The best CD Player for the money

RBCD encoding allows up to to 22 Khz maximum specification ...

One other CD question. If the CD is properly encoded, how could there EVER be any frequency above about 20khz?

There isn't. However, jitter and other issues can produce out of band noise which can get aliased in. Upsampling will try to push the noise way up in frequency where it can be aggressively filtered and removed. A delta sigma converter works this way and is beautifully linear as well as cheap.

Rega, Cambridge, Meridian

Magfan - I don't know how they could pass 20kHz with -3dB and 21kHz with -96dB using linear phase filters (Bessel) to avoid problems in passband. Bessel filters have poor rejection at up to 2x -3dB frequency no matter how many poles. Brick-wall filters not only create uneven delay for different frequencies (wrong summing of harmonics) but also have uneven (ripple) amplitude in the passband. Master tape is down-converted to 44.1kHz from 192kHz but I don't know details. It seems impossible to limit bandwidth to exactly 20kHz with brick-wall filter. Recording engineers - are you there?....

stay clear of the denon 3910--lazor goes
bad and it is $550 for the parts,,I had
to throw mine in the dumpster,,,

The Raysonic 168 is upsamples to 24/192 has VARIABLE balanced tube output stage, allowing you to eliminate a preamp, unless you have other input needs. A mere $2549. It is beautifully built, handsome and sonically compares to... well, read 6moons review to see what he says it compares to

Fdcliff, which dumpster was that? I might need some spare parts.

Have heard some big things about Gryphon's brand new 32 bit Signature Cd player anyone using one yet??

Any 32bit recordings you want to share with us?

Mtkh1567-Surely your joking with this comment??

... that was my point, 32 bit processing capability without 32 bit recordings out there ...

We'll get there eventually, but anyone boasting about their DAC being able to process 32bit is getting a little ahead of themselves IMHO!

You could say the same about 24 bit but you never mentioned that!!

Bigpond, plenty of 24bit software out there, for years. Just look at acousticsounds.com you'll find DVD 24/96, HDAD 24/96 and 24/192. Couple of hundred titles. It's a niche format like DSD/SACD, but nothing 32bit out there yet.

Oppo DVD player w/ Benchmark DAC.
Can't touch it for this kind of money.

The Mikado Signature i using a 32 bit converter for upsampling.

Hands Down-Lexicon RT-20 for $1000 or less if you're lucky.
And not only is it a "fabulous" CD player; it plays everything.

Hi Gryphonaudio i have heard some incredible things about this player what can you tell us about it.Regards Bigpond

Pioneer PD-D9.
Killer!!!!

The Mikado 32 bit technology explained
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/09/17/1221330909215.html

To Bigpond
On www.gryphon-audio.com ´s news collom at page 2, there is a well written feedback from one of the first owners of the Signature.

Gryphonaudio, with all respect to the no-doubt wonderful sounding Mikado CD player, this Australian article does not explain how it is using the off-the-shelve AKM 32bit DAC in its design. Btw, this DAC has been around for the most part of 2008 and implemented before by others.

I do like the Mikado modularity concept, and if it could handle SACD I would be seriously tempted ...

(If you are a dealer or manufacturer pls disclose)

"Upsampling to 32bit/192kHz in the Mikado Signature shifts aliasing noise upward in frequency so that the upper corner frequency, of the digital anti-aliasing filters, can be more than doubled compared to the standard Mikado, witch even more than doubled the original 44.1 kHz sample rate to 24bit/96kHz.

Upsampling can neither miraculously restore lost information nor generate new information from the original 44.1 kHz sampled music. But there is a straightforward and valid explanation for the sonic benefits of Upsampling.

Without Upsampling, a complicated brick wall analog filter is required following the conversion process to eliminate high-frequency noise interfering with the analog audio signal.

Following the four dual Differential 32bit/192kHz AKM digital-to-analog converters, Mikado Signature executes the analog filter with just a single silvered Mica capacitor.

The 32bit/192kHz Upsampling of the digital signal also results in an incredible accurate handling of the important 16bit witch represents the recorded music signal, preserving linearity for improved THD+N performance.

The Mikado Signature’s 32bit/192kHz Upsampling together with this simple, but yet, high quality analog filter, results in a new standard of sonic performance."

I represent the manufacturer.

So now that you have 10,000 different opinions, what are you going to do now?

Gryphonaudio, If you were a local, I would challenge you to back up your talk with an audition. I will swear on a stack of holy books my no filter DAC will out shine the Mikado in every category on my system.

We are all entitled to our own opinions, we are not entitled to our own facts,.

Call it a highly confident opinion if that is your preference.

Tvad, my opinion is shaped by the listening of digital filtered players at my location. Non believers have left believing. This is my system I am writing about. I have witnessed the same results with excellent SET systems.

Tvad, that is not the case at all. My doors are open for anyone who believes they can change my mind. Should the challenger prevail, I will humbly acquiesce.

" my opinion is shaped by the listening of digital filtered players at my location."

What players would those be, Muralman1?

Some posters on this site need to get off their high horse....

Tvad, this is not a question of preference. It is a question of live vs. Hifi. Everyone who has listened to the difference here agrees with me. One recent visitor brought a very loved SACD player. He now owns the AMR-CD 77.

All I need to do is run the collector's disc, "Lavin," on and play Sylvie Courvoisier's first four plucked piano string notes. The digital filter players, in varying degrees, truncate the decay, blend the harmonics, and blanche the tone.

Tvad, I am reporting what is happening here, with my system. No, other systems will probably not mirror my findings. That does not negate the amazing things I am finding about with my system.

You assume to much saying anyone reading this exchange would not gain from comparing their players to mine here. You are just saying no one can change my mind, so why bother. That is not the challenge. I want to know who is going to be the first visitor whose opinion does not change.

Tvad, I have heard lots of oversamplers on other systems that would make the NOS players sound wimpy. There, does that suit you?

My system shows the outright supremacy of NOS over OS digital. The difference is not small.

Hooray!!! Make lots of plaques, for my system, and class D and SET system owners I know who have tried NOS DACs as well.

Maybe Hollywood could entice Mike Myers and Dana Carvey to do "Muralman's World".

Oversampling off Garth.

Dana Carvey came from my world dontcha know.

OVERSAMPLING on my system, and the very fine SET systems I know suck. Plain and simple. It is a system thing.

>>Dana Carvey came from my world dontcha know<<

The similarities are glaring.

The RNC paid for all these tweaks in my system. I had no intention of keeping them after the audiophile society meeting.

Moderator, time to lock this thread! Nothing useful here.

Interesting how these legends (in their own mind) like to pile on in postings like this.