Hello Everyone,
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Orpheus Zero (Mk1).
As I already wrote in several of my previous reviews, I like testing CD Players, especially older ones. This one is "only" 20 years old, though
Stereophile briefly talked about this player but did not measure it. Let me fix that.
My firs review of the Onkyo C-733 here contains information about my measurements which I align with the AES standard (to few exceptions). It means that, over time, you can compare the devices I reviewed.
Orpheus Zero - Presentation
Released in 2005, this is a Swiss made CD player, high quality that means. The price was very high at the time, and it was reading CD Audio only.
This is the firs version, there was an MKII version with a blue display.
It features a professional look, with its rackable 1RU size, except it does not have the necessary holes
It is a top loader using a Philips CD Pro drive. Conversion is done by a Wolfson DAC WM8740. All of that is relatively simple and housed in a heavy enclosure.
Back panel shows XLR and RCA analog outputs, with Coax and XLR digital outputs:
Despite the slim look, it weight more than 22lbs (10kg), it's always a surprise when I need to carry it.
When opening (manually) the top door, two red led give it a nice touch at night, I like a lot:
There are not so many pictures of this player on the web, so let's quickly check the inside:
This is well organized, no surprise. At the bottom of this picture, you can see the large servo control card with digital output, and just above it, on the right, the small D/A card with the WM8740.
I acquired this player in 2007 and it's been my main player for all these years. I compared it to many other players. I tried to use external DACs in the foolish hope I could improve the sound, but no. I continue to use it as a CD player today, not as a transport. So that player and I have shared a lot of music, and so many personal events... It has a special place in my heart.
For the last 2 years, I trained myself to measure CD players, and I was really afraid of the day that the Orpheus would go under (my) review. What if it did not perform? All these years of thinking I could not find better, was I wrong?
Time has come to verify. Follow me
Orpheus Zero - Measurements (Analog outputs - From CD)
From now on, I will be consistent with my measurements as I described them on the Onkyo C-733 review. So over time, this will help comparing the items I reviewed.
From both RCA and XLR, the Orpheus Zero outputs 2Vrms as per its specs (0.01dB less on the XLR though). The balanced outputs of The Orpheus Zero invert absolute polarity. That said, the interface allows to invert the polarity, and it shows as is (below) not to forget about it:
Let's start with the standard 1kHz sine @0dBFS (dithered) from my test CD (XLR out):
Left and right channels are shown but only one gets evaluated in that view. Both channels have nearly the same performances. Plot is on H2 (-110.8dBr and -110.9dBr).
THD+N is limited (and so is the SINAD) by the dither noise present on my test CD. It's the best we can get. It shows 92.9dBr on the dashboard, which is 1dB better than the best CD Players I previously measured, and despite fact I'm measuring here with 1dB headroom on my interface.
The RCA outputs do better on THD perspective (3dB less) but show a little power supply related noise of no concern (below -110dBr). I'll continue this review from XLR only.
Note as well the very precise 1000.00Hz I get from a 1kHz test tone. Not Clock deviation even after 20 years of nearly everyday utilization. It's the Swiss Precision spirit
For few reviews, I've been adding a view of 1kHz @-6dBFS, so here we go:
The distorsion went down a little (-107.4dB), which is very good and better than the specs.
Other results (not shown) are:
Bandwidth measurements(@-12dBFS below) showed a gentle roll of at 20kHz (-0.2dB) starting early (10kHz),:
The two channels are shown and are perfectly matched (hence only one trace seen), I like to see that (it's not always the case as you can tell from my other reviews).
Let's have a look at the oversampling filter (Overlay of White Noise and 18k+20Hz dual tones):
This view shows that It is a relatively slow filter with a decent attenuation (roughly -90dB) from the periodic white noise (blue trace). The aliases of 18k and 20kHz test tones are attenuated below -90dB which is very good.
Multitone test showed no issues (1/10 decade):
We have much more than the Audio CD free of distortion.
Updated Jitter test (16bits/44.1kHz) with a better test file, as per your comments (see below and thanks to @Rja4000 for having initiated the discussion):
Red trace is what is on the test CD (from the digital output), it can’t be better and is what's recorded from the test file. The Orpheus (blue trace) adds a (very?) little amount of Jitter.
Started with the Teac VRDS-20 review, and on your request + support to get it done (more here), I'm adding the "intersample-overs" test which intends to identify the behavior of the digital filtering and DAC when it comes to process near clipping signals. Because of the oversampling, there might be interpolated data that go above 0dBFS and would saturate (clip) the DAC and therefore the output. And this effect shows through distorsion (THD+N measurement up to 96kHz):
I kept some references and will keep the same for other reviews, so you can quickly compare. The results of the Orpheus Zero mean the oversampling filter has a good level of headroom, meaning that the resolution of the Wolfson DAC was put in good use.
