Lyngdorf CD2 Pure Audio CD Player

Full Description

The Ear

"Lyngdorf has delivered a replay system that should breathe new life into the format."

Designed, developed, and manufactured in Denmark, the pure audio CD-2 provides the unsurpassed performance expected from a Lyngdorf Audio product. Developed with the experience gained from multiple-award-winning Lyngdorf Audio digital amplifiers and CD players, this player is one of the best sounding pure audio CD players on the market.

The CD-2 is designed for audio only, and for this reason, using a pure audio drive is both simpler and better. All multi-format drives are based on video designs and clocks, and the audio output is then re-sampled (uncontrolled) to audio output clocks. Many choose to optimize the clock on the drive itself, but no matter what you do, ground potentials are difficult to control and the engine control board is noise-inducing.

The Lyngdorf Audio philosophy is to get the audio signal as clean as possible and to do the optimization based on the Lyngdorf Audio precision clock system. Based on previous work with CD players and fully digital amplifiers, we know the do’s and don’ts of clock systems. For the CD-2, we have taken the clock from the Millennium Mk IV and implemented it into the CD-2. The key is low phase noise in the audio band.

Sample Rate Converter

Resampling the output of the CD drive to a low-noise clock suppresses the level of jitter artifacts in the output signal to an absolute minimum. Our state-of-the-art sample rate converters, using special low-noise design techniques, enable the CD-2 to upsample the digital output of the audio drive to a selectable output rate. A major advantage of this is that you can adjust the output for the optimum operating point of a D/A converter. The digital output can deliver 24-bit resolution at a sample rate up to 192 kHz. The analog output section is upsampled in a parallel process to 96 kHz.

ICC - Intersample Clipping Correction

When music is being mastered, the level is often very high; upon analysis you will often find several consecutive maximum samples, indicating something has been clipped away from the original signal. Audio that exceeds 0 dBFS will sound very compressed because the headroom is nonexistent. Sadly, this harsh sound is often related to digitally stored music. In the CD-2 the gain is reduced by3 dB; thus, you will enjoy the full dynamic range and a more distortion-free sound.

Electrical Design

The Lyngdorf Audio designed switch mode power supply is extremely well regulated and is filtered and decoupled to provide a low noise and low impedance supply to the digital and analog circuitry. With different supplies from four independent secondary windings on the transformer, the analog and digital supplies are kept separate to minimize digital noise in the analog circuit.

D/A Converter

The D/A converter section (also used in the Millennium Mk IV) is used to drive a high-quality, single ended, and balanced output stage. The D/A converter is built around the Wolfson WM8740 chip. This, in combination with the balanced design and very fine audiophile op-amps, results in outstanding sonic qualities.