Gryphon Ethos CD Player and Digital-Analog Converter
Ethos
The sleek lines, the flat profile, and the stylish mix of metal and high-gloss acrylic in the outer design of the Gryphon Ethos CD player (price approx. 46,000 euros) only hint at the sophisticated technology hidden inside. Gryphon Audio Designs once again takes on the challenge of creating the definitive combination of CD transport and digital-to-analog converter. Gryphon Audio Designs stands for significant innovations in the digital age with a celebrated series of CD players, which perhaps more thanmost others deserve to be called integrated transport/DACs.
The story of Gryphon began with our first digital source component at the end of the last millennium in the once crowded, now almost empty field of CD player development. The Gryphon CDP-1 CD player introduced the world in 1998 to the sound improvements brought by asynchronous sampling rate conversion at 88.2 kHz – the world's first implementation of this advanced technology, which is now ubiquitous in digital audio technology.
Since we didn't want to rest on our laurels, the Gryphon Adagio, the successor to the CDP-1, was launched in 2001, bringing digital musicality to the next level with asynchronous 24-bit/96-kHz sampling rate conversion. After further refining this technology in the Gryphon Mikado, which came out in 2003, the implementation of 32-bit/192 kHz upsampling in the acclaimed Gryphon Mikado Signature represented another significant step forward, breaking new ground and paving the way for others.paved the way. Gryphon's first separate digital-to-analog converter, Kalliope, was highly praised by the international trade press.
Kalliope presents music in all its harmonious richness, allowing voices and instruments to flow freely, with differentiation and a fluidity that is exemplary.
The Gryphon Ethos remains true to the brand's characteristic sound and achieves true musical alchemy with fast transient response and consistent tonal accuracy, regardless of the chosen volume. Perfect harmony between often contradictory parameters like fluid melody guidance and rock-solid positioning in the stereo image is extremely rare, making the Gryphon Ethos an even more remarkable achievement, as manufacturers succumb to the uninformed pressure of consumers to deliver all-encompassing‘universal’ audio and video disc playback.
Just a CD player
The development and manufacturing of a dedicated high-end CD player in this premium price range requires quite a bit of courage today, when affordable universal disc players are on the market. The Gryphon Ethos forgoes different rotation speeds, video processing, multi-channel playback, and other functions that are irrelevant for stereo music enjoyment, and is solely dedicated to uncompromising CD playback.
If you choose the Gryphon Ethos, you know that CD playback isn't just a side effect. It's the actual reason for the player's existence.
Bullseye on a moving target
We designed the integrated CD player Ethos to represent a moving target in the rapid development of digital audio technology. The Ethos can not only play standard CDs at 16 Bit/44.1 kHz (Redbook) but also connect external sources with up to 32 Bit/384 kHz PCM and up to DSD512. Finally, the hardware keeps pace with the software, making this a truly exciting time to cultivate digital audio as a growing number of titles become available in these ultra-high-res formats.Music lovers will be amazed when they finally experience the untapped potential of Gryphon amplifiers and speakers with these formats.
Dedication and Devotion
Gryphon Ethos plays Compact Disc. Period. Period. It doesn't play video discs or any of the so-called 'high-resolution' audio formats. The Gryphon Ethos will simply reveal more hidden treasures in your CD collection than any other 'universal' player at its price and far beyond. That's its only job.
The Gryphon Ethos was developed with the unwavering will to dedicate itself to the Compact Disc, as this focused approach allows Gryphon Audio Designs to use all its resources and expertise to unleash the full, unrestricted musical potential of CD playback.
The CD remains a mature technology, and by making the most of this medium, Gryphon Audio Designs is able to offer sound quality comparable to so-called High-Resolution Audio formats. The immense catalog of new and old CD titles will benefit from the advances of the Gryphon ethos. We're sure discerning audiophiles will appreciate what the Gryphon Ethos can do for their extensive and ever-growing music collections. The selection of components used is equally impressive: from the power supplies to the voltage regulation to the elaborately designed power amplifiers.
After extensive listening sessions, in which the best available digital-to-analog conversion technology was sought without regard to cost or other extraneous considerations, Gryphon opted for the ESS SABRE ES9038PRO 32-bit DAC chips, which enable complete 32-bit processing in a dual-differential and dual-mono topology.This advanced DAC at the heart of the Gryphon Ethos significantly contributes to the effortlessly natural reproduction of a three-dimensional sound landscape with exceptional timing and razor-sharpdetail fidelity.
Asynchronous Upsampling
The Gryphon Ethos uses a state-of-the-art, user-selectable asynchronous sample rate conversion to perform complex mathematical calculations with extreme speed and precision. Without upsampling, an analog brickwall filter would be required after the conversion process, leading to temporal smearing, energy loss, compromised resolution, and reduced transparency.
The Gryphon upsampling allows for the use of a simpler lower-order analog output filter. The integrity of the signal reproduced by the Gryphon Ethos is uncompromisingly rendered against a quiet background with a noise level clearly below that of the recording itself.
The upsampled signal is decoded through a digital filter that has a significantly smoother roll-off, thus providing dramatically improved resolution, detail fidelity, spatiality, sharpness, transient accuracy, and harmonic integrity.
