Audiolab 8300CDQ CD Player / DAC / Preamplifier

To this specification the new 8300CDQ adds high-quality analogue preamp circuitry, coupled to three stereo pairs of line-level RCA inputs to connect analogue sources. The preamp circuitry is kept as simple as possible using high-quality components to maintain signal purity, with line input signals passing to a precision analogue volume stage. Much effort has gone into the physical layout of the 8300CDQ’s circuitry, protecting the sensitive preamp section from noise interference.

Taking it to the next level the 8300CDQ now includes MQA technology, which enables you to play back MQA audio files and streams, delivering the sound of the original master recording.

MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is an award-winning British technology that delivers the sound of the original master recording. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream or download.

Slot-loading CD transport mechanism

• Fast in operation and neat in design, the 8300CDQ’s slot-loading CD transport delivers excellent reliability. A read-ahead digital buffer reduces disc-reading errors, enabling scratched CDs that are unreadable by conventional mechanisms to be played. High disc stability and low susceptibility to resonance contribute to the 8300CDQ’s superb CD sound quality.

High-resolution digital inputs

• Five digital inputs comprise 1x asynchronous USB and 4x S/PDIF (2x coaxial and 2x optical). Hi-res digital audio is supported up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD256, and USB HID compatibility enables driverless control of a connected PC, Mac or media player.

32-bit ESS Sabre DAC

• The CD transport and digital inputs feed a DAC section with an ESS Sabre32 Reference chip nestling at its heart, utilising HyperStream architecture and ESS Technology’s Time Domain Jitter Eliminator to deliver ultra-low noise and high dynamic range. No company knows more about making the most of this 32-bit, eight-channel hybrid multi-bit Delta-Sigma DAC technology than Audiolab; the 8200CD and 8200CDQ were among the first audio components to use it and the company has been honing its implementation ever since. The conversion process involves 512 DAC elements (256 per channel) each operating at 84.672MHz – all digital audio sources, whatever the sample rate, are upsampled or oversampled to this frequency.

Exemplary jitter reduction

•  Around the DAC chip are extensive measures to reduce jitter (digital distortion) to vanishingly low levels. Careful circuit layout and low-noise power supplies complement the DAC’s patented Sabre32 sample rate converter and clever DPLL (Digital Phase Locked Loop) circuit, radically reducing time domain errors from all digital input sources.

Sampling Frequency

• Optical,Coaxial, AES: 32kHz – 192kHz
• USB:32kHz – 384kHz(PCM) / DSD64, DSD128, DSD256

Maximum Sampling Frequency

• Optical,Coaxial, AES: 192kHz
• USB: 384kHz (PCM) / 11.2M (DSD256)

Frequency Response

• 20Hz – 20kHz (± 0.2dB)