Arcam BDP100 Blu-ray player
All Arcam players included in the FMJ series have similar designs and dimensions, and the recently released BDP100 looks like Jack Johnson against their background - it is noticeably taller and more massive.
A higher class of the device is vivid in the expansion of the set of service interfaces: a 12-volt trigger and an RS232 duplex serial interface, being necessary for integrating the player into multi-room systems, were added to the input for an external IR sensor already existing in previous players.
But there is no multi-channel analog output 7.1. But there are two pairs of stereo outputs - the device is capable of working in two zones.
The remote control is luxurious, with a metal front panel, a battery compartment with the latch and a spectacular blue backlight.
The manufacturer is silent about the player's internals, saying only that the DAC is built on Wolfson WM8741 chips. No wonder - Arcam designers have preferred the DACs of this particular brand for long time. As for the Blu-ray chipset, it is by Mediatek that is clear by its characteristic graphical interface, the same as that of the Cambridge Audio player.
There is no built-in system memory for the BD-Live function, you will have to insert a USB flash drive into the USB connector, and there is only one here - at the back. And this despite the fact that from USB-drives you can play mp3, WMA, JPEG, AVI and WMV files.
When I checked the activity of the BD zone, I met with an incident: the device loaded the "wrong" disk, displayed a message on the screen, but refused to remove it. I had to turn the player off, turn it on again and seize the moment, constantly pressing the EJECT button.
However, the "correct" discs are shown perfectly, faces are especially good - full-blooded and lively. The picture is very clear and at the same time smooth, without visible noise. The difference between Blu-ray and DVD is noticeable only on the general plans.
When playing music, the device is characterized by meticulous attention to the smallest details, ti side tones, echoes, and percussion, but solo instruments are lost on this inventive background. The symphony orchestra sounds powerful and bright, without the slightest hint of a "veil". The voice of the chamber singer is charming, her chest notes are fully correct, but after a while the excessive detailing begins to tire. However, for systems with soft acoustics and a lower resolution at the top, this player can be a salvation.
