What the heck is Resolution Audio

Resolution Audio absolutely makes the VERY BEST digital equipment I have heard Their one box player the CD55 is the best value on the high end market $3000 It is better than the Levinson 39, the Wadia 860 and the Accuphase DP 75 I have owned them all and they are all two to three times the price of the CD 55 The CD 55 has a true analog pre-amp built into the player so you can connect direct to your power amp Eliminating the pre-amp and additional intercinnects from the signal path Sonic Heaven

I'm not employed by Resolution and I'm not corrupting anyone (my children are still young, though), and the CD55 is the absolute BEST digital playback I have ever heard. I've owned or have friends that own many of the top brands, including dcs, sony sacd, and the top line Levinson separates. I strongly encourage you to listen to the cd55 if you're in the market for new digital equipment.

I resent the implication, and who are you to imply it? You need to educate yourself more about highend companies, before you make a fool of yourself. Good day...

CAN't say it any better then carl,seems your a flavor of the month tbonephile.

I second that.

Carl, first let me say I have enjoyed reading many of your posts and find the information you give very valuable. I feel your equipment reviews are very credible. As a person who is an enthusiast and just beginning to enter the high-end (I'm only 29) it is unbiased information such as yours that educate me the most. (Now that I'm done sucking up ha,ha) I think you should give Tbone a little slack. I only found this sight a few months ago and have enjoyed it tremendously. I have bought and sold and have learned a ton. I am now a regular reader. In the beginning, however, I was not aware of every high end manufacturer out there and have learned about many of them based on postings and opinions. Also in the beginning, I also didn't know who were regular contributors or not. Now after this time, I know Carl, you are a regular. After reading many ofyour contributions, that's how I know you can be trusted and you also know what you are talking about. There are, however, many posts that are outright advertisements by individuals, who clearly are biased and seek to make some sort of gain. Others postings you sometimes are unsure about. So for a new person who just started visiting audiogon, it is sometimes unclear if all the information is credible. I think T-bone just asked a simple question and was trying to gather more information. Carl, since I know you enjoy sharing information, please don't beat him up for that.

P_mmk, as I said, I still don't like the implication. Jeff Kalt at Resolution is just the BEEESSST digital guy out there, and neither he nor his colleagues would EVER resort to such foolishness. FOR ONE THING, THEY DON'T NEED TO. I hear they are highly respected consultants to other companies, besides designing and building their own stunning/world beating components............Anyway, I'm "young" too (only 31), and can be a hotheaded jerk sometimes...perhaps that can be my perrogative, just as you say it is a newcomer's perrogative to not know all the manufacturers, and perhaps also come off as a jerk of sorts. I do thank you very much for your kind sentiments about my contributions to this forum, and hope Tom and Neil will view this in my favor in the future, and they know what I'm talking about.

CD55 owners, although only breif description of unit is posted on web site, why does new unit have no SACD capability, and what does this say about the future of this format? Many new high end CD units coming out feature SACD playback, sounds like RA is either pronouncing SACD D.O.A or is waiting for DVD-A to be finalized and then release universal player......anyone have the company position on this, regards Sam

Sam, why don't you call the company and ask them YOURSELF. Then report back to us; frankly, I don't care about sacd. I had an scd-1 in-house for over a month, because my father purchased one and was in Switzerland for a while. I WANTED TO LOVE THE PLAYER. I love the idea of sacd; unfortunately I was disappointed. I own over 3000 cd's, so for me, the upsampling in the cd55 is more important and I believe will ultimately be the 'format' of the future.

Soupcon your take on the SCD-1 is about the same as mine. I sold mine after about a month. Had some friends over to hear it before I sent it packing and they liked it. It's all a matter of how the player presents itself and one's taste. My preference is for the CAL Audio CL20 but since so much has been said about Resolution Audio I will check them out. Afterall, it is in the format that I have some major $$ wrapped up in software

Glad to hear that there are so many sensible people out there in philedom.

I think I'm getting a CD55!

The CD 50 is, if not the best sounding CD player, at least one of the top two or three. I bought one after talking to a couple of people in New York who went from their Wadia 860s to the Resolution Audio CD 50 after a month long listing period. It was a gamble for me because I do not have a dealer near by and had not heard the CD 50 before. But boy did it pay off. After just one day of comparison, I got rid of my seperates (which cost a lot more than the CD 50). It's detailed, extended and analog like with great bass and an expansive sound stage. It extracts every molecule of musical information on a CD and reproduces it as close to the actual performance as is possible with the current state of the art. Highly recommended and a bargin at it's price range.

