Wadia Brings New Technology to CD Players

Patented, zero-feedback current-to-voltage converter improves sound quality for both Compact Discs and other new high sample rate sources.

JANUARY 6, 2000, CES 2000, Las Vegas – At the International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas (Suite 2513, Alexis Park) WADIA Corporation introduced the Wadia 861 Compact Disc player.  This player, which will supercede the highly-regarded Wadia 860, is the first Compact Disc player to use the company’s patented Swift Current IC.  This proprietary circuit, first introduced in the Wadia PowerDAC digital amplifier last year, performs the sonically critical current-to-voltage conversion with no negative feedback, resulting in demonstrably superior sound quality.

“The Wadia 860 has set the standard of performance for CD players since its introduction,” said Michael Demeyer, VP Sales and Marketing for Wadia.  “With the Swift Current technology, the Wadia 861 brings a new level of musical enjoyment to the owner of an extensive CD collection.”

Building on the technology of the Wadia 860, including the Teac CMK-3.2 mechanism, Digimaster 32x oversampling, and the classic Wadia machined chassis, the Wadia 861 also incorporates the enhanced Burr-Brown 1704 DACs and improved passive parts in sonically critical locations.

About Wadia Swift Current Technology

Conventional digital-to-analog converters perform current-to-voltage (I/V) conversion using feedback circuits based on operational amplifiers.  Because the signal from the DAC chip consists of a series of step changes, the distortion introduced by this feedback circuit is a significant limitation on sonic performance.

In contrast, the Swift Current circuit performs this I/V conversion with Wadia’s patented current-conveyor integrated circuit (IC) that eliminates feedback.  This bipolar IC consists of an innovative connection of Wilson current mirrors, an emitter degeneration compensation scheme to optimize transient response and stability, and a novel current mirror arrangement to enhance output impedance.