Receivers DAC or CD players DAC????

[Newfiestang50]

Hello forum, just wondering which unit might be better to perform the D/A conversion, my CD player or my Receiver? My Cd player is the Sony SCD-C2000ES and the receiver is a Yamaha RX-V2600. Right now i have the cd player connected via the optical digital connection dut just wondering if maybe it will sound better connected through the analog RCA cables and let the receiver do the conversion. Your thoughts please before i give it a try. Thanks.

 

[AudioSeer]

just wondering if maybe it will sound better connected through the analog RCA cables and let the receiver do the conversion.

If you are using analog from the CDP, the CDP is doing the D/A conversion.

Personally I prefer to run analog out from the CDP and put the receiver in direct mode, but you are not going to know for sure until you hook it up and A/B between them. There are too many other variables at play here.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hello forum, just wondering which unit might be better to perform the D/A conversion, my CD player or my Receiver? My Cd player is the Sony SCD-C2000ES and the receiver is a Yamaha RX-V2600. Right now i have the cd player connected via the optical digital connection dut just wondering if maybe it will sound better connected through the analog RCA cables and let the receiver do the conversion. Your thoughts please before i give it a try. Thanks.

No reason why that Yam would not do a great job of D/A conversion. Best to run the digital domain signals as far as possible.

 

[The13thGryphon]

Hello forum, just wondering which unit might be better to perform the D/A conversion, my CD player or my Receiver? My Cd player is the Sony SCD-C2000ES and the receiver is a Yamaha RX-V2600. Right now i have the cd player connected via the optical digital connection dut just wondering if maybe it will sound better connected through the analog RCA cables and let the receiver do the conversion. Your thoughts please before i give it a try. Thanks.

That's going to depend on the quality of the DAC's in each unit, and what each unit might add or subtract from the signal after it is converted to analog. The only way to know for sure is to hook up both pathways, and switch back and forth between them to see which you like better... or whether you can even hear a difference.

 

[j_garcia]

The 2000 ES is said to be an updated version of the 222ES that I have and I find the DACs to be pretty decent. In stereo, my receiver's DACs are a little better likely due to the fact that in stereo, it cascades the DACs from all the channels for a very clean sound, so I normally let the receiver take care of it. Prior to the 8300, the 222ES's DACs sounded better than any of my receivers. For redbook, the receiver is doing bass management regardless of digital or analog, so pick the one that sounds better to you.

For SACD, you'll have no choice but to use analog.

 

[tbewick]

Personally, I feel the differences in performance of two good digital systems would be difficult to detect. I would put acoustics, the quality of the recording, and the speakers, as the largest sources of distortion.

As I said in an earlier post, it isn't really that surprising if you hear a difference between the two interfaces, seeing as one is digital and the other is analogue. The digital interface should be more resistant to noise and distortion than the analogue one.

 

[claudermilk]

I'd tend to agree. I played with switching between using my receiver DAC & DVD player DAC & really couldn't hear a difference. FWIW, that was a Marantz 5400 & Denon 2200. As long as you have good equipment, the speakers & setup will make more difference than which DAC you're using.