After collecting vinyl records for more than three years, I continue to be invested in collecting physical audio media that holds special meaning to owning them. I go through several rounds of justification and procrastination before I make a decision. Every non-perishable item I buy has to be carefully assessed, because once I decide, the item belongs to me, and I am responsible to find a place to keep it. But if I do regret my decision, I’m glad I can count on Carousell to find a new home.
In case you are not aware, vinyl consumption is growing in Singapore, with new vinyl cafes open for business and more vinyl retailers peddling new and used records. There is certainly spillover effects to CDs and cassette tapes but currently still not as fervent, even though countries like Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, have strong sales. Despite the growing interest in “old” media, there are still many people disposing CDs or giving away for free. If you are reading this, please donate or sell them to QQ Music Store at 28 Sin Ming Lane, #05-135 Midview City, Singapore 573972. They are passionate about finding new homes for these valuable traditional audio media, and they sell common titles for quite cheap.
As for CDs, I still keep them and never threw them away, unlike cassette tapes, which unfortunately I had to dispose because they have turned bad – mouldy, worn, used. Initially I had them displayed at home, but over the years, I realised they were gathering dust and I never play them, so I boxed them up. I went through a phase where I spent more time making music than listening to music. We have to prioritise things. And now, I’m in the phase of appreciating and re-collecting audio media. It’s a hobby that keeps me invested in the world of audio.
Getting Cassette Tape Decks
In recent months, I have been contemplating getting a cassette tape deck and a CD deck. It was a tough decision: these decks are huge, with a standard width of 43cm and around 8cm deep. I only have room for one deck, and I was almost going to get a cassette deck for nostalgia. But my rationale mind fought against getting one because cassette decks are difficult to maintain. The rubber belts that drive the deck will wear, the tape head will wear. Such is irony: damned if you use it too regularly, damned if you don’t.
Comparatively, a vinyl record turntable is somewhat more resilient to wear, and parts are also much easier to get. If the belt is worn, it is quite easy to replace without any screws. Similarly, if the stylus is broken or worn, just buy a new stylus, change the cartridge or even replace the headshell.
For CD decks, there are more options for smaller decks, including those battery-operated portable-sized ones. Again, I constantly challenged myself to justify the need for a CD player. Unlike tapes which I needed a player to listen to, CD content can be ripped from a computer DVD drive, which I have done for all my CDs in possession.
I then found a pretty good reason to get a CD deck, specifically, a universal audio player, one that can play CDs, SACDs, DVDs, BluRay Discs, and more. That is something that I could own, because I do have a tiny collection of these other formats, movies and soundtracks that I feel are worthy of owning. Like the Matrix trilogy, Back To The Future trilogy, Lord Of The Rings trilogy, etc. And unlike CDs, it is not easy to rip SACDs, DVDs and BD into computers.
With this new decision, I started looking out for reasonable second hand players on Carousell. Obviously, the audiophile models command higher prices, but I am not willing to pay a lot for aged machines with risks of breakdown. I did not have any brand or model in mind, and my process of searching is to look at the selling price, feature list, and online reviews. I was eyeing for a few Marantz listings with prices around S$300, but they were more than 12 years old. I also came across a Tascam CD + Tape Deck, which could be the best of both worlds, but online reviews weren’t favourable with regards to durability.
OPPO BDT-101CI Universal Disc Player
Eventually, I came across a few listing of OPPO Digital BDP-83/93/95 series of universal players priced around S$300. Common sense tells me that the larger numbers are newer models, so I tried searching “BDP-103/105”, and prices were above S$800, clearly reflecting their premium. Then this listing of “BDT-101CI” turned up. Why “BDT” instead of “BDP”? Apparently, this is the “Transport” series. In audio terms, a transport is a device that “delivers” the audio data in its original form to a separate audio processor like a DAC, pre-amp or an amplifier. The “transport” usually does not process the audio data. In the case of BDT-101CI, it is not entirely a “transport” device, because internally it also has audio processors. But these processors are essentially add-on modules which require “custom installation”, hence the “CI” suffix. In fact, the BDT-101CI was not sold at normal retail channels, but only at specialised audio outlets. The other thing that attracted me was that this model was released in 2015, which was relatively more recent.
What an interesting backstory, I thought. And the best part of all is that the seller listed it at S$228. The time I found the listing till we closed the deal took less than a day.
