The award-winning Primare BD32 received world-wide acclaim by establishing elevated standards of high resolution audio and video replay. The new BD32 MkII builds on this excellent platform by including 4K upscaling and Netflix support, combined with further improved power supply design for even lower noise.
The BD32 MkII is a high quality true multi-format/multi-channel Blu-ray, DVD, CD, SACD and DVD-A disc player combined with a high performance media player. It has the ability to convert any audio format to PCM or play them in their native formats, including DSD. The built-in media player can reproduce files (music, video, pictures) at up to 24/192 resolution from USB and DLNA compatible sources via a wired network, and Wi Fi with the USB dongle supplied.
The BD32 MkII is equipped with a proprietary Primare audio stage, multiple custom engineered power supplies, a superior user interface, and comprehensive input and control functions.
Audiophile Topology: Audio:
The Primare audio circuit is capable of decoding all native audio formats including DSD, Dolby True HD and DTS Master audio. It has a fully-balanced stereo (XLR) output, an unbalanced stereo RCA output, and an 8-channel unbalanced RCA (7.1 multi-channel) output.
The stereo output circuitry uses the flagship Crystal DSD DAC CS4398 in conjunction with Primare’s signature fully-balanced analogue output stage comprising Burr-Brown OPA2134 OP-Amps, WIMA and EPCOS polypropylene filter capacitors and large MELF resistors; and a single-ended output stage comprising a single MOSFET transistor fed by an active current source rather than passive resistors. As in the BD32, the SACD (DSD) circuit has its own dedicated relay-controlled-filter signal path.
The multi-channel output stage is a scaled-down version of the stereo output stage,
driven by a Crystal CS4382A multi-channel DSD DAC in conjunction with an analogue stage comprising Burr Brown OPA2134 OP-Amps, WIMA and NPO SMD capacitors and large MELF resistors.
Extremely low inductance Sanyo OS-con capacitors and locally placed voltage regulators are used where required on the DAC board.
The mute circuits are entirely relay-controlled, which is an audiophile approach, unlike the bipolar transistors and MOSFET switches commonly used for muting.
Together these engineering choices result in a very high quality audio stage. Noise and THD are extremely low according to the objectives of Primare design.
Audiophile topology – Video:
The BD32 MkII adds 4K (3840 x 2160) up-scaling capabilities to all video sources,
transforming picture definition with four times the resolution of Full HD 1080p.
HDMI 1 is the primary output, run by the Marvell Qdeo Kyoto-G2 video processor for up-scaling and video adjustment functions, as well as aspect ratio conversion (stretch zoom) to 2.35:1 (with anamorphic lens). If the A/V processor in the main zone is 3D (HDMI 1.4a) compatible then audio and video may be sent via HDMI 1. If the A/V processor is not 3D compatible then HDMI 1 video output can be sent to the display while HDMI 2 carries the HD audio (including DSD, Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio) simultaneously to the processor.
Audiophile topology – Power Supply:
In the BD32 MkII Primare has further isolated the power supplies for transport, video board and display from the sensitive audio section by using individual power supplies for each of these sections.
We use a separate master switch mode power supply for the mech/video/display section and a very quiet C-core transformer for the audio section, similar to that deployed by our reference PRE60 preamplifier.
The BD32 MkII’s analogue power supply utilises an expanded 82000uF capacitor bank (larger than its predecessor), split between many smaller 2200 and 4700uF capacitors for lower ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance). Power is first pre-regulated by LM317/337 regulators and then fed to a super-fast, entirely discrete regulation circuit placed as close as possible to the analogue side of the DAC board.
DSD File Support:
BD32 MkII is capable of playing DSD files via USB hard drives, USB thumb drives, and SMB. The file will need to use either the DFF or DSF file extension, and the supported sampling rate is 2.8224 MHz (DSD64). Both stereo and multi-channel files are supported.
To play DSD files in DFF or DSF format, simply copy the files to a USB hard drive or
thumb drive, plug in the drive to one of the USB ports on the BD32MkII player, and
browse for the file from the “Music” entry on the player’s Home Menu. DSD files shared via SMB can be accessed from the “Network” entry on the player’s Home Menu.
User interface:
The BD32 MkII incorporates the white OLED display that has proved so popular with I32 and CD32 owners. The colour of the OLED can be changed to Primare green. As with all Primare products, the front panel’s display circuitry is isolated from the sensitive audio/video signal circuits by a discrete section of the player’s aluminium chassis.
