hose whose audiophile inputs and Bluetooth streaming. implemented in the digital domain. spirations are fettered by In place of the disc-tray is a large According to Ellenby, "the signal is modest incomes can thank screen with dimmable backlight. upsampled to 32-bit floating point and Cambridge Audio or supplying them This is flanked on either side by tiny then rescaled".This use of DSP Twith Hi-fi equipment that is well- buttons designed to access functions (common in pro gear and software) constructed, generously-specified and indicated on the adjacent areas of should help to minimise non- sounds good - yet is affordable. screen space. Beneath, the sampling linearities and loss of resolution at The Azur 851 Series takes pride of place rate (but alas not resolution) of the low volume levels - although at the top of Cambridge's current line-up. selected audio source is shown. The ultimately you're going to be Despite employing some cutting-edge screen's central real-escate, restricted by the 24-bit resolution of technology, none of these sell for more meanwhile, is given over to a dB the DACs, a pair of Analog Devices than 2500 € each; not an awful lot in the calibrated volume-level indicator. lt AD 1955AS; one for each channel, world of audiophile gear. works in conjunction with a massive working in differential mode. In terms of sophistication, the € 1399 Azur control knob that's coupled to a lf you're connecting the Azur851 D to 851D is a different kettle of fish to shaft-encoder rather than a high a preamp or integrated with its own Cambridge's popular budget DACMagic quality pot; chat shouldn't shock you, volume control, as opposed to a models. lt takes as its given the 851D's emphasis on all power-amp or active speakers, then basis the 851C that was introduced a things digital. you can bypass the volume control. couple of years ago.But out goes the disc Cambridge hasn't opted for digical An independent volume adjustment is transport and in comes a clutch of audio control of volume in the analogue sensibly-available for the headphone enhancements and tech-driven domain, as exemplified. lnstead, amplifier, which goes far beyond the conveniences. Among the latter are a confirms product manager Sam type of circuitry you'll find in the pukka headphone amplifier, extra digital Ellenby, the volume control is average DAC or CD player. Built onto a dedicated circuit board, the 851D's headphone amp has its own 'belt-and braces' power supply circuitry and complementary- pairs of medium-power transistors that drive the transducers of your choice. As much attention has been lavished on just one aspect of the 851D's functionality as you'll find in a good budget solid-state offboarder. There's plenty of audiophile design evident elsewhere in the 851D. lts internal power arrangements playback of uncompressed (e.g. start with an over- WAV / AIFF) files or for that specified toroidal matter FLAC (lossless) ones. mains transformer The rear panel analogue that, after rectification, outputs take the form of supplies current to balanced (XLR) and phono multiple regulators. (unbalanced) sockets. Components are high lt's a shame, considering the grade (e.g., metallised 851 D's preamp possibilities, polypropylene signal caps, that no provision for analogue audio-grade electrolytics, high- sources has been made. But grade Burr-Brown op-amps and chat would have meant building low-noise metal-film resistors) while input in an analogue-to-digital board layout is neat. unaltered converter and thus upping the Much of the digital signalproces- (i.e. with no price. lnterestingly, the unit's AD sing takes place in an Analog Devices upsampling, volume 1955A DAC can accept DSD - a ADSP-BF32 ('Blackfin') 32-bit DSP adjustment or filtering feature that's not harnessed running proprietary 24- bit/384kHz performed) . Useful for here. upsampling algorithms developed by the chose with digital recorders or The supplied remote handset is Swiss company Anagram. However, the separate AV systems, I guess. distinctly Cambridge - solidly-built DAC only supports sampling rates of up to A Class-1/2 USB port with ground-lift Practically any digital source can 192kHz.The post-DAC analogue filters are switch enables you to use Inside the be fed into the 851D. There are linear-phase Bessel designs. 