CREEK : EVOLUTION 50CD (Silver)

The EVOLUTION 50CD DAC and CD Player is part of a new generation of Creek products, designed for digital connectivity and uncompromised flexibility.

Cosmetically the EVOLUTION 50CD is similar to the EVOLUTION 50A integrated amplifier; its slim case and luxurious front panel is finished in either black or silver brushed aluminium and deeply engraved. Also like the matching amp, the EVOLUTION 50CD uses a custom soft push button arrangement that offers excellent tactile feel. Each button is backlit with a white LED to clearly display usable functions, for optimum user-friendliness.

This is the second Creek product to feature an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display. This white on black display provides higher clarity and resolution than a normal display. Display and button brightness levels can be adjusted or blanked, via the remote handset.

Demand for Digital to Analogue Converters (DACs) has increased proportionally to the demise of dedicated CD Players. To fully realise the potential sonic benefits of streaming music files from a computer, asynchronous USB Class 2 audio support is vital. The USB circuit is modular to allow for future upgrades, as the technology is constantly evolving.

The EVOLUTION 50CD is principally a high-end DAC, with built-in CD transport and is not purely a CD Player. It can handle a total of six digital sources, including CD, and it has two digital outputs, plus a Creek RC bus. In keeping with the matching integrated amplifier, both balanced and un-balanced analogue outputs are offered for maximum flexibility. Balanced outputs allow for long interconnects.

Creek’s Senior Engineer, David Gamble, was responsible for the overall design and development of the EVOLUTION 50CD, together with Dominik Peklo who consulted on the digital architecture and development of the unique new CD transport and software stack.

In keeping with earlier Creek products, the EVOLUTION 50CD uses an over-specified toroidal mains transformer, with separate windings for analogue and digital circuitry and low magnetic field for excellent noise rejection. Multiple low-impedance power supply capacitors and voltage regulators are used to optimise the performance. Organic polymer capacitors are used in key analogue and digital circuitry, plus high grade WIMA polypropylene capacitors are used in the output filters.

This is the first Creek digital product to feature two top-of-the-range Wolfson 24 Bit 192 kHz DAC ICs, running in double differential mode, to extract the maximum possible performance. The EVOLUTION 50CD uses custom, low jitter, clocks for top performance at all sample rates.

A plethora of inputs and outputs make the EVOLUTION 50CD one of the most well equipped and seriously high-end DAC products on the market, despite its competitive price.

The EVO system remote handset controls all the functions of the EVOLUTION 50 range, including the Amp, CD/DAC, Ambit Tuner and Ruby DAC. The EVOLUTION 50 range also has an optional IR extender to enable the products to be hidden away, but still operable via remote control.

Specifications:

Digital Inputs: 2 x SPDIF, 24 Bit 192 kHz, transformer isolated / 2 x Toslink, 24 Bit 192 kHz, optically isolated / 1 x USB, 24 Bit 96 kHz, galvanically isolated

CD Transport: Custom designed, ICE quality, CD slot-loader, externally clocked for bit perfect performance

SNR: > 110dBA unbalanced

Digital Output: 1 x SPDIF and 1 x Toslink optical output, pass-on all input signals

Digital Filters: Optional digital filters are selectable via the remote

Analogue Output: 2 x RCA un-balanced, 2.0V RMS. 2 x XLR balanced output, 4.0V RMS

Audio Buffering: Op-amp audio buffering and filtering

Output Impedance: 47 Ohms

Power Supply: 25 Watt toroidal mains transformer with 3 separate secondary voltage windings, with multi-cap power supply decoupling and multiple ultra-low noise discrete power supply voltage regulators.

RC Bus: Input/output connection for external IR remote and serial link to Evolution 50A.

DAC Type: 2 x Wolfson WM8742, 24 Bit 192 kHz, double differential

Input Receiver: WM8805, multichannel digital input receiver

Operating Voltages: 100 – 120V/ 200 – 240V, Switchable

Power Consumption: 20 Watts (at idle)

Weight: 12.12 lbs

Dimensions: 16.9" x 2.3" x 11"