Denon 3805 and 2910 (or 3910) questions

P

pbarach1

Audioholic
I have a Denon 3805; I use it for SACD, CD, and DVD playback. I'm considering the purchase of either the Denon 2910 or 3910 DVD player.

It's my understanding that I need Denon Link Third Edition to transmit SACD audio to the receiver digitally. D-Link would do better than an analog connection only if the receiver had better DAC's than the CD player, correct? So which has better DAC's, the 3910 player or the 3805 receiver? If the DAC's are equivalent,

If I read Denon's literature correctly, the 3910 has D-Link 3 (permitting digital transmission of SACD audio signals), but the 2910 has only D-Link 2; is that correct?

However, if I'm wrong and the 2910 has D-Link 3, then I'll ask the same question as I've asked above: Which has better DAC's, the 2910 or the 3805?
 
J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
I believe the dacs in the 3805 and 2910 are the same (Burr Brown 1791's) whereas the 3910 uses the 1796's. The 3910 should sound better.

But what's the big deal? Isn't the Denonlink cable included with the 3910? You can get a good set of analogs for $20-$30. For the kind of money you're spending, I say do your own audition, in your own setting, with your own equipment and speakers. That's half the fun of av equipment...setup and tweaking for your own environment. On paper, the 3910 has better dacs though. Cheers.
 
MACCA350

MACCA350

Audioholic Chief
I always thought the benefits of the Denon Link for use with DVD-A and SACD was that you could use the room EQ and bass management of the receiver in the same way as you do with DD and DTS tracks.

cheers:)
 
J

Johnd

Audioholic Samurai
That's one of the benefits, Macca. But I was responding directly to pb's question, which had only to do with dacs and signal transfer. But your point is worth consideration too (even though pb did not raise it). Cheers.
 
P

pbarach1

Audioholic
Johnd said:
That's one of the benefits, Macca. But I was responding directly to pb's question, which had only to do with dacs and signal transfer. But your point is worth consideration too (even though pb did not raise it). Cheers.
Yes, Macca, thanks for mentioning this; I didn't realize this was the case. From posts I've read elsewhere on the internet, it sounds like as soon as the listener adds room EQ and/or bass management on the 3805, then the incoming D-link digital signal gets converted from DSD to PCM...
 
MACCA350

MACCA350

Audioholic Chief
Yes, Macca, thanks for mentioning this; I didn't realize this was the case. From posts I've read elsewhere on the internet, it sounds like as soon as the listener adds room EQ and/or bass management on the 3805, then the incoming D-link digital signal gets converted from DSD to PCM...
I wasn't aware of that(I assume this only applies to SACD), do you have any links to further info about this? Wouldn't that mean that if you use the player to decode and send out the analogue connections this DSD-PCM conversion is then being done by the player so it can apply bass management? Using the D-Link, is the player converting the DSD to PCM and then being sent to the receiver as PCM or does the signal reach the receiver in the original DSD form over D-Link?

Either way, having the D-Link connection gives you the choice of how you process the sound. I wish my 2200 had the D-link so I could have the choice:(

cheers:)
 
O

ozdvduser

Audioholic Intern
pbarach1 said:
If I read Denon's literature correctly, the 3910 has D-Link 3 (permitting digital transmission of SACD audio signals), but the 2910 has only D-Link 2; is that correct?
One right, one wrong - 3910 has DL3, 2910 has NO DL
 
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