The P1 Phono Stage has just received its latest Firmware update (V1.10) and this time the improvements are operational, related to the variable EQ option.
As any P1 owners who looked longingly at the P10 when it was launched will know, the flagship Phono Stage offers not just a new circuit topology, but new facilities too, including extra curves in the replay EQ option and a couple of important operational niceties. Now, those niceties apply to the P1 as well. No, sadly it is impossible to add the extra replay curves. But what we can and have added is the selectable Neumann pole and the switchable screen colours to indicate alternative EQ settings.
The P1 has always offered the Neumann pole option on RIAA replay (designated e-RIAA). The new Firmware update allows users to select the Neumann pole with any of the available replay curves, an important extension to the unit’s versatility. At the same time, if you select an alternative, non-RIAA replay EQ, the screen colour changes as a visual reminder of the non-standard setting. Useful when switching EQ using the Control App, it also reminds you if a non-RIAA curve is set when you restart the system.
The Firmware update is of course free and can be downloaded from the P1 page of the CH website and installed in the usual way via the USB Firmware Upgrade port.