Arcam FMJ CD36 no HDCD

Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 4 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 13:57 GMT I was curious why the last few CD players don't include HDCD? I ordered the FMJ CD36 and have a FMJ CD33 to use in the interim while I wait. The 33 sounds incredible... Does anyone know the reasoning behind not including HDCD encoding? Does it interfere with the process of upsampling (this seems to make sense to me with my limited knowledge of upsampling, since HDCD adds 4 bits during the transition from 16 bit to analog)? I saw a thread somewhere that mentioned licensing, but I don't see why that would have been the issue, surely anyone willing to pay $2500 USD for a player would pay the extra money for the HDCD option. I would have at least. I notice a lot of companies are no longer using the HDCD decoding (Meridian as well). Is the new upsampling technology that good, that it eliminates the need for HDCD, or is it just a matter of the good chips no longer being made, or upsampling and HDCD not being able to coexist? If anyone knows any explicit details concerning this issue, I really want to know! Thank you.
Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 5 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 14:40 GMT I meant decoding instead of encoding in the second paragraph. Sorry.
Ben James Silver Member Username: Black_math Post Number: 309 Registered: Dec-03	Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 18:34 GMT They probably wanted to use a different digital filter chip. HDCD decoding requires a Pacific Microsystems chip. They may have felt that the new designs may have not sounded as good with the HDCD filter, they may not have want to pay extra for that option, or they may have felt the demand wasn't there.
Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 6 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 18:40 GMT I managed to get in touch with someone at Audiophile Systems to ask them the question. I guess the highest quality chip by Pacific Microsystems is no longer going to be made and in general HDCD is moving into software decoding (my PreAmp processor and DVD player do not have HDCD software decoding, so I need a CD player that handles it). I changed my order to the Classe CDP-100. My Dick's picks Grateful Dead bootlegs are mostly HDCD, as well as a bunch of other CDs in my collection. Now I will definitely never buy another CD player as long as I live. LOL
Hi-Rez Unregistered guest	Posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 - 21:51 GMT Pacific Microsytems, developers of HDCD were taken over by Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/hdcd/hdcdabout.aspx The above link might provide some info and links.
Peter Galbraith Gold Member Username: Petergalbraith Rimouski, Quebec Canada Post Number: 1427 Registered: Feb-04	Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2005 - 18:25 GMT Now I will definitely never buy another CD player as long as I live. LOL With a Classe CDP-100, you shouldn't need to!
Art Kyle Gold Member Username: Artk Albany, Oregon USA Post Number: 1719 Registered: Feb-05	Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 01:54 GMT I concur!
Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 7 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 05:08 GMT Thanks for all the input, and Hi-Rez thanks for that link. Andym on AVForum had this useful info: ************************************************************** As per John Dawson in Mar '03 on the (then) forthcoming CD33: "The design does not support HDCD for the very practical reason that Pacific Microsonics' PMD100 and subsequent PMD200 parts have both been discontinued by the new owner Microsoft without any replacement. Welcome to the wonderful world of semiconductor parts obsolesence! As it would have massively complicated the new player to attempt to include HDCD on a separate DSP and it only benefits a very limited number of CDs, we don't think it is much of a loss." Andy ********************************************************** To make a long story short I'll reprint what I posted on AVSforum after someone told me to basically think again about the Classe: *********************************************************** Thanks for the help, I went back and looked at the Classe and compared it to its previous incarnation as the CDP-10. After careful consideration (and a less than useful encounter with Classe Customer Service) I've come to the conclusion that there are no glaring differences between the CDP-10 and CDP-100 to spark my interest, besides the look-and-feel and TFT display. The customer Support rep was also less than useful in telling me what the actual differences were, even after I caught him pulling my leg with the "DAC is improved" statement (The CDP-10 and CDP-100 both use the same DACS!). All he could tell me after leaving me on hold for a few minutes, was that after comparing the innards side by side that the circuit paths were different. Sorry, but that isn't explicit enough to get my vote of confidence. I decided to go with a Meridian G08 after testing it at home (it blew the FMJ 33 away IMO). I have both the Meridian G08 and the Arcam FMJ 33 right now until the audio store where I bought the Meridian receives my order. The Arcam lacked cohesion with a lot of music I listen to, especially classical, the Meridian didn't. As far as HDCD decoding, I've decided to splurge money on a Denon 5910 for DVD, SACD, DVD-A and HDCD. That should take care of me until Blue-tooth and/or HD-DVD become fairly established, that is, if they ever do... ***************************************************************
Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 8 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 05:26 GMT The Arcam lacked the ability to create cohesion out of the different elements in the music I listen to, especially classical, the Meridian didn't. It often sounded/felt like the musicians were not quite in synch. * I wanted to edit the above post's line about cohesion so it would make sense...
Jeff Kalman New member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 9 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 - 05:33 GMT Oops... I meant Blu-Ray, not Bluetooth!
Jeff Kalman Bronze Member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 14 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Saturday, October 15, 2005 - 03:49 GMT Hah! I changed my mind again. I took the Meridian back and bought a Wadia 302!
Dakulis Silver Member Username: Dakulis Spokane, Washington United States Post Number: 627 Registered: May-05	Posted on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - 23:08 GMT Geez Jeff, You can just send me whatever's left when you're done. LOL
Jeff Kalman Bronze Member Username: Queuecumber Pound Ridge, NY United States Post Number: 17 Registered: Sep-05	Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 01:23 GMT Dak, a major buying point on the Wadia 302 vs the Meridian g08 is the built in preamp on the Wadia. In a year or two I can move it upstairs to the bedroom and get 2 channel amp and pair of speakers and play music in bed. At that point I'll probably get the dCS 3 piece CD components for my dedicated home theatre system.

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