Quick CD Transport and DAC Question...

Don't slap me for asking a stupid question...please...

Can someone please help me to gain a better understanding of the functionality of both a CD transport and a DAC. I have a basic understanding of how the two work to play a CD but I would like to go a bit deaper.

Thanks.

CDs are digital carriers, the laser reads the digital bits off of the CD and routes it into a digital bitstream. The transport simply spins the disc and reads the data. What happens next depends on how you connect it.

A DAC is needed to convert the digital signal into an analog signal. The CD player has a DAC on board, which converts the signal to analog and routes it through the L/R output on the back. Most newer CD players can also output the digital signal through a digital output. All 5.1 home theater receivers have DACs built in, and they can take the CD player's digital output and decode it. Or the receiver can take the analog output from the CD player.

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Originally Posted by Woochifer

CDs are digital carriers, the laser reads the digital bits off of the CD and routes it into a digital bitstream. The transport simply spins the disc and reads the data. What happens next depends on how you connect it.

A DAC is needed to convert the digital signal into an analog signal. The CD player has a DAC on board, which converts the signal to analog and routes it through the L/R output on the back. Most newer CD players can also output the digital signal through a digital output. All 5.1 home theater receivers have DACs built in, and they can take the CD player's digital output and decode it. Or the receiver can take the analog output from the CD player.

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However when you have a Universal player and you are feeding the 5.1 outputs from it directly into your AVR then are you using the Universals DAC or the recievers DAC when listening to redbook CD's? I have a Denon 2200 Universal and a Denon 3805 that has a Burr-Brown DAC built in. What is the configuration you think I should use to get the best two channel sound possible for listening to Redbook CD's?

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Originally Posted by 20to20K

However when you have a Universal player and you are feeding the 5.1 outputs from it directly into your AVR then are you using the Universals DAC or the recievers DAC when listening to redbook CD's? I have a Denon 2200 Universal and a Denon 3805 that has a Burr-Brown DAC built in. What is the configuration you think I should use to get the best two channel sound possible for listening to Redbook CD's?

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Are you using the RCA outputs or a digital (toslink or coax) out? The simple rule of thumb when determining which DAC you're using is this: If you're using the analog outs (usually RCA, sometimes XLR in higher-end gear), you're hearing the player's DAC. If you're using the digital outs, you're hearing a secondary DAC. This is true of all players, universal or otherwise. With universals, this applies ONLY to 16/44.1 CDs and 24/96 DVDs. SACD and DVD audio are still processed only by the player's DAC, except with several extremely high-priced seperates setups, which use outboard DACs. Even with those multi-kilobuck systems, no mixing and matching of components is allowed. The DAC will only accept a signal from that specific manufactuerer's transport.
As for better sound, that's strictly a matter of preference. With your setup, I doubt there's much of a difference in sound between the 2 DACs. I don't think you'd hear much difference unless you switched to a higher-end (and higher-priced) outboard DAC.
One thing you should note... many universal disc players, like my Marantz DV6400, use upsampling for redbook cds. I don't know if yours does or not, but your AVR most likely doesn't. You should read the manuals and check websites to be sure, though. Generally speaking, I think most people prefer the sound of an upsampling DAC to a comparably priced non-upsampler. I certainly do. Hope this helps.
Mike