CD players with no or configurable upsampling

Consonance Linear CD120,
Consonance Reference 2.2 linear, Srajan Ebaen from 6moons owns one and loves it.
Here is the review conducted by him about this CDP and the differences between Linear vs Upsampling CD players.

6moon review

As to the sound benefits:
in plain language - less edginess, glare, resembles analog qualities, more forgiving then up-sampling/over sampling CD players.

Regards
Mariusz

Mrjstark is stating an opinion and this is by no means a fact. Many, not all, would disagree with this statement completely while others would agree totally.

Perhaps you would want to take a look at several of the best digital equipment companies in the world to see their approach. This will tell you very clearly that the answer to this is purely subjective. Two good company's to look at are EMM Labs (offer professional equipment for studios and consumer equipment) and DCS (also offers both professional and consumer equipment). I am sure Stark can recommend other highly regarded brands who are considered leaders in both the professional and consumer markets.

Cary 303 has adjustable/defeatable upsampling. If you audition one, you can compare for yourself. BTW, it also allows you to choose between tube and ss output sections.

Good Luck,

Marty

What is the advantage of having none?

It generally means the designer needs a more expensive sharper brick wall analog filter on the output - this may affect phase in the in band frequencies.

I disagree with Mrjstark. I generally find that upsampling yields a more analog-sounding result. I've had 12 CD players, some of both types, and I currently own one of each. My Creek CD50mk2 doesn't upsample but my Audio Aero Prima mk2 does. And I love both. But in my experience, upsampling doesn't matter as much as the output stage design, so there is lots of overlap in performance between the two types. The bottom line is you don't need to worry about it. Just enjoy the music!

Arthur

I had the Consonnce CD120 Linear with Non-OS 16 bit DAC (2 DACs) and no brickwall digital filter.
Smooth, relaxed, musical, yet detailed and great PRaT. Lovely analogue sounding unit. Recipient of many awards.

They make the 2.2 Reference (tubed w/ 4 DACs), Ofeo (top of the line Forbidden City, 4 DACs and better chassis), and DAC16 (DAC portion of Linear CD)

There is a purpose for this brickwall low-pass filter. Without this filter aliases of high freqencies will fold into audible band. Filter has to pass 20kHz but reject 44kHz carrier - it cannot be done with even group delay (linear phase) Bessel like filters (no matter how many poles). Result of using non-Bessel filter is wrong summing of harmonics and altered sound.

When you say upsampling you probably mean oversampling. Upsampling is particular case of oversampling with non-integer ratio and asynchronous reclocking.

As of the close of September, 2008, I have terminated my relationship with Opera Audio/Consonance for reasons not necessarily relevant to this discussion, but can speak to the differences related to the product line, here specifically, their oversampling and non-OS CD player topologies.

First, in my opinion, the differences between the two are that the non-OS topology offers a more open, engaging, and exciting sound. The oversampling players offer a richer, more relaxed, and voluptuous nature, with more powerful and extended low frequency performance. Which one is best is obviously quite subjective. But, to answer which one is more "analog", in my estimation, it's the oversampling machines.

The CD120 Linear is one of the gems of the product line. I tried my darndest to keep the price artificially low at $995 so as to not really have any competition at its price point. Often, all it took to win a place in a dealership was to walk in with this player, have the staff A/B it against a Jolida or Rega, and I was soon good to go.

As far as I'm concerned, the Reference CD2.2 Linear is a quite an underwhelming performer. Especially, at its $1995 price point. The lightweight bottom end and overall thin sound were definitely not my cup of tea. Instead, the Reference CD2.2 MKII and CD120T oversampling players, at the same $1995 are easily superior, and especially good sounding units, and at this point, I'm keeping one as a personal reference in one of my systems.

Bottom line, if you're going to go with Consonance and you've got $1K to spend, go for the non-oversampling CD120 Linear. If you've got $2K, choose either the Reference CD2.2 MKII or CD120T oversampling, tube output machines with volume control. Bypass the oversampling CD120 Balanced and non-oversampling Reference CD2.2 Linear.

The achilles heel of all Consonance CD players, apart from the full-sized Droplet 5.0 (which uses the Philips CD transport) is the abysmal reliability of their Sony transport/laser head assemblies. In fact, the rate of failure of the total number of units (which includes the Droplet 5.0, whose transports NEVER fail) I imported in 2007 approaches 80%. So long as you can stomach that, which is a pretty big IF, they earn my recommendation.

Thank you,
Joe

Joe,
I guess an option would be to use Consonances DAC16 (which is the same as the 120 Linear's)with the transport of your choice.

I enjoyed my time with the 120 Linear. It was so musical and I found it very anologue sounding to my ears. The only comparison I made it to was a Resolution Audio CD50. The Linear had better pace but was not quite as analogue sounding, but not far off either. The Resolution had a bit better detail. It was more engaging and held its own quite well to this costly player.

i have reviewed, auditioned and owned many 24 bit oversampling cd players, including:

bat vk5, musical fidelity a5, lector .6, vincent cd s6, esatern electric minimax, etc. .

such players are not warm or tube like. i have gone to ces and auditioned many cd players which utilize upsampling. they are not warm.

i agree with mrjstark. as for analog sound, since there are many arms, cartridges and tables, the term analog sound is somewhat ambiguous. it would be useful to describe what analog sound means.

Yeah, I should probably add IMO to my post.
And no Ckoffend, I won't recommend anything that would add nothing to what I've said.

At the end, it's in designer's hands to voice his/her gear in one way or the other.

I own both and just report what I hear with my inexperienced ears.

Mariusz

its really just coincidental, but the players i've kept the longest have not featured upsampling. buy a player you like, and try not to spend too much...it will still have the dna of a cd player.

I think you're totally right about using a good DAC, Mjcmt. It seems to be potentially the smartest way to go.

Agree.

I second that.