How To Connect A DAC To A CD Player

I’ve had a lot of friends recently ask me how to connect a CD player to a DAC and it inspired me to write this article.

Before I start, I understand the name of this website is Forever Analog and I’m about to give advice on digital components like a CD player and external DAC. At first glance it may appear as a contradiction, but I was raised listening to CDs. I only started buying vinyl records in college during the late Nineties because they were so cheap.

Today, the popularity of vinyl records has led to an increase in price, often $30 or more for a new record. Just like I did in the Nineties, my desire to buy physical media at lower prices has led me to buying CD copies of new releases in order to stay within my budget. I bought two new jazz releases for $30 total and each LP was $30 each. Lastly, CDs at record and thrift stores can be found cheap as well.

I’ve also been sorting through my CD collection hiding in storage that I’ve been moving from house to house since college. It’s been six years since my last move and I haven’t pulled them out of storage so it’s time to go through them and decide which I need to keep and which I need to sell.

All of the above activities led me to listening to a lot of CDs this past month. My CD player is actually a Sony Blu-Ray player that’s over nine years old now. Due to its age, I knew I could find an updated DAC to use that would sound better than those dated chips.

Earlier this year I read Schiit Happened: The Story of the World’s Most Improbable Start Up by Jason Stoddard, the cofounder of Schiit Audio. Immediately after reading the book, I wanted a piece of Schiit gear.

I decided to purchase the Modi 3+ by Schiit Audio for the external DAC for my CD player and noticed an immediate upgrade in sound, mostly providing a larger soundstage and better imagining than the internal DAC.

I posted about this idea on Instagram and had several friends ask me how they could hook up an external DAC to their CD player so I decided to write this article explaining how.

Can you use an external DAC with a CD player?

Yes, but it’s important to understand that your CD player must have a digital out connection, either a coaxial or optical output. When one of these outputs are used, the internal DAC inside the CD player is bypassed and the audio will be sent through your external DAC.

So if you are shopping for a used CD player (and you should as they are so cheap right now), make sure you find one with digital outputs so you can add an external DAC later if desired.

How To Connect A CD Player To An External DAC

1. Determine if your CD player has a digital out connection such as a coaxial or optical connection by looking at the rear of the CD player.
2. Connect a digital cable, either coaxial or optical to one of the inputs on the rear of the CD player (my example uses the coaxial cable).
3. Connect the other end of the digital cable to the appropriate input on the rear of the external DAC.
4. Connect a pair of RCA cables to the rear of the DAC.
5. Plug the other end of the RCA cables into your preamplifier or receiver.
6. Check the CD player manual to ensure you do not have to select the digital sound output before using the external DAC to bypass the internal DAC in the CD player.
7. Press play on your CD player and enjoy the music being played through the external DAC.

Look at the back of your CD player and locate the Digital Outputs – these are required to use an external DAC.

Note the orange cable is the digital coaxial cable connecting my CD player and DAC. The RCA cables on the left plug into my receiver.

Does a DAC Improve Sound Quality?

Yes, using an external DAC improved the sound quality of my CD player. I immediately noticed a bigger soundstage overall and better imaging. Music, especially live performances, sounded bigger. Instruments could be placed and I could imagine where they were located during recording, especially listening to jazz.

For example, I recently reviewed the Cambridge AXC35 CD player and enjoyed the playback provided by the player. However, when I hooked my Schiit Modi DAC to the digital output on the Cambridge, bypassing the internal DAC, I noticed an improvement in sound.

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