Universal player with HDCD


Unless I'm missing something, there would appear to be almost no universal players that include HDCD decoding. (Maybe a Denon model, but that would seem to be about it, at least from what I can find.) Is there a good reason for this? If one is going to make the leap to SACD and DVD-A, shouldn't one also be able to enjoy the most from those (admittedly few) HDCDs in one's collection? I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks. -- Howard
hodu

Showing 1 response by kjweisner

There are a couple of other alternatives, since HDCD is on the redbook CD layer. You can get an outboard DAC which decodes HDCD and feed the digital output of your player to that device which will in turn feed a separate input on your pre-amp. I have a Marantz SACD/CD player which I run directly to my BAT preamp via analog interconnects. But I also run the digital out to an Assemblage DAC which decodes HDCD. When that HDCD indicator light is on, I switch to the pre-amp input to which the DAC is connected. Considering the quality of the Assemblage, I feel it's a great solution (it may have a better CD DAC section than the Marantz).

In a separate home theater system, my processor decodes HDCD which is also a way to accomplish the same outcome. I run a universal player's digital input and when HDCD is present, it automatically decodes it as part of the DAC process.