Unlike an upsampling filter that processes the data stream at a higher frequency to push the quantization noise spectrum up and away from the area where it is most harmful (and not in a futile attempt to achieve a higher information density), upsampling is a process where the sample rate is increased before conversion.
Properly executed upsampling makes traditional analog filtering with steep rise completely unnecessary. In the Gryphon Ethos, this filter is replaced by a single silvered mica capacitor that acts as a simple first-order analog output filter, preserving the integrity of the audio signal for an uncolored presentation against a completely noise-free, 'black' background.
By performing the filtering function in the digital domain with asynchronous 32-bit/384 kHz sample rate conversion, the Gryphon Ethos achieves exceptional resolution of fine details, sharp image clarity, and an extended high-frequency range.
The highly regulated, fully discrete, and symmetrical Class-A analog output stage operates without feedback and offers both symmetrical XLR and unsymmetrical phono outputs. The analog section is powered with +23 volts, and careful attention has been paid to power supplies with separate transformers and comprehensive regulation.
This 'Overkill' solution ensures perfect channel separation, significantly improved out-of-band noise suppression, and a markedly enhanced dynamic range. The die-cast housing of the transport mechanism is characterized by high reliability and extremely effective error correction. With two separate, specially designed analog toroidal transformers and two separate digital power supplies, the digital, analog, transport, and display circuits take advantage of isolated, highly regulatedpower supplies.
The signal path is naturally as short as possible, and the balanced analog outputs consist of the finest Neutrik connectors, while the Gryphon single-ended connections are gold-plated.
User-selectable digital filters
The Gryphon Ethos features a range of digital roll-off options, seven different PCM filters, and three DSD filters that allow the user to adjust the sound of the player to their personal taste.
The instantly recognizable and popular Gryphon disc cover is illuminated by a ring of attractive blue LEDs. The lid effectively seals the top-loading mechanism and isolates the disc from external forces.
The precision-crafted, gold-plated CD clamp is an integral part with carefully balanced mass that contributes to the stability and correct rotation speed of the disc.
The drive mechanism features comprehensive mechanical decoupling with an effective clamping system that prevents unwanted movements of the disc. The case made of acrylic glass and brushed natural aluminum provides a significant vibration-absorbing damping layer for effective resonance control. The remote control shows the same attention to detail as the rest of the player: The heavy black metal plate feels good in hand and is equipped on the back with a rubber layer to prevent it from slipping on theunderlying surface.
Performance and Isolation
The Gryphon Ethos fully benefits from typical Gryphon technologies, such as the strict dual-mono configuration, minimal internal wiring, fully isolated, separate power supplies for the analog (left and right channels), digital, and transport/display switching circuits, and exclusive custom components.
The digital, analog, and display circuits and their respective power supplies are carefully separated in the Gryphon Ethos. The display is housed independently outside the main enclosure and is powered by a power supply that is isolated from the digital audio power supply.
Gryphon Ethos rests on three adjustable Gryphon Atlas spikes made from carefully selected parts of polyoxymethylene (POM), aluminum, and hardened steel. Detailed listening tests confirm that the mechanical properties of this special material combination provide an ideal unidirectional channel for resonances.
Gryphon research has early on found that the size, shape, and material of the spikes can have a significant impact on sound quality. Some materials can even store some of the energy they are supposed to dissipate.
Gryphon Atlas spikes create a unidirectional evacuation path between the device and the outside world by acting as mechanical diodes that conduct energy in only one direction and effectively block it in the other direction.
Connectivity
Gryphon Ethos is equipped with a whole range of digital inputs and outputs. AES/EBU, USB, and BNC inputs allow direct connection of external digital sources (PC, music server) to the Ethos DAC section. An AES/EBU output allows connection to an external DAC. The USB port is compatible with a variety of digital audio formats.
The fully isolated vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) offers user-selectable display lighting (Off, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) for a practical, instant overview of the disc and player status. In CD mode, the number of tracks, playtime, Repeat One or Repeat All, digital filter, and sample rate are displayed (no oversampling or upsampling to 384 kHz or DSD128). In DAC mode, input number, input name with up to eight characters, sample rate, PCM, DSD, and digital filter are displayed. Upsampling andPhase inversion is indicated by LED bars.
The Gryphon Ethos is an elegant musical instrument designed solely to preserve the integrity and purity of the original musical experience, as the high quality of craftsmanship, the damping of individual layers, and the carefully developed mechanical integrity of the Gryphon Ethos eliminate digital noise and interference between the various stages of the player.
With a rare degree of precise control, the Gryphon Ethos masters every task you can throw at it. Thanks to its finely balanced sound, it seamlessly integrates into any conceivable system configuration. Products like this make waiting for new high-resolution digital media immensely easier.
The Gryphon Ethos also celebrates the 35th anniversary of the compact disc as the medium of choice for home music and shows that in the skilled hands of the dedicated and experienced Gryphon engineers, the silver disc can yield even more musical enjoyment and realism than you could ever imagine.
Built for the future
Thanks to its distinctive modular design, the Gryphon Ethos can keep pace with the development of digital technology. The easy modification of the digital circuits by your local authorized Gryphon service center ensures that your Gryphon Ethos is always up to date with CD playback.
Here for testing: https://www.fidelity-online.de/gryphon-audio-designs-Ethos-cd-spieler/
