Review on Denon DCD-1600NE Super Audio CD Player: Enhanced Design, Powerful Processing & Modern File Compatibility by Dana Wilson

The Denon DCD-1600NE SACD/CD player is made in Japan. It has a solid construction with thick metal on all sides. It weighs 18.1 pounds, more than twice the weight of my old Yamaha CD-S300 player. The power cord is thick, with 16 AWG conductors, the same size as the power cord that came with my 100 watt Yamaha amp! DAC - 32-bit Burr Brown, PCM 1795. The dynamic range is 101 dB for CD and 112 dB for SACD, the signal-to-noise ratio is 116 dB for CD and 117 dB for SACD, the harmonic distortion is 0.0018% for CD and 0.001% for SACD. When using the analog outputs, the DSD level of SACDs is decoded directly without conversion to PCM. This was confirmed by Denon Support via email. The DCD-1600NE reads CDs and SACDs quickly and responds immediately to commands from the remote control or the control panel. The display is also easy to read from 10 feet across the room. It has a Pure Direct feature that turns off the display and digital outputs to improve sound quality. Repeat functions and display options can be accessed via the oversized remote control. The remote is solidly built though, as is the rest of this player which is clearly built to last, at least on the outside. So far it has read every CD, CD-R and SACD I've played without a single error. You might think that goes without saying, but unfortunately that is no longer the case these days. I bought a Marantz SA8005 SACD player twice last year and both were defective when they arrived. My four attempts with the Yamaha CD-S700 CD player were in vain as each had intermittent problems reading CDs. While playing, one device even made a loud noise that I could hear from across the room. Yes, they don't make them like they used to. Another important reason is the dynamic, open sound. Although the sound quality was a little thin, brittle and bright when I first plugged it in, it smoothed out nicely over time. I recommend turning the CD and SACD features on every 200 hours of play (just run the disc repeatedly in each format without having to unmute it) before making any final audio decisions, as that time is really needed to burn out and sound the best you can. As I already understood when I tried this player once, it has a powerful, authoritative sound. The clarity and soundstage is better than my old player. And to my great surprise, it plays CDs and SACDs equally well. It's not like many SACD players where you get poor quality CD playback. I no longer recommend this SACD player as two different devices have proven unreliable. See Notes below for more information. After 6 months this player had intermittent problems reading CDs and the CD tray often wouldn't close when I pressed the close button, even though the display showed "CLOSE". I took it to the service center and they are working to fix the player under warranty. Because I value reliability, I downgraded my rating. 12/25/19 - After several weeks at the repair center, the mechanic asked Denon to send him a new turntable to replace it. Denon agreed but it took three weeks as they were out of stock in the US. My replacement has been running 24/7 for a week and a half with no issues. I hope this continues. 08/30/20 - Eight months after receiving my new DCD-1600NE replacement, I am pleased to report that it is working well and providing flawless playback. Sometimes I have a CD that plays fine on my Yamaha CD-S300 player that skips due to scratches on my DCD-1600NE. But otherwise everything is going smoothly. If I leave the player on for 8 hours or more, the sound becomes muffled, muffled and cluttered. This can be fixed by restarting the player, but this is not required. I have adjusted my rating accordingly. I no longer recommend buying this player.