Arcam Radia CD5 Arcam have been making CD players since 1986, when they introduced the Delta 70 — their own ground-up design at a time when most manufacturers were assembling players from bought-in transports and generic electronics. That history matters here. The CD5 is not a peripheral product kept alive for a dwindling market; it is the result of nearly four decades of experience in digital playback, applied to a player designed for those who listen to music on Compact Disc and want to do it properly. The CD5 plays CDs. It also plays CD-R and CD-RW discs, and accepts USB mass storage devices — so a library of FLAC and WAV rips can be played directly without a separate streamer. Hi-res audio playback at up to 96kHz/24-bit is supported for WAV and FLAC files on both disc and USB. ESS ES9018 DAC The ESS ES9018 DAC sits at the heart of the CD5's analogue output stage. It is a serious DAC device — the kind of component that appears in significantly more expensive players — and its presence here is part of what Arcam mean when they say new components and materials were painstakingly reviewed for this design. The result is a signal-to-noise ratio of 115dB at 24-bit depth — a figure that reflects genuine low-noise analogue engineering rather than a marketing claim. For reference, the same player measured against a 16-bit signal yields 93dB SNR — both figures are honest, and both are worth understanding. Outputs One analogue stereo RCA pair, one digital coaxial RCA output, and one digital optical Toslink output. Maximum analogue output level is 2.1V RMS at 0dBFS — enough to drive most integrated amplifiers directly without gain mismatch. The digital outputs allow the CD5 to be used as a transport feeding an external DAC, which extends its usefulness into more ambitious systems. USB Mass Storage The USB-A input accepts mass storage devices carrying WAV, FLAC, MP3, AAC, and WMA files. Supported sample rates extend to 96kHz for WAV and FLAC, with 88.2kHz also supported. Standard MP3, AAC, and WMA files play at their native sample rates. For those with a substantial library of ripped CDs or downloaded files, this turns the CD5 into a dual-purpose source component. Technical Specifications Specification Value Supported media CD (Audio), CD-R (Audio/Data), CD-RW (Audio/Data), USB-A (Data) Supported files (Data) WAV (LPCM), FLAC, MP3, AAC, WMA Supported bit depths 16-bit, 24-bit Supported sample rates 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2 (WAV & FLAC only), 96kHz (WAV & FLAC only) DAC ESS ES9018 Outputs 1 × Analogue Stereo RCA pair, 1 × Digital S/PDIF Coaxial RCA, 1 × Digital S/PDIF Optical Toslink Frequency response (filter 1) 20Hz–20kHz ±0.05dB Max analogue output (0dBFS) 2.1V RMS SNR (A-wtd, ref. 16-bit/24-bit, 0dBFS) 93dB / 115dB Mains voltage AC 100–240V, 50/60Hz Power consumption (maximum) 12W Power consumption (standby)
