Accuphase DP-450 CD Player

DP-450 At A Glance

• Format support: Compact Disc (Red Book) playback — CD-only, no SACD layer
• Drive: High-precision CD drive with low-vibration mounting
• D/A converter: MDS+ topology with four parallel converter circuits
• Digital inputs: USB input for use as a DAC with a computer or streamer; standard digital inputs for additional external sources
• Digital outputs: Transport outputs for use with an external DAC
• Analog outputs: Balanced (XLR) and unbalanced (RCA) outputs with phase polarity selector
• Display: Sampling frequency and quantization bit-depth indication
• Playback control: Programmable playlists

The DP-450 is the entry point into Accuphase's disc-source line — a CD-only single-chassis player that brings the company's MDS+ D/A topology, full machined-aluminum chassis, and characteristic build quality to the listener whose digital library is built around Red Book CDs and whose system does not require SACD support.

Thirty-five years of CD-player engineering, distilled. Accuphase has been designing dedicated CD players since the late 1980s, and the DP-450 reflects that accumulated engineering: a high-precision transport mounted to reject vibration, a heavy machined chassis to manage resonance, separately regulated power supplies for the mechanical and signal-processing stages. The DP-450 is not a digital-electronics box with a transport bolted on — it is a CD player whose mechanical and electrical engineering were designed together.

MDS+ four-parallel D/A conversion. The D/A section uses Accuphase's MDS+ topology — four parallel converter circuits whose outputs are summed at the analog stage. The parallel arrangement averages out per-channel noise and randomizes per-channel error, producing a substantially lower noise floor than any single converter could provide. This is the same conversion architecture used in the higher-tier DP-570S, applied to the DP-450's CD-focused signal path.

Use as a DAC for external sources. The DP-450 includes a USB digital input that allows it to function as an asynchronous USB DAC for a computer or streamer, plus standard digital inputs for use with a separate transport, a CD player, or a streaming source. For a listener with a CD-centric library who also wants to add streaming through a Roon endpoint, an Innuos server, or a similar source, the DP-450 covers both roles from a single chassis.

Balanced and line-level analog outputs. Like its larger siblings, the DP-450 provides true differential balanced (XLR) and single-ended line-level (RCA) outputs, with a phase polarity selector on the balanced output to allow absolute-phase correction.

Where the DP-450 sits in the line. The DP-450 is the natural source for an Accuphase E-3000, E-4000, or E-5000 integrated amplifier, or for any of the E-700 / E-800S Class A integrated amplifiers used with a CD-focused library. Customers whose collection includes SACD discs should consider the DP-570S; customers building a two-box reference system should consider the DP-1000 transport plus DC-1000 DAC.

Other Accuphase digital sources in the Alma catalog: DP-1000, DC-1000, DP-770, DP-570S.

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