T+A MP 2000 R MKII

The Multi Source Player

The MP 2000 R MKII is a genuine multi-talent. At first glance the casual observer may think it is just a classic CD player, but its true capabilities extend far beyond this. 

At its heart lies one of the world’s latest and most sophisticated digital – analogue converters (DAC). This converts PCM signals up to 384 kSps with the help of the quadruple converter – another in-house development – and even DSD files up to DSD 512. The MP 2000 R is therefore able to exploit every digital music format in order to deliver music to the amplifier in the highest possible quality.

Our multi-source player houses a first-class CD mechanism; a high-performance digital tuner offering FM, FM-HD and DAB+ reproduction; a high-quality Bluetooth streaming module for receiving music from mobile devices, a streaming client with Internet radio and music services for connection to the home network via LAN and WLAN, USB Master Mode and HD streaming plus a digital connecting board with inputs for external sources (one USB device mode and four HD-S/P-DIF). The wide range of connections allows external equipment to exploit the machine’s superb converter to the full.

Please note: the MP 2000 R is not a computer; it is a first-class audio device incorporating many supplementary functions designed to ensure that all modern digital sources can be reproduced to the highest possible standard of quality. In pursuing this aim our engineers insisted on complete separation between the digital signal processing section and the analogue circuitry, and developed an ultra-modern, high-bandwidth analogue output stage which delivers the signal to the symmetrical (XLR) or asymmetrical (RCA) output sockets by the shortest possible path. If you use the SRC 1 remote control, or the T+A MusicNavigator App, the whole system can be controlled via the MP 2000 R.

The MP 2000 R delivers a stunning experience in sound reproduction, and finally exploits the full potential of high-resolution music.

Within the MP 2000 R the data from the five digital sources pass through the same digital signal processing route, which offers all the usual ground-breaking T+A features: T+A DSP oversampling with optimised algorithms, and clock generation with jitter elimination and re-synchronisation.

Jitter is one of the most severe problems, and is generated in the source device – especially in computers – and at the data transfer point between source and converter. 

For high-quality reproduction all traces of jitter must be removed from the data before the information is converted into analogue signals by the DAC. That is why we have developed a unique two-stage process for clock generation (jitter elimination): 

in the first stage the received data are processed and decoded. In this stage a basic clock is extracted from the received data stream, which undergoes an initial cleaning process in a PLL circuit aimed at removing coarse jitter generated by the source device and the transfer. This clock is now analysed extremely intensively by the micro-processor. If it fulfils certain minimum criteria in respect of frequency and stability, the D/A converters are switched to an internally generated, extremely precise Master Clock with extremely low phase noise. This clock is completely isolated from the source device, and therefore carries no trace of the jitter interference from the source and the transfer link.

The local Master Clock is generated by two separate quartz oscillators which are adjusted to extremely precise tolerances: one for the clock family 44.1/88.2/176.4/352.8 kHz, and one for 48/96/192/384 kHz. 

This extreme sophistication ensures that the clock is absolutely precise for all frequencies from 44.1 kHz upwards.

Once the clock has been generated, the PCM data are converted by the quadruple converter, which itself has undergone further improvement. The converter is based on a high-performance 56-bit signal processor, and offers four switchable oversampling algorithms. Each channel is assigned four of the latest 32-bit converter chips in a quadruple, double symmetrical circuit, which compensates very accurately for any lack of linearity, and reduces the residual noise – which is actually absolutely minimal with the 32-bit converters employed – by about a further 6 dB. The result is a level of dynamism, linearity and freedom from distortion which is virtually matchless – even in critical music passages, and with the most minute of musical details.

To cater for DSD data which arrive via the PC USB input we have fitted the MP 2000 R MKII with the unique T+A True 1-bit DSD converter – a genuine analogue single-bit converter. Other manufacturers use the DSD mode of a PCM converter, but we eschew that route to ensure that DSD data are processed in a genuine one-bit stream absolutely without coloration and the harmful effects of additional conversion.

Like our converters, the analogue output stage also takes the form of separate channels (double-mono), and is galvanically isolated from the digital section by means of jitter-free transformers. This arrangement ensures that external source devices cannot possibly deliver interference, and even the hideous computer interference is rendered innocuous. The output stage offers an extremely wide bandwidth of 100 kHz.Clearly this design is extremely sophisticated, but the results are worth the effort: totally natural, uncoloured sound, free of all the limitations usually associated with digital sources. The MP 2000 R constitutes a universal and genuinely audiophile device for digital music sources.