Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo THE CD FACTOR

1
Yes, a "bit" better.....[no pun intended].
2
I'll have to pass on this, maybe someone else knows more.
3
I use a digital coaxial cable, and analog cables to connect my Sony cd-sacd-dvd player.

i could be wrong, but the optical cable JUST carries the digital signal(DTS, DD, etc) and has nothing to do with a normal x and o signal from a regular cd.. ?? as far as i am aware, it should not improve or upgrade the sound of a basic cd..

someone please slap me on the wrist here if i am giving bad info...?

i guess one way for him to figure this out would be to disconnect the analog(red&white) cables, and see what kind of sound he gets then from a cd, if any?

bigjohn

The optical is good for older players that have older DAC's.
This way you can take advantage of the DAC's in the receiver.

You are completely wrong.

The optical/coax digital outs carry the 1s and 0s directly from the disk. They are not capable (due to software or hardware limitations, big debate over that one...) of carrying DTS, DD, or other full 5.1 channel surround.

Smack!

If the DACs in the player are complete and total crap, using the optical out with a receiver with good DACs may well improve the sound.

Actually, they can carry DTS-encoded audio just fine. As a matter of fact, DTS requires a digital connection to your amp.

Smackola!!!

hey now, i dont wanna start a slap fest out there

but now i am really confused.. i thought that you absolutely HAD to have the optical cable to get the DTS, DD, etc?? peter, i think you agree with me on that??

but, i also thought the optical cable didnt carry any of the analog signal.. wait, i am just confusing myself more here..

so, if i was to hook my cd player to my receiver with nothing but my optical link, then it will still play cd's just fine(even better), is that right??

just when i think i know something?!!!!?

bigjohn

that's correct. The optical/digital cable carries ONLY a digital signal, which your receiver translate to analog using its (guess what?) D/A converter.

OK...

1. The optical cable just carries the bits. The decoding on DVD-A and SACD is done by the player and is outputted on the 5.1 analog outputs. The DTS and DD from a DVD-V are carried over digital. The DTS on a DTS CD is carried over digital. Me get confused and forget stuff. *smack*

2. The optical cable does not carry the analog signal.

3. The CD player would be fine. An SACD player or DVD-A player would not be fine.

Sorry for my stupid reply above... wasn't thinking...

ok, thanks ya'll for gettin me straight.. i thought i was about to have to scrap everyting i thought i knew!!

i am better now

bigjohn

The older DACs are not necessarily worse.

Call me crazy. I'm currently using a 20 years old Studer CD player because I love its warm and musical sound. I compared it with a Philips 963 SACD player. Using the same CD, Philips sounds more detailed, but Studer sounds way more musical and more enjoyable to listen to.

This may be personal taste after all. =)