CD playback question

Audio Components Integrateds
1

Yesterday, I came across a Technics SL-PG390 CD player. It was literally sitting in the street, having been thrown out by its previous owner. Since I’ve missed having dedicated CD player, I took a gamble and brought it home. Turns out that it’s fully functional, so I’m probably going to keep it. As far as I can tell, it’s very good and sturdy for a budget player.

But this also got me thinking. The CD player only has analog and optical outputs, meaning that connecting it to my Sprout via digital is going to need a bit of fiddling. I’d need a decent optical cable and an active optical-coax converter, but would I just be introducing a weak link into the chain? And, ultimately, would it even be worth the hassle? The Technics unit has a MASH 1-bit DAC and, so far, CD playback sounds really good through its analog outputs. And I’m bearing in mind that I could always just rip my CD collection to my computer and use the USB input for superior playback, should it turn out that there’s a noticeable difference.

Looking forward to reading your input. Thanks in advancesmile

2

The DAC inside Sprout will likely be better and you can purchase a TOSLINK to coax adapter cheap. However, if you like the sound already, just connect it to Sprout through the analog inputs.

3

Thank you for your answer, Paul!

Based on what you write, I’ll probably invest in a cheap optical-coax adapter and connect the CD player digitally. Based on how well my Sprout has performed so far, it’s worth that much.