Destiny 2 CD Player

The Destiny 2 CD Player is Creek’s high-end model and represents a significant improvement over the original, highly respected, Destiny model. It uses all the sound optimisation techniques and components collected by Mike Creek and his team of analogue and digital electronics engineers during their many years in the hi-fi industry. It is designed to suit a wide range of amplifiers, but Creek recommends the new Destiny 2 integrated amp as a cosmetic and performance quality match. It can also be used together with any of the Evolution amps and controlled by Creek’s new SRC3 system remote control.

During the last few years, the Destiny CD Player established itself as a benchmark in CD sound reproduction. Creek Audio made it clear that their aim was to produce a truly high-end product range and Destiny was created with that in mind. One look at its custom-extruded casework will confirm that it is truly a luxury product. Touching its smooth polished lines will also provide a reassuring sense quality and pride of ownership. The brushed 10mm thick aluminium front panel is available in either silver or black finish. The player has now been upgraded to Destiny 2 and the standard has improved even further. Underneath its 3mm thick aluminium cover lays a wealth of expertise in sound reproduction. Viewed from the outside, there only slight differences between the new mk2 and the original CDP. There is a different vacuum fluorescent display set behind a larger blue window and the standby LED is also now blue, to match the Destiny 2 amplifier and Tuner.

For the technical minded, here is a description of what makes the Destiny 2 CD Player so good:

At the heart of a good CD Player is a high quality transport mechanism. The Destiny 2 now uses a dedicated CD transport mechanism comprising of custom made drawer loader and high quality laser assembly. Soft rubber bushes help to maintain playability under conditions of mechanical vibration. This brings improved playability strength and smoothness to its operation which Creek believes cannot be bettered by CD players at any price.

CD decoder and servo motor control functions are performed by a new NXP Compact Disc chip-set. This is now located on a dedicated circuit board mounted directly under the laser assembly for the shortest possible signal routing. This provides the Destiny 2 with a self-contained CD transport module.

Creek Audio has a long association with Cirrus Logic products and continues to use their Delta-Sigma CS4396 digital-to-analogue-converter, long after it has been superseded by other devices. This decision was made purely on the basis of sound quality, since with its 24bit 192kHz reading capability, the CS4396 far exceeds the resolution of the 16bit 44.1kHz CD format. Re-clocking circuitry is used to eliminate jitter, or timing errors, from corrupting the performance of the Destiny 2 player.

A total of 11 voltage regulated, low-noise, power supplies are used in the Destiny 2 player. All rectifier diodes used in the power supply are Schottky-Barrier types, for low noise, which do not require RF snubbing capacitors. All other power supply decoupling capacitors are audio grade low-impedance 105 degree Centigrade types. Audio signal path passive components are selected for sonic purity, such as high-stability MELF type resistors and film and polypropylene type capacitors.

DAC performance has been enhanced by careful attention to PCB layout. The Destiny CD player uses a modular, low phase noise (5pS) and temperature controlled, master clock oscillator. It also uses separate, instrument grade, OPA134 Op-Amps in the audio output to buffer each channel and the filtering of unwanted digital artefacts is improved. The op-amps in the output are also powered separately from their own low noise voltage regulators. Un-balanced audio output RCA sockets are high quality, solid metal and gold plated. Digital SPDIF output is by co-axial RCA and optical TOSLINK sockets.

To maintain the isolation between digital and analogue supplies, Creek has designed a truly stunning mains power supply for the Destiny, with all components mounted on a thick double sided plated-through-hole PCB. Three separate fully encapsulated PCB mounted toroidal mains transformers are used to completely separate digital and analogue supplies. A multi-element, common mode mains filter is used to prevent interference to, or from, the Destiny power supply. The mains IEC plug with built-in double fuse holder is mounted on the power supply PCB together with the double pole mains switch. A voltage selector switch is accessible from under the case for multiple country operation. All the power supplies are separately connected to the mother and display boards for improved serviceability.

A brief history of CD…
From its European introduction in 1983, CD audio has undergone few fundamental revisions. CD audio is still a 16 bit 44.1 kHz digital replay system. There have been several attempts to kill CD off by introducing compatible and non-compatible high-definition reply systems, such as SACD and DVDA, but they have never really reached market acceptance with consumers. Good old CD has won the day as a music storage medium, due to its high quality-to-cost ratio.

Various attempts have been made by manufactures to increase the performance of the Red Book (audio CD standard) CD player, such as sample rate conversion, but the basic system has always remained the same. Some recording publishers have introduced non Red Book standard discs that have confused the market and have often made CD Player manufacturer’s work more difficult, because software revisions are often required to updated or make older CD Players playable. These hurdles have to be overcome before a new CD player is launched and the Destiny 2 CD Player is no exception.