![]() ![]() McIntosh gives us a handy block diagram on the player’s top panel, showing why the MCD600 deserves its reference status. The headphone jack should now be somewhat familiar to McIntosh users but for those paying close attention, the small front panel USB port hints at something more – without being obtrusive enough to upset those classic good looks. The MCD600 continues McIntosh’s recent trend of using dual knobs for source and level controls, which earlier players did not have nor, lacking multiple inputs and volume controls, did they need. Not to say that if you’ve seen one McIntosh player, you’ve seen them all, but the differences between each generation fall on the micro rather than macro scale. Like it or not (and I very much do), the company tends not to stray far from what one might call an “iconic” appearance. It also handles music from flash drives inserted into its front-panel USB socket, which allows for significantly more storage space than optical discs.Įxternally, the MCD600 is classic McIntosh. This means FLAC, WAV, ALAC, and more, including hi-res PCM up to 24-bit/192kHz as well as DSD64/DSD128. Users can take their digital music collection, purchased from Bandcamp, HDtracks, Acoustic Sounds, 2L Records, etc, burn them to a DVD-R, and the MCD600 will play them back in quality on par with an original disc release. That would be the MCD600’s ability to handle file-based playback from optical media. All of these features are welcome but none reckon as the twist in this tale. It has fixed and variable outputs in both RCA and XLR formats, allowing it to pair directly with a power amplifier with no separate preamp required. ![]() It plays standard CDs as well as Super Audio CDs, and also functions as a DAC via several digital inputs. The McIntosh MCD600 is a beefy full-size (and then some) player weighing in at nearly 30 pounds. Crucially, the MCD600 is a disc-based player with a twist – one that seems very useful for anyone taking first steps towards CD in a world of post-physical-media listening. That unit’s versatility and raw performance as a headphone amplifier were enough to overcome any reservation I initially had about its US$5000 price. Why would I do such a thing? Well, for starters, I was left seriously impressed by the McIntosh MHA150. And here I am reviewing a reference caliber disc-based player from McIntosh: the MCD600 (US$7500). We’ve recently seen CD players pop up from Rotel, Audiolab, Pro-Ject, Technics and ATC. Ten years on and that question looks a bit silly. Back then, it seemed almost mandatory for every high-end CD player review to ask: is this the last player you’ll ever buy? File-based playback had come to claim the digital audio throne. The SACD and DVD-A were effectively dead. Younger folk were foregoing physical media. Disc spinners had begun their descent into mainstream obsolescence. Elsewhere, more esoteric audiophile brands like Wadia, Accuphase, and, well, Esoteric, developed players that made those mainstream players seem affordable by comparison.Īnd yet by 2010, a complete shift in the market had taken place. This caused mainstream brands like Panasonic, Sony and Pioneer to offer high-end disc players with sticker prices as heavy as their weight. But wait! A fresh new duo of high-resolution formats – Super Audio CD and DVD Audio – promised higher levels of fidelity. In the USA in the year 2000, sales peaked at just shy of a billion units. Back then, Redbook CD was the format of choice for the majority of music lovers. The way I see it, the early aughts marked the apex of the optical disc player. ![]()
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