Well, let's not get into the whole "level these components are at based on price" debacle right now -- I've always felt, after Anamorphic put me onto it, that the 8555 is an underpriced, overbuilt and underrated serious machine that shouldn't be discounted by the audiophile community; they seem to be doing the same with these C390s, though I've never heard it.
I run an older Onkyo CD changer with my system that uses
Apogee Stage speakers. There is nothing wrong with the sound from my Onkyo changer, and I doubt they have made the new model sound bad.
Yes -- Wolfson is what I meant...thanks...
Does that mean it should, theoretically, crank out some decent sound?
It should sound great.
Yes, I understand that, but then one can argue why do they include it on multichannel receivers? I mean, digital DVD and BD players have their own onboard DACs as well, and they also offer digital outs to match to AVRs and processors -- is the difference just between the multitude of separate cabling needed to connect DVD/BD players as opposed to the left/right stereo audio jacks from a CD player?
Regardless, let's talk more about this -- sure, digital players like CD changers and single disc units have their own DACs, but stereo receiver/integrated amp manufacturers take the stance then that the players will definitely offer better DACs than the receiver or amp's digital interfaces would preface, would they not? Why not offer the option?
In other words, what I'm saying is, why do stereo connection devices like receivers or integrated amps only offer analog inputs for connecting devices like CD players? Isn't this assuming that the player must employ "better" conversion methods/internals?
You have asked multiple questions, and I see that you have already gotten some of these answers from someone else already, but:
Many people who favor 2 channel systems run analog only, and would be put off by having any digital processing in it at all.
Having a digital input adds cost to an otherwise analog device. And if all sources have at least a two channel analog output, there is little (or nothing) to be gained from having it in the 2 channel receiver.
With multichannel, you are correct that it would be inconvenient to hook up all of the analog connections.
With multichannel, they often process the sound digitally, for bass management, delays, etc., and it would be very inconvenient to set up each source separately, which is what you would have to do (in most cases) if you used a switch box to hook up everything via multichannel analog inputs.
With multichannel, if the processing for bass management, etc., is digital, all analog inputs must be converted to digital for processing, so it is theoretically bad to convert your digital sources to analog and then back to digital for processing and then back to analog for actually hearing it. It is theoretically better to just do one conversion (though in practice, it may not make an audible difference, it certainly isn't going to improve the sound).
Most DVD and BD players do not have all of the conversion necessary for all of the source formats to be heard via analog output in their full glory. My BD player, for example, has only 2 channel analog outputs, which is fine, because I only use the HDMI output anyway. I did not want to pay more for having all of the conversion in the player, since I would not use it in the player anyway.
If there are new decoders made available, if it were done in the players, then you would have to replace all of your players to get the new decoding, whereas if it is done in the receiver/processor, you only need to replace the receiver/processor. This is primarily relevant to multichannel sound, so it is not an argument in favor of putting decoders in 2 channel receivers.
I imagine there are some other reasons, though this is what comes immediately to mind.
Also, there have been some 2 channel receivers and integrated amplifiers with digital inputs, but they are relatively rare. For example, Philips made some expensive 2 channel integrated amplifiers with digital inputs circa 1990.
