Arcam. DiVA CD192 CD Player. equipment review

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er equipment review Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player British hi-fi manufacturers must sometimes feel as though they re stuck between a rock and a hard place.

1 er equipment review Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player British hi-fi manufacturers must sometimes feel as though they re stuck between a rock and a hard place. They re building some of the most technically sophisticated hi-fi components available anywhere in the world, yet consumers in their home market seem to show a marked preference for staid, somewhat ordinary-looking designs! What s more, British audiophiles seem to give their business to manufacturers who keep their products appearance the same from generation to generation, presumably so that when they add a component to an older system, or replace an old component with a new one from the same manufacturer, it doesn t upset the look of the system. (I must admit that even I can see some merit in this!) The downside is that from way down here in the Antipodes, it sometimes seems as though companies like Arcam are locked in a time warp. The company s CD192 CD player is an excellent example. I think it looks almost identical to Arcam s old (and budget-priced) CD73. This would be OK, I guess, except that the CD192 s performance is literally light years in front of the CD73. Arcam s engineers must feel as though they ve hidden a V12 engine inside a Ford Prefect. Actually, I don t think this analogy is too far wide of the mark, though in this case the engine in question is an array of eight (count em!) 24-bit/ 192kHz upsampling digital to analogue converters (DACs). The Equipment The CD192 is, thankfully, one of those CD players that can be operated quite effectively using only the controls on the front panel. That is, you don t need to use the remote unless you want to access the player s more advanced functions. The disc tray is apparently made by Sony, so I was surprised to find that its motion was surprisingly clunky and a tad noisy not at all what I d have expected of Sony and, I think, a little disconcerting in a CD player that sells for more than two grand. Even more surprising was that the tray didn t appear to incorporate the usual logic circuitry to automatically stop it from closing in the event you accidentally inserted a disc incorrectly. It subsequently transpired that it does, but that the logic cuts in only when you close the disc tray by pressing the Load or Play buttons, whereas I seem to have slipped into the bad habit of closing disc trays by giving the tray itself a firm push. Once the drawer closes, disc loading is exceptionally fast and if the disc you ve loaded contains CD-Text, you ll discover the Arcam CD192 will display it properly, with the artist s name and the name of the album scrolling slowly across the front panel display in soft green lettering. (Sadly, the world s CD producers are so keen on tracking down people they suspect of pirating music that they re much too busy to include added value information on their CDs (such as CD- Text) that might help prevent such piracy in the first place.) Transport operation is also fast: lightning fast, in fact. I become enormously frustrated by CD players that 42 Australian Hi-Fi

