kle Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Hi All Cd player hookup up analog or digital cable which one has better sound? please advise. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 It depends on a lot of things, one being which device has the better DAC. My best friend had a really nice Sony ES CD player for years and always had it connected with an optical digital cable to his receiver. After he got divorced, moved, etc. I suggested he use the analog outputs on the CD player. He said everything sounded quite a bit better. Virtually all CD players' analog and digital outputs will work at the same time so the best thing you can do is connect both of them at the same time and flip back and forth between analog and digital on your receiver and see which one you prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 I quite agree with wuzzzer. For instance, the Marantz cc4003 and cd5004 have a quite nice Cirrus CS4392 converter. Although they have both analog and digital out, you would have to have an extremely high end DAC to beat that Cirrus DAC. You would use the analog. Better yet, just plug your headphones into the front and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 agreed with above... how about trying both, optical and RCA, and decide for yourself which you like better??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 Here is an assortment of answers; 1) Doesn't matter they all sound the same barring technical issues related to the connection like ground loops etc. 2) Depends on the CD player and related equipment as to which combination will have the best sound. I have some ground issues, and a reciever with an excellent DAC, so I use a Toslink optical digital cable (no ground connection) between them. 3) Headphone circuit of most devices isn't intended for serious use, buy a good headphone amp and find the optimal way to hook it up. Fixed level line outputs from my DAC are what worked best for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted September 15, 2011 Share Posted September 15, 2011 ... 3) Headphone circuit of most devices isn't intended for serious use, buy a good headphone amp and find the optimal way to hook it up. Fixed level line outputs from my DAC are what worked best for me. That is another topic, but definitely worth discussing. Are you saying the amp inside the CD is inferior, or the headphone isn't in the circuit of the DAC the analog outs in the rear are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 ... 3) Headphone circuit of most devices isn't intended for serious use, buy a good headphone amp and find the optimal way to hook it up. Fixed level line outputs from my DAC are what worked best for me. That is another topic, but definitely worth discussing. Are you saying the amp inside the CD is inferior, or the headphone isn't in the circuit of the DAC the analog outs in the rear are? Even though the headphone circuit is coming off a split from the output of the DAC, the amplifier driving the headphones is often a cheap circuit. I wouldn't expect quality from anything not marketing the quality of the headphone amp. That's not to say everything sounds bad, even including the cheap solutions, but it's definitely something to watch out for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.H.E. Droid Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I agree with the others. I have connected my cd player with both coaxial digital cable and optical, but it sounds better with the analog outputs, most likely because the Adcom's CD player has a better DAC than my A/V receiver. Speaking of DAC's, I get surprisingly good sound from my old Toshiba DVD player which has a good audio DAC in it, which was kind of a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 A common included headphone circuit is an opamp with a current limiting resistor and a very inexpensive socket. A decent headphone amplifier is actually a small high quality amplifier. I think the reasoning is that at least traditionally nobody actually listened to music via headphone so much as monitored a signal, so anything that "worked" was adequate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Here is an assortment of answers; 1) Doesn't matter they all sound the same barring technical issues related to the connection like ground loops etc. 2) Depends on the CD player and related equipment as to which combination will have the best sound. I have some ground issues, and a reciever with an excellent DAC, so I use a Toslink optical digital cable (no ground connection) between them. I'll add another... 3) If your speakers are set to small, use the digital connection. The analog output would need to be redigitised to apply bass management filters in the digital domain anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.