Carl, hey man I can appreciate where you're coming from. I'm also an emotional person, and am learning to control my temper since it's not always the best quality for moving ahead in your career. JMAZUR, if you get a chance to listen to the CD 50 or 55 I'd really be curious to hear your opinions especially on how it compares to the CAL. Currently I have a CL-15 running directly into my amp.

P-mmk A good friend of mine has the CAL 15 Last weekend We A/B'd them with double blind tests His new CD 55 is on order The difference could be summed up two ways Like lifting a blanket off the sound and much more detail without the grain

Soup, just curious why no SACD capability, don't get me wrong I would love to have CD55, a little out of my budget currently, the up sample rate is staggering 24bit/706khz, Elgars are 24/192 and are considered SOTA. Analog volume control is very useful feature for audiophiles, and unit has beautiful design exterior, I'm sold.......can you loan me $3000 for a while? regards Sam

Megasam, if you're "curious why no SACD compatability", why aren't you asking those that designed it?

Sam, sure I'll loan you $3k, at 25%; the unit is beautiful, but at night, in the dark, I just close my eyes and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous sound. It sounds better today than it did yesterday. Unbelievable. That's the only way I can describe it. And beautiful. To listen to that is.

I can almost rationalize breaking my budget for $3000 by telling myself if I get CD55, I can eliminate pre-amp and go CD only......then it just as if I spent $1500 on each component, but end up with better sound. Really $3000 is a bargain for SOTA CD player, as many are $5-10,000+ range but unless you make six figures still a large investment, regards Sam

Does either the CD50 or CD55 have balanced (XLR) outputs? I need to run long interconnect, if I go directly to the amps. Will they drive 7m interconnect?

Yes, the CD 55 has balanced outputs. I don't know about driving 7 meters of cable.

They both have balanced and sinle ended outputs I have a CD55 in my office system I run one meter balanced out to my BAT power amp and 5 meter single ended out to my REL sub Works just fine They have almost double the out put voltage of most players with volume control It actually is a completely dedicated analog pre-amp built in for volume control

Buy it only if you want your ears pierced.

What was that all about? (Up above).

My CD50's output impedance is a VERY LOW 50 ohms single ended, and 100 ohms balanced. What linestage preamp has a lower output impedance that that???? It'll drive your long cable run. "It's the most POWERFUL CD player in the world, and will blow hour head clean off....You have to ask yourself one question...'Do I feel lucky'...Well, do ya, punk??"

WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF READING TO HEAR THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER......SAY I HAVE A TEAC SINGLE DISC PLAYER I BOUGHT ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO FOR $55.....IS THAT CLOSE TO WHAT YOU GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT?

"What sort of work do you do?"...."Oh, I work with retards."...."And now, for the money shot"....etc. etc.

Just following the great deal of info on the Resolution Audio players. Has anyone compared them with the much less expensive Bel Canto Dac 1? Is there enough diff to justify the higher price?

The price is higher for the DAC-1, since you have to have a linestage that is as good as no linestage at all ($10,000+ ??), and you can get a CD50 used for a couple hundred more than the DAC-1 costs. According to Jeff Kalt at Resolution (who supposedly has been quoted in another thread "upsampling dacs...pepsi yada yada"), upsampling is just hogwash. I'm not sure I agree, but I know I'll be happy with my CD50 for a long time to come. Having an extrenal DAC would be nice to use with my DAT recordings, though.

Carl, Jeff Kalt didn't say upsampling is hogwash, just that it is not a "new technology" and is identical to oversampling. The jist of his e-mail (as I interpreted it) is that oversampling (or upsampling) allows the use of more sophisticated (and usually proprietary) filtering algorithms, preserving the frequency/phase relationship that lesser filters muck up. He did admit that mfg's are using the term "upsampling" as a marketing ploy to draw interest. For Jeff Kalt's honesty (as well as his technical genius), I greatly respect him. As audiophiles we are still left with the same chore: find the components that do it for us. I, for one, am going to give Resolution Audio a crack at my money!

I'm glad for you. As for upsampling, my understanding is different, as I've said before. It's not a matter of filtering or dithering or algorythms, it's a matter of sample rate conversion to a digital data rate other than redbook. Oversampling most certainly does NOT do that, and I don't feel that the "up" in upsampling is hype, or ahything else untoward. I mean, John Atkinson has always prided himself on knowing all the latest digital technology, and when he heard the earliest "upsampling" units in the professional recording realm, like 4 years ago, he knew it would change everything. The idea that upsampling and oversampling are the same thing is FALSE, and I don't care what you, or anyone else here, believes or disbelieves about the subject. No one who has heard CD audio, that has been upsampled, and then converted to analog through a 24/192 DAC thinks it's "hype", that's for sure.........................I wonder, first of all, what your real name is, Mr. Squirrel, and if you are in the USA? And, I also wonder what motivates you into thinking that innovation in the world of digital technology is "hype" so often? It seems to me, that products that need "hyping" are those that are in areas that aren't in a constant state of flux, i.e. outside the digital realm.

