Sonic Frontiers SFD-2 MKII - Vintage Tube DAC with HDCD - SkyFi Serviced

INSERTION OF THE TUBES
The SFD-2 MKII comes with two 6922 (6DJ8-type) tubes, individually boxed and bagged along with a cotton glove, screw- driver, and screws for fastening the SFD-2 MKII cover. If desired, replacement of these tubes may be done to suit the listener’s preference.

The following tube types will work under the same technical parameters as the 6922 and require no circuitry modification to function:
• 7308/E188CC • 6DJ8/ECC88 • E88CC

THE HDCD PROCESS
The SFD-2 MKII includes a free HDCD-encoded sampler CD to demonstrate the HDCD process. This process is a true advancement in digital audio reproduction, providing one of the single greatest improvements in digital audio since the introduction of the CD format more than a decade ago.

This sophisticated encoding/decoding system greatly reduces both additive and subtractive distortions in digital recordings, providing a resolution and freedom from distortion equal to that of analog recordings.

In addition, the HDCD decoder’s internal digital filter provides significant sonic improvements to non-HDCD source material as well.

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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."