851D. At the bottom left can be seen no fewer than six digital audio The 851D also gives you a choice of the sophisticated headphone inputs plus a pair of USB ports digital-filter characteristics -'linear-phase' amplifier. The preamp / DAC and tor computer DAC and Bluetooth (time-coherent, but with some 'pre-ringing'), terminal boards, which are populated use. The analogue output is 'minimum-phase' (a slightly higher 'group- with decent-qua/ity compo nents, available in unbalanced (phono) delay') and 'steep' (a little ringing, but a nestle around the rear panel. and balanced (XLR) form. The linear-phase, and courtesy of a slight high- The Azur 851D as a high-quality 851D also makes provision tor frequency roll-off, a strong rejection of DAC with your computer (Windows custom installation (RS232, 22.05 kHz aliasing artifacts). Cambridge's and Mac, although some Linux remote in, 12V DC trigger out advice is pragmatic ; it suggests distros are compatible). Users with and Cambridge's contra/ bus). 'experimenting with the filters to determine Mac and Linux systems can 'plug and with a pleasant feel. lt provides which sounds best to your ears' with each play'; Windows users (XP / Vista/ access to all of the 851 D's programme source. 7/8) may need to download the functions and will operate some The company has also been pragmatic as necessary driver. other Cambridge gear. far as the rear-panel is concerned .You get A second USB port is provided for the two inputs with coaxial (phono) and optical supplied Bluetooth dongle needed to PERFORMANCE (TOSlink) connectvity, two optical only play audiofiles held on your phone or I tried the 851D with a number of inputs,a BNC coaxial-only input and a tablet - you can't, alas, use it to play digital sources that included a professional AES/EBU terminal. Coaxial music files on USB storage devices. Cambridge Azur 751BD disc and optica! outputs convey the selected A pity; I suspect it would have cost player and Squeezebox Touch Cambridge little if anything to support streaming/SD/ USB player, both fed via the coaxial inputs. A especially Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini was with used to test the unit's Bluetooth losslessly - capabilities. A Linn LK280 compressed amplified the DAC's output, tracks - although driving my trusty Acoustic absolute sound quality is being Energy AE 109 floorstanders. I traded for the convenience of also tried the headphone accessing music held on a output, alternating between mobile device.The musical Sony MDR-1 Rs and Onkyo balance was even, although ES-HF300s.First, playback some of the finer detail of from disc. lnitially, I tried a Blu- complex tracks was masked. ray audio disc (Supertramp's 'Breakfast in America') but sadly couldn't get anything more than 48kHz PCM audio - CONCLUSION a clear case of 'downsampling' You get an awful lot of DAC for your being imposed to prevent the money, and better still the numerous disc being used as a high res features (among them, a worthy medium for pirates to work headphone amp and wide with! connectivity) are backed up with a However, even the enforced convincing sound quality. 48kHz output yielded a fair That's not to say the Azur 851 D is degree of musical insight - perfect; at very low listening levels, albeit with the overly-incisive there's a slight veiling of dynamics treble traditionally associated caused by the digital control.This isn't with this classic slice of late- an issue, of course, if you are driving amplification that makes its own 70s art-rock. I guess that if you provisions. have something close to the master tape to downsample, then the results are going to be good.A self-made DVD-A disc containing careful 24/96 transfers of various LP material was more revealing and showed that the full potential of such material can be conveyed via the digital inputs. All well and good, but as for most of us, CDs make up the bulk of listening, I gave these a spin - the original 44.1kHz/ 16- €1399 bit format being upscaled to the l 92kHz/24-bit supported by the DAC. First, then, to a copy of Can's sprawling but hypnotic Krautrock epic 'Tago Mago'. Overall impressions were ones of neutrality and transparency; you're given an uncoloured musical insight.The other- wordly 'Mushroom' was defined by a fulsome and coherent bass performance - nothing lightweight or overblown here - coupled with a taut handl ing of percussive matters. With 'Tago Mago' and 'Halleluhwah' you're given an insight into the track's contribute to a gloriously detailed fuller picture. The Bluetooth feature is easy enough to use; scan for devices and pair with the newest one found. lt sounded more than acceptable -