Review in image hifi magazine (Germany), issue 3/2006

Accuphase Super Audio CD Player DP-78
by Heinz Gelking

How carefully the man from the parcel service is heaving the cardboard box
with the orange Accuphase logo through the door. Don't get stuck! Accuphasestands for expensive hi-fi as much as Leica for costly cameras or Porsche for
expensive sports cars. Evidently, this is also anticipated by people who are notlinked to the audio trade.
This may perhaps be due to the fact that Accuphase was already existing inthe years when hi-fi fans were quite important and represented a large group. As I
was taking over the box and signed the electronic receipt book the guy from UPS
dropped just one word: "Äkjufäiss". And there was this certain timbre of
acknowledgement in his voice which no million-dollar marketing campaign can buy
from one day to the other. Accuphase, the Japanese luxury brand, have won thisreputation since 1972. A different era indeed. No PCs, no fitness centres and merely
three TV channels. And the compact cassette, the "data-reduced" medium of thatépoque, auditioned through the tape deck in a run-of-the-mill hi-fi chain sounded somuch better than today's MP-3-files via "active speakers" linked to a PC from thediscounter. Those days have seen benchmarks for good sound. Nobody evergrasped music as being a conglomerate of data and nobody would have accepted
the sound of tiny plastic speakers as standard.
I certainly do not want to moan here and I'm also far from telling you thateverything was better then, with the exception perhaps that this might be true when
we are listening to reproduced music. Apart from photography there was actually notechnically oriented hobby to devote oneself as much as to hi-fi. Whereby both hi-fi
and photography always contained a kind of cultural component, too, namely thepleasure an effective photo or listening to good music was to give us. This made thehobby so distinguished from tinkering around with cars.
It was the time when Accuphase started the business in Germany and I would
not further waste my words if I wouldn't consider Accuphase still having a foot in
those golden hi-fi times. The cooperation with the German distributor P.I.A. HiFi
Vertriebs GmbH was founded in 1975 and from the same year on Koichi (Nick) Iguchi
was taking care of the technical service for all "official" Accuphase components. The
quality of the P.I.A. service has become a legend, by the way. "Wish I also could relyon such a brilliant service at any time" I'm typing - with a sigh - into my keyboard after
a two-and-half day struggle with the service & support of my online provider (stillnamed Deutsche Bundespost in 1975) and their unexpected yet definite sacking mefrom the Internet. Eventually, I could solve the problem on my own initiative and twodays later I was fortunate enough to have this review e-mailed to Gröbenzell justbefore deadline.

Accuphase and tradition: the front panels have the colour of champagne andthe displays demonstrate a playful joy of putting luminous figures on stage. The
typical ambience of colours - orange letters, smoked glass, champagne-coloured
aluminium and the deep dark brown housing - is conveying harmony and furthermore
is, in my humble opinion, not at all philistine. Something similar you can get only from
McIntosh. When trends are chased after by cool design-trailblazers, yet sooner orlater are to become outdated, the front panel from Yokohama will still be around todemonstrate and tell you as before: look, I am Accuphase! At the same time these
Japanese have a bloody good nose for something developing against the tide. In theage of DAB and other radio transmission formats, who would have thought ofsomeone other than Magnum Dynalab to launch a really big and really expensive
FM-tuner to the market? - There you are: Accuphase have recently come up with theT-1000 just like that, albeit a conservatively conceived and perhaps risky component
in view of the current discussions about shutting off FM for good. Nevertheless, itdoes continue the proud ancestor's gallery of great Accuphase tuners. And theT-1000 is a thousand times more interesting for me than a new six-channel poweramp, like for instance the PX-650, which is leading me to Accuphase and progress: itis, so to speak, their tradition to be always ahead of the crowd when it comes totechnological developments. Besides amplifier design there are in particular thedigital sources where Accuphase succeeded in the past years. The AccuphaseDP-77, which is finally taking us closer to the actual issue of this review, was likewisea digital source entirely up to date. It had a proud 192/24 signet on its front panel, yet
it is now replaced by the DP-78 nevertheless.
DP-77 and DP-78 can barely be distinguished when viewed from outside(that's the tradition) yet substantially from inside (where the progress is hidden). The
new big integrated is said to be based on the know-how Accuphase acquired when
they were developing and building the ultimate drive/converter combination DP-100
and DC-101 (image hifi 2/2001). The drive supplied by Sony is now located and wellshielded beneath a metal plate which is not only to subdue the drive noise but also tofight excitations coming from the outside world. The essentials for the sonic progress
however are said to take place at the level of digital signal processing. As opposed tothe DP-77, which featured four D/A converter systems per channel, the DP-78 comesequipped with even six Delta-Sigma-Converter type AD1955 from Analog Devices,per channel that is! For further signal processing the output signals of the AD1955
array (normal and inverted phase) are combined in a way that conversion errors canbe substantially reduced (Accuphase are claiming factor 2.4/V6) before the signals
are sent through the current- and voltage-adder stages and alternatively madeavailable at either balanced (XLR) or unbalanced (RCA) output jacks at the rear
panel of the player. By the way, this measure did in no way alter the technicalspecifications: quite like its predecessor, the DP-78 also works with a sampling rateof up to 192 kHz/24 Bit (PCM, two-channel) respectively 28.224 MHz/1 Bit (DSD,two-channel). After all, Koichi Iguchi of P.I.A. assured me that the signal-to-noise
ratio as well as the dynamic range could be further improved.
It would actually be a great pity to make this elaborate and expensive
converter section not accessible for other digital sources also, wouldn't it? Well,
Accuphase did make it possible by having provided two digital inputs (optical andcoaxial) which can receive foreign signals from vintage CD players, DAT recorders,MD players or digital radio appliances, as long as the mentioned devices areequipped with a digital output.

