RE: Ask an Audio geek
April 11, 2016 at 9:37 pm
(This post was last modified: April 11, 2016 at 9:46 pm by Kosh.)
Another real kicker is that digital systems can sound different from one another. If you go with the assumption that digital is perfect reproduction of the source material, then the DAC should make no difference in the sound quality. That is definitely not the case.
Most stand alone CD players have a coax digital output on them that bypasses the internal DAC. Connect that to a coax digital input on your receiver, and then connect the L/R analog outputs on the CD player to the receiver. You'll be able to do a direct A/B comparison between the CD player DAC and the Receiver DAC by switching inputs. The differences are sometimes not so subtle. That being said, I think the DAC market is mostly snake oil. I've heard DACS in the five digit range that sound no different to me than DACS in many HT receivers (Yamaha Aventage, Marantz, Denon, Anthem, Rotel, etc).
The only time I would recommend buying a stand alone DAC is to connect a digital system to a 2-channel analog audio system. For people using a decent brand HT receiver, I recommend using HDMI from the PC to the receiver. Coax or optical digital works fine on older receivers without HDMI. Set the PC playback software to bitstreaming, and your done.
Most stand alone CD players have a coax digital output on them that bypasses the internal DAC. Connect that to a coax digital input on your receiver, and then connect the L/R analog outputs on the CD player to the receiver. You'll be able to do a direct A/B comparison between the CD player DAC and the Receiver DAC by switching inputs. The differences are sometimes not so subtle. That being said, I think the DAC market is mostly snake oil. I've heard DACS in the five digit range that sound no different to me than DACS in many HT receivers (Yamaha Aventage, Marantz, Denon, Anthem, Rotel, etc).
The only time I would recommend buying a stand alone DAC is to connect a digital system to a 2-channel analog audio system. For people using a decent brand HT receiver, I recommend using HDMI from the PC to the receiver. Coax or optical digital works fine on older receivers without HDMI. Set the PC playback software to bitstreaming, and your done.
“Understanding is a three edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth.”
