Musical Fidelity X-RAYv8 CD player test

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The player produces a sound with powerful rich bass and not the most expressive top. The greatest detail is in the midrange. On the whole, the player produces a technically correct sound, which at times lacks warmth and emotionality.

Features

The concept of Musical Fidelity X-Ray series hi-fi components implies the use of an external power supply Musical Fidelity Triple-X, which all devices in this series connect to. Due to this fact the player is not equipped with built-in power supply unit, the connection to Musical Fidelity Triple-X is carried out through the original five-pin connector.

The player uses a CD drive from Philips as the transport. Digital-to-analog conversion is made by using 24-bit dual differential delta-sigma converter with 8-fold up to 192 kHz oversampling.

The information display on the front panel is LCD. The display can function in two modes of brightness of symbols, not counting the mode of total shutdown of the display. Two playback timing modes: the display shows either the elapsed time since the start of the song or the time remaining to the end of the disc. In addition, the time display can be turned off completely.

The set of functions is standard: these are repeat modes track, disc or marked fragment , playback of tracks in random order. Playback of up to 25 tracks can be programmed and search with listening to the first 10 seconds of each song. Perhaps, however, there is a special feature, the Shul e shuffle mode, which allows you to play even the same disc in a new random order each time.

The universal remote control allows you to also control your Musical Fidelity amplifier.

Sound

Pop, electronic music. Bass in electronic compositions is not a few, if not dominating, it is always apparent very well, the balance of top and bottom is definitely skewed towards the latter. Bass is generally correct, only sometimes it starts to sound too massive. The sound in the middle when playing these genres of music is pronouncedly electronic. Some sounds are colored in the upper middle, for example a synthesized violin behaves like this.

Sound detail is high enough, but not maximum. The middle sounds the most interesting in this context, while the top and bass are less informative ranges.

Sounds of real nature interwoven into the electronic compositions sound, on the whole, natural.

In general, the player gives technically correct interpretation of electronic music, without straining your ears. At the same time, not always enough detail in critical areas. Relatively simple sounds and tones are good, but the complicated ones, though not simplified, sometimes lose the elements responsible for novelty and originality of sound.

Jazz

. I like the very clear localization of the distinguished metallic drums, but the quiet-sounding cymbal is a bit lost in places, goes to the outskirts of the sound space.

In terms of tonal balance in the music of this genre, the emphasis is also shifted to the bass range, the middle and top in the climax worked out a little bit weaker.

Rock

. The richness of the mid-bass is impressive, but the low-frequency percussion, for all its power, turns out a bit simplistic.

I like the elaborate guitar playing, the aftershounds of this instrument are long and sonorous. Fine sound details do not sound as clear in the middle as we would like, but they are never lost. In rock songs low vocals are not too clear and sometimes merge with the music, losing its thread.

I like the overall clarity of the sound, almost no background noise. No obvious noise or distortion, so nothing stands in the way of turning up the volume to the desired level.

The classic

. Sound balancing in all listened classic pieces was the most correct as compared to other music genres. Bass is very powerful, but it is not overpowering, even in the climax of the music.

Price

Average price in New York – about 37 600 Dollars.