Adcom GCD-750 HDCD CD Player and Outboard System DAC

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Simple yet great sounding CD player from Adcom's golden era and a must if you have the matching Adcom components.

Featuring balanced (XLR) and single-ended RCA outputs - PLUS - a coaxial digital RCA input enabling this tp act as an external DAC for another source in your system. Like a Sonos Port or Bluesound Node.

Featuring a bright display and quick reliable access to tracks. Very musical and laid back.

Adcom GCD-750 Owner's Manual

Click below to add our recommended matching cables from Kimber Kable, all brand new as SkyFi is an official Kimber dealer.

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects

Kimber Kable - XLR Interconnects

Kimber Kable - Coaxial Digital Interconnect

Kimber Kable - Power Cords

More from Adcom:
The GCD-750 is part of an ultra-high performance series of separate components from Adcom. It shares this position with our exciting GFP-750 preamp and GFA-5802 power amplifier. All three of these components were conceived as an ultimate statement of Adcom's long standing philosophy of providing exceptional performance for the money. With these units our goal was not only to deliver great value for the dollar, but to give you superior sonics with the massive power, finesse and sophistication of units costing two to three times as much! The fact that we exceeded our own expectations is a testament to our engineers' diligence and their unswerving dedication to our goals.

Yes Virginia, there are differences in CD players
We know. If you're reading this there's a good chance that you're familiar with better quality audio components. But some people who're reading this may not be, so please bear with us while we cover some basics.

There are those who'll tell you that all CD player sound the same. And certainly most CD players are at least "good". Yet, the technology of reproducing digital source materials is fairly complex, and there are differences in the implementation of that technology. Yes, the information is stored as digital bits on the CD and therefore doesn't change over time, or with repeated copies. But the way it's read and decoded into the analog domain has an impact on the final sound. And during that decoding process if the error correction's needed (because of difficulty reading the disc or poor "tracking" ability, or …) it can effect the final sound. After the potential for sonic change during the digital decoding of the CD information, there's the analog audio output stages, which also have an impact on sound quality.

So are there sound differences between players? No question. Can they at times be subtle? Absolutely. Is it worth buying a better machine for better performance? Well, if you really enjoy listening to music, and you're a critical listener, with a high quality sound system, there's no doubt that it's worth it. Now, let us tell you why the GCD-750 is among the top players you should consider.

The differences are in the details
The GCD-750 is essentially a combination of Adcom's highly regarded digital processing circuitry, developed for our well reviewed stand alone D to A converters, and an advanced, high quality single play CD transport system. The result is a CD player that delivers the superior sound quality of separate CD components at an affordable price, in one attractive, easy to operate unit.

GCD-750 technical particulars (for those who aren't particularly technical)
The GCD-750 reads digital data from the CDs with a three beam laser assembly (a three beam design uses one beam to read the information, and two side beams to maintain tracking accuracy) which in turn is part of a massive and rugged transport assembly. The data (still in the digital domain) is fed into a Pacific Microsonics PMD-100 oversampling digital filter and HDCD decoder. HDCD is a relatively new process invented and patented by Pacific Microsonics. It's being used in the recording of certain CDs to enhance detail and clarity. When an HDCD disc is played back through an appropriately equipped machine it results in excellent sound and imaging. This advanced device is excellent at its job, even when it's used for standard discs. After the PMD-100 does its job, the oversampled digital signal if fed to two differential pairs of Burr-Brown 20 Bit linear Digital to Analog (D/A) converters. These are very high quality circuits, noted throughout the high end audio community for their superb performance. Using these converters ensures that even the most subtle musical nuance is reproduced cleanly and accurately.

Out of Digital, into Analog
After the signal has been converted to its analog form it must be amplified and sent on its way to your preamp. And what better send off than Adcom's famous Class A (the most highly regarded kind of amplifier circuit design) output stage. This is a discrete, high current, differential output section using reference grade MosFet transistors. In fact, hand selected, high quality components are incorporated throughout the output section to further guarantee the best sound and imaging possible. Note too that we've used this basic circuit configuration throughout this new series of components, and hundreds of hours of critical listening have confirmed its superior performance.

The all critical power supply
The GCD-750 is powered internally by another Adcom hallmark, an exceptionally large and capable power supply. Twin custom wound high current transformers, one for each channel, feed the GCD-750's digital and analog stages independently, through separate secondary windings. High current voltage regulators and "over specified" filter capacitors complete the power supply design, ensuring all the power necessary to reproduce the most demanding and dynamic musical passages.

Other important features
The entire GCD-750 package is housed within a heavy steel chassis with an attractive extruded aluminum face plate for stability and shock immunity.
Balanced XLR circuits are included, in addition to "standard" RCA unbalanced jacks. Balanced circuits have the advantage of being immune to extraneous RF (radio frequency) noise, compared to unbalanced circuits. Additionally, they're considered by many to sound better due, at least in part, to their almost silent noise characteristics. The other members of Adcom's high end trio also feature XLR balanced input/output circuitry, for the best sound possible.
There's a coaxial digital input on the GCD-750's rear panel allowing the connection and processing of outside digital sources (DSS, DVD players, etc.) through the GCD-750's superior electronics. Therefore, the GCD-750 can be used as a super quality D to A converter, independent of its role as a stand alone CD player.
The GCD-750 includes a full feature Infra-Red remote control with custom track programming, repeat modes, random play, and buttons to control an Adcom preamp.

A large, clear, easy to read LCD information display keeps you informed about what's happening during playback.

Front panel LED's indicate Power on, Digital Lock, and HDCD decoding.

The GCD-750 is the culmination of Adcom's extensive high end audio experience and a major engineering project undertaken for this series. When you listen to it you'll surely understand what we mean when we say "Your ears will thank you".

Click here for a list of HDCD-encoded Compact Discs

More on HDCD from Wikipedia:

"High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) is a proprietary audio encode-decode process that claims to provide increased dynamic range over that of standard Red Book audio CDs, while retaining backward compatibility with existing compact disc players.

Originally developed by Pacific Microsonics, the first HDCD-enabled CD was released in 1995. In 2000, the technology was purchased by Microsoft, and the following year, there were over 5,000 HDCD titles available. Microsoft's HDCD official website was discontinued in 2005; by 2008, the number of available titles had declined to around 4,000.

A number of CD and DVD players include HDCD decoding, and versions 9 and above of Microsoft's Windows Media Player on personal computers are capable of decoding HDCD.

HDCD was a favorite for several artists such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Beach Boys, all of whom have had many titles in their catalogs reissued in this format.

Technical overview
HDCD encodes the equivalent of 20 bits worth of data in a 16-bit digital audio signal by using custom dithering, audio filters, and some reversible amplitude and gain encoding: Peak Extend, which is a reversible soft limiter; and Low Level Range Extend, which is a reversible gain on low-level signals. There is thus a benefit at the expense of a very minor increase in noise.

The claim that the encoding process is compatible with ordinary CD players (without audible distortion) is disputed: not being able to decode the peak soft limiting, a normal CD player will output distorted peaks."