Hi folks,
Here is my objective analysis of the Marantz SACD 30n. This sample in particular has been gently loaned to me by
Sound United France directly. It is a versatile piece of gear, being not only a SACD/CD player, but also a standalone DAC and a streamer. In addition, it can also act as a preamp and claims to have a decent headphone amplifier. It has been released in late 2020 and
MSRP is 3199€ as of this writing, so not quite "cheap".
The SACD 30n is unusually massive and heavy... It weights as much as a classic integrated amp (13.5Kg), it is 44cm wide and 42cm deep. It introduced the new Marantz's industrial design language when launched, along with the
Model 30 integrated amplifier. I have to confess that I was not wowed when I first discovered it reading press releases and IRL in stores, but now that I have it at home, I kind of like the overall aesthetics. Anyway, it is beautifully crafted and finished, as it is to be expected in this price range. It is by the way Made in Japan. The screen in the center is monochrome OLED with decent brightness and viewing angles, which I personally prefer instead of some cheap colour screen, with poor resolution and contrast I've seen on much more expensive products.
On the rear, you got the regular digital inputs and outputs, with also two antennas. It obviously supports WiFi or Bluetooth, with Denon/Marantz's HEOS streaming app. Unfortunately, it lacks the Roon Ready certification, but I have been told that the latter should come with a firmware update. As you can see, both fixed and variable output are separated (with also two distinct circuits inside the unit, BTW). You also noticed the lack of balanced XLR outputs, which is a pity at this price.
Like both the pricer SA-12SE
or SA-10 reviewed by @amirm, the SACD 30n also comes with
Marantz Musical Mastering (MMM) :
Marantz is using its own in-house, proprietary design for digital to analog conversion. The aforementioned differs from either regular Delta Sigma chips we often see from ESS, Cirrus, AKM, or TI, or to some extents, R2R DACs. Here, D/A conversion is done by dual DSP chips, along with FPGA ones. All PCM signals are also unsampled to DSD 11.2Mhz. While I thought this approach was kind of recent, I found that MMM has been first introduced with the SA-11S3, back in 2012.
On top of that, you see above the discrete output stage (HDAM) for the fixed output. These kinds of architectures aren't exactly known for their transparency when it comes to measurements. So let me sum up: we've got a custom D/A design, with some discrete components. Great. Needless to say, the SACD 30n should start with a serious disadvantage for tests to come... or should it?
Measurements
Disclaimer: Measurements you are about to see are not intended to be as precise or extensive than what you get from a 30k€ AP. There is obviously both hardware and software limitations here, so not quite apples to apples comparison with Amir's testing. For example, I estimated SINAD (AKA THD+N) to be usually 5 to 6dB worse with my measurements rig, when compared to ASR reviews of the exact same products. Still, this data is enough to have a pretty good idea if the gear is bad or not, stellar, broken, or sub-par...
- ADC : E1DA Cosmos (Grade B), set to 2.7Vrms input. Minimum phase filter.
- Software : RMAA 6.4.5 PRO and Multitone Loopback Analyzer 1.0.15.
- Method : 8 runs for each test, then I choose the closest to the average. All regular tests are running 24bits / 44.1Khz except for Jitter and Multitone ones.
- Marantz SACD 30n : USB-B input, fixed (2.5Vrms) output for main results, unless specified otherwise.
RMAA Summary
Test | Results | Rating |
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.03, -0.15 | Very good |
Noise level, dB (A) | -116.9 | Excellent |
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 115.4 | Excellent |
THD, % | 0.00021 | Excellent |
THD + Noise, dB (A) | -106.4 | Excellent |
IMD + Noise, % | 0.00070 | Excellent |
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -111.0 | Excellent |
IMD at 10 kHz, % | 0.00061 | Excellent |
Well, it is not that bad after all... In fact, it is seriously good on many points ! THD is not only excellent at 0.00021%, but even better than specs (
0.0008%), and effectively lower than my Matrix with XLR. Both Noise and DR are also quite respectable for results from unbalanced outputs, and again above manufacturer's specs (
112dB SNR). Just looking at these numbers, I cannot really see any issue to speak about. With an AP, this could land in the 110dB+ SINAD territory. Sure, we do not reach the same level of performance of the best Chinese DACs, but for what it is : a product designed from scratch by a classic manufacturer, it is surprising in a good way.
| Left | Right |
THD, % | 0.00020 | 0.00022 |
THD + Noise, % | 0.00049 | 0.00049 |
THD + Noise (A-weighted), % | 0.00047 | 0.00049 |
| Left | Right |
From 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB | -1.38, +0.03 | -1.39, +0.02 |
From 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB | -0.15, +0.03 | -0.16, +0.02 |
| Left | Right |
RMS power, dB | -115.6 | -115.8 |
RMS power (A-weighted), dB | -116.8 | -117.0 |
Peak level, dB FS | -101.3 | -102.2 |
DC offset, % | -0.0 | +0.0 |
| Left | Right |
Dynamic range, dB | +114.3 | +114.3 |
Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB | +115.5 | +115.3 |
DC offset, % | -0.00 | +0.00 |
| Left | Right |
IMD + Noise at 5000 Hz, | 0.00063 | 0.00062 |
IMD + Noise at 10000 Hz, | 0.00061 | 0.00057 |
IMD + Noise at 15000 Hz, | 0.00064 | 0.00060 |
| Left | Right |
IMD + Noise, % | 0.00070 | 0.00069 |
IMD + Noise (A-weighted), % | 0.00050 | 0.00049 |
| Left | Right |
Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB | -109 | -110 |
Crosstalk at 1000 Hz, dB | -110 | -110 |
Crosstalk at 10000 Hz, dB | -112 | -107 |
The SACD 30n nailed almost any test, except for a few. First is the simple Frequency Response, that you see with the two filters measured, instead of L/R channels (perfect match between both anyway). Filter 1 brings too much drop from 10Khz and above, that I assume is there on purpose. Filter 2 on the other hand, is audibly convenient, while not the flattest around (-0.5dB at 18Khz). Dynamic Range showed a bit of weird behaviour, with spikes at upper frequencies that I'm not used to see in this test. Shape usually remains the same in both Noise and DR tests. THD+N is quite decent with no audible flaw. There is also a repeatable peak at 100Hz I cannot explain (about -125/-130dB) that is quiet enough anyway.
