Simply lifting the air-tight drive cover, machined from a solid billet of aluminum that’s perfectly balanced on an ample hinge, is a tactile experience of its own. Insert the CD, secure it with the custom stabilizer puck, close the cover and prepare to be swept away. Once connected to a well-paired D/A converter, like the MBL 1611 F, a highly stable sound image materializes to deliver a composed, unruffled calm, so often missing from today’s digital sources.

The MBL 1621 A at a glance

• Device housing milled from a single block of aluminum.
• CD Drive positioned on a solid 6 kg (13.2 lb) sub-chassis constructed from brass, aluminium and Terodem, then spring mounted on three points for isolation
• Adjustable levelling ensures the drive is perfectly horizontal
• Airtight solid drive cover to protect against external sound influences and rotational resonances
• Intricately designed and engineered stabilizer puck holds the CD firmly for smooth performance
• 3-beam laser with high directional stability and maintenance-free positioning
• Toroidal transformer with sophisticated protective shield technology, magnetic shielding by Mu-metal housing
• Brilliantly designed output transformer cell with an amazing bandwidth of 98.7 MHz
• Separate voltage regulator for each of the ten function groups
• Symmetrically constructed engine and carriage control
• Separate power supply for digital music signals and digital control signals
• Group-delay-optimised bi-phase signal path for optimum transmission quality

Technical Specification

Digital Outputs XLR (AES/EBU)
Output Impedance 110 Ohm Bandwith 40 MHzRCA (S/P DIF)
Output Impedance 75 Ohm Bandwith 40 MHz
CD Mechanism CD PRO 2 LF Module
Formats Standard Compact Disk (Red Book)
Resolution 16 Bit
Sample Rate 44.1 kHz
Number of Channels 2
Modulation EFM
Weight26 kg / 57 Ibs