2 Arcam it really is a most satisfying player to use, with exceptionally fast track access and a superior track skip buffer that actually remembers how many tracks you d like to skip ahead (or backwards). You can also do neat things like pause playback, then skip forward or backwards Brand: Arcam Model: DiVA CD192 Category: CD Player RRP: $2,298 Warranty: Three Years Distributor: Absolute Audio Vision Pty Ltd Address: PO Box A36 Enfield South NSW 2133 T: (02) F: (02) E: sales@absoluteaudiovision.com.au W: (Manufacture take ages to skip tracks and that don t recognise that you re pressing a button in rapid succession for a specific purpose. I experienced no such difficulties with the Arcam: it really is a most satisfying player to use, with exceptionally fast track access and a superior track skip buffer that actually remembers how many tracks you d like to skip ahead (or backwards). You can also do neat things like pause playback, then skip forward or backwards to the start of a completely different track while the player stays locked in pause mode. You can then unpause it by pressing either the pause or play buttons. Terrific! Arcam s CD192 has all the usual conveniences of CD playback including 24-track programming, a shuffle play option, and multiple repeat play modes (A-B, Track Repeat, Disc Repeat, Programmed Play Repeat and Shuffle Repeat). What it doesn t have is a headphone socket. (That circular blob that looks to be a socket down at the bottom right of the front panel is actually the main power switch.) The infra-red remote control has rounded edges, so it s easy to pick up from a coffee table or suchlike, but it has rather more buttons than you ll need (unless you own other Arcam components). This is because it includes extra buttons for Arcam s DVD players and amplifiers. This caused me only one operational difficulty, which is that if you accidentally put the remote into its DVD mode, the remote then won t operate the CD192. You have to press the CD/DVD mode button a second time to get it operating as a CD remote again. Circuit Stuff When CD players first came out, the data on the discs was read at exactly the same rate it was recorded: in 16-bit words at a rate of 44,100 times per second (44.1kHz). This proved unsatisfactory due to the inaccuracy of the few 16-bit DACs that were available at the time (so few were available, in fact, that many of the first CD players, including those from Philips and Toshiba, actually used 14-bit chips instead), and was the reason audiophiles at the time complained bitterly about the poor sound quality of the CD format. Manufacturers eventually responded by building 18-bit, then 20-bit and now 24-bit DACs. These new chips convert the same 16-bit digital signals into analogue signals, but the additional bits allow the data to be converted far more accurately than ever before. Excessive noise, another problem with early CD players, was removed by a different technique called oversampling. Instead of reading the data at 44.1kHz, oversampling CD players read it at 88.2kHz or higher speeds. The advantages of increasing word length and oversampling are considerable. The frequency response of the system becomes more linear and extended and noise and distortion fall to imperceptible levels not just when the music is at its loudest, but also during the quietest sections of music. Perhaps the most important benefit is the increase in the accuracy of the digital-to-analogue conversion at low recorded levels. Oldfashioned DACs, presented with lowlevel digital signals, didn t convert them reliably or repeatably, so you could play the same CD three times and have the music play back at three different volume levels. As noted in the introduction, inside Arcam s CD192 are no fewer than eight 24-bit/192kHz DACs (four for each channel) made by Scottish manufacturer Wolfson Microelectronics (the same WM8740 sigma delta type that s used in Arcam s top-line FMJ AV processor). All op-amps inside the CD192 are either Analogue Devices or Burr-Brown. The PCBs are very high-tech four-layer types and populated exclusively by state-ofthe-art audiophile-grade components resistors, capacitors, et al. Performance I thought the sound from Arcam s CD192 was absolutely glorious. It seems I can never get quite used to the difference in sound that can result by manipulating data in different ways. One of my favourite discs by Eva Cassidy is Eva By Heart which is a quite ordinary commercially-recorded disc that has been in my collection for some years, yet I was amazed by the difference in sound quality when I played it back using the CD192. The sound of Eva s guitar seemed more authentically natural, and the Arcam highlighted the gulf between the sound of the keyboard cellos and that of Dan Cassidy s violin. I feel obliged to point out that I m not entirely comfortable with the industry that s grown around Eva Cassidy since her tragic death (of cancer, aged 34), such that she s now better known and more famous than she ever was during her lifetime. I suspect Cassidy would have approved the course her friends and family have taken, but I remain uncomfortable with it. Australian Hi-Fi 43

er Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player Noise has long ceased being a problem with properly-designed CD players, yet the CD192 still seemed somehow quieter than most, though this feeling was so subliminal it

More sonically significant was the clarity of the musical detailing at the very lowest levels, which manifested as an increased transparency.

3 er Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player Noise has long ceased being a problem with properly-designed CD players, yet the CD192 still seemed somehow quieter than most, though this feeling was so subliminal it was hard to draw a bead on exactly where the quietness was creeping in. More sonically significant was the clarity of the musical detailing at the very lowest levels, which manifested as an increased transparency. Bass is powerful and extended, perhaps with a little less of the fullness of some CD players, which is an advantage when there s lots of bass from a mixture of instruments, because it s then easier to hear the one from the other, but when there s only a single bass instrument playing, the sound is just a touch light, though this, in turn allows one to better appreciate the player s talents, so there are no absolutes. Conclusion The relationship between the Arcam CD192 s performance and its appearance reminded me of that old adage about a steel fist in a velvet glove, because nothing about the DiVA s appearance will prepare you for the way it sounds. If you like your hi-fi equipment to have that understated, elegant look but will brook no compromise when it comes to sound quality and performance, Arcam s CD192 will be a perfect fit. greg borrowman LAB REPORT Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT published on the following pages. All readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specific sample tested. 44 Australian Hi-Fi

er Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player TEST RESULTS Test Results The output voltage of the Arcam DiVA CD192 was measured at 2.1313 volts (left channel) and 2.

