Stunning CD Sound from a Compact Player
Parasound's Zcd proves that good sound can fit into small spaces. It's the first CD player to join Parasound's Z-series product line of half-width components that outperform many full-size products costing far more. It’s a small component with a small price tag that’s guaranteed to deliver oversize satisfaction.
The ultra-compact Zcd gives your CDs the full Parasound treatment, offering exceptional sound quality and a dead quiet background. But its performance capabilities don’t stop there. The Zcd doesn’t just play standard music CDs. It also plays MP3 files recorded on a CD-R disc. And it will also play MP3 files from a USB flash drive via its rear-panel USB interface. A composite video output lets you navigate your CD-R or flash drive to view and select the MP3 files you want to hear.
Here's a great feature that you don't see on many CD players. The built-in volume control enables you to directly connect the Zcd with an analog power amplifier without the need for a separate preamp. And the volume control is controlled in the analog domain, not digitally inside the DAC. So you're assured of the highest possible sound quality. A great choice for a power amp to complement the Zcd is, or course, Parasound's matching Zamp v.3 power amplifier for a truly high-end compact stereo system.
Highly Evolved Cirrus Logic DAC
The Zcd uses a 24-bit, 192 kHz-capable Cirrus Logic CS4353 DAC with a Cirrus Logic CS8416 digital receiver. The circuitry boasts fifth-order multi-bit delta-sigma architecture with low latency digital filtering. It also includes analog filtering and ideal differential linearity along with very high tolerance to clock jitter.
For realism that puts lesser designs to shame, the Zcd delivers excellent low frequency performance without external DC blocking capacitors. The Zcd volume control is controlled in the analog domain, not digitally inside the DAC. There's also an entirely independent analog power supply with its own power transformer.
Even More Features
For ease of integration the Zcd has simultaneous fixed and variable level analog outputs plus a line level stereo input jack for an MP3 player or smartphone.
Speaking of system integration, the Zcd has three turn on options: manual, 12V trigger, and AC. It's also got a 12-volt trigger output for turning on a power amp. If that's not enough to fit into the half-width rear panel, you'll also find an IR input and an RS232 serial port. | 
