|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
76.209.10.235
In Reply to: Re: Possible CD players for this system... posted by dr.joe on January 5, 2007 at 11:23:09:
Thanks, wouldn't have thought of that. Dumb question for you. The Classe can decode HDCD. Is that still true if I use it as a transport? Or is that all done downstream.
Follow Ups:
Awacs,Not a dumb question! I'm no tech, but I'm pretty sure HDCD decoding is a function of the DAC chips and has nothing to do with the transport section. (Other, more informed posters may wish to confirm or refute this.)
As far as I can tell from the exceedingly detailed Benchmark DAC1 manual, it does not decode HDCD. On the other hand, I'd wager that the quality of conversion of the DAC1 is sufficiently high that you'd still find substantial improvements in dynamics and transparency over the onboard Classe DACs and output stage no matter what type of CD you play.
I should add, and acknowledge, that the DAC1 is not the only candidate for using with your Classe CDP; some prefer the Lavry Blue or Black, for example. I mention the Benchmark because I've got one and have been very impressed with it. I'd also add that it's imprortant to get a Revision I or later, since Benchmark has made something like 11 small, but significant improvements since the DAC1 came out in 2002. Finally, there's quite a body of argument and evidence that it's beneficial to use a 1.5 metre digital interconnect to minimize reflections in the transmission of the digital signal from the transport to the DAC.
Happy listening!
Joel.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: