Cambridge Audio AZUR 751BD User Manual download pdf (Page 1)

Like Cambridge Audio’s previous Azur 751BD Blu-ray Disc

™

player reviewed in Issue 162, December 2011, the Azur 752BD is

based on the same Mediatech chip-set used in OPPO disc play-

ers. Also, like the 751BD, the 752BD is distinctly different than

OPPO players in numerous ways. The circuit boards themselves

are clearly unique to Cambridge, being laid out differently, labeled

with Cambridge identification, and are blue in color. The main

board contains the large integrated circuit carrying the Anagram

DSP-based, ten-channel 24/192 upsampling chip that is not pres-

ent in OPPO disc players. The digital audio architecture of the

752BD upconverts all digital signals to 24/192 before conversion

to analog. Additionally, the Anagram upsampling DSP will upcon-

vert digital outputs to 96 or 192 kHz sample rates if you select

PCM output mode, which you really should be using to allow

access to secondary audio features on Blu-ray Discs. There is no

advantage to sending undecoded codecs (aka bitstream) like

Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA to your surround processor. Doing

so prevents you from being able to access secondary audio from

Blu-ray Discs.

The Azur 752BD is Cambridge’s top-of-the-line Blu-ray Disc

player. If you will not use or benefit from the analog outputs or

high-quality upsampling, there is Cambridge’s lower-cost disc

player (currently the 651BD, but you might expect a 652BD at

some point). The 752BD uses five onboard Wolfson DACs for all

digital to analog conversion. Since each DAC is a stereo chip,

that means there are 10 channels of analog-to-digital conversion

onboard. Eight channels (four DACs) are used for the analog mul-

tichannel outputs, and a dedicated left and right output share the

fifth Wolfson DAC. The OPPO BDP-105 uses ESS Sabre DACs

and employs unspecified upsampling. Cambridge chose

Anagram upsampling for the 752BD, presumably because they

felt the end result was better than other options available to them.

Cambridge also includes a choice of three digital filters designed

by Anagram. The digital filter is one of the sources of sonic differ-

ences among different digital audio products. These digital filters

have different properties, none of which are perfect, but each

option has pluses and minuses in regards to measured response to

various input stimuli like impulses, simultaneous tones, etc. Since dif-

ferent people react differently to different digital filters, Cambridge

included three choices that can be selected by a direct-access button

on the remote control. Three tiny blue LEDs on the front panel indicate

which filter is in use, but you cannot determine the active filter from

your seat unless you cycle through the three choices to learn which

LED of the three is illuminated. These filters only apply to analog audio

outputs. If you are using digital outputs, digital audio is sent directly

and not filtered until it gets to the surround processor or AVR and then

it will use the filter in the processor or AVR.

If you take a high-level look, the Azur 752BD and OPPO BDP-105

have a similar list of features, though, the Cambridge player lacks the

105’s USB DAC input and the headphone jack. But the OPPO machine

lacks the Anagram upsampling and the three selectable digital filters.

Both machines are designed for analog audio performance beyond

“standard” Blu-ray Disc players. OPPO and Cambridge did their thing

in different ways, and you may have a preference for one machine over

the other.

Some of the key features of the 752BD are: faster disc loading and

faster response to commands from the remote control; 4K upsampling

(not a needed feature yet, but perhaps some day a 4K display will

exist that doesn’t do a very good job of converting HD to UHD); two

HDMI inputs; three USB inputs; digital coax and optical inputs; no

video outputs except HDMI and a diagnostic composite video connec-

tion; dual HDMI outputs with Marvell Qdeo processing for HDMI1 only;

universal disc playing capability (HDCD, CD, DVD, DVD-A, SA-CD,

Blu-ray including 3D, Picture CD, and many writable or read-writable

disc types); 2D to 3D conversion (no better or worse than other imple-

mentations); can be used as a “preamp” to feed multiple amplifier

channels without an AVR or surround processor; front HDMI input is

MHL compliant; included USB Wi-Fi adapter with USB extension cable

to improve placement options to get best possible performance; net-

work media support; and internet apps for YouTube and Picasa. In

other respects, the 752BD has features similar to other current Blu-ray

Disc players.

Doug Blackburn

Blu-ray Disc

™

Player

Cambridge Audio Azur752BD

Widescreen Review • Issue 175 • March 2013

1/4

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Summary of Contents

Page 1 - Cambridge Audio Azur752BD

Like Cambridge Audio’s previous Azur 751BD Blu-ray Disc™player reviewed in Issue 162, December 2011, the Azur 752BD isbased on the same Mediatech chip

Page 2 - Video Performance

Cambridge Azur752BD Blu-ray Disc PlayerFor those averse to components with cooling fans, the 752BD isfanless and quiet in operation other than the sli

Page 3 - Analog Sound Quality

DVD upconversion I’ve seen in any disc player at any price. The751BD also had Marvell Qdeo video processing, but the implementa-tion in the 752BD seem

Page 4 - Provided By

puts just a bit more silence between the notes. This is a difficult thingto describe in words, but it essentially makes each note more distinctwithout