Australian HiFi – May 2019

LAB REPORT

40 Australian Hi-Fi

ArcamCDS50SACDPlayer/DAC- LaboratoryTe s tR e s u l t s

AnalogueSection Result Units/Comment

OutputVoltage (Unbalanced) 2.2352/ 2.235 2 volts(Left Ch/RightCh)

FrequencyResponse 2Hz- 2 0 kHz +/-0.12dB

ChannelSeparation 145 /148/13 3 dB at16Hz/ 1kHz/ 20kHz

THD+N 0. 001 @1kHz@0dBFS

ChannelBalance Exact @1kHz@0dBFS

ChannelPhase 0.02/ Exact/ 0.0 5 degreesat16Hz/ 1kHz/ 20kHz

GroupDelay 180 /0. 8 degrees(1–20kHz/20–1kHz)

Signal-to-NoiseRatio(NoPre-emph) 11 3dB dB(A-weighted)

De-EmphasisError 0.007/0.008/0.19 5 at 1 kHz/ 4 kHz/ 16 kHz

LinearityError@–60.00dB/ –70.00dB 0.01/ 0.0 5 dB(TestSignalNotDithered)

LinearityError@–80.59dB/–85.24dB Exact/0.02 dB(Te s tS ignalNotDithered)

LinearityError@–89.46dB/ –91.24dB 0.02/ 0.02 dB(TestSignalNotDithered)

LinearityError@–80.70dB/–90.31dB 0.09/0.0 5 dB(Te s tS ignalDithered)

PowerConsumption 12 .4 7 watts(On)

MainsVoltage DuringTe s t i ng 23 4 - 24 3 (Minimum– Maximum)

DigitalSection Units/Comment

DigitalCarrierAmplitude 122. 08 mV Audioband

DigitalCarrierAmplitude 1.52V/ 1.59V Differential/ CommonMode

AudiobandJitter 1 .6/ 0.1 1 nS(p–p)/ UI(p–p)

DataJitter 1 .6/ 0.1 1 nS(p–p)/ UI(p–p)

Deviation + 47. 5 ppm

FrameRate 47102. 097

Eye-Narrowing(ZeroCross) 1.9/ 0.009 nS(p–p)/ UI(p–p)

Eye-Narrowing(200mV) 6.5/0.0 3 nS(p–p)/UI(p–p)

Absolute Phase Normal Normal/ Inverted

ArcamCDS50SACD/CD/NetStreamingPlayerDACSectionTest

DigitalSection Result Units/Comment

OutofBandSpuriousComponents –11 8 .7 23

SuppressionofImagingComponents 106 .1 54

LevelDependentLogarithmicGain 26. 960

IntermodulationDistortion( 1 ) –1 06 .74 8 18 kHz/ 20 kHz1:1Ratio

IntermodulationDistortion( 2 ) –11 0. 037 41Hz/7993Hz4:1Ratio

LowLevelNoiseModulation 3 .71 2 WorstCase

IdleChannelNoise –1 2 1. 85 CCIR-RMSweighting

Signal-to-NoiseRatio –121. 531 CCIR-RMSweighting

PowerLineProducts –123.182 50Hz

Non-LinearInterchannelCrosstalk(a) –12 5 .4 34 3 kHz(2nd-orderref17kHz/20kHz)

Non-LinearInterchannelCrosstalk(b) –12 6 .71 5 6kHz(3rd-orderref17kHz/20kHz)

Non-LinearInterchannelCrosstalk(c) –1 23. 337 10.040kHz(2ndre40Hz/ 10 kHz)

Non-LinearInterchannelCrosstalk(d) –114. 095 10.080kHz(3rdre40Hz/10kHz)

Absolute Phase Non-Inverting Normal/Inverted

˹˹˹ƖŘˁʊǒǔǞƖƋɁȧ

Arcam CDS50 SACD/CD/Network Streaming Player

If you’re also using the CDS50 as a DAC,

you’ll find it delivers excellent performance.

The inter-channel phase response (Graph 12)

is almost perfect, barely deviating from the

0dB graph line from 10Hz right up to 20kHz.

Interestingly, channel separation didn’t seem

to be quite as good as was demonstrated in

the CD test, but it’s still more than 100dB

right across the audio band, so it’s far better

than will ever be necessary to ensure perfect

channel separation and properly focused

stereo imaging.

The signal-to-noise ratio of the digital

input, on the other hand, returned a better

result than that measured for CD, with a

figure of 121.531dB CCIR-RMS weighted.

No matter whether you’re using it as a

CD player, as an SACD player or as a DAC,

the Arcam CDS50willdeliverstate-of-the-art

performance. Steve Holding

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