Topic: the deck i've *always wanted*

[Nick's Picks]

is finally reality..and inexpensive.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=272&Title=Azur+740C+

i'm on this...like a cheap ass suit.

[Nick's Picks]

exactly.
it makes it a DAC as well.
now, does it take 24bit ? not sure.  I guess that could be the ball buster.
but..., me no care.  I dont do much 24bit anything any ways.

[janka]

The specs say it'll accept a 24 bit signal for DAC.

So what's your plan Nick DSD master > 16bit CD > 24bit upsampling playback?

[som]

Is this the model that Sterophile reviews this month? I was impressed with the writeup, but then at the end they compared it to the Rega Apollo (a player I've been toying with, and when I say "toying with" I mean "keeping in the back of my mind for when I am either divorced or win the lottery and thus have $1000 to spend on a CD player"), and the description of the Rega as a bit warmer made me swing back that way again.

What is it about this deck that appeals to you?

Edit - I see from the previous posts what appeals to you!

[janka]

is finally reality..and inexpensive.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=272&Title=Azur+740C+

i'm on this...like a cheap ass suit.

You hanging out in your basement today? Northamptonaudio has this in stock for $999. Not what I'd call an inexpensive cd-player or DAC even as a combo.

http://northamptonaudio.com/Cambridge_Audio/cambridge_audio_740c.asp

[Nick's Picks]

yes.., just finished.

what, a grand for a sweet digital source?  you've got to be kidding. thats cheap, IMO.
compare that to a decent transport and decent DAC.

ok, i'd probably start going DSD>24/96 w/this.

[janka]

yes.., just finished.

what, a grand for a sweet digital source?  you've got to be kidding. thats cheap, IMO.
compare that to a decent transport and decent DAC.

ok, i'd probably start going DSD>24/96 w/this.

so if you do DSD>24/96 the cd-player function isn't of much use. You then have a thousand dollar DAC that you still need a source for...just sayin'

[Nick's Picks]

huh?
you lost me.

in any case...
its my dream deck.  upsampling redbook, and 24bit DAC input.

[janka]

I just meant for the 24bit playback you still would need a source component. PC, squeezebox etc.

[jmz93]

I'm missing something basic here... why would you want to up-sample a 16bit/44.1K cd source? What can actually be gained by doing this?  What does adding extra 0's and 1's to the data stream do to the resulting audio?

To me anyway, the process sounds roughly analogous to taking a low-res dot matrix printout - remember those? - and trying to guess accurately to make it look like the best color laser printing. Sounds like a guess ...

[Nick's Picks]

it just "works"...
there are benefits to how the signal is decoded at a higher bit / sample rate.  even if it was lower to start with...
the article in Stereophile goes into a little more detail.  I'm sure its posted online.
as for source ..., know I get it.
SB3 is in the plan for me

[Weirdness]

I wonder what the difference betweeen the 740c and the 840c is?  I didn't realize that the 740c had digital inputs, thought that only the 840c would do this which I have been eyeing up for awhile.  Great idea in terms of features and apparently they are great sounding units.  Just answered my own question here, the 740c uses Wolfson DAC's and the 840c uses Analog Devices.  Anyways, let us know what you think if you take the plunge.   

[som]

Supposedly the upsampling totally eliminates jitter.

[carlbeck]

Remembering back to the tests we did way back when I preferred the non up sampled source everytime. I think this is an OK deck but there are much better ways to spend 1k in stereo land. I would rather my old ECD convertor for one or one of the many transport & DAC combos currently available.


Typical Nick, gets all jacked up on techno garble specs & doesn't listen to it, what a tech geek!

[Stagger]

Indeed. Tweeter is a dealer for these and the 840C (the model above it) has never impressed me much. Then again, we have it in a rack with a Krell SACD Standard which isn't quite fair...

[boojum]

Wow, NP, I sure hope you get it.  I read the puff piece on it and have no idea what the hell they are talking about.

Someone please explain: "Adaptive Time Filtering (ATF) asynchronous upsampling technology converting 16-bit 44.1 kHz CD data to 24-bit 384 kHz."

And a little tougher is this one: "New virtual earth balanced Bessel anti-aliasing filters with minimum phase and constant group delay."  I like "earth balanced."  It sounds pretty authorative.  Kind of like you are a jerk if you ask.  But what does it mean??

