Digital sources: Mark Levinson No.31.5 and Wadia No.270 CD transports (the No.31.5 connected via a Meridian 518 reclocking unit), California Audio Labs CL-20 and Denon 5000 DVD-V/CD players, Nagra-D open-reel digital recorder, Panasonic SV-3700 DAT recorder. Illuminations Orchid, Madrigal, and Canare 110 ohm AES/EBU cables, AudioQuest and Mod Squad 75 ohm S/PDIF cables. A dCS 972 was also used to upsample CDs to 96kHz and convert the Nagra's 96kHz dual-AES/EBU data output to single, double-speed AES/EBU format.
Comparison digital equipment: Mark…
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Sidebar 3: A Caveat
There is one thing to remember when you are thinking of buying any digital processor with a 96kHz-capable unencrypted digital data input: One of the things holding up the setting of the finalized DVD-Audio standard has been the record industry's concern that allowing their 24/96 data to be sent between transports and processors "in the clear" will lead to rampant piracy. (Shyeah—like pirates will not think of putting a DAC/ADC link in the mastering chain.) But it's likely that digital connections will have to be encrypted in some way, which will mean using a FireWire…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
The X-24K had a low output impedance of 49 ohms over most of the audio band, this rising to a still-low 78 ohms at 20Hz. The maximum output level at 1kHz was 2.28V, 1.14dB above the CD Standard's 2V. The channel separation (fig.1) was simply superb. Surprisingly, the Musical Fidelity processor inverted absolute polarity.
Fig.1 Musical Fidelity X-24K, channel separation at 0dBFS (R-L crosstalk dashed, 10dB/vertical div.).
Its CD-bandwidth frequency responses with and without de-emphasis (top and bottom pairs of traces, respectively) are…
Note the convergence of the traces below 200Hz, which can also been seen in the spectra of the Musical Fidelity's output while it decodes "digital black" data (fig.8). I suspect that this is due to the unit's low-frequency noise performance being limited by the highish impedance of the wall-wart power supply. A bigger, stiffer transformer might work some magic in the bass.
Fig.8 Musical Fidelity X-24K, spectrum of digital silence with 16-bit data (top) and 24-bit data (bottom). (1/3-octave analysis, right channel dashed.)
As suspected from these noise-floor graphs, the X…
I was in a jam. John Atkinson was gently reminding me of rapidly approaching deadlines, and my longtime reference CD player, the Simaudio Moon Eclipse, had just been recalled for an upgrade. This wouldn't normally have been a problem, but I was also in the middle of relocating from New Mexico to California, and all of my backup gear was either in storage or on a moving truck somewhere.
I needed a digital front-end, but which one? I abhor complexity, so I wanted an integrated unit. I'm picky, so it had to be something that sounded good. I wanted to be realistic, so it couldn't…
I poured a glass of a wine and cued up Mozart's Flute Quartet in D, K.285, which opens the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival's Serenade CD (Stereophile STPH009-2, engineered by JA), and sat back to listen. My first impression was one of an easy vibrance—a rich, flowing sound that seemed to coax the tension out of me. As I melted into the music, I could feel my shoulders lowering, my hands loosening their grips on my chair's arms. The soundstage seemed to envelop me and fill the room, Mozart's lines flowing through it with a liquid-like coherence.
But within this smooth, vibrant…
Another component of the CD 1's sound, and a contributor to the liquid smoothness I mentioned early on, was its slight softening of transients in the upper midrange and lower treble. Returning to Wyrick's cello, recall that I noted that the GamuT did a wonderful job of reproducing the component elements of each note, with both the string and body sounds clearly audible. Monty Alexander's bouncing, ringing piano on "Never Make Your Move Too Soon," from Ernestine Anderson's CD of the same title (Concord Jazz CCD-4147), didn't fare quite as well. The vibrating strings, and even the soundboard…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Integrated CD player. D/A conversion: Crystal CS4390, 128x oversampling. Maximum output level: 4V at 1kHz. THD+noise: <0.0025% at 1kHz, 0dB. Output impedance: 75 ohms unbalanced, 150 ohms balanced. Frequency response: 10Hz-20kHz, +0.1dB/-1.1dB. Analog outputs: 1 pair unbalanced (RCA), 1 pair balanced (XLR). Digital outputs: 1 S/PDIF (BNC).Dimensions: 17" (431mm) W by 4.5" (112mm) H by 16" (408mm) D. Weight: 26.5 lbs (12kg) net, 33 lbs (15kg) shipping.
Finishes: Brushed aluminum or chrome-plated brass, both with inset engraved brass panel.
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Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: VPI TNT Mk.V-HR turntable with JMW Memorial tonearm; Grado Statement, Benz Micro L04 cartridges.
Digital source: Simaudio Moon Eclipse CD player.
Preamplifier: VAC CPA-1 Mk.III.
Power amplifiers: VTL Ichiban, Mark Levinson No.20.6, VAC Renaissance 70/70.
Loudspeakers: Audio Physic Virgo III.
Cables: Interconnect: Nirvana S-X Ltd., Audience Au24, Nordost Valhalla. Speaker: Nirvana SL, Audience Au24, Nordost Valhalla. AC: Audience PowerChord.
Accessories: Bright Star Big Rock, Little Rock, Air Mass isolation devices; Nordost…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
The unbalanced RCA output jacks were loose on the review sample, but still made good electrical contact. The GamuT player offered a maximum output of just over 4V RMS from both balanced and unbalanced jacks, 6dB higher than the CD standard's 2V. (Both balanced phases were active.) Neither output inverted absolute polarity. The source impedance was a low 56 ohms across the audioband from the unbalanced RCAs, 150 ohms from the balanced XLRs. Error correction was excellent, the CD 1 coping with gaps in the data spiral of up to 1mm in length without stuttering.
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