CD Player or Computer disk drive?

A good-quality CD player will, in theory, sound better than the CD drive in a computer. Computer CD drives aren't optimised for sound quality but are intended simply to play or write disks of various formats.

The thing is though, you can't listen to music from a CD drive or a CD player - both need to be connected to something. If I wanted to hear what was on a CD or wondered what something sounded like then I might use a computer (or i-pad or phone etc.) but I'd never even think of actually listening to music from any of these devices as the sound quality is dreadful. To listen to music I'd play a CD on my CD player which is connected to a 2x69 watts rms stereo amplifier and a pair of 3-way speakers with (I think) 7" bass drivers. There is no comparison in sound quality but it's down mainly to the amp and speakers.

Like I've said before, nowadays kids don't actually listen to music, they just want to hear what it sounds like and they seem to give no thought at all about sound quality.

The CD drive in a computer doesn't make much difference
as to the quality of the sound that comes out.

What makes the difference is the media player you use
(WMP, iTunes, Real Player, etc.) and the sound card.

Fortunately, most or all of the media players are good,
but sound cards vary widely from awful to excellent.


If you want to be absolutely sure of good audio quality,
a good standalone CD player (about $200 and up)
will do it without any question.