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MAYTEST
ACCUPHASE DP-550

BP2013 NL € 5,45 BE € 5,95

The high-ACCUPHASE DP-550 SACD-PLAYER

testedend
Disc player withextended DAC functionality

The Japanese noble brand Accuphase was founded in June 1972 by the former TrioKenwood
co-founder Jiro Kasuga and his older brother Nakaichi. In the same year the Kasuga left
brothers namely Trio-Kenwood, with the idea of hifi components of the highest caliber to go
manufacture. Unlike abroad where brands like McIntosh, AudioResearch, Mark Levinson and Revox set the tone. Was the Japanese offer in those years
actually mainly low to medium-priced products at best mediocre quality.
The ambitious plan was an extra push in the right direction by the oil crisis in 1973.
Investing in sustainability and high quality products that easily could go long, withbecame the new motto. An ideology that even today continues unabated
Accuphase in all its products will continue and where the tested here DP-550 Super Audio
CD player is a wonderful example of2

The first thing that I experience when
unpacking the substantial and weighty
box (25 kg) of the DP-550 sa (CD) player,
is the extremely serious impact in which
this Japanese company always
manufactures its products. Of course,
there are still more manufacturers thatoffer beautifully finished and carefully
constructed products now. As far as I amconcerned, very few go as far as
Accuphase does. Not only has every detailbeen thought of thoroughly, but also thematerials used and the techniques areparticularly solid and durable. Even to theextent that the devices will still function

testedinthesame
hassle-freefashion in 20 years fromn o w , o r e v e n l o n g e r . Just go andvisit another manufacturer, and this way of
production is exceptionally environmentallyfriendly in the long term! When I lift theplayer from the double box and remove thesoft fabric cover, I am deeply impressed by
the appearance of sheer quality and thecompleteness of the delivery package. The
first thing that comes to mind, in addition towords like respect and awe - especially theview that a product is actually always
supposed to look like that and that it should
function; I also realize immediately that thisquality in daily practice is unfortunatelyachieved by very few companies. With its
typicalchampagne
goldcolour,
Accuphase is, just products like by, forexample, McIntosh, Audio Research andSpectral, recognizable as such from akilometre distance. The DP-550 thereby
breathes ‘pride of ownership’ from every
pore. And because this fortunately once
again, pertains to a real high-end discplayer, makes the party complete for me.
Besides the champagne colour, it isimpressive, especially the massive
solidity of the housing, controls,connections and remote control that are
immediately striking in a positive way.
And then; the CD tray! Here is, again in apositive sense, that wonderful flexibility
andstability
thatwerestillcommonplace with so many brands inthe eighties and partly in the nineties. A
CD was still a medium of which you
could really be proud. Fancily presented
in the record stores and still neatly
packaged in the famous uniform ‘jewelcases’. Besides the incredibly beautiful
and almost silent running disc tray of
the DP-550, the player initially looks
like a ‘simple’ sa(CD) player, or, inother words, only suitable for playing
CD and SACD recordings. However,looks can be deceiving. Because, in
addition to the known analogue RCAand XLR (with adjustable phase!)
outputs, this Accuphase offspring is also
equipped with a true arsenal of
selectable digital inputs and outputs.
Inputs and outputs that are provided:
USB 2.0, optical, coaxial and an HSlink. This latter connection is meant tobe an ultra-high, high-speed digitalconnection. This also allows processing
2.8224 MHz/1-bit DSD signals inaddition to a maximum of a 24 bit/192
kHz signal. In addition to playing CDs
and Super Audio records in this DP-550,
it is also possible to play DSD discs
with files that are recorded in the DSF
file format. When I view the player

subcutaneously, it seems, according to
the Accuphase, the newly developed
drive is capable to read 100% (!) of therecorded data. One of the reasons thatAccuphase dares to say this is theenormous attention to detail that has
been paid to this mechanism. Thus, notonly have the vibrations that may occur
during the moving parts been eliminatedas much as possible, but the insensitivity
to external vibrations have also beenfurther improved. The extremely
accurate readings have subsequently
occurred, together with the totally newly
designed single lens with dual laser
diode and fast access time. The digital
signal processing proceeds, as it has
been doing for many years at
Accuphase, by means of the so-called
MDS+(Multiple Delta Sigma +)system. A principle in which the DSD
converted signal is converted directly tothe various D/A3NEXT

converters in a parallel configuration.
After the conversion, the signals of theconverters are added joint, causing
conversion errors to be greatly reduced.
The DACs in the DP-550 contain thelatest Hyperstream™ ES9008 type of ESS
Technology, where no less than four ofthese chips are connected in parallel. If I
look at the player without the top panel, it
can clearly be seen that the device isstrictly separated, sub-divided into fourcompartments. Thus, the power, drive andthe digital and analogue sections are built
entirely separately. When I, lastly,

take the remote control for a moment, it
seems that even a conservative brand like
Accuphase
iseffecting
smallimprovements constantly. Not only are
the look and the layout of this gem a lot
more modern and rigid than I’m used toin this brand, but it also seems that thetwo tilt switches, for example the trackand volume selection (a Accuphase
amplifier can also be operated with it),work tremendously well in practice. It
seems a simple thing, but finally one or
numerous tracks can be skipped backward
or forward now without having to searchfor pushbuttons. Ideal!

