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Cambridge Audio DAC questions

I am looking at the D500 se and have got some questions about the DAC.
I have been told that the DAC is actually 1 bit and it is filtered to 24 bit. This is confusing - can anybody clarify this.
I am also looking at the Rotel 971 but there is a price difference and the fact that Sam Tellig recomends the Cambridge.
I would appreciate any comments or opinions.
My system is under construction but currently consists of Paradigm studio 60's and a B&K EX-442 amp.
fangio

Showing 4 responses by sugarbrie

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
The D500SE has a Crystal 24/192 Chip model CS4391 made by Cirrus Logic. You can read about it at: http://www.cirrus.com/design/products/overview/index.cfm?DivisionID=3&SubdivisionID=8&ProductID=30


1 Bit DACs were commonly called bitstream. They were found on the Cambridge CD4, CD6 and Rotel 930, 950 and 970 all filtered to 20 bit. Do not be put off by the term 1 bit; it is just basically how the chip reads the data before the filtering and/or sampling is applied at whatever rate the chip is designed to operate at.

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
The data I have read sais that Crystal 24bit/192Khz chip has a 24 bit data stream, so as they say on the Sopranos "Forgetaboutit".
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
The Rotel 971 has dual mono 20 bit Burr Brown PCM63K chips and also the Pacific Micro HDCD decoding filter.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
The Rotel 990 and 991 CD players also use the (dual) mono PCM63K Chips. The 990 is better than either the 971 or 991 because of the studio pro quality aluminum transport. There is one on eBay right now; ends on January 2nd; item number 1313693188
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