4 er Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player TEST RESULTS Test Results The output voltage of the Arcam DiVA CD192 was measured at volts (left channel) and volts (right channel) with a 0dB test signal at 1kHz, which means that channel balance was a superb 0.015dB. There was however, at this same level, just a little phase error (0.01 ) and a tiny amount of harmonically-related distortion, which is shown on the graph as consisting of 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7thorder components, all of which are more than 100dB below reference, so lower than %. (OK, that third harmonic peeps over the 100dB line on the graph, but not by much!). However, even this tiny amount of distortion disappears completely at the 10dB recorded level and stays vanished from there on down. So, since there are no music CDs with recorded levels above 10dB, even the tiny amount of distortion at 0dB is a non-issue. We have included two graphs showing distortion at around the 90dB level, the difference being that the 90.31dB test signal is dithered whereas the one at 91.24dB is not. Again, the music on all commercial CDs is dithered, so the performance of the CD192 will be free from harmonically-related distortion. The penalty of adding dither, as you can see from the graphs, is an increase in the noise floor, in this case raising the floor from its potential of more than 130dB to an actual realised level of a touch better than 120dB. Since this last is likely to be around 10 20dB better than your Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player TEST RESULTS Serial #: C192PO1356 Test Result Unit/Comment Output Voltage / volts (Left/Right) Frequency Response: /-0.12 db (20Hz-20kHz) Channel Separation: 114/114/116 db 16Hz/1kHz/20kHz THD: 0dBFS Channel Balance: kHz Channel Phase: 0.02/0.01/ Hz/1kHz/20kHz (degrees) Group Delay -3.98/+5.39 degrees (1k-20k/20k-1k) S/N Ratio (No Pre/emp) 96dB/98dB db (unweighted/weighted) S/N Ratio (Pre-Emp) 96dB/98dB db (unweighted/weighted) De-Emphasis Error 0.02/0.07/0.28dB (1kHz/4kHz/16kHz) Linearity 60.00dB/ 70.00dB 0.03/0.01 db (Not Dithered) Linearity 80.59dB/ 85.24dB 0.07/0.08 db (Not Dithered) Linearity 89.46dB/ 91.24dB 0.04/0.25 db (Not Dithered) Linearity 80.70dB/ 90.31dB 0.01/0.13 db (Dithered) Power Consumption Not Tested Standby/On Mains Voltage During Test Not Tested Max/Min Digital Carrier Amplitude 70mV Audioband 0.94V/1.45V Differential/Common Mode Audioband Jitter 00.8/0.005 (ns p p)/ui Data Jitter 01.4/0.008 (ns p p)/ui Deviation 4.6 ppm Frame Rate Eye-Narrowing (Zero Cross) 6.1/0.034 (ns p p)/ui Eye-Narrowing (200mV) 12.7/0.072 (ns p p)/ui Absolute Phase Normal Normal/Inverted Bit Activity 16 At Digital O/P 46 Australian Hi-Fi

5 er Arcam DiVA CD192 CD Player TEST RESULTS amplifier can manage, this, too, is a nonissue. Many CD players come unstuck when trying to reproduce high frequencies at high recorded levels. Not Arcam s CD192. The graph shows the test signal at 20kHz and that s about it. The signal at 40kHz appears to be the second harmonic, and the one at 24.1kHz is undoubtedly sampling-related, but at more than 110dB down, is of academic interest only. Most importantly, no sampling-related effects appear within the audio band. Twin-tone IMD is also a highfrequency/high-level test signal. Here, the graph shows the two test signals at 19kHz and 20kHz. There are sidebands at 18kHz and 21kHz, but these are around 100dB (0.0001%) down. More importantly, there s nothing at all visible down at 1kHz (the difference frequency between 19kHz and 20kHz). When playing an SMPTE IMD test signal the CD192 s output contains a tiny amount of signal at around 14kHz, which would be the second harmonic of the upper of the two signals that comprise the SMPTE test tone, but little else. The frequency response of the Arcam CD192 was very flat, extending from 20Hz to 20kHz ±0.079dB. It was characterised by a very slight tilt that saw the response around 0.038dB high at 20Hz and thereafter falling with increasing frequency to end up 0.12dB down at 20kHz. Separation between the channels was equally good, varying between 114dB and 116dB depending on the test frequency. Inter-channel phase swayed between its best result at 1kHz that I ve already mentioned and a worstcase of 0.15 at 20kHz. Same channel phase (a.k.a. group delay) was standard for sigma-delta DAC architecture, returning a 3.98 error for 1kHz/20kHz and a 5.39 error for 20kHz/1kHz. The CD192 proved itself to be one of the very few CD players which incorporates de-emphasis circuitry (no commercial CDs these days are preemphasised) and it worked very well, with just 0.02dB of error at 1kHz, 0.07dB at 4kHz and 0.28dB at 16kHz. There was very little linearity error either, as you can see from the results tabulated in the accompanying performance chart. Steve Holding 48 Australian Hi-Fi

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