Digital out to Zone 2 - anything coming?

[drinke]

Has anyone seen anything in the mid-tier receiver lines (perhaps at CES) that would allow digital signals out to a zone 2 or 3?

Am thinking about replacing an older Yamaha (I think 5 or 6 years old) to give me some needed versatility in the 2nd zone, but would like to avoid a big expense (I'd say anywhere from 400-800 is reasonable) and the need for multiple cables.

I read somewhere that only the current higher end models allow for this - but am wondering if this might start working its way into lower models as well.

I've been pretty brand loyal to Yamaha - but would consider others as well - if it matters.

 

[strube]

I too have hoped for this, but I can't say that I have heard anything about it.

 

[bandphan]

There are some in the Market but your starting price is going to be over 2k. Why the need for the digital signals?

 

[strube]

There are some in the Market but your starting price is going to be over 2k. Why the need for the digital signals?

Well I have some in ceiling speakers from my PC for zone 2 and some on walls for my office area. The digital output feeds the on walls, so there isn't much concern for lower quality output, but for zone 2, the DAC for the onboard sound isn't that great - you can hear a bit of feedback from various things inside the case. I could buy a nice soundcard and alleviate this issue (I have one in my PC at school) but it would be nice if I didn't have to, because the software is buggy and somewhat annoying. I would simply prefer a cheap AVR with this feature, not that it is a huge deal.

 

[drinke]

and maybe I am losing it a bit, but whether real or imagined, I feel I can hear a bit of a difference between analog and digital -

Its not critical, just preferred if its cost effective.

Plus - and maybe my thinking is wrong on this - but my understanding is that if I wanted to play digital to all zones simultaneously via a CD for example, I could do that with one cable. But when I want to switch and play the CD in zone 2 only, I can only do so in analog. I am thinking this might mean I would need multiple sets of cables from the source to the receiver given my preference - and that could get pretty messy. But perhaps I need to be educated a little more on this point -