AVM Evolution CD3 CD-player
The AVM Evolution CD3 debuted about five years ago and, despite its decent age, it remains in good standing with European audiophiles. The device is equipped with standard line outputs (analog balanced), as well as all possible digital interfaces - coaxial, optical and professional AES/EBU. There are no problems with the integration of the player into a smart home system thanks to the IR sensor expander and RS232 control bus.
The player has a slim sleek design (the front panel can be aluminum, blackened or mirrored), but it is made with German solidity. The stamped chassis is characterized by considerable rigidity. The specialized CD transport is fixed in the center and is characterized by a quiet and fast operation. The information display is small, made on a simple LCD matrix, but is not a source of electromagnetic interference. But the key feature of the player is its multimode 24-bit path. The digital filter, for example, can run at a standard frequency of 44.1 kHz or upsampled to 48, 96 or 192 kHz and with different cutoff characteristics - either Smooth or Sharp.
We started with the search for the differences in the sound between the different filter settings. The most detailed sound was obtained in 44.1 mode, but this setting didn't look preferable from the point of view of clarity and dynamics. The sound was as if somewhat compressed in the high frequencies, non-musical nuances - rustles, squeaks, rustling - were accentuated in the picture. The choice of Smooth or Sharp only changed the character of the sibilance transmission. In the first case they seemed more natural, in the second - forced. Upsampling to 48 kHz regardless of the Smooth or Sharp setting brought new dynamics to the sound in the high frequencies and created an effect of synthetic purity. This mode turned out to be good for some old hard rock recordings, which were not very clean even in the original. Switching to 96 kHz caused a slight softening of the MF/HF register. At the same time the sound resolution improved. But the most interesting result was the upsampling to 192 kHz. Preserving the same high detail as in the 44.1 mode, the player began to play music with better harmonic intelligibility in the lower register. A very accurate scene without any veil was formed, percussion instruments sounded richer and more colorful, dynamics increased. Well, I would call high sound resolution in dense dynamic spectra the common advantage of all modes of the player. In terms of clarity of complex rich musical compositions Evolution CD3 can compete not only with the participants of the test, but also with the players of the category above.