On the other hand, who is going to put a CD into an old player if the DP-78 is
standing next to it? No-one who can flawlessly count up to three, or unless it's going
to be meant an experiment. In the end we get to the same arguments like during thetest of the Audionet CAT (image hifi 5/2005): it would be a tremendous waste if thisbrilliant converter section could not be used for other applications! Therefore, thedigital inputs of the DP-78 yield a true added value for Accuphase customers, inparticular when compared to many competitive components which do not have thisfeature.
We need not talk about the entirely independent power supply each for digital
and analogue signal processing as well as the spatial separation of the two sections.
That goes without saying. With respect to digital sources - the combination of DP-100
and DC-101 has been an absolute benchmark for some years - Accuphase were toloose their excellent standing. The wonderful sound machine in my rack however iscertainly not to threaten this reputation. Everything here is a splendid achievement up
to the solid and exquisitely crafted housing. The lid, covered with a Nextel-likematerial, wins the knuckle test with my applause as it tops the Krell SACD Standard
which itself is built like a fortress. The DP-78 stands on four large, damped feet madefrom metal and carbon. In between I also tried some alternative supports, yet except
for the Harmonix feet at prohibitive prices, I found nothing this SACD player soundedbetter with than in its own standard shoes.
Let's get to the emotive issue "digital formats": the DP-78 would not accept
CD-ROMs, DVDs, SACD-multi-channel and CD-RWs as it was made an SACD/CD
player for pure two-channel operation. Which brings us to the rather unpopularquestion of self-assertion: what's coming out of this confusion, i.e. SACD versus
DVD-Audio? I really have no idea. I don't even know if I'm doing anyone a favour if Ibring this issue up for discussion every time I'm reviewing a digital component. So
here are just two observations: firstly, I own several hundred CDs, perhaps thirty
SACDs and maximum five Audio-DVDs. Now, what's interesting for me in the firstplace is the top-class rendition of CD and then the sonic virtues of SACD. Secondly,in the past two years the bigger classic labels (first and foremost Universal) havebeen sending me review copies on CD only, while before they provided me first with
the CD and then - evidently knowing that our gentle and sonically demanding readers
might be interested also - a few weeks later the respective SACD was sent. Today
it's only with the small labels (like Audite) or the budget-sellers (like Brilliant Classics)
to push this sound carrier, which without any doubt sounds superior to my ears. Myvery personal opinion about this? - Well, those global players, which are oh soheavily moaning these days, should have completely switched to SACD andeventually dropped CD, or sell them off dirt cheap as long as they would last. Bettersound on SACD with a price tag similar to that of a regular high-priced (as opposedto "nice price") CD, I'm quite sure, would make the discussions about the present
crisis of the music industry obsolete! Anyone out there listening to me? And what
could be the conclusions drawn from these observations? As far as I'm concerned, adigital player must, above all, present itself as excellent CD player and then as
exquisite SACD source.
So, I'm setting up the DP-78 and while connecting it to the mains I think they
could have marked the IEC socket for correct phase. I let it warm up overnight and inthe morning a CD is loaded. The DP-78 however plays much too soft although thevolume knob on my preamp was turned up pretty far and still I could hardly get
beyond the normal room volume level.
With the help of the non-German and not so clearly arranged owner's manual I could
eventually get to the bugs: the DP-78 features an adjustable output level control(0 to -60 dB) which just then was set to -32. I turn it up to 0 and from this very
moment on the sun is coming into my room. In the daily practise the DP-78 turns out
to be very user-friendly. The drive noise is lower than the one coming from the Krell
SACD Standard, the access time to tracks shorter and last but not least, the buttons
on the front panel (albeit not on the remote control) are more ergonomic owing totheir size, form and fine action point. You feel at home or like sitting in front of thedashboard in your favourite Mercedes. I'm only missing the meter for the oiltemperature…. Everything seems a bit conventional yet totally reliable. This in mind
one can fully concentrate on the route for the journey through one's CD collection.
My route begins in Lisbon with Madredeus and the voice of Teresa Salgueiro.
Certainly, this production by EMI from the year 1990 cannot be considered anaudiophile CD. Too much keyboard sound (all of us audiophiles do love "natural"
instruments, right?) and a microphone which was in no way complimenting the voice
