AUDIOLAB 8300CDQ CD PLAYER/DAC

Audiolab’s new 8300CDQ CD player doesn’t just plays CDs… it also has a preamplifier built in, plus an MQA-capable USB DAC. But there’s more… ‘ As well as performing as a traditional CD player, the Audiolab 8300CDQ can function as an external DAC/preamp, thanks to three pairs of line-level RCA analogue inputs and five digital inputs,’ said Raffi Keverian of Audio Visual Revolution, which distributes Audiolab in Australia. ‘ There’s an asynchronous MQA-capable USB input and four S/PDIF digital inputs, two of which are coaxial and two of which are optical, but the 8300CDQ also has a dedicated direct-coupled headphone amp with current-feedback circuitry whose gain bandwidth and high slew rate ensure dynamic, detailed and engaging performance with all headphones.’

The 8300CDQ’s MQA decoding solution was developed by John Westlake, one of Britain’s foremost digital audio experts and it works by unpacking MQA data received via the USB input to the original file’s full resolution. ‘ There are are various ways to enable MQA playback on audio devices, and not all are equal sonically,’ said Keverian. ‘ Westlake’s solution maximises the format’s potential, just as the 8300CDQ’s design draws the best sound quality from other audio codecs and, of course, from CDs.’ The Audiolab 8300CDQ’s 32-bit ESS Sabre DAC decodes digital audio up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256, and its USB HID compatibility enables driverless control of a connected PC, Mac or media player. ‘ No company knows more about making the most of 32-bit delta-sigma DACs than Audiolab,’’ says Keverian. ‘ The 8200CD and 8200CDQ were among the first audio components to use it and Audiolab has been honing its implementation ever since. The conversion process involves 512 DAC elements (256 per channel) each operating at 84.672MHz, and all digital audio sources, whatever their sample rate, are oversampled to this frequency, plus Audiolab includes extensive measures to reduce jitter to vanishingly low levels.’

Audiolab says that the r.f. breakthrough and PSU coupling effects that can occur when a DAC is connected to a computer can adversely affect the DAC’s performance, so it resolves this issue in the 8300CDQ through the use of a cascaded asynchronous time domain attenuator circuit. ‘ The ATDA circuit isolates the DAC substrate from sonically deleterious artefacts that affect non-synchronous digital input data,’ said Keverian. ‘ To achieve the best possible performance, three identical cascaded stages are used, with each individual stage providing increased isolation, thereby maximising timing performance, even at higher radio frequencies.’

The Audiolab 8300CDQ has seven user-selectable filters for PCM audio data (including CD) and four ultrasonic filters for DSD data. These allow the user to tune the 8300CDQ’s performance according to system configuration, digital file quality and personal taste.

Available now in either a silver finish or Audiolab’s classic black finish, the Audiolab 8300CDQ retails in Australia for $2,699 (RRP).

For more information, contact Audio Visual Revolution (AVR) on (02) 9521 4844 or at www.avrevolution.com.au