The nicely made can-style transformers used in the I/V section appear similar to the ones Audio Note makes for their phono transformers. The analog output section is built around a stereo pair of 6H23N dual-triode tubesa Russian substitute for the more common 6922configured as anode followers. With regard to product longevity, Audio Note has yet to buy-in as many spare samples of the CD-Pro2LF as they have the AD1865N chip, but, Qvortrup said, "I've gotten Philips to guarantee me that they will give me a minimum three years' notice when they plan to discontinue the Pro." (He pointed out that, with regard to the Philips L1210 transport used in Audio Note's less expensive players and transports, AN purchased the company's last stock: some 4000 units.)Īll of the above are implemented in ways that will be familiar to longtime Audio Note enthusiasts. The Philips uses a magnetic disc clampin the CD-4.1x's case supplied as a removable puckand an integral four-spring suspension. The transport mechanism selected for the CD-4.1x is more current: the Philips CD-Pro2LF, a decidedly robust drive that's engineered specifically for the broadcast and perfectionist-audio markets. "We've done comparisons," Qvortrup said, "and I consider the AD to be the best-sounding converter, by far." The AD1865N is also used in other of Audio Note's upmarket digital products, and Qvortrup says the company recently bought 1000 of the chips: a wise investment, as Analog Devices no longer manufactures it. The new player's I/V section is driven by the Analog Devices AD1865N chip: a dual D/A converter with an 18-bit word length. The Audio Note CD-4.1x uses no filtering at all, digital or analog: Instead, the player takes advantage of the natural rolloff provided by the transformer coupling in its current-to-voltage section, a design for which AN has received patents in the US, UK, and Australia. All we can really do is to minimize the damage being done in the digital domain." He added that products without digital filtering "will have more of the qualities you associate with analog. According to managing director Peter Qvortrup, "Oversampling is the digital equivalent of feedback, and it causes a colossal amount of damage. Writing about a character's odd choice of automobile, the authors observe that "It was state of the art, the art in this case was probably pottery." That quote came to mind more than once while living with the CD-4.1x, but not in a pejorative sensenot at all, in fact.įamouslyin audiophile circles, at least≺udio Note rejects the use of oversampling digital filters, and promotes their CD players and D/A converters as "1x oversampling" products. The latest embodiment of this policy is Audio Note's new flagship CD player, the CD-4.1x ($12,000), a top-loading, single-box product that the company says combines its CDT-Two/II transport ($7450) with a slightly upgraded version of its DAC 2.1x ($4200).Īmong the many keen descriptions in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's comic novel Good Omens, one stands out. Or, putting it another way: Don't bring a chip to a transformer fight. Their digital credo might best be summed up as: The key to making products that sound more analog is not to be found in the world of digital. Not that the British firm is against progress per sebut as far as their digital playback gear is concerned, theirs is a decidedly different approach. But there remain a handful of manufacturers who would win the numbers game by not playing it at all, Audio Note UK among them. That last goal, especially, is one most designers try to reach by adopting ever-new technologies: new digital-to-analog converters, new filters, new numbers. ![]() ![]() And as long as I'm reporting from Fantasyland, I'll ask that they also be obsolescence-proof. For a manufacturer to squeeze money from the stone that is my CD-player budget, his products would have to be both exceptional and affordable.
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