I can't resist. I just have to chime in on this one too! Carl, I think you are correct (yikes!). Upsampling is probably not ALL marketing hype; I'm sure that when implemented by a SKILLED DESIGNER, it provides sonic benefits beyond what can be achieved with typical oversampling technology. However, there are perhaps too many companies offering "upsampling" DACS these days, AND using this "keyword" to sell units. I'm not sure if EVERYTHING that upsamples is better than a well designed oversampling player. For instance, I'm sure that your CD50 will CLEARLY outperform most new, inexpensive upsamplers. So certainly SOME companies are using "upsampling" as a marketing gimick, while clearly others (dCS comes to mind) are not.It all seems to be in how the technology is implemented. But to paraphrase Jeff Kalt again, different is not always better or more acurate, and I guess it remains to be seen if upsampling is a more ACURATE technology, or just different. No one I know who has heard the dCS gear thinks upsampling is "hype", so maybe we need to be a little more open minded about all this. As I've said in another thread, not all things can be fully explained or measured; our brains are obviously much more advanced than todays test equiptment. For example, I bet many SOTA loudspeakers measure just about the same, yet SOUND totally different. So even if some digital designers see no real difference between upsampling and oversampling, that does not mean the two technologies SOUND the same. But I still fail to see how something that converts digital data to a HIGHER sample rate (ie, upsampling) can be the SAME as oversampling, which to the best of my (limited) knowledge NEVER converts the digital data stream in this way. But once again, I digress. Back to the topic. I do need to get my hands on a Resolution Audio player soon I feel!I have a friend in Atlanta that was/is TOTALLY FLOORED BY THE CD50, AND CAN NEVER IMAGINE A TIME WHEN HE WILL BE WITHOUT IT. And he was a DIE HARD Wadia man; he now feels that the Wadia is arcahic by comparison. Its so good in fact, that he seems to have NO interest in upgrading to the RA CD55! So that is "what the heck is Resolution Audio"...they seem to make the very best digital playback systems availabe today. Chow!

My experiences totally bear out what deborah1 has stated: the BEST digital playback I've heard is the 47 labs combo. It's the simplest, it has no filters, oversampling, or anything. It's a 'simple' 16/44 redbook player, yet it sounds like . . . music. It's very musical. The cd55, on the other hand, does employ 'up' sampling, and also sounds very good. Technically, it's very different (that collage education coming into play here) from the 47labs digital stuff. All one has to do is open a road & track magazine, and look at one of their tests comparing cars; there are many different ways to get from point a to point b (and rather quickly).

I just got a 2nd email from Todd Sutherland at Madrigal Audio with an attachment of their position paper on the subject of up-sampling and over-sampling. It's 3 pages long so I won't post it here, but Madrigal says it will be on their web site within a week or so. It's written basically in laymans (and womens) terms, so it's understandable, but still there is enough RED MEAT in it that I think it would be of interest to technical types also. Here's one quote from the paper: "All current Mark Levinson digital to analog converters 'upconvert' the digital signal to either 352.8 or 384 kHz, depending on the nature of the incoming signal. Why would you want us to lower our standards to only 96kHz or 192 kHz?" That question is rhetorical of course and they go on to discuss it. Jordan, I've had to eat some crow on this issue myself, but I'm happy to do it for the sake of the truth though-- crow is best eaten with a touch of salt. Carl, have you ever tasted crow? It's actually not bad. Deborah1-- I think you'd get as much out of the Madrigal position paper as I did. They're at www.madrigalaudio.com (or maybe it's just madrigal.com?? As to sound differences among different DACs/CD players, it's explained by differences is IMPLEMENTATION of digital technology re: Madrigal Audio and Theta Digital. Cheers. Craig

Sorry to steal this bandwidth for a cheap(but cheerfully thrown) jab at our favorite hothead, but I gots ta! Carl I shoulda known you were a taper (we can smell our own) anyone as angry and (you know you are, so dont get offended)anal as you are has to have spent some time in the pit fighting the "spinners" away from his Schoeps/B&K/AKG/Neumann/Sennheiser rig. Keep fighting!!!

