Product Details
Brand: Cen.Grand
The GLD1.0 Deluxe Model is an advanced digital audio player
Often referred to as a digital turntable and based on the X64 system and operating on the Windows platform. It utilizes high-speed interfaces for audio data transmission, incorporating cutting-edge digital processing and transmission technologies. By ensuring that audio data is outputted 100% intact, the GLD1.0 delivers optimal performance, earning it the title of a "ceiling" level player. With these capabilities, the GLD1.0 is set to pioneer a new wave in digital audio playback technology. ( download the instruction of GLD1.0 )
The key advantage : 100% outputData Integrity.
The core feature of the GLD1.0 is its ability to output audio data without any loss, preserving the full integrity of the data throughout the transmission process.
Why Intel's X64 Architecture? The GLD1.0 selects Intel’s X64 architecture for several important reasons:
1 , High Computational Power: The X64 architecture excels at handling floating-point operations, which allows for seamless processing of high-bitrate audio data.
2 , Robust Networking Capabilities: The X64 platform offers a highly compatible and expansive software ecosystem, unmatched by other architectures in its class.
3 , User Autonomy: This architecture provides users with greater control and flexibility, enabling advanced customization and usage configurations
Design Philosophy : Moving Away from USB Audio
The GLD1.0 was designed to eliminate the widely used USB audio protocol, which is commonly found in many digital players and Hi-Fi audio devices. Instead, the system employs the high-speed PCIe transmission protocol, which includes a robust error-checking mechanism. This change ensures that audio data is transmitted without errors or loss, preventing damage to sound quality. The USB audio protocol allows for errors or modifications in the data during transmission to maintain continuity, which is a major reason why digital players using USB audio protocol often fail to achieve perfect sound quality. In contrast, PCIe is a protocol that does not allow any data errors, ensuring the integrity of the data.
During the digital processing of audio data, when the playback software reads the data, no errors occur. Whether the system is Windows, Linux, or Android, all file systems have mature and stable error-checking mechanisms to ensure the correctness of the data. These error-checking mechanisms are primarily managed by the hard disk controller (ECC, CRC) and the file system (metadata and data block checks), ensuring data integrity. For critical or sensitive files, applications often add extra hash checks (such as MD5, SHA-256) to guarantee security and correctness.
Under normal usage conditions, the error rate of modern hard drives is very low:
Consumer-grade hard drives: Approximately 1 error per 12.5TB
Enterprise-grade hard drives: Approximately 1 error per 125TB
Modern SSDs: Approximately 1 error per 1.25PB
Modern computer operating systems are highly stable and reliable, the probability of hard disk read errors is very low and can be negligible. They can read data from storage perfectly. So why doesn't this perfect data result in perfect sound quality? The reason lies in the fact that most audio players use the USB audio protocol for data output. During transmission, data is lost, leading to degraded sound quality. Therefore, the transmission process must be optimized.
In the file data reading and storage phase, since it does not involve clock synchronization, the hardware design during this phase has little impact on data accuracy. Improving hardware, such as enhancing power circuits or using high-precision clocks, does not help ensure data integrity. To fundamentally address the issue, the root cause of the sound quality degradation must be identified.
Since the probability of errors in reading file data from the file system is extremely low, the only possibility is that the issue occurs during data transmission. Many digital players use the USB audio protocol in their internal data transmission process, and since the USB audio protocol allows data errors, the problem lies here.
Therefore, the transmission method must be optimized. The USB audio protocol must be abandoned in favor of a transmission protocol that does not allow errors. GLD1.0, therefore, chose PCIe.
Replacing the USB audio protocol with PCIe for transmission and working in synchronous mode is a highly challenging task. To achieve this design, the GLD system incorporates a complex clock and data system, as well as a unique POW data clock transmission protocol. This architecture has been granted a national invention patent of China. After several years of relentless effort, GLD1.0 successfully realized this design goal.
( GLD 1.0 Deluxe Model Block Diagram )
Hardware and Software Components
The main control system hardware of the GLD1.0 uses an Intel NUC module, model BKCM11EBI716W, with a 11th-generation i7-1165G7 CPU. The specifications are as follows:
Processor:
Intel® Core™ i7-1165G7 processor with 4 cores and 8 threads, a base frequency of 2.8 GHz, and a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4.7 GHz.
Memory:
Integrated 16GB LPDDR4x-4266 dual-channel memory.
Network:
Built-in Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 wireless module, supporting Wi-Fi 6 standard and Bluetooth 5.1.
Storage:
500GB SSD.
( GLD1.0 Output/Input Interfaces of Main Control System )
The main control system of the GLD1.0 has the following output interfaces:
4 USB ports,
1 Type-C port,
1 Gigabit Ethernet port,
1 external HDMI video output port.
The external video output can connect to a TV or monitor. The external monitor and the local display (the internal display) can't show at the same time. A small switch next to the HDMI port allows you to toggle between LOCAL (the internal display) and EXTERNAL (the external display device). RESET is the reset button.
Digital Processing System
The digital processing system is connected to the main control system via a PCIe interface, using the PCIe protocol to transmit audio data from the main board to the digital processing part. This system consists of seven subsystems: receiver, isolator, data processing module, clock module, POW transmission module, SPDIF module, and power supply. It is equipped with firmware using complex algorithms that allow PCIe to operate in synchronous mode, processing data and clocks at high quality and outputting them perfectly.
POW Transmission Module
A key highlight of the GLD1.0 is the POW transmission module. POW stands for "Parting of the Ways," a term which means "going separate ways." This is the protocol used by the GLD1.0 to output processed audio data. It is a proprietary protocol developed by Cen.grand, and is currently only used on their digital players and DACs. As the name suggests, "parting of the ways" means that the clock and data are transmitted separately. Audio data is transmitted via optical fiber, while the clock is transmitted using coaxial cables with BNC connectors. The POW receiving module at the DAC receives the data and clock, then recombines them into an I2S signal and send it to DAC.