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  1. #1
    Forum Regular Walker's Avatar
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    Question Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 20 bit convertor

    Hi, I just bought a new NAD cd player and it has a Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 20 bit Digital to Analogue Converter.
    Should I go analog out or digital out to my receiver?
    Do I lose the advantage of the Burr Brown converter when going digital out.
    Thanks,
    Walker

  2. #2
    Silence of the spam Site Moderator Geoffcin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    Hi, I just bought a new NAD cd player and it has a Burr-Brown Sigma-Delta 20 bit Digital to Analogue Converter.
    Should I go analog out or digital out to my receiver?
    Do I lose the advantage of the Burr Brown converter when going digital out.
    Thanks,
    Walker
    Use the RCA (analog) outputs from your CD player to connect to your reciever. This way you use the internal 20bit dacs that your CD player has.
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  3. #3
    Forum Regular Walker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Geoffcin
    Use the RCA (analog) outputs from your CD player to connect to your reciever. This way you use the internal 20bit dacs that your CD player has.

    Thanks, are these Burr DACs better than the ones in my receiver (Harman Kardon AVR 75)?

  4. #4
    Forum Regular paul_pci's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    Thanks, are these Burr DACs better than the ones in my receiver (Harman Kardon AVR 75)?
    Quite possibly; you could also plug in a digital cable and do some A-B type switching to see which one sounds better to you.

  5. #5
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    do what they said

    I agree, just do some a/b testing and see what you think. I would definatly put my money on the burr browns, but try it for yourself.

  6. #6
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Walker
    Thanks, are these Burr DACs better than the ones in my receiver (Harman Kardon AVR 75)?
    It may not matter depending on whether or not your receiver has a true analog bypass available. A lot of AV receivers, especially entry level models and models from a few years ago, convert ALL analog signals to digital regardless of whether or not the signal needs to get routed through the DSP section. If the receiver does this analog-to-digital-to-analog conversion with all incoming signals, then it doesn't matter whether your CD player has better DACs. You might want to contact h/k to see if your receiver converts all analog signals.

    In general, the equipment I've heard with Burr-Brown DACs has sounded a cut above other models, however those comparisons had so many other variables that I can't tell you one way or another whether the Burr-Browns were the causal effect. I know that Burr-Brown DACs are generally a lot more expensive than other DACs and they got a good reputation, so take that for what it's worth.

  7. #7
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    NAD C521BEE with Yamaha RX-V1400

    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    It may not matter depending on whether or not your receiver has a true analog bypass available. A lot of AV receivers, especially entry level models and models from a few years ago, convert ALL analog signals to digital regardless of whether or not the signal needs to get routed through the DSP section. If the receiver does this analog-to-digital-to-analog conversion with all incoming signals, then it doesn't matter whether your CD player has better DACs. You might want to contact h/k to see if your receiver converts all analog signals.

    In general, the equipment I've heard with Burr-Brown DACs has sounded a cut above other models, however those comparisons had so many other variables that I can't tell you one way or another whether the Burr-Browns were the causal effect. I know that Burr-Brown DACs are generally a lot more expensive than other DACs and they got a good reputation, so take that for what it's worth.
    I'm in a similar situation, decide to buy a NAD C521BEE and connect it to Yamaha RX-V1400 (speakers B&W 600's).

    From brochure of RX-V1400, I think it has analog bypass

    ==Quote from RX-V1400 brochure=====

    Direct Stereo causes the input stereo signal to bypass the DSP and YPAO circuitry so the pure signal is output without any processing or data loss whatsoever.

    ==============================

    Now, is there any merit in buying this Burr-Brown DAC CD player and connect it to such AV-receiver. Or I have to purchase a power amplifier and connect it to receiver's pre-out to take advantage of Burr-Brown DAC?

    Thanks a lot for your comments.

  8. #8
    Suspended topspeed's Avatar
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    No, just use the rca's as mentioned and you'll be utilizing the NAD's B-B dacs. If you used a coax or optical interconnect THEN you would be using the Yamaha's dacs.

    Hope this helps.

  9. #9
    Forum Regular Woochifer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shahrouz
    I'm in a similar situation, decide to buy a NAD C521BEE and connect it to Yamaha RX-V1400 (speakers B&W 600's).

    From brochure of RX-V1400, I think it has analog bypass

    ==Quote from RX-V1400 brochure=====

    Direct Stereo causes the input stereo signal to bypass the DSP and YPAO circuitry so the pure signal is output without any processing or data loss whatsoever.

    ==============================

    Now, is there any merit in buying this Burr-Brown DAC CD player and connect it to such AV-receiver. Or I have to purchase a power amplifier and connect it to receiver's pre-out to take advantage of Burr-Brown DAC?

    Thanks a lot for your comments.

    Yes, the 1400 does have an analog bypass available with that direct stereo mode when you use the analog output from the CD player. However, any time you have your main speakers set to "Small" and use the receiver's bass management to crossover the lows into a subwoofer output, then I believe that the signal gets converted to digital because Yamahas do the bass management in the digital domain and don't include a parallel analog crossover. If the direct stereo mode locks out the crossover on the receiver, then it retains the signal path in the analog domain.

    Whether or not the Burr-Brown DAC CD player is an advantage is up to you. I sometimes listen to my CD player through an analog bypass, but that also bypasses the subwoofer. It's a bit of a tradeoff because I do like the sound on my CD player (an older Philips model that used one of the first bitstream processors) better than the DAC in my receiver -- overall a slightly smoother sound. However, crossing over the bass into the subwoofer and relieving both the amp and the speakers from having to handle the lows is a bigger benefit.

  10. #10
    Forum Regular Walker's Avatar
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    HK AVR 75 Analog bypass???????

    I emailed HK but did not get an answer yet.
    Does anyone know if the HK AVR 75 has a analog bypass?
    I use this receiver as a stereo amplifier only.

    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    It may not matter depending on whether or not your receiver has a true analog bypass available. A lot of AV receivers, especially entry level models and models from a few years ago, convert ALL analog signals to digital regardless of whether or not the signal needs to get routed through the DSP section. If the receiver does this analog-to-digital-to-analog conversion with all incoming signals, then it doesn't matter whether your CD player has better DACs. You might want to contact h/k to see if your receiver converts all analog signals.

    In general, the equipment I've heard with Burr-Brown DACs has sounded a cut above other models, however those comparisons had so many other variables that I can't tell you one way or another whether the Burr-Browns were the causal effect. I know that Burr-Brown DACs are generally a lot more expensive than other DACs and they got a good reputation, so take that for what it's worth.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Woochifer
    Yes, the 1400 does have an analog bypass available with that direct stereo mode when you use the analog output from the CD player. However, any time you have your main speakers set to "Small" and use the receiver's bass management to crossover the lows into a subwoofer output, then I believe that the signal gets converted to digital because Yamahas do the bass management in the digital domain and don't include a parallel analog crossover. If the direct stereo mode locks out the crossover on the receiver, then it retains the signal path in the analog domain.

    Whether or not the Burr-Brown DAC CD player is an advantage is up to you. I sometimes listen to my CD player through an analog bypass, but that also bypasses the subwoofer. It's a bit of a tradeoff because I do like the sound on my CD player (an older Philips model that used one of the first bitstream processors) better than the DAC in my receiver -- overall a slightly smoother sound. However, crossing over the bass into the subwoofer and relieving both the amp and the speakers from having to handle the lows is a bigger benefit.
    Thanks for your comments Woochifer

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