Cambridge CXU - the 752BD successor

The great analogue outputs on the CXU mean everything to me. In a way I’m a bit sorry I have to go to the trouble of investing the time and $$$ to go all digital downloads ASAP. Great performing unit though.

 

Why the rush to go to digital downloads?

 

Interesting. When playing an HDCD encoded disc there is no visual indicator, unlike other players.

 

In my case an earlier stroke and very recent open heart surgery makes jumping up and down to change discs rather uncomfortable. I’ve grown to appreciate using my iPad & iPhone to control my system and want to upgrade to higher rez downloads.

 

I stand to be corrected but AFAIK without its own DAC the CXUHD won’t do the actual decoding of HDCD or anything else, that’s done by whatever its feeding, receiver/ pre-pro etc
I suspect Cambridge means the player will pass through the HDCD signal enabling the decoder to deal if so equipped

 

Wow, you’ve been through a lot.
Hope things improve for you.
Certainly explains the download path (which I personally resist out of stubborness and a lack of knowledge, and fear, about how to do it).
It does seem to be the way of the future

 

Thanks

Not having to continuously jump up and handle physical media plus being able to control playback through something like an app on an iPad is a winner for me. I’ve been looking at the Melco NAS equipment which might be a good starting point.

 

That must be it. Shame on CA for giving misleading info!

My question is, for the CXU or 752BD with HDCD Decoding set to ON, will the player send 24-bit/44.1 via the digital outputs like the Oppos do? I plan to buy a used one for use as a "cheap" universal transport but need confirmation on this before deciding.

 

You said 24/44.1; do you mean 16/44.1 ?

The CXU certainly outputs the latter via digital when HDCD is activated.

 

I meant 24-bit which is what the Oppo gives when HDCD Decoding is set to ON. When off it sends the original 16-bit stream for downstream decoding.

 

Interesting.
Didn’t know the Oppo did that.
Will check my CXU when I get home and report back

 

HDCD is 16 bits with supposedly 20 bits worth of data.
So if the OPPO issues 24 bits, it sure does some upsampling.

 

HDCD is 16-bit until decoded. If the Oppo is sending out a 24-bit digital signal, then it's doing one of two things:

1. Decoding the HDCD signal even though it's not performing the digital-to-analogue conversion and instead is just passing along the HDCD-decoded digital signal to whatever you are using as a DAC. In such a scenario, the decoded HDCD signal is 20-bit, but the Oppo would be padding it with 4 bits' worth of zeros in order to produce a standardized output that would be compatible with DACs - 20-bit is an oddball bit depth.
2. It is not decoding HDCD but is passing all CD-quality digital data as 24-bit (instead of 16-bit). I don't know if the Oppo does this or not - but many computer-based music apps output all 16-bit audio (CD quality along with mp3 and AAC) as a 24 (or 32) bit signal because that is the native or preferred bit-depth of the receiving DAC. In such cases, the extra bit depth is again created by padding out the bottom bits (8 or 16 bits in this case) with zeros.

If the Oppo only outputs a 24-bit signal when playing HDCD content, then it is likely that the Oppo is in fact decoding the HDCD data before passing the digital signal down he line. If the Oppo's outputs a 24-bit signal with all 16-bit sources (HDCD or not), then it's unclear whether or not the Oppo is decoding HDCD in this scenario - although I know on my Oppo 105, the front display would show HDCD when it was playing an HDCD and decoding the HDCD content.

Either way, the Oppo is not upsampling anything - the extra bit depth is legitimate decoding and/or harmless padding with zeros for compatibility purposes.

 

What DAC/receiver do you have and will it show the bit depth?
If it says 20 or 24-bit I'm gonna pull the trigger.

 

Can someone with a 752BD digital output connected to a DAC/processor do this simple test for me?
Set HDCD Decoding ON and play a CD. Does the processor indicate 16, 20 or 24-bit input?

 

One thing I just discovered with my CXU is that it will play Reference Recordings HRx discs. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of titles that RR has put out, but the ones they have sound fantastic.

John K.

 

S

Been out ot town for a couple of days, just checking this now.

Sorry, I’m not going to be much help.

For some reason I thought my new Bryston DAC indicated bit depth. It doesn’t, sampling frequency only.
My CXU is set to HDCD “On”.
When playing a non HDCD disc the display shows disc type as 44.1/16, which is accurate, but is that what it’s outputting?
Don’t know for sure

 

OK well I got a reply from CA confirming that the output will be 24-bit so I'm going to buy it. Chances are they should be no different than the Oppo.

I also have a new Bryston DAC so I'll be in the same boat, but I can always hook up the analog outputs and enjoy some Wolfson goodness when the mood strikes.

Thanks

 

While I have your attention, what is the usability of a player like this as a headless transport?
Is the start-up or disc loading time bothersome compared to a standard CD/SACD player?
I could disable the network connection if it helps (not planning to use any apps).

 

I use mine headless, start-up time is as fast as any player I have had before

 

So are you saying the new CXU [which I have] decodes HDCD but doesn't indicate it?

 

752BD YES
CXU YES
CXUHD NO

 

That makes sense now that I think about it, the Anagram chip supposedly converts everything to 24/192, even DSD ,when using the analog outs so I assume the same applies to the digital outs
But that doesn’t apply to SACD via HDMI, if you choose the DSD output option

 

The 24-bit CD thing only happens when HDCD Decoding is set to ON in the player. When OFF it outputs the original 16-bit data from the CD.

Getting back on topic, the CXU improved on a ridiculous 752BD limitation I just discovered: No analog audio when playing an SACD!

 

Correction, there is with output via PCM to RCA out. DSD via HDMI.