Re: RF modulated CD players?

[tnas@dtpdirect.nl (Tom Nas, DTP Direct bv)]

Hi Richard,

  This could become a real long thread, I'll bet.

Yeah, but actually quite interesting, I reckon.

>I don't know the exact figures, but the frequency range covered by FM is
>somewhere in the region of 80-15,000 Hz. The range covered by CD is more
>like 20-20,000 Hz.

  And the range covered by your car peakers is ...?

Took the trouble of looking that up in the specs (I keep the boxes):
Fronts: 80-20K
Rears: 40-22K
Now I bet that the dreadful accoustic specs of a car make that worth about
zilch, but I still can hear a clear difference between FM and CD. Now I'm
really into sound quality, in the home as well as in my car- but I'm never
captivated by music on the radio the way CD does. You do tend to miss a lot
of the music.

  There is one heck of a lot more to sound quality than frequency response.
  Only some of these parameters can be precisely measured, and even then
  different people's subjective reaction to various kinds of distortion or
  coloration vary.

  I like the principal of retaining as much fidelity as possible when you can
  (e.g. direct-connect CD rather than FM-modulated), because you'll lose so
  much elsewhere.  I'm not sure it would make much difference, however, given
  the quality of the rest of most people's systems.

I agree. The Bose system is a case in point. Some love it, some hate it.
Maybe I didn't make myself clear, but the only thing I meant is: why take
CD with all its possibilities and great sound and play it back through
something inferior? You can always adjust the sound later if you don't like
it, but you can't re-add frequencies not transmitted in the first place.
And decent head units with CD changer control aren't expensive, so why not
go the whole way?

  I recall a friend who (pardon me while I age myself) used to continually
  experiment with high-end phono cartridges because he never liked the sound
  of any of them.  When I visited his place and listened to his system, I
  couldn't get past the claustrophobic sound of his speakers to worry about
  subtleties.

>A good one, with little static (at least I hope so) but no more than that.
>>What would be the point of a CD player then? Tapes would sound as good, if
>not better!

  Have you ever taken a good look at all the performance specs of a good car
  tape player?  not great

No, but that's mainly due to the limitations of tape itself, without buying
a high-end system it sounds decent but no more than that. Remember, it's a
'sixties invention, instead of 'eighties like CD.

  The most logical approach, which most of us avoid at all costs, would be to
  compare the difference in price between FM vs direct, and see what else
  that might add to you system to improve its sound.  For example, you might
  be better off upgrading your speakers, instead, and you'd get getter sound
  from FM, CD or tape.

  ... my $0.01 (after tax) worth

Agree again: I work for a company that sells computers. Most people regard
a monitor as the thing they *need*, but they're not prepared to spend some
money to get a good one, even though a bad screen is gonna cause some
headaches. The same goes for speakers: they make do with what comes as
standard, or buy them as an afterthought (oh yes, and I need some speakers
as well!) But if you upgrade your speakers and then find out your sound
isn't going to improve a lot because your CD changer can't handle it,
you're not going to feel great.
So; speakers first and whatever bugs you then should be next on your list.
You *cannot* invest too much in speakers IMHO. (relatively speaking at
least, because you have to resist paying over the odds for a brand name). I
envy you guys actually, because you have a lot more choice in speakers for
much better prices than we get. One tip from me: don't expect a lot from a
speaker that you mount *on top of* instead of *in* your rear deck. Some
sound quite decent, but most cannot match even simple 'flush mount' type
speakers for bass response. A car trunk is the greatest speaker enclosure
you'll ever get, why not use it?

Sorry for the waste of bandwidth,

Tom

PS mandatory Audi content: the previous owner may have done a lot wrong
with my 1988 80, but he sure invested in a couple of great speakers! (And
left them in when he sold the car, that's another first for me!)

 _______________________________________________________________________
   Tom W. Nas, graphic design                        tnas@dtpdirect.nl
   DTP Direct bv                              Voice +31 (55) 5 790 799
   Apeldoorn, the Netherlands                   Fax +31 (55) 5 790 125

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