General Asylum: REVIEW: Rotel RCD 991 CD Player/Recorder by S.J. Kremer General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

For Sale Ads FAQ / News / Events

Well, I’ve been working on this review for a couple of months now and it still bears some resemblance to the first draft. I had expected new developments to lessen the impact of my choice in a new component. Instead, my choice of a new CD player has been vindicated.
So, why bother to buy a new CD player when SACD and DVD-A are “just around the corner”? Specifically a Rotel RCD-991?
Well, for openers the $5,000 price tag of the Sony SACD-1leaves my finances out of the running. The non-availability of titles at $24 or more each also leaves me somewhat unimpressed. From the looks of things the first 50 or 100 titles will be the usual “audiophile” reissue fare that I am uninterested in anyhow.
DVD-A? Pretty much the same story, no product, and no discs. Plus the latest word is that a European hacker has already broken the SDMI codes. This has all the big labels (all two of them) in a lather and the introduction of DVD-A has been further delayed. Well, if Sony can take advantage of this they could make up for Beta.
Considering that DVD or SACD won’t really be ready for prime time for a few more years, I decided to get a new CD player instead and spend the rest of the money that I saved on Naxos classic CDs for 5.99 a pop. One of the truly great bargains in music, usually well recorded and well mastered. I also find a lot of stuff on smaller independent labels that can be much more satisfying than the run of the mill major label dreck. So much for the blatant money grubbing gouging of the major music labels. I do like to rant.
After several months of auditioning just about everything, the choice narrowed to the Enlightened Audio Devices Ultradisc 2000 and the Rotel RCD-991. Unfortunately, the most excellent but more expensive Ultradisc was unavailable at the time of purchase due to production changeover. So the field narrowed to one and the RCD made its way into my system.
The 991 is a plain black wrapper with a small remote. The transport is the standard Phillips unit used in many other players. A remote to a Marantz CD-63 operated the Rotel with no problems, and vice versa. So what made the Rotel worth the $1400 retail including tax?
First are the Burr Brown PCM-63 DACs. Then throw in a Pacific Microsonics PMD-100 filter for HDCD capability, RCA and balanced outputs, coaxial/ toslink output, and a detachable power cord. One very unusual feature is adjustable dither.
The plain black wrapper is unobtrusive, and the money saved on cosmetics was well spent on performance.
The performance is, in a word, stellar. Once you get over the lack of an inch thick faceplate and multi thousand-dollar price tag, the 991 performs. This particular component has been an education in the limitations of source material. The musicality and resolving power of the 991 revealed some CDs that I had previously considered quite good show signs of poor mixing, compression, poor dynamic range and other sonic sludge. Other CDs of previously known poor quality benefited from the better resolution allowing a more open, less congested sound. I could hear further into the mix. Go figure.
I have had the RCD 991 for about four months now and the unit has improved with break in. The sound has gotten more liquid with the music floating out of the system. There are currently three other CD players to compare it to in the house.
I have found a new disc, Carla Lothers “Ephemera” on Chesky (JD183). The disc, as a whole is good, but several of the cuts are standouts. The title cut, “Ephemera” surprised me with the clarity of the piano and vocals. “Captain Courageous” showed that the bass of my system is tighter than I previously believed. The percussion detailed by the RCD is superb, and the vocal harmonies are rendered in liquid detail.
Another jump through the hoops disc used to test the reproductive capabilities of the Rotel was Cassandra Wilson’s “Full Moon Daughter”. The first track, “Strange Fruit” opens with the sounds of a struck match, a very deep and woody bass, and a trumpet. Ably reproduced. By the way, Cassandra Wilson’s cover of this Lewis Allan/Billie Holiday classic is every bit as disturbing as the original. The rest of the album reflects Wilson’s usual eclectic mix of material. The cover of “Last Train To Clarksville” alone is worth the price of admission. “Full Moon Daughter” is very well recorded, mixed and transferred which is usual for a Wilson album. For those who have been vocal and critical of Cassandra Wilsons selection of “non-jazz” material, especially in print, get bent.
Next up is my personal favorite for messing up a typical “audiophile” system. Enyas “Watermark”. I really like several cuts on this disc, but the mixing and/or mastering ranges from adequate to miserable. The ubiquitous “Orinoco Flow” is a prime example. The quality of the mix varies throughout the cut. The complex overdubbed vocal harmonies can be lost and buried, sounding dull and listless. Then I decided to give the adjustable dither a try. Well, the Rotel can’t perform the impossible, nor could any other CD player I’ve ever heard, but it allowed the vocal chorus to stand out of the background as well as anything I’ve ever heard. It had a definite effect on the background vocals and apparent noise floor of the recording. Setting 2 seemed to be the best compromise for adding depth and clarity. So, the adjustable dither can be used to enhance a poor quality CD. A useful capability because about half of the really worthwhile performances are poorly recorded, mixed, mastered and transferred.
