general digital music question...

[Schu]

For digital music 2 channel listening, I am currently running a Oppo 93 as a front end and out putting via HDMI to my receiver... how is everyone else transferring the signals to there amplifiers?

Optical, HDMI, or unbalanced RCA?

the reason I am asking is because I tried the analog RCA solution last night hoping the DAC in the Oppo would improve sound but it was not very close to HDMI in terms of the lower register delivery... mids and highs were very similar, perhaps slightly less clear with RCA but not as granulated as HDMI.

is this as good as it's going to get or are there other "set up" type solutions that might get me another few percentage points closer to ideal?

I've never tried the optical output on my Oppo and frankly I am not really sure which output of the three uses the Oppo DACs and which bypasses the on board DAC.

[Budman]

on my family room oppo-103 i'm using hdmi output #1 to my receiver and then hdmi out from the receiver to the tv. i'm also using hdmi output #2 from oppo out to my tv.

i'm also using optical out from tv to optical in on receiver

just got my second oppo-103 this week and i have hdmi out from oppo to tv and optical to my sunfire pre-amp. been looking at my sunfire manual and its says if i use hdmi to my pre i could lose on screen menu. still looking into this.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Budman

[Schu]

ahem... thanks.

anyone else?

[Thaddeus Smith]

I assume you're going through the SC35 in all cases?

HDMI > Receiver means the music stays in the digital domain until the receiver is ready to output to the speakers.

RCA > Receiver means the music goes through the Oppo's DAC, then into the SC35's ADC for digital domain processing (room correction, etc), and then back through the SC35's DAC and out to the speakers.

Optical > Receiver should be the same as using HDMI.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Thaddeus Smith

[Schu]

That^ is kind of what I thought... I use pre outs though.

So then, why does HDMI sound better than RCA... I should be experiencing better quality sound via analog outs and no Pioneer DAC processing shouldn't I?

it's not that RCA sounds bad at all... it's just that currently, unless I find a setting somewhere that changes things, HDMI sounds much better.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Schu

[Thaddeus Smith]

Using preouts doesn't mean you turn off the digital processing.. it just means you redirect audio to the external amp. You're still going DAC>ADC>DAC.

[Thaddeus Smith]

I think you're thinking of old receivers that basically had an analog pass through feature. That typically doesn't exist in modern day receivers, except for some high end options.

[ClaudeJ1]

Oppo 83 SE with the Sabre DAC for 2 channel, which feeds line input on receiver that gets me Audyssey 2.1. Same Oppo's HDMI out to receiver for Audyssey 7.1. Yes, I know I'm converting twice, but who cares when the sound is so much better that way because of Time Domain Compensation for the ROOM, which is the most important component to control.

[Schu]

Using preouts doesn't mean you turn off the digital processing.. it just means you redirect audio to the external amp. You're still going DAC>ADC>DAC.

Hmmmmm...

[Schu]

so then I guess I am over complicating things by worrying which interconnection to use...

[Thaddeus Smith]

so then I guess I am over complicating things by worrying which interconnection to use...

unless you want to go with an analogue preamp to your Bel Canto and bypass the SC35, yes.

[Schu]

I use that for my Phono unfortunately.

[Thaddeus Smith]

I'd just stick with HDMI out of the Oppo and enjoy the music.

[mustang guy]

The oppo 93 has the weaker dac than the pioneer. I have one and run through hdmi to my Integra preamp which has a much better dac. If you owned the oppo 95, then things would be different. XLR to the pioneer and off to the speakers. edit: your pioneer doesn't have xlr, it would be (unbalenced) rca.

Thaddeus, I did not know that analog signals in modern receivers/avr's converted back to digital. I think you'll agree that it's pretty silly. Also silly is that there isn't at least a direct (or passthrough) feature available on all units.

Edited January 30, 2014 by mustang guy

[Thaddeus Smith]

The oppo 93 has the weaker dac than the pioneer. I have one and run through hdmi to my Integra preamp which has a much better dac. If you owned the oppo 95, then things would be different. XLR to the pioneer and off to the speakers. edit: your pioneer doesn't have xlr, it would be (unbalenced) rca.

Thaddeus, I did not know that analog signals in modern receivers/avr's converted back to digital. I think you'll agree that it's pretty silly. Also silly is that there isn't at least a direct (or passthrough) feature available on all units.

I do agree that it's silly. But it comes with the territory if you're going to use an AVR. Even the cheapest AVR's have some sort of room correction and EQ function, which means everything must reside in the digital domain for processing ..even your Nintendo wii, cable box, etc that may be using analog inputs.

Many AVR's have "Direct" and "Pure Direct" modes, but this just disables all of the unnecessary video circuitry; it doesn't magically make everything analog or turn off room correction and EQ.

So it's a choice between settling with over processed audio or buying a bunch of analog components.

[Schu]

Thanks you guys... I got it now.

you all helped out, specially about the weaker DAC syndrome of the Oppo 93(versus say the audiophile version of the Oppo).

indeed, the set up does sound better via HDMI versus RCA analog.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Schu

[psg]

I would think that all AVRs had a mode to bypass EQ, bass management and delays, such that they didn't digitize analog inputs. But it's a moot point if you want to use those.