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Description: The Cambridge deck has the classic Oppo proportions to indicate that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not to mention the savings in China where Cambridge Audio components are manufactured en masse. The front of the 751BD resembles a CD player but of course this is a universal deck with the added capability of interfacing with hard drives where most interactions will be done via remote and display. This is why the fascia itself only offers the most basic controls on one side of the display and tray. On the other side we encounter a button with three LEDs to select between linear phase, minimum phase shift and steep digital filters just as the DACMagic had done before to suit individual listener preference. There’s also a USB type A socket and standby switch.
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On the back we have a plethora of sockets as is common for current trends. There's a new tendency to minimize the number of especially analog audio/video sockets by changing them to HDMI. This player however was conceptualized as a universal digital center and thus had to be maximally versatile. Hence the presence of analog video outputs—composite and component—and a set of 7.1 multi-channel audio outputs. Separate from those are stereo audio outputs with widely spaced RCAs to allow for thicker audiophile snakes. And of course there‘s HDMI times two actually, one HDMI 1.4 with 4DTV and Deep Colour from the Marvell QDEO 88DE2750-BIF-2 scaler with “motion adaptive” noise reduction; and the second one with a less sophisticated scaler. This latter one should resolve compatibility problems with older receivers not yet prepared for 3D signals. In such cases we'd use the second HDMI port for the audio signal and the first for the television.
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Unfortunately I do not know if there are solutions for when the master clock sits in the receiver and not source. The newest Arcam receivers allow for that. Via HDMI we can send all kinds of signals including SACD both natively and as PCM, the latter presumably at 24/88. We have also digital audio outputs with coaxial and optical up to 24/192. Links to the external digital world are supplied by Ethernet socket and for connecting to external disc drives there's USB type A and eSata. As per a conversation with Adam Shaw-Cotterill, head of marketing at Cambridge Audio, the player can receive audio and video streams via Ethernet port from for example a NAS. But because it was not certified yet to be used with various servers, the company does not highlight this capability.
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The insides will enchant audiophiles because they resemble what we find in quality dedicated CD players from the likes of Cambridge Audio. The circuit is divided over a few PCBs. On the back there is the audio board with five identical stereophonic Wolfson Audio WM8740 DACs. All channels are treated with NE5532 outputs and Wima polypropylene coupling caps. The stereo output gets gold-plated sockets, not the others. The signal flows from a large Shark Q5 192kHz DSP chip which has been dressed with a metal plate and logos of Anagram Technologies and Cambridge Audio. This is an upsampler with code written by the Swiss company now owned by Cambridge Audio. Adam Shaw-Cotterill explained how it is easier to implement technology when you actually own said technology. Cooperation with outside contractors can be very difficult so this is core chip is now Cambridge Audio’s property. All input signals are automatically upsampled to 24/192 before being sent to the DACs whose own interpolation circuitry is defeated.
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The Cambridge chip also runs the selectable digital filters. The same PCB also houses a power supply where a separate output from the main switching power supply provides the voltage. Next to the DSP chip sits the master clock, a very good unit from XO. Video processing occupies a separate PCB built around two core chips, a Mediatek for audio/video and an HDMI processor. This Marvell QDEO is one of the best available. The signal is read by a modified universal Sony drive. The drive is seated on a thick metal frame and bolted to the bottom by thick stand-offs with decoupling springs. Those are quite stiff to suggest a resonant frequency that won’t interfere with data retrieval. The switching master power supply is quite elaborate and sports many oscillation-damping capacitors |
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Technical data according to manufacturer:
Dimensions: 85 x 430 x 312mm
Weight: 4.8kg
3D: yes
Disc compatibility: BD, DVD, CD, DVD-A/V, SACD, HDCD
DAC chips: Wolfson WM8740 x 5
Upsampling: Anagram Technologies 24/192 kHz
Decoded audio formats: DTS HD Master Audio, DTS Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital AVCHD, MP4, DivX, MKV, FLAC and WAV to 24/192
HDMI outputs: 2 x HDMI 1.4a
WiFi: Via n-type adapter as supplied
HDD inputs: USB x 2, eSata x 1 |
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opinia @ highfidelity.pl
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