McIntosh Laboratory Chooses ESS's Sabre Reference Audio D/A Converter For Its New MCD500 SACD/CD Player

Truly Exceptional Sound for the Most Discriminating Audiophiles [The following is a release from McIntosh Laboratory]

September 1, 2008

ESS Technology, a leading provider of high performance audio/video solutions, today announced that its Sabre Reference eight-channel audio D/A converter (ES9008) is incorporated in the new McIntosh Laboratory MCD500 SACD/CD Player (MSRP: $6500), scheduled for availability this month. The MCD500, housed with a rigid aluminum die-cast mechanism base with aluminum die-cast tray, is a two-channel SACD/CD player supporting SACD, hybrid SACD, CD, CD-R and CR-RW disc playback. Both balanced and unbalanced outputs with fixed or variable volume are provided, together with a low-impendence headphone output. The MCD500 can also be used as standalone D/A converter thought its coaxial or optical digital audio input. The MCD500's analog stereo output will surpass the expectations of the most demanding audio enthusiasts with its wide dynamic range, extremely low distortion, exceptionally wide sound stage and jitter-free music clarity offered by the ESS Sabre Reference 8-channel D/A converter in Stereo Quad Balanced mode. With patented multi-bit Hyperstream£ modulator with Revolver Dynamic Matching and time-domain Jitter Eliminator, the ESS Sabre Reference has become the new standard for true studio-quality audio D/A conversion through its unprecedented dynamic range of up to 134dB and ultra low distortion of -118dB. The Sabre Reference supports SPDIF stereo and multi-channel digital audio in PCM or DSD formats, featuring click-free soft mute and volume control, de-emphasis, zero detect, programmable roll-off filter characteristics and can be configured to output mono, stereo, 4- or 8-channel audio in current or voltage modes for performance optimization. Ron Evans, VP of Engineering for McIntosh Laboratory, said, "The MCD500 was designed to meet the demands of the most discriminating audiophiles. The ESS Sabre Reference D/A converter enables MCD500 to reproduce CD and SACD music with extreme precision and elegance. The sound is truly exceptional." Robert Wong, vice-president of marketing and worldwide sales for ESS Technology, said, "We are excited that McIntosh has selected the Sabre Reference for its new flagship SACD/CD player. Through our patented groundbreaking technologies, the Sabre Reference has become the industry's benchmark for audio D/A converters offering studio-quality jitter free performance with unprecedented richness and clarity for every serious music enthusiast." The McIntosh MCD500 player will be available for demos September 3 - 6, 2008, at the CEDIA show in Denver, Colorado.

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