Relative quality of mp3 playback in standalone players?

[sippyCUP]

Right now I have a denon avd-2000 surround decoder with (through digital coax) a cheap koss dvd player that does dvd, redbook, and mp3. It serves triple duty at the moment, but it's not mine, so when my roommate moves out I need a replacement.

I have read through a thread here about transports and digital sound quality, and am not too worried about using an inexpensive dvd player to do everything, because I recognize that most of the sound quality is determined by my speakers (ascend cmb-170s/hsu) and amplification (adcom gfa-535).

However, I don't know about the mp3 decoding. Can anyone comment on the mp3 playback quality on most inexpensive dvd players versus nice (expensive) cd players that do mp3? I know that by using mp3 in the first place I'm already losing quality, but I want those mp3s to sound as best as possible within reason (can't see myself spending more than $200 for used cd player).

[PooperScooper]

You may be better off just plugging in your MP3 player into a preamp input. Now your player works home and away. :) Like you said, you've already done the most damage by crippling the original source.

larry

[sippyCUP]

I don't have a portable player and if I did I don't think I'd trust the amplification stage to not introduce a lot of junk into the signal. It is easier, though.

[whoaru99]

Why not use your computer as the mp3 source?

Works great for a jukebox...

If you must have a player I've found the Pioneer DV-578A to play pretty much whatever I throw at it. It's been replaced by the DV-588A. You can find cheaper ones that are probably just as good, but my cheaper player Toshiba 3980(?) has trouble with some discs that play just fine in the Pioneer.

I mostly play mp3 right from my computer to my processor/receiver via a digital connection and save the mp3 cd's for my car stereo.

[sippyCUP]

My computer stress me out. When I'm listening to music, I'd rather lounge on the sofa.

[whoaru99]

[QUOTE=sippyCUP]My computer stress me out. When I'm listening to music, I'd rather lounge on the sofa.[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm?

I press the "play" button on my computer and go lay on the couch and listen to mp3's regularly through my HT setup/stereo.

In fact, I could lay on the couch for over >100 hours if I so chose to get through my whole collection and never touch the computer except to start the thing.

But, I guess whatever... We all have different things that stress us out.

[sippyCUP]

But you can't select a track that you want to hear without getting up and sitting down in front of the computer. I guess you could set up your playlist beforehand and go with that. The thing is, I'm moving back in with my parents in a few months and am going to use their living room as the location for my system, and I can't forsee them allowing me to put a computer in there, besides maybe a laptop and then I could use a usb2 optical out gizmo.

[PooperScooper]

[QUOTE=sippyCUP]But you can't select a track that you want to hear without getting up and sitting down in front of the computer. I guess you could set up your playlist beforehand and go with that. The thing is, I'm moving back in with my parents in a few months and am going to use their living room as the location for my system, and I can't forsee them allowing me to put a computer in there, besides maybe a laptop and then I could use a usb2 optical out gizmo.[/QUOTE] All the more reason to get a portable player and good ear buds.

larry

[Cowclops]

Two words: Wireless keyboard.

I have a Microsoft one that has buttons for changing tracks, pause/play, and volume control. You won't be able to see what you're doing, but if you have a big winamp playlist you can jump ahead till you find something you like.

The surprisingly cool thing is, its not like an automated macro for clicking your mouse button. You could actually have winamp under another program, and if you hit the keys on the keyboard, it still works as expected and without bringing winamp to the front.

[Cowclops]

Oh yeah, and if you're using a computer you can use any number of lossless audio codecs, or with a big hard drive you could even store a bunch of CDs with no compression at all.

Don't be too bothered by MP3 quality, though. If they were compressed with LAME and a high quality setting like --r3mix or --alt preset standard, the loss in audible quality will be minimum to none.