POW, POW, POW!
The Cen.Grand GLD1.0 Deluxe Media Player was engineered with a single, uncompromising objective: to deliver the highest‑integrity, highest‑bit‑rate digital audio transmission possible. With modern high‑resolution formats reaching DSD1024, any next‑generation digital source must move data with absolute precision and without compromise.
Despite the abundance of digital interfaces in consumer audio, very few can technically meet these demands.
To overcome these constraints, Cen.Grand developed PoW (Parting of the Ways) - a proprietary transmission protocol engineered specifically for high‑bit‑rate, high‑fidelity digital audio.
Why PCIe Unlocks a New Level of High-Fidelity Playback – and How It Differs from USB?
Most audio systems today use USB Protocol to transmit data between the music player’s CPU and the Digital Processing Unit. It’s convenient, but the USB protocol was never designed for Hi-End, uncompromising sound. USB works by sending packets of data across a shared bus. If something is delayed or lost, the system resends it — fine for printers or hard drives, but not ideal for real-time music. Those retransmissions and buffering add timing errors, noise, and jitter that blur fine musical detail.
This is why a PCIe-based player like the Cen.Grand GLD1.0 sounds more natural with improved imaging and micro-dynamics that convey the emotion of the music. GLD1.0 departs completely from the USB connection protocol in two ways:
Internally: PCIe protocol is used for the communication between the CPU and the Digital Processing Unit
Externally: POW (Parting-of-the-Ways) protocol is used for connection between GLD1.0 and the DAC (DSDAC1.0 Deluxe-P) - data via Optical Fibre and clock via BNC Coaxial cables.