The basic model does not come with 6-channel audio output, which actually fits my needs, because I will not need such an output. Rather, it comes with HDMI and SPDIF Optical Out which I need. The model also does not come with a second HDMI port, which is an optional add-on. There are three USB ports, one of which is already occupied permanently with a USB storage drive that the seller claims will enable region-free DVD playback. A LAN port allows connection to the home network and this model supports DLNA. The BDP-9x series have all the additional ports described above for about the same price, but my reason for getting this “starter” version is that it is a newer model. And I was fortunate that the seller takes really good care of the deck and the remote control is also in mint condition.
For the time being, the player is sitting on top of my 2-tier vinyl record shelf next to my turntable, although I reckon this could be a permanent setup. Incidentally, I could plug a USB-powered portable monitor to the player so that I can see the OSD when going through the settings. I bought this monitor many years ago and was hard to find one. Today, a lot of OEMs have jumped in the bandwagon and you can get one for a little over S$100.
Does a standalone CD player sound better than a basic player or even a digital file? That’s where research comes into play. A CD deck is essentially a CD reader with built-in DAC, no different from connecting your digital storage drive to a DAP or amp. The important piece of equipment is DAC, where it converts the digital data from the CD into audio signals.
This BDT-101CI uses AKM4490 DAC chip for the stereo audio, and AK4458 for multi-channel audio. Both held good reputation in the audio community. I did a quick comparison between listening with the OPPO player and digital file from my laptop, both connected to the same Creative K3+ amplifier. The BDT-101CI sounds noticeably more enjoyable. The audio is more detailed, more musical, more life. The digital file playback sounds unengaging, you can even say it’s simply “flat”. Sonically speaking, the bass production on the BDT-101CI is slightly more pronounced but not overly elevated nor overpowering. The treble also offers a little more extension and decay with the after-tones.
That is to say, you certainly can get better results if I run the digital file through better DACs, but it also means potentially even better sound from the BDT-101CI if it gets connected to the same high-quality external amplifier. This is where the concept of “equipment pairing” comes. When connecting different audio components, the sound quality can be different from the reviews you read. This is the reality of “reviews”, which reflects the opinion of the writer. What a discerning reader should do is to read a lot of reviews on the same product and come to a weighted conclusion.
Changing Landscape for Product Review Research with AI
This also means that it is very important for readers to access to all kinds of user opinions online, including low-traffic sites like mine. You cannot simply rely on the few popular and high-traffic websites. You should also be wary of forum posts that criticise some products with few subjective words, because fake reviews could be created by competitors to generate negative views. The advent of AI assistants like Microsoft Co-pilot and Google Gemini will make people more reliant on AI to retrieve and collate search results. The results are not necessarily accurate, because these AI engines are merely researching results found online, putting heavy weightage on high-traffic sites which might not be a true representation.
My other challenge with search engines is that when I want to find review articles, a lot of the results come from sites writing about the launch news which regurgitate the standard press release notes. The actual reviews written by real people are fewer. Worse, many sites now use AI to create articles and spec-by-spec comparisons. The irony is that the questionable quality of AI assistants plus the growing number of AI-generated content mean more human effort is needed to validate information manually.
Music Photo Life: Always Been A Web Log
I started creating websites in 2003, and after I found the value of CMS server apps, I installed them and started creating product news articles to mimic those hugely popular news content sites of the early 21st Century. But I realised the articles are too impersonal, and so in 2006 November, I established “Music Photo Life” and started posting short logs, photography content, music creations. Eventually, I wrote more products reviews that I got to test, and this review category grew with great interest.
The battle with search engine prominence means I had to play the SEO game in order to make my articles visible, but my intention was not monetary, but to let more people read about my opinions of products. Neither am I interested to be the “guru” or “celebrity reviewer” because I know so well that my opinions are mine and I cannot represent the product truth, but I will vouch for my experience with the product I review. My hands-on experience is the truth.
If you have been reading this article till here, you will see that this article was never about reviewing the OPPO Player. I’m also not keeping to the blog title. I have started blabbering about my review journey which is totally unrelated to CDs. Truth is, while I spent weeks drafting the first few paragraphs, the last few are spur-of-moment thoughts. I’d like to think of this as “bonus materials” to readers like you who have been so supportive of my site. Search engines are not going to pick this up.
I’m certain that I am not the only independent product blogger in Singapore. But “no thanks” to the search engine algorithm, I could never find their reviews (unless they don’t exist).