Product Range: Chord
Red Reference CD Player
At last it's here the Chord product you have all been waiting for. Building on the success of the Blu and the DAC64 the Red Reference CD player has been designed as the ultimate source component. With stunning looks and state of the art design the RED utilises ground breaking technology to give the most accurate reproduction of compact disc that can be obtained. With internal 176.4KHz upsampling data transfer, selectable RAM buffer clock retiming and both 1024 and 4096 tap length filtering the Red earns its reference status in the Chord range. More details on the Red Reference can be found in the product section of the website.
Red Standard CD Player
The RED Standard CD player combines conventional CD playback with the addition of QBD 76 conversion technology to give optimum performance at 44.1KHz sample frequencies. It is able to reproduce considerable clarity with the transient timings accurately reproduced via the 76 bit DSP core and 4096 tap digital WTA filter.
Based on the same trademark concept as our other products the RED Standard uses the same solid aluminium support structure for the CD mechanism. No compromise has been made on the front panel design and the RED Standard features the same ball bearing push button control and dual display system as the RED Reference. CD status is shown on one display and input, buffer and frequency information on the other. The unique 45 degree mechanism placement remains to allow front access even if placed on a stand or in a rack. Access to the CD is at the touch of a button operating a solenoid controlled fluid damped door. Rear connections are made via gold plated phono, plastic optical fibre or balanced XLR style connections.
Using the CD Pro 2 mechanism from Philips the standard sample rate digital output is taken via shielded cabling to the digital to analogue conversion electronics. Here using DAC64 technology the digital signal is converted from 44.1KHz to analogue audio using 1024 tap filtering and 64 bit digital signal processing core. The 64 bit 7th order noise shaping, 2048 times oversampling and improved pulse width modulated elements give better measured performance, more detailed resolution and a smoother more focused sound quality. RAM buffer technology can be used to give jitter free operation by sequentially taking in all the data, re-timing, it and sending it out. The three settings minimum, maximum and off can be selected via the front panel and status is clearly shown on the display.
Should you wish the RED Standard also features an AES Balanced and plastic optical fibre digital input to allow other source components to benefit from the DAC64 digital to analogue conversion. This can be especially useful where multiple digital sources are in a system as it removes the requirement for an additional external DAC. Again the inputs are easily selected from the front panel.
Field Programmable Gate Arrays are used throughout allowing reprogramming simply by changing the EPROM memory chip, thus future proofing is assured. The RED Standard is an innovative product. It combines state of the art digital to analogue conversion with the build quality and looks to match. Used as a standalone CD player or as a combined DAC and player, it is able to deliver benchmark CD reproduction and is only bettered by the fully featured RED Reference player.
Blu
The Chord CD Transport has been designed to match, both in performance and style, the highly successful DAC64 and also completes the Chord Choral range. For the first time customers can complete their Chord system with a truly stunning source component. Called Blu the CD Transport shares the same ground breaking technology that has made the DAC64 one of the most successful Digital to Analogue Converters ever produced. As a dedicated state-of-the-art, 2-channel CD Transport, Blu takes full advantage of the WTA Filter technology used in the DAC by having it's own 4096-tap, 80-bit WTA filter.
With features like selectable up sampling from 44.1 to 176.4kHz and a dedicated word clock input, Blu can also be used successfully outside a dedicated Chord system. The digital connections on offer are; 2x AES/EBU and 2x BNC for Dual Data output, 1x BNC and Toslink optical for standard data output (all selectable via a toggle switch), 1x BNC input for word clock synchronisation, selectable output sampling frequencies are 44.1kHz, 88.2kHz and 176kHz
.Blu delivers an astonishingly life-like musical performance. This ultra high resolution system delivers far more detail than conventional sources. One can hear more air and space, better separation of instruments, subtle nuances and inner detail. Layers and textures of instruments are more easily discernible. All this without the usual negative trade-offs associated with digital sources. In fact, Blu is smoother and more natural sounding with a distinctly accurate timbre resulting in a more organic, realistic sound. Finally, with a deep wide soundstage and almost perfect timing, Blu delivers the energy, vitality and excitement of the original performance. Blu offers a huge, dramatic, "night and day" sonic improvement, which will be noticed immediately.
