LAB REPORT Denon DCD-2500NE Super Audio CD Player
Denon DCD-2500NE SACD Player - Test Results
Analogue Section Result Units/Comment
Output Voltage 2.3339 / 2.3492 volts (Left Ch/ Right Ch)
Frequency Response See Graph dB (20Hz – 20kHz)
Channel Separation 117 / 119 / 115 dB at 16Hz / 1kHz / 20kHz
THD+N 0.003 @ 1kHz @ 0dBFS
Channel Balance 0.056 @ 1kHz @ 0dBFS
Channel Phase 0.00/ 0.00 / 0.11 degrees at 16Hz / 1kHz / 20kHz
Group Delay 180 / 5.37 degrees (1–20kHz / 20–1kHz)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (No Pre-emph) 108 / 111 dB (unweighted/weighted)
De-Emphasis Error 0.007 / 0.013 / 0.2 at 1kHz / 4kHz / 16kHz
Linearity Error @ –60.00dB / –70.00dB 0.00 / 0.07 dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –80.59dB / –85.24dB 0.04 / 0.04 dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –89.46dB / –91.24dB 0.06 / 0.05 dB (Test Signal Not Dithered)
Linearity Error @ –80.70dB / –90.31dB 0.11 / 0.02 dB (Test Signal Dithered)
Power Consumption 0.86 / 22.97 watts (Standby / On)
Mains Voltage During Testing 239 - 254 (Minimum – Maximum)
Digital Section Units/Comment
Digital Carrier Amplitude 78mV Audioband
Digital Carrier Amplitude 1.09V / 694mV Differential / Common Mode
Audioband Jitter 2.1 / 0.012 nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Data Jitter 2.0 / 0.011 nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Deviation +5.3 ppm
Frame Rate 44100.231
Eye-Narrowing (Zero Cross) 1.5 / 0.009 nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Eye-Narrowing (200mV) 9.9 / 0.057 nS (p–p) / UI (p–p)
Absolute Phase Normal Normal / Inverted36 Australian Hi-Fi http://www.avhub.com.au
20Hz 100.00 1000.00 10000.00-0.40-0.200.000.200.40dBFS
.EWPORT 4EST ,ABS-140.000.00 Hz 9600.00 19200.00 28800.00 38400.00 48k-120.00-100.00-80.00-60.00-40.00-20.00dBFS0.00Graph 9. Frequen-
cy Response at
@ 0dB recorded
level using Red Book
16-bit/44.1kHz CD.
[Denon DCD-2500NE
SACD Player]Graph 10.I put ‘rolling off’ in inverted commas
because the roll-off is so slight it would be
completely imperceptible to the ear. Indeed it’s
only visible as a roll-off on Graph 9 because
of the magnified vertical scaling. If normal
vertical scaling had been used, you’d have
seen only a ruler-flat horizontal line along the
0.00 scale mark. Expressed the usual way, the
Denon DCD-2500NE returned a response of
20Hz to 20kHz ±0.11dB. Channel separation
was outstandingly good, with Newport Test
Labs measuring a best result of 119dB at 1kHz,
but even at the frequency extremes the results
were outstanding: 117dB at 16Hz and 115dB
at 20kHz. Channel balance was almost exact
at 0.056dB. Channel phase was also outstand-
ingly good, with absolutely no inter-channel
phase errors at 16Hz or 1kHz, and only a 0.11
degree error at 20kHz. Group delay was typical
for a TI PCM1795 8× filter, which is being used
in the DCD-2500NE.
Linearity error, as tabulated in the accom-
panying test result sheet, was very low from
–60dB right down to –90.31dB and also uni-
form in its errors, which is excellent. De-em-
phasis errors were also vanishingly low, just
0.007dB at 1kHz, 0.013dB at 4kHz and 0.2dB
at 16kHz.
The digital output signal was very clean
and stable, with very low jitter, with the only
eye-raising result being the eye-narrowing re-
sult at 200mV of 9.9nS, which is a little higher
than I’m used to seeing.
To see Denon’s AL32 processing in action
you can do no better than look at the impulse
and square wave responses. The impulse
response is almost perfect, with almost no pre-
or post-ringing. The same is true of the square
wave response, which also shows almost no
ringing at all, with the penalty appearing to be
slight slopes on the leading and trailing edges
of the wave. This is the best pulse and square
wave performance I’ve seen from any digital
player or DAC. Output voltage was around
2.3-volts for a 0dB recorded signal, which
means the Denon DCD-2500NE will interface
perfectly with any ancillary components you
might care to connect. Power consumption
on standby is less than 1-watt and increases to
only 22-watts when the player is operating.
The performance of the Denon DCD-
2500NE as measured by Newport Test Labs
was outstandingly good in every respect, and
unbelievably good with respect to its time
domain responses.
It receives my highest and unconditional
recommendation. Steve HoldingReaders 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
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