<font color='#000000'>I'm totally confused about whether it's worth getting a digital front-end with firewire. I skipped buying the Denon 5900 in favor of the 2900 thinking that the extra $1200 I would have to pay for digital interconnects that might or might not be relevant 2-3 years from now when I buy HDTV was a poor investment. Then I started having second thoughts about the value of firewire for SACD. The new Pioneer 59ai has that and it's only $800 more than the 2900 (I can upgrade to the Pioneer at no penalty). My B&K Ref 30 will ultimately be capable of firewire (it has a jack but no card; they'll offer it as an upgrade when "there's an industry standard"
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But meanwhile, I'm starting to hear about HDMI (as on the Pioneer) and wondering if that will cover hi-res audio as well and if firewire has come and gone without really being here. I'd much prefer doing all the signal processing in my preamp if possible.
Does anyone have any insight into what's going on with firewire for audio? Is there going to be a standard? Will players like the Pioneer be software-upgradeable to run it?</font>