Let's see what is the deal with both S/PDIF inputs:
USB VS Optical VS Coaxial
Test | USB | Optical | Coaxial |
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.03, -0.15 | +0.03, -0.16 | +0.03, -0.16 |
Noise level, dB (A) | -116.9 | -116.9 | -116.8 |
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 115.4 | 115.1 | 115.3 |
THD, % | 0.00021 | 0.00021 | 0.00021 |
IMD + Noise, % | 0.00070 | 0.00072 | 0.00071 |
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -111.0 | -111.1 | -110.9 |
No difference whatsoever. As it has to be expected for any properly designed DAC.
Test | Preamp @1V | Preamp @1.7V | Preamp @2.7V | Preamp @3.5V | Preamp @4.5V |
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.03, -0.18 | +0.03, -0.18 | +0.03, -0.18 | +0.03, -0.18 | +0.03, -0.18 |
Noise level, dB (A) | -112.5 | -114.7 | -114.9 | -114.9 | -115.0 |
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 111.6 | 113.4 | 113.6 | 113.7 | 113.7 |
THD, % | 0.00131 | 0.00480 | 0.00410 | 0.00358 | 0.00316 |
IMD + Noise, % | 0.00180 | 0.00442 | 0.00382 | 0.00341 | 0.00309 |
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -102.2 | -102.6 | -102.0 | -101.9 | -102.0 |
Here is the variable output that uses a dedicated preamp circuit. It is an old school analogue approach as opposite to the most common digital attenuation. Yet, volume is still digitally controled, which is good. About that: unfortunatletly, no front panel button will work for the volume, you have to use the remote for that. I hope it could be considered to be add this with further firmware updates. Output may go up to 5Vrms, which is suitable to drive many power amps these days. Results are very consistent between levels measured, except for THD that moves up and down. It is effectively less clean than the fixed output, with <1Khz distortion added. Harmonics >1Khz are still acceptably restrained at -100dB or so. Overall, I call it suitable for transparent music listening.
Test | @1V Low Gain | @2.7V Mid Gain | @4.5V High Gain |
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB | +0.03, -0.15 | +0.03, -0.16 | +0.03, -0.16 |
Noise level, dB (A) | -114.6 | -115.5 | -116.9 |
Dynamic range, dB (A) | 113.8 | 114.4 | 115.5 |
THD, % | 0.00061 | 0.00245 | 0.012 |
IMD + Noise, % | 0.00111 | 0.00265 | 0.012 |
Stereo crosstalk, dB | -77.9 | -74.0 | -74.3 |
Still no extensive tests for the headphones output, with the lack of load board.... At few fixed levels measured, results are very good when using the Low Gain setting. Mid Gain also showed fairly acceptable results, while High Gain has strong output (I still had -2dBFS signal even with Cosmos set to 6.5Vrms input) at the expense of too much distortion. Marantz claims only "50mW / 32Ω" with is anemic. I'm sure, tho, that it could be measured as more powerful. For all Gain and volume, crosstalk has gone up quite significantly (TRS's shared GND for L/R the reason?).
We meet again the sidebands already observed in the 1Khz THD+N graph. Fortunately, their level is way too low to be any kind of audible consideration. S/PDIF (both Coax and Toslink) has overall lower peaks and noise floor, but add two little bumps that I'm not worrying about considering their level. Clearly, Jitter is not an issue at all with the SACD 30n.
Results are nothing short of excellent and one of the best I measured from any DAC with single ended outputs.
Conclusions
At this point, some of you may think about questioning the competitiveness of the Marantz SACD 30n. Does it measure better than some DACs at 1/4 of the cost? Nope. But again, that is not the point of this review. I assume that ASR is not the ideal target audience for this kind of "classic" audiophile products. Yet, my concern is to know if Marantz customers would get scammed spending 3000€ for a good-looking, Japan made, but improperly engineered or intentionally flawed piece of gear. Good news: they won't. The SACD 30n measures well, with no flaws from a technical standpoint. Furthermore, when knowing that it is a complete in-house design for its D/A conversion, then I almost call it excellence. Others things to be considered, it works well with plenty of features, it is well-built with tons of components and will probably last longer than some competitors.
In any case, I would like to address my gratitude to Sound United (AKA Denon/Marantz) for sending me this unit and that way, consenting to third-party verification. This is the kind of transparent behaviour we should expect from any manufacturer.
Flanker rating: Competent