"The 740C is the first CD player at the price to provide upsampling technology, a benefit normally bestowed upon products costing up to six times as much."  We used to say, " . . . the technology is used in . . . "  Bestowed upon!  Wow!  These guys are hot.

I spent a bit more than a thousand back in '83 or '84 on a ReVox CD player.  In a double blind test over Stax Lambda Pro 4 "ear speakers", LOL, it sounded a shade better than the Nakamichi.  And as it was Swiss, they machined the whole thing out of tool steel, even the plastic!  OK, it still runs.  Do I use it?  Nahh.  It does not play MP3 files.  And say what you will, when I tape a show of two or three hours it is kind of nice to have it all on one CD.  And, I can play WAV files on the same player, and DVD's and so on.  I suppose I should dig out the ReVox just to listen to it.

Anyway, good luck with the earth balanced, upsampled CD player.  Cambridge has made some good stuff over the years and I am sure that this is better than what those clowns in marketing are trumpeting about.

L8R

[shane]

If it makes any differnce to you in the new issue of The Absolute Sound they call the Cambridge Audio Azur 840c the the best cd playback under 5k.  Its preice tag is $1500.  I know you looking at the 740 but this review make lend to the fact that maybe Cambridge Audio is doing something better than everybody else.

Shane

[cshepherd]

Best player under $5k?  From Cambridge?  That's a pretty strong statement from Absolute Sound.  Did they compare it either of the Rega cd players?

Chris

[shane]

That's what they say.  I too think its quite a bold statement especially considering that they just reviewed and didn't necesarily compare it gainst other players.  I wish the Rega players did SACD.  I've heard that their playback is like none other in terms of sound.  Truly original players in terms of what's inside.

Shane

[Nick's Picks]

the guy in stereophile was saying how is rega planet hit the shelf after the 740c came into his house.
I thought that was compelling.

any way..I freakin want one.
dont need the balanced output of the 840 though.

[cshepherd]

the guy in stereophile was saying how is rega planet hit the shelf after the 740c came into his house.
I thought that was compelling.

any way..I freakin want one.
dont need the balanced output of the 840 though.

The Planet was Rega's first cd player, introduced in 1997.  It's a little bright if you've heard better, but it was extremely popular in the late 90's. The Planet was my main player until 2004, except for the two years it was used as the main player in our old record store.  To say it's better than the Planet is a compliment, but the Planet's 10 years old now.

That's what they say.  I too think its quite a bold statement especially considering that they just reviewed and didn't necesarily compare it against other players.  I wish the Rega players did SACD.  I've heard that their playback is like none other in terms of sound.  Truly original players in terms of what's inside.
Shane

I would have to declare shenanigans on Absolute Sound.  A "Best player under $5000" statement without naming names is without merit.  Heck, there's only a handful of cd players made that cost more than $5000.  They should have just called it one of the best cd players in the world for $1500.

Chris

[Nick's Picks]

still...you want one now, dont you?:
good marketing.

[cshepherd]

still...you want one now, dont you?:
good marketing.

I need another cd player like I need another hole in my head.  I've got two Exposure cd players I'm trying to unload on eBay at the moment.  I'm finally getting a bid on one now that it's 20% under the wholesale price.   .   Have you considered picking up a used Rega Apollo?  They can be had for around $700.

Chris

[som]

Have you considered picking up a used Rega Apollo?

That's my plan. I usually take about a year to decide on my plan, and then another year to pull the trigger. Since I've been thinking of the Apollo for about 6 months now, I should actually be enjoying it in about 18 months!

[Nick's Picks]

always on the top of my list....
but my needs for digital include the following:

redbook
DVD-A
SACD (analog output of the deck)
and a way to get at my large NAT collection on the LAN, which typically would be some outboard DAC.
this box does almost all of it.  and if I had to kill something, its SACD off that list.  DVD-A is inconsequential to me as I can just listen to stuff on the network.

[cshepherd]

Nick,
I'm a little surprised you don't have a Squeezebox for wireless music.  That seems right up your alley.

Chris 

[Nick's Picks]

I know.
but what I do have is laptop for a remote, a desktop w/a 24/96 digital output, and a real nice toslink cable.
it does the same thing (as far as transport goes), i already own it, and it wont cost me another chunk of money.

I'll still get one, I'm really impressed with Janka's.