And let me finish with my favourite measurement, the THD (excluding noise) vs Frequency at -12dBFS:
The Orpheus Zero has no issue here, it is the best trace that I have in my collection of this specific measurement. This an easy test for advanced 1bit DACs. I like this measurement because it shows lack of linearity already at this level with older R2R architectures, and some lower resolution 1bit architectures too, that I enjoy testing.
Orpheus Zero - Measurements (Digital out)
A number of you are into using CD players as transports, and like to know how the digital output performs.
Well, it is perfect. I’ll keep it simple, with what I believe to be the most representative measurement of the digital output quality, and that is a 1kHz sine at -90.31dBFS which shows the 3DC levels of the smallest digital signal in 16bits sign magnitude representation:
I have to note that the signal is extremely stable and would facilitate the job of the DAC's PLL reading it.
The second view below shows what's on the test CD (from the standard 1kHz @0dBFS measurement):
It can't get better than that with my test CD.
Conclusion
Well, I was so anxious to test it, I should have done that way before! Fact is that this player equals the best nearly everywhere, and does better in some cases (ie intersample-overs resistance).
After all, if I never found better, it's simple because this player does not disrupt the CD Audio content. That was kind of a statement from Orpheus Laboratories (now OrpheusLab). It had a price, yes indeed, but definitely not snake oil.
I hope you enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know how to improve and if you have questions. I have recorded all the 46 measurements. If you want me to publish others or run one of your choice, feel free to ask. I will add some new measurements later for the fun of it about some noise shaping test files that @AnalogSteph sent me, and this is quite interesting.
Enjoy your weekend!
--------
Flo
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Orpheus Zero (Mk1).
As I already wrote in several of my previous reviews, I like testing CD Players, especially older ones. This one is "only" 20 years old, though
Stereophile briefly talked about this player but did not measure it. Let me fix that.
My firs review of the Onkyo C-733 here contains information about my measurements which I align with the AES standard (to few exceptions). It means that, over time, you can compare the devices I reviewed.
Orpheus Zero - Presentation
Released in 2005, this is a Swiss made CD player, high quality that means. The price was very high at the time, and it was reading CD Audio only.
This is the firs version, there was an MKII version with a blue display.
It features a professional look, with its rackable 1RU size, except it does not have the necessary holes
It is a top loader using a Philips CD Pro drive. Conversion is done by a Wolfson DAC WM8740. All of that is relatively simple and housed in a heavy enclosure.
Back panel shows XLR and RCA analog outputs, with Coax and XLR digital outputs:
Despite the slim look, it weight more than 22lbs (10kg), it's always a surprise when I need to carry it.
When opening (manually) the top door, two red led give it a nice touch at night, I like a lot:
There are not so many pictures of this player on the web, so let's quickly check the inside:
This is well organized, no surprise. At the bottom of this picture, you can see the large servo control card with digital output, and just above it, on the right, the small D/A card with the WM8740.
I acquired this player in 2007 and it's been my main player for all these years. I compared it to many other players. I tried to use external DACs in the foolish hope I could improve the sound, but no. I continue to use it as a CD player today, not as a transport. So that player and I have shared a lot of music, and so many personal events... It has a special place in my heart.
For the last 2 years, I trained myself to measure CD players, and I was really afraid of the day that the Orpheus would go under (my) review. What if it did not perform? All these years of thinking I could not find better, was I wrong?
Time has come to verify. Follow me
Orpheus Zero - Measurements (Analog outputs - From CD)
From now on, I will be consistent with my measurements as I described them on the Onkyo C-733 review. So over time, this will help comparing the items I reviewed.
From both RCA and XLR, the Orpheus Zero outputs 2Vrms as per its specs (0.01dB less on the XLR though). The balanced outputs of The Orpheus Zero invert absolute polarity. That said, the interface allows to invert the polarity, and it shows as is (below) not to forget about it:
Let's start with the standard 1kHz sine @0dBFS (dithered) from my test CD (XLR out):
Left and right channels are shown but only one gets evaluated in that view. Both channels have nearly the same performances. Plot is on H2 (-110.8dBr and -110.9dBr).
THD+N is limited (and so is the SINAD) by the dither noise present on my test CD. It's the best we can get. It shows 92.9dBr on the dashboard, which is 1dB better than the best CD Players I previously measured, and despite fact I'm measuring here with 1dB headroom on my interface.
