Page 60 - Hi-Fi World (January 2020)

REVIEW

The prominent violin of Marianne
Thorsen playing Mozart’s Violin
Concerto in G Major, backed by
the Trondheim Soloists (2L Noway,
24/96) was both vivacious and
deeply detailed, yet free from that
rasp digital adds. There was strong
separation of instruments in the
backing Trondheim Soloists, and
from her lead violin. The delicacy of
her playing was conveyed strongly,
especially in solos, making for a
sound that drew me in.
With Marta Gomez singing Maria
At top a 3.5mm headphone socket (right) and a smaller 2.5mm (24/96) her vocals sounded close and
socket that provides balanced output. The circular control is a detailed, surrounded by a sense of
power button only. cosseting smoothness. No hardness
here either, with accordion and
Music file formats are Wav, Flac, is more than it looks. blocks nicely defined. With Fleetwood
WMA, MP3, AIFF, ALAC, Ape and Ogg, However, whilst the balanced Mac’s classic rock Go Your Own
plus DSD of dff, dsf and Iso headers. output socket gives massive volume Way (24/96), replete with sizzling
DSD64 and 128 are supported. A and extraordinary dynamic range, 70s pace set by Mick Fleetwood’s
five band equaliser is fitted, plus no I find 2.5mm jack plugs virtually frantic drumming, the D2 fairly flew
end of special effects. Buried in the unusable – they snap. Suitable for along. Interestingly, where I hear rasp
Music settings menu are fast and driving a hi-fi system perhaps where from this track in cymbal crashes via
slow digital filters but they have only the plug will not be stressed – if you Chord Electronic’s revealing Hugo
subtle sonic effect, especially with hi- can find a 2.5mm 4-pole plug to XLR TT2, the Plenue D2 seemed able to
res. male plug adaptor lead and your hi-fi gloss over the issue. All was smooth

A micro-SD slot on the left side of the player accepts up to
128GB of extra memory storage.

has XLR balanced inputs. Not suitable
A host of sound effects are for the rough and tumble of portable
provided, Normal being the use, where the stronger 3.5mm
straight-through option. plug is needed. These comments
apply to all players with 2.5mm
balanced 4-pole jacks of course, not
Portable player manufacturers just to the D2. All the same, the
make much of their technologies, D2’s 3.5mm unbalanced headphone
a trend set by Astell&Kern, also of output still gave superb results under
Korea like Cowon. This has spawned measurement.
an arms race between companies in
Korea and China, one that Cowon SOUND QUALITY
seem determined to win with the My overwhelming impression of this
D2. They equip it with a CS43131 player from the 3.5mm jack was
dual DAC chip from Cirrus Logic, a sense of silky smoothness that
that has built in headphone amplifiers took the digital out of digital. But
– hence the optimised figures. Our that’s how modern DAC chips are
measurements confirmed Cowon’s evolving sound quality wise – and
claims (see Measured performance). the new (Oct 17) CS43131 DAC
They’re right up with the best hi-fi chip designed for portable use is an The main play screen with trans-
DACs. Under the skin, this tiny player impressive newcomer to the field. port controls and cover artwork.
60 HI-FI WORLD JANUARY 2020 www.hi-fiworld.co.uk