Digital Source of 1997
dCS Elgar D/A processor ($12,000; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.20 No.7, July 1997 Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
California Audio Labs CL-10 multidisc CD changer ($1975; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.19 No.11, November 1997)
Mark Levinson No.36S D/A processor ($6495; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.20 No.1, January 1997 Review)
Mark Levinson No.37 CD transport ($3995; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.20 No.1, January 1997 Review)
Naim CD2 CD player ($4150; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.20 No.2, February 1997)
Rega Planet CD player ($795; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.20 No.6, June 1997 Review)
Sony CDP-XA7ES CD player ($3000; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.19 No.11, November 1996; Vol.20 Nos.1 & 7, January & July 1997 Review)
Wadia Digimaster 2000 D/A processor (No longer available; reviewed by Arnis Balgalvis & Robert Harley, Vol.13 No.1, January 1990; Vol.14 Nos.6 & 10, June & October 1991; & Vol.19 No.12, December 1996 Review) Things change rapidly in the world of digital audio, but the Elgar stands poised to escort us into the next era of digital processing: the brave new world of 24-bit data sampled at 96kHz. Oversampling, decimation, low-pass filtering—not to omit volume control and balance—are all achieved via DSP and Programmable Gate Array chips, while dCS's proprietary "Ring DAC" gives it true resolution of close to 19 bits. There may still be controversy over the desirability of 96/24, but our writers overwhelmingly preferred it to the existing 16-bit, 44.1kHz standard when both were auditioned through this processor. For WP and JA, though, the most telling demonstration was with pianist Hyperion Knight—after playing him one of the 96kHz master tapes of Stereophile's Rhapsody on the Elgar, recorded with a 24-bit word length, we played the same tape at 44.1kHz, dithered and noise-shaped to a 16-bit word length. The look on HK's face said it all: Given a choice, who'd settle for this? Our writers overwhelmingly agreed. No product so overwhelmingly dominated its category as this one—more than half of the total votes cast for "Digital Source of 1997" went to the Elgar. For making a significant advance in a field that never stands still, dCS deserves the highest praise we can confer: It's not simply the "Digital Source of 1997," but the "Product of the Year" as well.
California Audio Labs CL-10 multidisc CD changer ($1975; reviewed by Robert Harley, Vol.19 No.11, November 1997)
Mark Levinson No.36S D/A processor ($6495; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.20 No.1, January 1997 Review)
Mark Levinson No.37 CD transport ($3995; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.20 No.1, January 1997 Review)
Naim CD2 CD player ($4150; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.20 No.2, February 1997)
Rega Planet CD player ($795; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.20 No.6, June 1997 Review)
Sony CDP-XA7ES CD player ($3000; reviewed by Thomas J. Norton, Vol.19 No.11, November 1996; Vol.20 Nos.1 & 7, January & July 1997 Review)
Wadia Digimaster 2000 D/A processor (No longer available; reviewed by Arnis Balgalvis & Robert Harley, Vol.13 No.1, January 1990; Vol.14 Nos.6 & 10, June & October 1991; & Vol.19 No.12, December 1996 Review) Things change rapidly in the world of digital audio, but the Elgar stands poised to escort us into the next era of digital processing: the brave new world of 24-bit data sampled at 96kHz. Oversampling, decimation, low-pass filtering—not to omit volume control and balance—are all achieved via DSP and Programmable Gate Array chips, while dCS's proprietary "Ring DAC" gives it true resolution of close to 19 bits. There may still be controversy over the desirability of 96/24, but our writers overwhelmingly preferred it to the existing 16-bit, 44.1kHz standard when both were auditioned through this processor. For WP and JA, though, the most telling demonstration was with pianist Hyperion Knight—after playing him one of the 96kHz master tapes of Stereophile's Rhapsody on the Elgar, recorded with a 24-bit word length, we played the same tape at 44.1kHz, dithered and noise-shaped to a 16-bit word length. The look on HK's face said it all: Given a choice, who'd settle for this? Our writers overwhelmingly agreed. No product so overwhelmingly dominated its category as this one—more than half of the total votes cast for "Digital Source of 1997" went to the Elgar. For making a significant advance in a field that never stands still, dCS deserves the highest praise we can confer: It's not simply the "Digital Source of 1997," but the "Product of the Year" as well.