Adjustable dither. Not much has been said about dither since Bob Carver started playing with it many years ago, and his did not allow for multiple settings as I remember. The Rotel is the only recently available player available with this feature (other then the previous top of the line Rotel the 991 replaces) that I am aware of. It has proven to be useful with other recordings, particularly some of the early CDs that were particularly harsh. A smidgen, or sometimes a lot of equalization certainly doesn’t hurt those either.
HDCD. I don’t believe enough has been written about HDCD because it certainly deserves mention. Several HDCD encoded discs were used to check out this feature, including Judy Collins reissue of “Judith”, Joni Mitchell’s reissue of “Blue”, Maggie Sansones “A Travelers Dream” and Scott Huckabays “Alchemy”. From a musical standpoint alone, all of these albums are keepers but HDCD has actually added to the mix. In every case, the HDCD encoded albums sounded better. For instance, on Maggie Sansones “A Travelers Dream”, all the instruments had a little more “air” about them, that is, they sounded more natural and more clearly defined in the mix. In particular, on the opening cut, the percussive qualities of the bohdran sound very well defined, one can hear the head rattle.
In the case of Joni Mitchells “Blue” I had an earlier non-HDCD issue CD and an LP available for comparison. The non-HDCD CD CD came in on the bottom, and now I will irritate all the LP lovers. The LP was slightly more musical, had noticeable surface noise, some pre-echo, poorer dynamics and didn’t make the first spot. HDCD won. Will all recordings end up in the same order? No, but a well mastered HDCD can beat out anything short of a very, very good vinyl pressing on most systems. Spend a few thousand on a cartridge, turntable, phono amp and a good phono stand and it might be a different story.
Comparing the Rotel to several HDCD players, the Rotel has a more open sound stage with more depth to the texture of the instruments. The reverberation in the decay of notes seems more natural. It is a little hard to describe, but while most players get the attack of a transient more or less right, the trailing decay of a note seems to be more difficult. In this respect, I consider the 991 to be quite musical.
So, is the 991 worth the money? I have to say that it is, for me. I bought it with my own money and it cost more than I initially wanted to spend. It is not, however, for everyone. The $1400 I paid included tax, it lists for $1299.
I realize that this might be a little high for a lot of folks so let me mention that the Rotel RCD-971 is available for less and uses the same DACs and HDCD. It lacks balanced outputs, adjustable dither, and Toslink. It specs out slightly lower but having listened to it; it may be the just ticket for some, pretty much the same sound for around half the price.
I should also mention the Rega Planet as a very good player, as well as the entire Arcam series. My decision was at least partly based on balanced outputs, of which only the 991 had in the units I considered for purchase. No single player had every feature I wanted.
Another thing to note is that the output levels of the CD player should be reasonably compatible with the input level of your pre-amp/integrated amp/receiver. A big mismatch can mean that the CD player is under driving (not that bad) or overdriving (bad) the next component in line.
It is the 991 the best sounding CD player I have heard? The Ultradisc 2000 in someone else’s system holds that honor. What about the Wadias, Mark Levinsons, Krells etc? Well, I’ve heard all three of the Wadias, including the $8,000.00 860 in a very high-end system. I was impressed by the quality of the sound, until you factor in a $45,000 price tag for the entire system. Several years ago, the Wadia and the rest stood atop the pinnacle, for a price. They are still pretty much at the top of the heap, but now the rest of the market has pretty much caught up at a lower price point. In several cases, they may have been surpassed at a lower price point, depending on ones opinion.
Don’t get me wrong. Someone has to lead the way in development of new ideas and technology. After all, the major players such as Sony, Phillips, Matsushita et al initially refused to acknowledge problems with distortion from brick wall filters, and jitter was new to everyone. The major consumer brands did not get it right, and were not doing anything about it. It took the efforts of a lot of specialty small brands and enthusiasts to lead the way. Small production levels mean steep prices. But I get chapped when a big deal is made of a new $20,000 unit that is not 20 times better than a $1,000 dollar unit. The next step is some reviewer gushing all over it while failing to mention it is, in fact, only marginally better (at best) than the less pricey unit.
Check on out for yourself. Work up a good relationship with your local purveyor of fine audio devices and audition the players you are interested in your home in your system. After all, you will be listening to it in your system, not in the dealer or reviewers systems. All the reviews in the world cannot tell you what it will sound like at home. They can only help you decide on a range of players to check out. If your local dealer can’t oblige, then find another, if possible. $1400.00 is a lot of money to me and to most people I know, so you want to be sure that it is wisely spent.
So I am now the proud owner of two pieces of Rotel gear, the RB-991 amp and RCD-991 CD player. I am quite satisfied with both in my system and room. The best available? No. Try really outstanding performance at a sane price.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

The Cable Cooker

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---