"ESS 9038 Reference DAC"

[audiophile65]

Just a question:

 

I am interested in getting the forthcoming Arcam CDS50 SACD player, which is no doubt going to be their very best "disc spinner" ever conceived.

According to Arcam, what is most striking about the $1000 USD player/streamer is that it employs ESS' "ES9038 Reference" DAC.

Is this the same as the ES9038PRO (found in the OPPO UDP-205 universal 4K player), or is the ES9038 just below the performance parameters of the 9038PRO?

Since Oppo just announced the end of producing Hi-Fi and Blu-ray players earlier this week (and I have given up all hope on securing an Oppo 205 purely as an audio-only player/streamer), I am seriously looking into this new Arcam as a replacement/consolation for a potentially exceptional music player.

 

Thanks...

[crenca]

13 minutes ago, audiophile65 said:

Just a question:

 

I am interested in getting the forthcoming Arcam CDS50 SACD player, which is no doubt going to be their very best "disc spinner" ever conceived.

According to Arcam, what is most striking about the $1000 USD player/streamer is that it employs ESS' "ES9038 Reference" DAC.

Is this the same as the ES9038PRO (found in the OPPO UDP-205 universal 4K player), or is the ES9038 just below the performance parameters of the 9038PRO?

Since Oppo just announced the end of producing Hi-Fi and Blu-ray players earlier this week (and I have given up all hope on securing an Oppo 205 purely as an audio-only player/streamer), I am seriously looking into this new Arcam as a replacement/consolation for a potentially exceptional music player.

 

Thanks...

 Based on this, it looks to be the same:

 

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/products/sabre-digital-analog-converters/audiophile-dacs/

 

However, there could be differing versions of these chips that they don't bother explaining but that manufacturers (such as Oppo or Arcam) know about and take advantage of.  In other words, I don't really know...

[Ralf11]

the implementations of these DAC chips can vary - I dunno how many possibilities there are

 

then there are all sorts of other things like PC board layout, etc.

 

you can likely still buy an Oppo if you want it

 

OTOH, did Arcam ever make a bad piece of gear?

[audiophile65]

2 hours ago, crenca said:

 Based on this, it looks to be the same:

 

http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/products/sabre-digital-analog-converters/audiophile-dacs/

 

However, there could be differing versions of these chips that they don't bother explaining but that manufacturers (such as Oppo or Arcam) know about and take advantage of.  In other words, I don't really know...

Thanks for your link to ESS Technology. I have already looked at that page several hours ago today and, like you, I can't make heads or tails about it either.

 

In the meantime, I will learn more about the Arcam CDS50 in the weeks ahead. Perhaps will run into one to audition.

[audiophile65]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

the implementations of these DAC chips can vary - I dunno how many possibilities there are

 

then there are all sorts of other things like PC board layout, etc.

 

you can likely still buy an Oppo if you want it

 

OTOH, did Arcam ever make a bad piece of gear?

Arcam has always had a great reputation in Hi-Fi gear. They make great components, and then they spend lots of time in painstaking research on how to improve something that is already impressive. As technologies all over the world change and improve, such as DAC chip manufacturers like ESS, AKM, Wolfson, and TI, good companies like Arcam learn to capitalize on such revolutionary and evolutionary changes in technology in order to make a still better product. So, to answer your question, Arcam has never made a bad piece of gear. Moreover, nearly 10 years ago, I was pretty impressed with one of their earlier rDACs. Those were my earliest years as a computer audiophile.

 

In sum, I will be watching and waiting for the CDS50 in the weeks ahead.

[Nordkapp]

Well, if the chip is implemented with good circuit/parts, that player should be crystalline clear sounding. 

[GUTB]

The use of 9038 is interesting because it means it can theoretically decode the SACD natively. Other than that no one should expect much from such a compact / lightweight disc player.

 

I wish there was more choices between sub-$1000 consumer grade plastic transport players and the $7k+ high end players for SACD.