[wpope]

Hello All,

I've recently become interested in HiRez after reading some online pieces questioning whether there was much point going beyond the Redbook standard given real world limitations on human hearing and electronic reproduction.  To test it out for myself, I bought a cheapie upsampling DVD player (Panasonic S-77) and set it to output 24/88.2 and 176.4 to my Audiolab M-DAC for my CD listening.  Yes, more is better as far as my ears are concerned. 

That said, there is a problem with the current setup as the sound will occaissionally break up, probably due to poor jitter control one would expect in a budget transport (I have also fiddled with all the jitter rejection levels on the DAC, but the problem persists). 

I am currently researching better quality transports that could ideally go all the way up to 192.  The Cambridge Audio 751BD looks quite nice, but is a little pricey, though it certainly is an option if there's a worthwhile improvement in SQ.  So there are three questions for me:

- Does anyone out there have experience with the 751BD playing standard CDs that they can share?

- Are there other players out there that can output 192 without the jitter problem at a price point less than the 751BD?  I don't mind shopping used for discontinued models.

- The 751 BD actually is capable of 384 output, and there are DACs out ther that can handle it, though not via SPDIF which I understand is limited to 192.  Does anyone know of work being done to upgrade SPDIF to 384?

Many thanks for any help you can give!


Bill

[Mr Peabody]

I have a friend who is a dealer/installer that carries Cambridge, he is thrilled with both the 751 & 851, he has access to other brands yet uses the 751 in his own HT set up, for music he prefers the  851.  I've heard the 851 but not the 751 for music.  He says Cambridge really stepped up their game on these models.  He recently did a shoot out using the analog outputs of the 751, 851 & new Oppo, I think 105, it's the one that sells for $1199.00.  For music playback from their own analog outs it was 751 then Oppo then Cambridge for good, better, best.

Since you have your own DAC you should look at the Oppo $499.00 model to see what it outputs I'm sure it would be a good transport.

The problem with the Panasonic is odd, I wouldn't think jitter to be that bad to cause drop out.  Have you tried a coaxial connection to see if it helps or perhaps a better cable?  I've had issues with optical connections even with good  cables, I personally avoid them when possible.

[Mag]

IMO the gain setting on the Blu-ray player/s is probably too high. My processor usually shows clipping when I use my Blu-ray player. Solutions I can think of is to use a computer with Blu-ray, then you can control the strength of the wave volume. Or a processor that can process the higher gain without distorting.

I don't think it's a jitter problem because dvd, Blu-ray players typically have good distortion specs.

[Mr Peabody]

Mag, are you talking analog or digital?  I've never heard of being able to adjust the gain on a digital signal and jitter is a fact of digital signal transfer

[Mag]

On a computer you have a volume controller under accessories/entertainment. There is a wave strength volume controller where you can adjust the volume/wave strength. Standalone players are typically set high around 80%. With a computer source you may have to drop the wave strength down to around 50-60% for the signal not to be clipped, depending on the wave strength of the recording.

Compression on recordings is also another reason for clipping. I have some recordings that tend to break up no matter what the wave strength is, but lowering the wave strength helps to make it bearable.