kantro21 Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 I have for quite some time been using the coax digital out on my cd player, but have been wondering why the heck I have a built in d/a converter. Does analog sound smoother even on a normal cd player (not sacd)? My converter is 1 bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted October 8, 2002 Share Posted October 8, 2002 This primarily speaks to the quality of the digital-to-analog converters (DACS) in the CD player and the preamp/receiver. Using the digital ouput uses the DACs in your receiver/preamp to decode. Analog output uses the CD player's DACS. Without know the makes/models involved, it is difficult to say which may provide the better resolution. Can you hear a difference? DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted October 12, 2002 Share Posted October 12, 2002 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 Avman stop using your Sony Playstation as a DAC. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 lol, PS2. I am using only analog right now in my system. Even for surround. Not only a nice sound, but oldschool style and not all wannabee audiophile suburb type kinda interconnect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted October 13, 2002 Share Posted October 13, 2002 I have a basic Sony 300 CD changer and my $300 Sony receiver. I use digital out because I think it get more bass responce (using headphones and speakers), so I am sticking with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuel Delaflor Posted October 14, 2002 Share Posted October 14, 2002 The problem with the mayority of DAC's is that they leave spurious "blocks" on the high frequencies. One should always use the better DAC available. The difficult part is that you need an oscilloscope to see which is better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted October 14, 2002 Share Posted October 14, 2002 If you need a scope to tell the difference, there isn't any!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted October 14, 2002 Share Posted October 14, 2002 lol, you need a scope to see your DNA, and if there is something a micron off, you end up riding the short bus to school! same for audio DACS. lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prana-Bindu Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 If your ears can't tell you which unit's DAC is better, a good indicator may be the age of each unit. Digital to analog conversion technology has made some huge strides in very little time. As such, the younger unit may be the best one to use to convert digital to analog. Another thing to consider, if your system is revealing enough, is the effects of digital jitter caused by sending the digital signal to a separate unit for conversion. Using the coaxial output (and any toslink output as well), requires the CD player to encode the signal in S/PDIF format to send to an offboard DAC. This encoding and the subsequently necessary decoding cause small timing errors that can degrade the sound. Conversion from digital to analog requires the arrangement/placement of the converted units of sound in temporal relationship to each other. Timing error (jitter) basically causes the right note to be played at the wrong time. Of course, this error is usually not very obvious unless you can compare a degraded signal with a less degraded signal with competent equipment. The answer to this source of jitter is to use the CD player's DAC or to use a jitter filter between the CD-player-being-used-as-a-transport and the unit containing the DAC. I love me some jitter talk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STL Posted October 15, 2002 Share Posted October 15, 2002 I use my the digital out, but that has been part of the plan. Back when I bought the 5-disc carousel I opted to get the non-ES model (and saved some $) since it had digital output. I knew that I would eventually be replacing my A/V rec'r. Sure enough several years later I bought Sony ES rec'r, and since it's has much better D/A circuitry I started using the digital out on my CD player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kantro21 Posted October 16, 2002 Author Share Posted October 16, 2002 Well, I've switched over to analog, and i must say it does sound smoother, and the bass is much tighter. One thing i did notice is that the imaging doesn't seem as strong, but i h aven't really messed around with my speaker placement, so I guess I'll have to see. I'm going to stick with analog for my two channel enjoyment for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted October 19, 2002 Share Posted October 19, 2002 analog is much more ill than digital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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