Digital or Analog Connection From CD Player

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Submitted By: Ruben1

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Location: New York

Joined: Dec 30 2005

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Digital or Analog Connection From CD Player

Posted: June 29, 2006 - 7:19am

I am in the market for a new pre amp and need to know the following. If a CD is digital does it mean that the best possible connection to the pre amp is a digital connection such as coaxial or toslink, or is the 2 channel analog connection equaly as well sounding? The reason I ask is because I listen to CDs so if a digital connection from a CD player to a pre amp yields the best sound quality then does it mean that I should be purchasing a pre amp which HAS a digital IN connection, either toslink or coaxial?

Submitted By: Jeff Wong

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Joined: Sep 6 2005

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Re: Digital or Analog Connection From CD Player

Posted: June 29, 2006 - 7:50am

This would depend on your gear and the quality of the DAC that is being fed the digital signal. If your preamp had a DAC (seems unlikely, but, possible), it would have to be of a higher quality than the one in your CD player to warrant just using the CD player as a transport to just send a digital signal out. Without know what you're using, it's difficult to say, and even knowing model numbers doesn't mean anyone will be familiar with the sound of these components. I suspect analogue connections will serve you fine, but, give us more details and we'll see if we can offer any input (so to speak.)

Submitted By: Ruben1

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Location: New York

Joined: Dec 30 2005

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Re: Digital or Analog Connection From CD Player

Posted: June 29, 2006 - 10:04am

Thanks for the reply. My CD player is a Pioneer Elite 45A (actually a DVD player which I use for 2 channel music listening). As far as a Pre Amp I don't have one. I am looking to buy one so not sure if I should get one with a digital input capability or a more typical 2 channel analog (RCA) connection.