Denon DCD 1600 Super Audio CD Player bringing disc playback performance to remarkable heights

The DCD-1600NE is equipped with Advanced AL32 Processing Plus, Denon’s analog waveform reproduction technology that is designed to utilize data interpolation algorithms and supports high-resolution sound sources. These algorithms are designed to interpolate points that should exist before and after the points in large quantities of data to help achieve a smooth waveform that is close to that of the original signal. By restoring data that was lost during digital recording, the resulting playback sound is more detailed, virtually free of interference, localized, expressive in the lower range, and faithful to the original sound.

The onboard disc drive design contains Denon’s S.V.H. (Suppress Vibration Hybrid) Mechanism. The circuitry that controls the pickup and decodes the signals read from the disc has been developed with shortened signal paths and miniaturized circuits to help ensure that excess current or noise will not occur. An S.V.H. loader of a hybrid construction combining different materials helps provide stability to the disc drive so that the disc can be read with enhanced accuracy. In addition, the mechanism’s lower center of gravity helps suppress any vibration occurring inside the mechanism due to disc rotation; the mechanism structure also helps suppress external vibration. By minimizing unwanted vibration, servo-related operations are minimized, allowing digital signals to be read from the disc with augmented accuracy under stable conditions.

The integrity of musical signals deteriorates when they are subject to internal vibration caused by disc rotation or the power transformer, or to airborne vibration caused by sound pressure from the speakers. To guard against such influences, a vibration suppression structure called “Direct Mechanical Ground Construction” was developed. In this design, the power transformers – themselves a source of vibration – have been placed close to one foot of the CD player where unwanted vibration is funneled directly to the shelf and prevented from affecting nearby circuitry. Also, by placing the drive mechanism (the part with the greatest mass) low in the center of the chassis, the low center of gravity effectively absorbs internal vibration caused by disc rotation and also protects the mechanism from external vibration.

To help accurately synchronize digital circuits, the DAC Master Clock Design treats the DAC as the master when clock signals are supplied. Positioning the master clock immediately adjacent to the D/A converter (DAC) suppresses jitter and helps ensure optimum precision in D/A conversion. In addition, the quality of the clock, which becomes the reference for semiconductor operation, is important for ensuring that the digital audio circuitry performs at its maximum potential. The DCD-1600NE thus employs a clock oscillator to reduce phase noise that is the displacement of frequencies. The clock power circuit has also been enhanced to augment the clock’s performance. A conductive polymer capacitor with high-frequency impedance characteristics has been placed at the base of the clock’s power source, and a compact film capacitor has been placed close to the clock, to achieve an improved S/N ratio and transparent sound with enhanced spatial expression. The DCD-1600NE is equipped with two clock oscillators, one for each sampling frequency (44.1 and 48 kHz), that can be switched between the frequencies to provide the right clock for any multiple of these sampling frequencies from 44.1 to 192 kHz, and even up to DSD 5.6 MHz, without the need for rounding, helping to avoid error and ensure proper date conversion.

The circuit patterns have been designed to help make signal paths as short as possible and ensure that the original sound is faithfully reproduced across the sonic spectrum. As a result, interference between circuits, between left and right channels, and adverse influences on audio signals are minimized, helping to produce a clean, transparent sound. Moreover, the power units for the digital and analog circuits have separate transformers to virtually eliminate mutual interference and noise. An aluminum plate has also been combined to the underside of the steel transformer base to strengthen rigidity.