Listening 1st round

Because of the many digital inputs andoutputs, I decide to start immediately withstreaming audio applications in a firstround. Still a relatively new product whereI, seemingly in contrast to the necessary
other colleagues, still have trouble with thesound quality regularly. I often experience
the presented sound image as rather
artificial and synthetic, not to speak of thestriking discomposure in the sound. I am
obviously very curious how thisAccuphase will handle this, and I am
actuallyWe have all read once in a book about adeafening silence, but, with this recording
it has really become reality! Yet, thissilence does not last long and suddenly
it’s torn apart like a vicious dagger by the,very loud call of a howler monkey. Myneck hair then also immediately stands up
and a shudder goes through my wholebody involuntarily. Not long after that
other animals react all around us to theloud cries of this monkey. and at a certain
moment, it is a real cacophony of othersounds that are precisely localizable. Just
as quickly as the sounds came, they
disappeared again and that overwhelming,brooding silence descends on us again.
Just as we are musing about this, a rooster
suddenly crows from approximately 30
meters away. A call that is answered
quicklytested

already being served immediately after
unpacking and connection. Importer Paul
Hattink is, in addition to his Benelux
distribution for the Accuphase, Leben andVerity brands, also a respectable musician
who already has many international
productions to his name. Albums that, inaddition to their spontaneous musicalmessage, also know how to convince in an
audiophile sense. Music lovers whoalready have one or more albums of Pauldo not always know that many regular,
subtly processed acoustic sounds haveoften been recorded by himself! To
illustrate this, he quickly opens his
laptop after connecting and turning on
the champagne-coloured Japanese. And
after having installed the correct driver,communication
isthenquicklyestablished. Paul suddenly pulls aseemingly serious face. ‘Werner, you’rehereby really the first one, apart fromme, who is going to listen next to thefollowing sound clips. These arerecordings that I’ve made earlier thisyear during a visit to Costa Rica in thetropical rainforest and they are
absolutely spectacular in their purity andrealism.’ When the first recording is started via
the laptop, the greatness of the circulating
air in a large forest is the first thing thatstrikes us both.

by a congener on the other side of thevalley. The cry echoes a few times at theforest edges and walls of the valley, after
which Paul then stops the recording.
Very special. Another fragment contains
a Costa Rican singer/guitarist in the styleof Ry Cooders Buena Vista Social Club.
Then recorded completely pure and onlywith his own guitar as accompaniment.
The special thing about this recording isthat Paul has recorded it consciously in theoutdoors and you hear only the vocals andguitar without any reflective environment.
Once again, a chilling realistic occurrence
unfolds before me. The pitch of the voice,guitar, huge dynamic contrasts and againthat huge precise placement. You will
never be able to hear this music andsounds in this capacity. However, Paul has
devisedaplan

but once again, we both suddenly fallcompletely silent. The physical presenceof musicians who are projectedcompletely loose and especially focusedin my listening space is once again an
impressive piece of illusion. And it’s
especially the version, which sounds
much better than I have ever heard before
with this channel , that is curious.

to process them soon in a few albums thatare coming out in the future. In fact, hemade more recordings of this local
guitarist and a completely separate album
will probably be devoted to this. After thisvery successful own recording, Paul let me
have a listen to his own high-end internetchannel Hi-On-Line. A true successfulproject that has already even been on theair for 24 hours for some time now! I have
now already listened to this particularstation in his studio as well as from home,

main features that keep on standing out isthe extremely precise 3D focusing andpositioning of voices, sounds andinstruments in the stereo image. Also thelack of ‘hifi’ graininess and otherannoying artificial qualities are a greatthing. In addition to the USB connection
still used until now used, I also tried thecoaxial connection and the HS-link.
Where coaxial is already one step better
than USB, in the sense of timbre and amore natural sound, the HS-link has myabsolute preference and I hear

Listening 2nd round

Also in the beginning of the second
round I continue to principally staywith the streaming audio happenings.
Paul’s Windows laptop has made roomhere for my Apple McBook Pro with
Pure Music software. Also with myown music and my own source
configuration, the qualities identified
earlier of this Accuphase DP-550 discplayer/dac are continued to be fully
maintained. One of the5NEXT

testedthe same kind of purity, fluency andnaturalness in the version, as I always hear in
the i2S connection that connects my North
Star Design CD drive and dac. In thislistening session, the in-house Accuphase E560 Class A integrated amplifier provides thenecessary strengthening so far and, as
expected, it matches really well with the DP550 player. As far as I am concerned thesound is consciously natural to some extent
and even tuned somewhat unspectacularly
with these two Accuphase roommates.
Because of this, it is possible for thelistener(s) to focus all attention

