Overview
The CDP-3 is one of those players that rewards a close look at the circuit board more than a glance at the front panel. According to the period review coverage in Audio (August 1998, p.53), the transport mechanism is decoupled from the chassis with small rubber isolators, and the transport electronics sit inside their own internal metal enclosure — the kind of mechanical housekeeping that separates a serious CD player from a rebadged commodity deck.
The digital heart of the player is where the CDP-3 earns its keep. Audio (August 1998, p.53) documented a Pacific Microsonics PMD100 chip handling digital filtering and HDCD decoding, feeding Burr-Brown PCM 1702 DACs, with Burr-Brown OPA604 and OPA2604 op-amps doing the analog filtering and converting the unbalanced signal to feed the balanced outputs.
The chipset also leaves a fingerprint you can hear and measure. The review noted that the ringing on a 1-kHz, full-scale square wave was not clipped off — a characteristic behavior of the Pacific Microsonics HDCD decoding and digital filter chip used in the CDP-3. A red LED to the right of the display window glows when an HDCD disc is being played and decoded, which is a nice bit of feedback for anyone who actually owns HDCD-encoded discs.
On the bench, the numbers were solid rather than spectacular. Audio (August 1998, p.53) measured output at digital full-scale at just over 2.01 volts for the unbalanced outputs and about 4.025 volts for the balanced outputs, with an unbalanced output impedance of 45 ohms and a balanced output impedance of 90 ohms. IHF loading barely dented those levels — a mere 0.04 dB reduction on the unbalanced side and 0.08 dB on the balanced side. Frequency response was essentially identical between unbalanced and balanced outputs, IHF loading didn't change the response shape, and de-emphasis error was negligible. Both output polarities were correct.
The distortion story is more nuanced. THD + N versus frequency at full scale held up commendably — high-frequency distortion didn't rise much even with a wider measurement bandwidth, which the reviewer noted is frequently not the case with other players. But the CDP-3's deviation from linearity when playing a 500-Hz tone was greater in the right channel than in the left below about –80 dBFS, and that asymmetry showed up downstream: a third-octave sweep of the audio range with a –80 dBFS, 1-kHz signal revealed greater harmonic distortion in the right channel, especially the third harmonic at 3 kHz. On the plus side, the complete absence of 60-Hz hum components was notable.
Channel separation was excellent. Audio (August 1998, p.53) measured interchannel crosstalk at less than –100 dB from 125 Hz to 16 kHz from right to left and about –90 dB from left to right. Dynamic range came in at 99 dB in the left channel and 95.1 dB in the right; quantization noise was 93.6 dB left and 89.6 dB right; and signal-to-noise ratio referenced to 0 dBFS with the transport in pause was 84.7 dB wideband and 106.7 dB A-weighted for the left channel, versus 84.2 and 102.4 dB for the right. The jitter spectrum, measured at the latch-enable pin of one of the DAC chips with the transport in pause, summed to about 6.7 picoseconds rms above 70 Hz and –70 dB — a figure the reviewer called quite good.
In use, the CDP-3 drew a mixed but largely positive verdict. The reviewer found it musically satisfying with most CDs, describing the sound as highly detailed, though through the associated Classé CAP-80 it seemed to lack a little weight in the lower midrange relative to costlier CD sources. Paired with high-sensitivity Lowther speakers, the sound was quite detailed but occasionally somewhat bright and edgy. A few ergonomic gripes surfaced: the drawer could have extended about a quarter of an inch further outward to make loading and unloading less likely to scrape discs on the front panel, and the player was a bit slow getting from track to track and beginning play. The supplied remote — larger and shaped differently from the CAP-80's — added useful functions, including a button to switch the display between track elapsed time, total remaining time, and elapsed time from the beginning of the disc.
The CDP-3 was reviewed alongside the Classé CAP-80 integrated amplifier, and the two were positioned as a matched pair — the CAP-80's literature explicitly billed the CDP-3 as its "perfect match," citing the dual 20-bit PCM 1702 DACs, the HDCD filter, single-ended and balanced outputs, a 75-ohm S/PDIF digital out, and a solid aluminum machined remote control. That marketing framing is worth separating from the independent verdict: the reviewer's own conclusion was that both components performed very well and should provide good musical satisfaction in systems appropriate to their price range — a measured endorsement rather than a rave.
For collectors, the CDP-3 occupies an interesting spot. The mechanical decoupling and shielded transport enclosure suggest it should hold up reasonably well with care, though as with any player of its age the laser and drawer mechanism are the parts to check before buying. Buyers should confirm the balanced outputs and the remote are present — the remote is not a generic item, and the balanced output is a real part of what makes this player worth owning. The HDCD LED is a quick functional check: drop in an HDCD-encoded disc and see whether it lights.
This is a player that asks to be judged on its engineering rather than its badge. The parts are honest, the measurements are decent across the board, and the listening notes — detailed, occasionally bright, a touch light in the lower midrange — describe a character rather than a flaw. For anyone building a late-1990s digital front end around a Classé or similar integrated, the CDP-3 remains a sensible, well-made companion.
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