CD6 about to hit the streets

[jsli]

Originally Posted by Toobs

The fact that neither player plays sacd makes them a no deal for me

SACD, on the other hand, is a non-issue for me. Sure, I have plenty of SACDs, but often I prefer listening to the PCM layer. If I were in the market for a CD player, I'd rather not pay extra for something in which I place little value.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by bjmccoy

Marc, what software are you using on the Mac Mini to play music? Blaine

I use audirvana. Works great for me.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Yeah... And it won't upsample all the way over USB :-(

It does sound great, though.

The most likely reason that the CD6 doesn't support higher bit rates for USB, DSD or SACD playback is due to what ARC probably figured it would cost to implement that level of functionality vs the selling price. From a mfg perspective, it might be a BOM vs COGS thing, but who knows? It didn't make sense to me that Rega came out with a DAC in 2011 that only supported USB to 16/44, either, but that's what they did.

I know you wanted to stay with ARC and an American mfr. To those with similar requirements there are other American-made options available....Schiit, Wavelength, MSB, just to name a few.

[cmalak]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

The most likely reason that the CD6 doesn't support higher bit rates for USB, DSD or SACD playback is due to what ARC probably figured it would cost to implement that level of functionality vs the selling price. From a mfg perspective, it might be a BOM vs COGS thing, but who knows? It didn't make sense to me that Rega came out with a DAC in 2011 that only supported USB to 16/44, either, but that's what they did.

I know you wanted to stay with ARC and an American mfr. To those with similar requirements there are other American-made options available....Schiit, Wavelength, MSB, just to name a few.

Stephen....the CD-6 supports resolutions from 16/44 to 24/192 via all its inputs. What Marc was talking about is an upsampling function that you can toggle in and out if you want to upsample a 16/44 to 24/88 or 24/172 or a 16/48 to 24/96 or 24/192 playback. For some reason, if I understood his point correctly, on the USB input, you cannot upsample beyond 24/88 res for some reason. The CD-6 and CD-9 have quad DAC configurations which support red book up to 24/192 res files natively on all its inputs. You are right on the DSD front though, neither player support DSD playback.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by cmalak

Stephen....the CD-6 supports resolutions from 16/44 to 24/192 via all its inputs. What Marc was talking about is an upsampling function that you can toggle in and out if you want to upsample a 16/44 to 24/88 or 24/172 or a 16/48 to 24/96 or 24/192 playback. For some reason, if I understood his point correctly, on the USB input, you cannot upsample beyond 24/88 res for some reason. The CD-6 and CD-9 have quad DAC configurations which support red book up to 24/192 res files natively on all its inputs. You are right on the DSD front though, neither player support DSD playback.

Correct. It will only upsample 44 to 88 and 48 to 96 over USB. That's it. It upsamples the other inputs and even the transport all the way, based on multiples of two. Transport is upsampled to 176.4 for example.

It sounds way better than schiit products though...as it should at $9k! The msb might have been a better choice, but it's close, and I'll have an all arc system this way.

[jsli]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Correct. It will only upsample 44 to 88 and 48 to 96 over USB. That's it. It upsamples the other inputs and even the transport all the way, based on multiples of two. Transport is upsampled to 176.4 for example.

As someone with little ARC experience, does upsampling improve the ARC's sound? Generally, I've found that upsampling makes everything sound subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, worse.

[cmalak]

Fred Kaplan, who reviewed the CD-9 in Stereophile, did not prefer up sampling but as with all things high-end audio, personal taste and system synergy will play a part as to whether one might or might not prefer up sampling with the ARC units.

[2fastdriving]

Originally Posted by jsli

As someone with little ARC experience, does upsampling improve the ARC's sound? Generally, I've found that upsampling makes everything sound subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, worse.

Good question. Not too sure, but the cd sounds a little better than the USB input. I am attributing that to the upsampling, but who knows. I think it just bothers me more than anything to have it act this way. For this kind of money it should do everything and do it very well.

[jsli]

Originally Posted by 2fastdriving

Good question. Not too sure, but the cd sounds a little better than the USB input. I am attributing that to the upsampling, but who knows. I think it just bothers me more than anything to have it act this way. For this kind of money it should do everything and do it very well.

Interesting! Thanks for your response.

[Elberoth]

Originally Posted by Toobs

As much as I admire Audio Research products, I fail to understand why they would charge 9k for a cd player and not include sacd capabilities. The same goes for the cd9 which sells for 13k.

The fact that neither player plays sacd makes them a no deal for me

That would require a complete redesign of the player around a new (front loading) transport mechanism. If they settled on the VSOP Esoteric drive (which is what Puccini and PD players use, among others) they would have to increase the retail price of the player only because of the increased cost of the drive, which is roughly 3x more expensive than the excellent and reliable CD-Pro2 drive they use now.