but rather added a tad of extra harshness to the already sharp tones of Teresa
Salguairo's singing, the latter however being quite typical of the Mediterranean area. I
trust to have perceived the difference between the natural sharpness of the voice andthe artificial sharpness of the microphone and therefore can certify the high-resolution
capabilities of the DP-78, at least for the time being and without having to blame it allon this mediocre production.
The route continues to Paris and there to the Olympia. First, Patricia Kaassings "Les lignes de nos mains" followed by "Dans ma chair". Here, the French Sony
Corporation too did in no way succeed in coming out with an audiophile CD in 1998,
but I know of hardly any other live recording conveying such an abundance ofatmosphere, such a plausible, huge soundstage (in a pop concert!) and this fantastic
punch in the basses. Absolutely thrilling. I do not know yet which findings about thespecific characteristics of the DP-78 I can draw for myself. Nevertheless, against myoriginal intention I auditioned this 2-CD set until the last track was over. That hugesoundstage however is a completely different matter which I'll have to evaluate once
again!
Up the north to Amsterdam. Chailly is conducting Messiaen's TurangalîlaSymphony. This is the first SACD to feed the DP-78 with. The Concertgebouw Orkest
is producing sound colours which were in fact hidden when I listened to the CD-layer
through Audionet's ART V2. No question, the fantastic recording sounds still very
good with this player, but when the DP-78 is reading the SACD track the last bit ofgraininess has gone. I quickly fetch and play the SACD with marimba virtuoso
Katarzyna Myæka, which I introduced in the previous issue. What I hear is the art ofdynamic distinction in its utter pureness! Garlands of single tones are exploding andvanish between a hard beat and its breezing away. The Krell SACD Standard also
could do that or was perhaps even on par. Yet with the DP-78 the rendition of thebackground is more silent and that's why it sounds less spectacular than the Krell. I
trust it's exactly this measure of silence which even after some extended
considerations implies a rather silly comparison, which however seems to be in place
here: the sound of the DP-78 conveys something that among digital sourcecomponents only a selected few from the top league are capable of doing, like theReimyo CDP-777, I recall. What I mean is the unshakeable (background) silence ofthe best analogue turntables.
What's next, Thielemann in Vienna with Strauss or him with "his" neworchestra in Munich and Bruckner? OK, once again Vienna and the Philharmonics
with a live recording of the Alpensinfonie by Richard Strauss. In no way does this CD
sound outstanding when heard through a mediocre player. The DP-78 however
opens such an acoustic space I've heard and remember from only two other digitalsources, namely the above mentioned Reimyo CDP-777 (image hifi 3/2003) and theemm-Labs DCC2 (image hifi 4/2004).
The odd thing is that when I listened to the DP-78 and also while writing thisreview, I never asked myself voluntarily what it is capable of doing. I had toconcentrate on such questions over and over again whereby I never had the feelingthat the DP-78 can "objectively" read more details from the silver disks than, say, theKrell SACD Standard. Perhaps it doesn't do that at all because with respect to any hifi criteria the Krell is extremely good already, for half the money, that is. Still, I preferto listen to the DP-78. Why that? - I know it should be my duty to give you an answer
on this but I can't. The "darkness" of its background? The three-dimensionality of its
sound pictures plus the rock-solid stability of the latter? The oh so relaxed rendition?
Maybe the peculiarity is as simple as this: I've fully trusted the DP-78 from the very
beginning and never asked what could be bettered in any way and anywhere. Well, I
certainly do not encounter something like this every day.
Now back home to the Ruhrgebiet [the "Black Country" of Germany]. Claude
Frank, whose Beethoven cycle of 1970 had been introduced in image hifi by Matthias
Kornemann, was giving a concert in the Essen Folkwang Museum, of which therecording is available on CD also. Claude Frank's students play first then he takes
over with Schubert's sonata in B-Major D 960. Him a pianist in his Eighties witharthritic fingers but a master nevertheless. This recording will hit you all they way into
the spinal cord, presumably even when heard over a car radio. There are certainly
piano recordings around sounding better than this document. But that doesn't matter.

image x-trakt
What I like:Of the three best digital source components I've heard to this date, this one is theleast expensive.
What's missing:
Nothing.
What a surprise:
With respect to the already most complete features, it's the possibility of further
upgrading by means of option boards.
What to do:
Those who are looking for merely a CD player, i.e. a "specialist", should not miss toaudition the DP-78 also.