Arcam CDS50 CD / SACD Player And Streamer

i just heard about this today, though my local store doesn’t have any in stock yet to demo.

Has anyone heard one yet? Sounds interesting.

 

Been looking for reviews of this model too. Seems a long time coming. I called a supposed stockist in the UK and they told me they don't have any as Arcam are struggling to build them fast enough, they still show it as in stock though. With the Marantz SA8005 no longer in production this could be the only option in the SACD/Network Player arena at that price point, so I suppose reviews won't matter much, if it's not a total dud I'll try one once they are available.

 

I demoed the CDS50 with the new Arcam SA20 amp and compared it to the Rega Elicit R and Rega Saturn CD player - a player double the price of the CDS50.

I was pleasantly surprised. I certainly didn't hear a 'night and day' difference between the two, and for some tracks preferred the Arcam.

I haven't bought them yet, but I'm very tempted.

 

There was supposed to be a problem with it missing the first second or two of every track. Did you find that?

 

I've heard this mentioned online, but didn't find this when I demoed it. Apparently Arcam are fixing it with a software update.

 

Thanks, I look forward to trying one.

 

I'll be interested to hear what you think.

I was sceptical about how good the CD performance would be, considering it's a combined streamer, but must admit I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Price by chance Thanks

 

It's nice to see their continued support for SACD. I have to think the reason Marantz dropped it in the 8000 series is due to DEI, the new owners who have a bad habit of screwing things up.

 

£699

 

I had another demo yesterday. Just to confirm, I didn't hear any issues.

 

Thank you.

 

I wonder when where and if this will be available in the U.S.?

 

I bought a CDS50 yesterday, and have noticed that the first second or so of some tracks was missing.

However, there is a settings menu on the player where it will search and download firmware updates.

I've done this, and can confirm it's resolved the issue.

 

Were you able to download it via wi-fi?

 

How do you like it so far? What are you using to control it, the remote, iPhone, Laptop? The unit sounds very interesting.

 

Interesting looking player. I just looked at the spec sheet and it doesn't have any mention of DSD. So would SACDs be converted to PCM and not DSD direct to analog? No DSD file playback either if that's important to anyone looking at the CDS50.

Plays all disc formats, including SACD, CD-A, CD-R and CD-R. Not really accurate as the CDS50 doesn't play Blu-ray or DVD-A discs. So it doesn't play all disc formats.

Supports audio file formats including FLAC, WAV, AIFF, OGG, MP3, AAC and WMA

CDS50 - SACD/CD Player - Arcam

https://www.arcam.co.uk/ugc/tor/CDS50/User Manual/DISPLAY_SH296_EN-FR-DE-NL-ES-RU-IT-CN_Issue3_250918.pdf

 

I bought it with the matching Sa20 amp and am still running both in, but am enjoying it very much so far.

The disc drive is a little noisy when loading, but fine when playing.

I mainly use the remote to control it, but for the streaming side you have to use the Arcam MusicLife app.

 

Arcam CD players rock!

 

currently using a Denon DCD-1610 multi-format unit...several years old...somewhat disappointing when playing SACD...analog outs give a bit of a congested, thumpy sound signature in the low end of things...running through my Rotel external DAC helps but still cannot get passed 88.2 output...also have a "vintage" Sony SCD-595 that only plays stnadalong SACD's through analog outs only which is supposedly straight DSD but also disappointing...and due to a partial laser failure it won't do hybrids...

had my eye on the arcam as a definite upgrade in this area & from what I can tell it has little competition in the realm of dedicated audio only players in 2018...not really into recent Marantz equipment it seems rather buggy and is also quite ugly plus not sure if one of theirs is even in this price range...so oddly enough the Arcam is the "low end" of dedicated SACD LOL...

is it worth even investing in another hi res super audio spinner that apparently doesn't play back raw DSD files? is there a straightforward method now to "rip" my SACDs and upgrade to a DSD-capable DAC and forget about another disc-playing unit altogether? if that answer is NO or it is still a complicated bit of business to convert my SACDs to DSD files which can be played back absent a disc player, then I'm poised to take a chance on the Arcam very soon. I know I can download from HDTRACKS but I have a few too many super audio discs that I like and that I would like to be able to listen to either still on the disc or ripped to DSD files.

any advice appreciated and thanks to the orig thread starter back in April...this is a valuable discussion

 

Yes. There are more than a half dozen disc players that will permit relatively simple ripping of SACDs. There are threads here, on ComputerAudiophile and elsewhere that cover this. Here is a gloss on this process that I published recently: Music in the Round #93: miniDSP & Ripping SACDs Page 2

 

Music Direct has this in stock now. I still haven't seen any reviews of this player. I hope Arcam fixed the glitch in the units now for sale.

 

Yes, that's what's holding me back, the glitch.

 

What's the glitch?

 

Hi Bill. It was missing the first second or two on every track (I think when skipping or programming tracks), but this was supposed to have been fixed with a software download.
I was hoping that Arcam would have fixed the problem properly by now.