![]() ![]() It houses the foundational elements of the company’s half-width chassis CDT Two/II transport and DAC2.1x, but is upwardly mobile from there with higher-specified components and signal-path ancillaries. It is classified as fulfilling “Audio Note Level Three” criteria for circuit design, quality of components and materials. The player’s enclosure features either a solid aluminum alloy or black acrylic fascia fronting an internally-sectioned, cold-rolled alloy chassis. Whether it is the transformers used in the current-to-voltage section, the analog output stage with twin dual-triode 6922 valves (which I replaced with mid-‘60s Amperex ‘Bugle Boy’ ECC88s – more on that later), the separate power supplies and mains transformers (one each for the DAC and transport boards), or the fastidious point-to-point wiring and solder joins, the attention to detail involved in the composition and layout of the internal circuitry of the 4.1x is impressive. apply a careful selection of materials, along with in-house designed and built components, to breathe life into the sound-first architecture of their circuit designs. While the Analogue Devices converter used could elicit wonder in this age of Sigma-Delta domination (be it known that multi-bit ladder DACs are known for their natural sound), the rest of the signal path is no less revelatory, highlighting Audio Note’s engineering expertise. What of DSD or 24-bit/192kHz recordings? Find another company’s DAC to process them because, like the CD4.1x, even the highest-specified, Level Five DAC built by Audio Note UK is designed around the NOS (new old stock) Analogue Devices AD1865N dual D/A converter which speaks in 18-bit word length. I bring this up because Qvortrup and his chief engineers are more than confident in the adequacy of audio information embedded in the micro-pitted surface beneath a compact disc’s reflective coating. Knowing Qvortrup, one would say he is a man of unparalleled depth, but when it comes to digital playback, his preference is 16-bits of it. He likes to reference Max Planck, Sir John Glubb or other notable, late 19th-century political or scientific figures as casually as others reference weather forecasts. In reviewing the 4.1x it is difficult to separate the company from the man, because in many ways it is Qvortrup who is the company. Many of the company’s designs are well into their third decade on the books.Īudio Note UK is based in West Sussex, England, a pastoral oil painting away from the southern coastline of Brighton. The CD5.1x, for example, with output transformers borrowed from the DAC3.1x Balanced, only superseded the CD4.1x as the company’s top-tier one-box transport/DAC in late 2019 – 12 years after the 4.1x was brought to market. Rejecting “upgrade-itis” and seemingly immune from rapid development cycles gripping many hi-fi companies, Audio Note UK constantly examines small refinements to products via materials or parts and new models tend to be an entirely higher-specification or “Level” upwards. A fact echoed in the 4.1x owner’s manual, which declares that it “ has been specifically engineered for sonic performance rather than technical specification.” Looking at their product history, the company delivers designs with longevity built-in. It is a company focused on creating innately musical hi-fi hardware – like the CD4.1x integrated transport and DAC reviewed today – with an emphasis on sounding better rather than necessarily measuring better. Qvortrup, who often zigs while others zag, helms Audio Note UK. Dismissing measurements as the critical arbiter of performance in high fidelity could be seen as the kiss of death for a modern-day hardware manufacturer from a marketing standpoint, alas, Peter Qvortrup doesn’t mind being covered in lipstick. ![]()
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