The RCA outputs do better on THD perspective (3dB less) but show a little power supply related noise of no concern (below -110dBr). I'll continue this review from XLR only.
Note as well the very precise 1000.00Hz I get from a 1kHz test tone. Not Clock deviation even after 20 years of nearly everyday utilization. It's the Swiss Precision spirit
For few reviews, I've been adding a view of 1kHz @-6dBFS, so here we go:
The distorsion went down a little (-107.4dB), which is very good and better than the specs.
Other results (not shown) are:
- Crosstalk : -137dB at 1kHz and -116dB @10kHz
- IMD AES : -84.4dB (18kHz+20kHz 1:1 @-5dBFS)
Bandwidth measurements(@-12dBFS below) showed a gentle roll of at 20kHz (-0.2dB) starting early (10kHz),:
The two channels are shown and are perfectly matched (hence only one trace seen), I like to see that (it's not always the case as you can tell from my other reviews).
Let's have a look at the oversampling filter (Overlay of White Noise and 18k+20Hz dual tones):
This view shows that It is a relatively slow filter with a decent attenuation (roughly -90dB) from the periodic white noise (blue trace). The aliases of 18k and 20kHz test tones are attenuated below -90dB which is very good.
Multitone test showed no issues (1/10 decade):
We have much more than the Audio CD free of distortion.
Updated Jitter test (16bits/44.1kHz) with a better test file, as per your comments (see below and thanks to @Rja4000 for having initiated the discussion):
Red trace is what is on the test CD (from the digital output), it can’t be better and is what's recorded from the test file. The Orpheus (blue trace) adds a (very?) little amount of Jitter.
Started with the Teac VRDS-20 review, and on your request + support to get it done (more here), I'm adding the "intersample-overs" test which intends to identify the behavior of the digital filtering and DAC when it comes to process near clipping signals. Because of the oversampling, there might be interpolated data that go above 0dBFS and would saturate (clip) the DAC and therefore the output. And this effect shows through distorsion (THD+N measurement up to 96kHz):
| Intersample-overs tests Bandwidth of the THD+N measurements is 20Hz - 96kHz | 5512.5 Hz sine, Peak = +0.69dBFS | 7350 Hz sine, Peak = +1.25dBFS | 11025 Hz sine, Peak = +3.0dBFS |
| Yamaha CD-1 (Non-Oversampling CD Player) | -79.6dB | -35.3dB | -78.1dB |
| Orpheus Zero | -80.1dB | -29.7dB | -57.3dB |
| Onkyo C-733 | -79.8dB | -29.4dB | -21.2dB |
| Denon DCD-900NE | -34.2dB | -30.4dB | -19.1dB |
I kept some references and will keep the same for other reviews, so you can quickly compare. The results of the Orpheus Zero mean the oversampling filter has a good level of headroom, meaning that the resolution of the Wolfson DAC was put in good use.
And let me finish with my favourite measurement, the THD (excluding noise) vs Frequency at -12dBFS:
The Orpheus Zero has no issue here, it is the best trace that I have in my collection of this specific measurement. This an easy test for advanced 1bit DACs. I like this measurement because it shows lack of linearity already at this level with older R2R architectures, and some lower resolution 1bit architectures too, that I enjoy testing.
Orpheus Zero - Measurements (Digital out)
A number of you are into using CD players as transports, and like to know how the digital output performs.
Well, it is perfect. I’ll keep it simple, with what I believe to be the most representative measurement of the digital output quality, and that is a 1kHz sine at -90.31dBFS which shows the 3DC levels of the smallest digital signal in 16bits sign magnitude representation:
I have to note that the signal is extremely stable and would facilitate the job of the DAC's PLL reading it.
The second view below shows what's on the test CD (from the standard 1kHz @0dBFS measurement):
It can't get better than that with my test CD.
Conclusion
Well, I was so anxious to test it, I should have done that way before! Fact is that this player equals the best nearly everywhere, and does better in some cases (ie intersample-overs resistance).
After all, if I never found better, it's simple because this player does not disrupt the CD Audio content. That was kind of a statement from Orpheus Laboratories (now OrpheusLab). It had a price, yes indeed, but definitely not snake oil.
I hope you enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know how to improve and if you have questions. I have recorded all the 46 measurements. If you want me to publish others or run one of your choice, feel free to ask. I will add some new measurements later for the fun of it about some noise shaping test files that @AnalogSteph sent me, and this is quite interesting.
Enjoy your weekend!
--------
Flo
Last edited:
