The world’s first VRDS mechanism for DVD and SACD players, incorporating a magnesium turntable and a SS400 bridge
The VDRS mechanism completely eliminates any vibration of the disc itself, thanks to the full-diameter clamp, which clamps the disc securely to the turntable. In addition, warping and other defects of the disc are eliminated. The constancy of the reading angle between the optical pickup and the disc pits is therefore increased, and read errors, together with the occurrence of timing errors to the clock circuit, are significantly reduced.
Playback of DVD/SACD discs requires high-speed rotation and a high degree of precision, and the UX-1 accordingly uses a magnesium turntable. This has only two-thirds the specific gravity of aluminum and has excellent shock-absorbent properties. The bridge employs a pair of precisely engineered ball bearings, and is constructed of SS400 steel, mounted directly on the 5mm thick steel base plate.
Coreless motor with neodymium magnets
Anewly-developed three-phase brushless spindle motor provides the fast and accurate turntable rotation required for DVD and SACD playback. This, and the fixing of the turntable together with the use of precision ball bearings, eliminate irregular rotation and vibration.
Research has shown that neodymium is the optimum magnetic material for this application. Neodymium absorbs changes to the motor’s electric power supply, and exerts minimal influence on the audio sections of the unit.
Constant-angle optical pickup mounted on a sled with feedback-monitored speed control
By mounting the pickup on a sled whose axis is rigid, the pickup lens is maintained at a constant angle and the laser beam, and hence the optical axis, is maintained in an accurate vertical orientation. An Esoteric original three-phase brushless motor with Hall element detection drives the sled, and the speed of the sled is monitored and used to control the sled itself in a servo feedback operation, meaning the sled is highly responsive and smooth in its operation.
Sturdy, rigid chassis with triple-point pinpoint foot support
The unit is constructed with a 5mm thick robust steel base plate, and is divided into three logical sections, thereby reducing interference between components of the unit. Highly rigid mounts are used for the VDRS disc mechanism.
To eliminate vibration, three solid (tool steel) feet support the unit and isolate it mechanically.
Brushed aluminum finish exemplifies the quality of construction
The front, side and top panels are constructed of thick brushed aluminum. The high-quality luxurious finish matches the overall attention to the finest possible quality, shown in such details as the illuminated surrounds to the control buttons, the milled top-panel logo, and the milled aluminum disc tray.
Unsurpassed design and features
The UX-1 is truly the most advanced universal disc player to date. Separation of power supplies for each major function (digital audio, DAC circuitry, analog audio) ensures total fidelity. The DACs for video and audio have sub-ground impedances with exceptional S/N figures. A 96/24 decoder for dts audio, as well as Dolby Digital and dts are incorporated. Full 5.1 surround playback, including DVD audio and SACD playback is possible with the UX-1.
A lip sync control allows precise synchronization between picture and audio.
Audio DACs
All audio channels use Burr-Brown 24-bit DA converters (PCM1704). Improved linearity is achieved for the two front channels by the use of dual converters for each channel.
The audio DAC boards employ a high-quality quartz crystal, which results in the almost complete elimination of jitter and subsequent high-quality DA conversion.
Super high-precision video output
The UX-1 uses the latest 14-bit 216MHz video DAC from Analog Devices; the ADV7314. This provides 16x oversampling on interlace playback and 8x oversampling on progressive-scan playback. Noise is therefore shifted to unwanted regions, and an outstandingly clear picture results. In the progressive-scan section, smoothing is achieved using DCDi chips from Faroudja.
NTSC and PAL playback and progressive-scan
Both PAL and NTSC discs can be played back and conversion between the standards is possible, allowing the same monitor and player to be used for discs produced to either standard.
Progressive-scan playback (with the appropriate television or monitor) allows the best possible picture quality, even with large screens.
Word synchronization
A master word clock from a high-quality DA converter or master clock generator can be used for clock synchronization, resulting in the almost complete elimination of jitter.
Using a high-quality clock signal provided by an external DA converter such as the Esoteric G-0/G-0s provides optimum video and audio quality, up to 192kHz, optimizing a top- ranking universal player like the UX-1.