Insides has a completely unique identity
by mixing instruments such as the violin,viola and piano with organic keyboard
sounds. When I start with ‘The Widersun’, I hear direct, dry, as well as realistic
sounding acoustic stringed instruments.
After some time the audio, panorama
disperses widely and the atmosphere in
the music changes altogether. It is a kindof atmosphere that you think you
experience when you jump from a cliff
with a paraglider or when a parachutist
takes a jump from an airplane. The one
momenton the music as much as
p o s s i b l e . Music that tunes in totallyto this is the album Insides by the English
producer and musician Jon Hopkins.
Hopkins has worked on albums of,amongst others, Coldplay, Brian Eno andDavid Holmes. Inside is his third studioalbum, which came out in 2009, and that
contains the necessary electronic dance
influences. For people who do not often
listen to this musical style, a firstacquaintance might perhaps have andalienating effect. But, those who arelooking for music that only surrenders its
beauty after repeated listening are at theright address here. Even though there areinfluences of the Danish multiinstrumentalist Trentemøller audible here
and there,

Used components
LOUD SPEAKERS(Sa)cd-PLAYErs
OTHER SOURCESINTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS
Audio rackInterlinks

Digital CABLESLOUD SPEAKER CABLES
Cableseverything is still there, just to disappear
quickly from sight the next moment to.
All of this subsequently finally ends up ina highly rhythmic, dynamic and especiallyelectronically created apotheosis. The DP550 knows how to retain the full overview
even at these types of eruptions andrenders almost stoically the data that thefile contains.
Listening 3rd roundIn this last listening block, I listen to thequalities of the familiar media, like a CD
and SACD and especially the latter came,Raidho D1, Master Contemporary C,
Wilson Benesch Arc
Ayre DX-5, North Star Design T192 + North Star
Design Extremo DAC
Apple MacBook Pro WITH Pure Music
Accuphase E-560, Ayre AX-5,
Unison Research Performance
Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference HD12
Siltech Royal Signature Empress, Sonore Reference(RCA AND
XLR)
North Star Design White Gold I2S, Nirvana Digital,Sonore Digital Reference, Audioquest Carbon USB
Nirvana SX, Sonore Reference, Sign Audio
Technology Pass series, JK-Acoustics Type III Net
Nirvana PC, Kemp Reference, Essential Audio Tools
Current Conductor,

of Modern Cool and also a whole
series of ‘normal’ CDs have also been
played. As is often the case withSACD players, the SACD option
simply sounds better than the CDlayer with this DP-550. The sound isthus a bit smoother, more open, it
contains less graininess and is
dynamically less compressed. The CDindeed still sounds very good on thisplayer. It is balanced, flexible andcompletely in equilibrium. In otherwords, it is a great all-rounder.
Conclusion

saw and conquered as far as I’mconcerned. After the fully digitally
recorded studio album Café Blue byPatricia Barber in 1994, sound andbalance engineer Jim Anderson wanted tofollow a different route with the next
album, Modern Cool. Not that Cafe Blue
did not sound good or sold badly; on thecontrary. However, he and Patricia
wanted to create a more intimate andfuller sound for Modern Cool. To achievethis, the digital resolution was increased
for this album and, depending on thedesired sound, recorded both analogueand digitally. In addition to this, other(vocals) microphones with a fuller
midrange were used for this other album.
Because I find this the most beautiful
sounding version of the album myself, I
make use of the MFSL SACD version(UDSACD 2003) for this test. And when
I start with ‘Let It Rain’, I immediately
hear the difference within a few seconds
when

I play the same number via streamingaudio. The SACD version simply has
more colour, more tranquillity, natural
tones and a smoother playback. Besides
that, Modern Cool also has a very
recognizable sound balance. Indeed
considerably fuller, more direct and more
powerful than that of Café Blue, although
unfortunately, through this directness theoften accentuated ‘s’ sounds with Patricia
come through more explicitly. Let It Rainis also a nice understated and very
atmospheric song with space for eachsoloist and the DP-550 certainly does
justice to this music. In my experience,
this player has thereby a more nimble andmore drawn out tonal balance than I canremember from the older Accuphasemodels. In addition, that’s something thatfurther enhances the universality andinterchange ability, also with other brands
and components. In a final comparison,
the CD layer

What seems to be an ordinary SACD
player from a conservative Japanese
high-end brand at first glance, seems todeviate quite from its others brothers atcloser examination. Not only is this DP550 really packed with possibilities, but
this device also knows how to get a lotof qualities from every medium, even if
the player cannot quite free streamingaudio from that unwanted, somewhat
corroded sound signature. However, theplayer does offer enormous stability andfocus here and the hi-res files allow oneto hear their added value very clearly.
But, this player fortunately allows one tohear the omnipotent benefit whenplaying ‘old-fashioned’ disc media.
Finally thus; something for everyone
and for Accuphase, especially in thisprice range; a big step forward. So, forthose who want to buy a multiplayer thatwill function in 20 years as it did when it
was purchased will make a regal
purchase with this DP-550.
Text: Werner Ero
Photography:
Accuphase

PRICEACCUPHASE DP-550
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