

Edit: a quick google suggests this one has RCA outputs - https://www.argos.co.uk/product/7459197

TheBigDipper

mcsdan said:

If it's just CD and not amplificiation then you could just use a dvd player - many cheap reliable ones around for not much. Most have phono and optical outputs and cheaper than a dedicated CD. Sure the DAC may not be brilliant but should be sufficient for what you need. Depends what the AV system is and it may well have a better DAC to use via optical.

You can pick up a sony dvd for £30 or less.

This. There's usually something cheap and unfashionable in big supermarkets. Even the internal DAC will be good enough for the purpose. 

guitartango

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

crunchman

guitartango said:

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

Given the abilities of some of the people who do church sound, CDs may be safer.

We have 4 who do sound in our church with a range of abilities.  One of them has done it professionally in the past and is very good.  There is another one at the other end of the scale.  She's doing it on a voluntary basis and she means well, but it's hard work when she is doing sound.  Maybe I'm doing her a disservice but I'd feel happier asking her to press play on a CD player rather than use an MP3 player.

Simon_M

mcsdan said:

You can pick up a sony dvd for £30 or less.

That’s a great idea. I think this would be a winner. 

crunchman said:

guitartango said:

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

Given the abilities of some of the people who do church sound, CDs may be safer.

@guitartango That’s a good idea and I did consider it. However, most of the church congregation are in their 70s and don’t come from a technical background so navigating an MP3 player (small screens and small controls) maybe a little tricky for some of them. Being able to look through a box of cds for “CD 12” and put in in and press play is probably easier. Part of the project is to make it easier for them so best to stick with what they know.

TheMarlin

mcsdan said:

If it's just CD and not amplificiation then you could just use a dvd player - many cheap reliable ones around for not much. Most have phono and optical outputs and cheaper than a dedicated CD. Sure the DAC may not be brilliant but should be sufficient for what you need. Depends what the AV system is and it may well have a better DAC to use via optical.

You can pick up a sony dvd for £30 or less.

I have a nice hifi, but used a DVD player for the CD. It’s a SONY DVD player with SACD support, so the DAC is pretty decent.  I’ve had all the high end CD players, wasted tonnes of cash on Pioneer Reference units, Marantz high end units, Quad, Meridian blah blah... a decent modern unit will kick all their asses. 

I also use Apple TV 3 (has digital audio out) into a Toppings D30 DAC to stream audio from my phone (Apple Music subscription) directly into my hifi.  No TV  connection needed.  Sounds astonishingly good.  I also connect the audio from the DVD player to the DAC. The DVD audio is decent, but sounds epic through the Toppings DAC. Truth be told, 95% of my listening is via Apple Music, sounds great, and millions of albums at my fingertips...

That Topping DAC is the best £90 I’ve ever spent. Incredible value for money.  A friend has a Chord DAC costing ten times as much, and he admits it doesn’t sound as good. 

revsorg

Two questions about using a DVD player for this purpose:

You will be relying on the display on the front of the device to know which track you are selecting. Make sure it has an adequate one (one of my Sony Blu-ray players relies entirely on the on-screen interface).

A CD player is usually responsive.  Put the disc in, select track, play.  I've used DVD players in the past that are frustratingly slow to acknowledge discs and navigate.

TheMarlin

revsorg said:

Two questions about using a DVD player for this purpose:

You will be relying on the display on the front of the device to know which track you are selecting. Make sure it has an adequate one (one of my Sony Blu-ray players relies entirely on the on-screen interface).

A CD player is usually responsive.  Put the disc in, select track, play.  I've used DVD players in the past that are frustratingly slow to acknowledge discs and navigate.

I admit, mine is a bit slow to get going, maybe 15-20 seconds from turn on to disc playing. 

darthed1981

revsorg said:

Two questions about using a DVD player for this purpose:

You will be relying on the display on the front of the device to know which track you are selecting. Make sure it has an adequate one (one of my Sony Blu-ray players relies entirely on the on-screen interface).

A CD player is usually responsive.  Put the disc in, select track, play.  I've used DVD players in the past that are frustratingly slow to acknowledge discs and navigate.

Both excellent points.

revsorg

Speaking from experience doing the sound at our church, cueing things like this can be an area of great anxiety.  If for whatever reason the volume is turned down and you have to restart the track, those seconds of delay will feel like an eternity.

jonnyburgo

Some charity shops sell electrical gear, I’ve out together a half decent set up before now from the chazzers.

darthed1981

jonnyburgo said:

Some charity shops sell electrical gear, I’ve out together a half decent set up before now from the chazzers.

This might be a strong option.

There are some hifi enthusiasts on TFB who probably have about 10 CD players in the loft each, might be able to help?

Rocker

guitartango said:

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

Ahem! It is for music rather than noise......

maltingsaudio

Totally agree with the dvd thing they are really slow when to load cds which is really frustrating on a show, if the £100 thing is a definite then I would hunt down a second hand stageline, Denon or Numark unit. I would however suggest that if you can persuade them to shell out a little bit more a unit which can handle mp3 on Cd as well as accepting a usb stick would be the way to go. Mind you having bought one for live shows everyone turns up with a bloody iPhone these days!

crunchman

Rocker said:

guitartango said:

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

Ahem! It is for music rather than noise......

Through a lot of church PA systems, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

In fact, through most live PA systems you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I'm not entirely convinced that you would be able to tell apart a 320MBps and a CD in a blind test through an expensive HiFi.  Even if you could, 99% of the population wouldn't be bothered.

ThePrettyDamned

Rocker said:

guitartango said:

@Simon_M Had you thought about ripping the CD's to MP3 (high Bitrate) and then buying a simple MP3 player ?  No more changing or damaging CD's. 

Ahem! It is for music rather than noise......

Yes, in a building... Not a sound room with top end headphones/speakers and PA. 

Simon_M

It probably shouldn’t be underestimated the crappiness of the existing system. We are definitely not talking reference quality equipment here. In fact they have been operating in R channel only mono for quite sometime so when the L channel comes back once I’ve done some fettling it should be enlightening!