Jordan, why is it that if knowledge is all you seek, that you are so interested in whether or not I might be wrong about something? Am I that important to you? If I did have further communication with Jeff Kalt, or anyone else, would it matter what they said? I submit that it would not. Your goal is to convince everyone that I am "dumb", and that seems childish to me. I will always be open minded about audio, and the needs of others who want to get petty and personal have no place here. Per my previous agreement with the Audiogon staff, I certainly will not get personal on this, or any other subject.

Carl, that was very polite and well put. Chow, Deborah1.

And yes, I know it's really "ciao"....just some "chow" for thought! Lata.....

That was polite, Carl. The reason my response above was so spirited is, quite frankly, that you were getting in the way of gaining a deeper understanding of digital processes for myself and others. You did this by writing things like: “The idea that upsampling and oversampling are the same thing is FALSE, and I don't care what you, or anyone else here, believes or disbelieves about the subject.” I did my homework, Carl. I asked careful questions and sought out experts (Resolution Audio and MSB – two mfg’s who market “upsampling processors/players) who could shed some light. Others here were asking similar questions of other experts (Madrigal and Theta) and we were all bringing the info back here so that all of us could learn from each other. That is the point of this site I believe! It’s a shame you decided to dig your heels in and close your mind. When I first entered the Upsampling thread I thought we had a pretty good group here (you included) to get “the skinny” on what upsampling was or was not and perhaps, to explore what mfg’s are doing now to squeeze additional performance out of CD format. That better processors and players are being made, I’m certain. And no, my goal in the above post was not to convince everyone here that you are dumb. (Ok, I could say something funny here, but I won’t) Deborah, you're a class act. We need more women like you in 'philedom. Live the good life! Jordan

Thanks for the kind words Jordon, but I've had just about all I can stomach. This whole situation with Carl gets worse and worse, and no matter how cordial I try to be, he just can't control himself. His latest crusade is to try to convince everyone who participates in these discussion groups that I am in reality, a man. He has made this accusation on several threads, and quite frankly I'm tired of responding to his remarks. And how do I defend against or prevent such attacks? Should I complain to Audiogon? This type of slander is too much for me. I just wanted to exchange some ideas, and maybe joust a bit with the locals. But this is insane. As I've said on another post, I'll probably not participate too often from here on in, if at all. But one last thing before I go: Carl, how will you convince the audio world that you are in fact, not an INBRED after all? Ciao, maybe for good.

Deborah,please forgive Carl.He just reacted to the word'couch'.No need to leave this forum.

It was merely that I thought that women were above such hostility...and also, others have used the names of women as their screen name in the past, when in reality they were men. Since you say so emphatically now, that is enough for me. I celebrate the fact that you are a woman, and have never meant anything personal towards you. Since you have been so offended, I humbly ask your forgiveness, and regret that you feel you should not participate. I want you to participate very much, and will refrain from anything that might be construed as offensive towards you. My intenet is to always stay out of personal disputes in this forum...always.

I see that some of the posts have been deleted. Did someone cry to mommy?

HA HA HA ...THIS IS SOME FUNNY #*$%@#. SOMEONE IS PISSED COUSE THEY DONT KNOW ONE OF THE BEST DIGTAL COMPANYS IN HIGH END. WELL I WOULD EXPLAIN ABOUT HOW RESOLUTION AUDIO IS LEGIT....BUT IM SURE SOMEONE GOT THE POINT AFTER 50 RESPONSES.

Nedlabs_stereo, I would like to point out that the "caps lock" is depressed on your keyboard. 384523 is what you meant to type where those silly #*$%@# appear. Also, it makes your statements look silly, as there are no lower case. Glad I could help! (Boy this is fun).

CARL NOTHING PERSONAL, BUT YOU NEED TO GET SPELLCHECK OR TAKE A REMEDIAL COURSE IN ENGLISH.

Nothing personal to you, but are you freaking serious? I'll be happy to take any spelling challenge against you, any day. Remedial, indeed. I've read more books than you've seen...

A quick preview of Carl's previous posts leaves only "intenet" for "intent". I think this is called a TYPO!! I also think we are ALL allowed a few of these!!

I was wondering if anybody in this thread would know where I could listen to the CD50 or CD55 in the middle of Indiana? Anybody or dealer in Illinois, Ohio or anywhere reasonably close who would allow a novice like me to appreciate such a fine piece of audio equipment? Thanks.

Hi Eatrice. I e-mailed Jeff Kalt concerning a technical issue and where in Indiana I could find Resolution products. They just sent one to Synergistic Sound in Indianapolis (317-726-0243 -- Jim Jordan is the contact at Synergistic Sound) He also listed 4 other dealers across the country (none in the midwest). If you want those #'s as well, e-mail me. Good luck. Jordan