Audio Database
ZZ-Eight
Commentary

A CD player developed with a design philosophy that pursues simplicity and straightness.

For the pickup part, Philips CDM-12PRO is customized for the ZZ Eight.
By fastening screws directly to the heavy solid brass structure and integrating it with the chassis, the drive section can be supported more rigidly than the suspension system using rubber or spring. Therefore, everything other than the rotating mechanism and pickup can be kept as quiet as possible. As a result, stable tracking performance is obtained.

Center mount top-loading system with CDM-12PRO mounted in the center of the case.
The disc is equipped with a unique large disc stabilizer that is carefully lowered by machine to hold it securely by magnetic force. The center ring that positions the turntable and the disc is made of metal with no electrostatic capacity to eliminate the accumulation of static electricity that is harmful to the pickup.

The D/A converter uses PCM1702, a 20-bit sign magnitude D/A converter manufactured by Bar Brown.
The linearity of conventional multi-bit conversion depends on the error of the resistor used. If the error becomes large, the 0 cross distortion generated when the signal switches from positive to negative through 0 has an effect on the nuance of sound. On the other hand, single-bit conversion with a simple circuit does not generate 0 cross distortion in principle, but has disadvantages such as a large amount of high-frequency noise. Sign magnitude conversion converts the plus and minus waveforms of signals independently, making it possible to realize digital reproduction without 0 cross distortion, which is often the case with multi-bit conversion.
The ZZ-Eight uses two PCM1702 s for the left and right channels and a selection of the highest quality K-rank products to achieve excellent multi-bit conversion. The digital filter uses an 8 x oversampling digital filter to achieve excellent sound quality.

The DAC chips are stacked on top of each other in a stacking configuration. Compared with the conventional method of arranging them side by side on the substrate, the signal path is kept shorter and the temperature stability of each DAC chip is obtained.
In the ZZ-STACK, all ICs in the signal path, such as filters, use this Eight configuration, resulting in good noise characteristics and high resolution in low-level playback.

Parts include many non-magnetic carbon film resistors made by Radarstein, low-noise / soft recovery diodes for the power supply for the D/A converter, filter capacitors with a large capacity of 45,000 μ F, and circuit boards with 2 mm thick / 70 μ m copper layers.

There is only one unbalanced output system using RCA connector with Teflon insulator for the output terminal, and the design which unnecessarily complicates the circuit is avoided.
The digital output has two systems, RCA and BNC coax.

On / off of standby function and basic operation of transport are controlled by momentary type toggle switch lever.

Interference between circuits is suppressed by using digital / analog independent power supply for the power supply part.
In addition, it is equipped with a standby function that can turn off only the power supply of the digital part so that the analog circuit can be always energized, so that the music can always be enjoyed in the best condition.

The operating status and disk information are displayed on the black acrylic part of the front panel.
Display brightness can be switched to 3 levels other than OFF.

The ZZ-Eight is compact in size and has a heavy structure, which makes it less susceptible to vibration than larger sizes.

Four rubber feet are used for the legs. The legs are soft considering the rigidity of the chassis. However, we selected the best material and shape for sound quality through more than 10 kinds of trial listening and trial listening.
Mechanical grounding can also be achieved by removing two rear rubber feet and attaching an included conical metal spike to the bottom surface in consideration of the condition of the grounding surface.

HDCD format is also supported.

Wireless remote control RC-5 is included.

Model Rating
Type CD Player
Pick-up Philips CDM-12PRO (custom-made)
Method 20-bit sine magnitude system
D/A converter 4 x Bar Brown PCM1702 (K Rank)
Digital filter Pacific マイクロソニックス Corporation
8 x Oversampling for HDCD
Frequency characteristic 5 Hz to 20 kHz ± 0.3 dB
Signal-to-noise ratio 115dB(A-WTD)
Distortion Factor (THD) 0.002%(1kHz)
0.007% (10 Hz to 20 kHz)
Dynamic range 96dB
Digital output terminal RCA coaxial : 1 system
BNC coaxial : 1 system
Digital output level 0.5Vp-p/75 Ω
Analog output terminal Unbalanced : Teflon insulated RCA connector
Analog output level 2.75V RMS
Output impedance 50 Ω
Pwer 100 VAC, 50Hz/60Hz
Power consumption 40W max.
External dimensions Width 430x Height 96x Depth 340 mm
Weight 16kg
Attachment Wireless Remote Control RC-5