Best way to hook up a CD/DVD player for audio purposes

RandyCroissant

I recently purchased a used Yamaha S1700 player that has several options for hookup. My question is I plan on using this as a cd player most of the time as I already have a decent DVD Bluray unit, should I just use the HDMI or get RCA or optical or a combo?? I don't want to waste money on cables I don't need Thanks in advance.

slbenz

I would just use whatever you have available laying around. Since it sounds like you are trying to conserve cash. If you have the funds, I would go optical since it won't pick up any interference and like HDMI, is only one cable to install.

sarnella

I agree with the optical cable choice - works well for me.

F1nut

Optical would be the worst choice. RCA the best, if sound quality matters to you.

RandyCroissant

Sound quality is my number 1, this player supposedly has good quality DACs so I want to give it a shot. However I am on a tight budget and don't want to buy a bunch of cables I don't need. Thank You Gentlemen for your suggestions.

Willow

A good pair of rca's and you're set. I do the same with my Marantz dvd player a pair of audioquest sidewinders to the Receiver.

mhardy6647

Analog (RCA) is where I'd go a priori (and FWIW) for two-channel hifi audio.

That said -- and not understanding the nature of the optical output on this particular component, so I am out on a limb, here -- but at least with the old, pure-play CD players, the digital data output was available through an optical and/or coaxial (wire) output which could be fed to an outboard digital to analog converter (DAC). A third-party outboard DAC could be considerably better in performance than the built in DAC (and/or than the downstream analog buffer or "line level" output) that feeds the player's own analog (RCA) outputs.

cnh

mhardy makes a good point. What are you hooking the player to? An AVR that has digital inputs? If so try it both ways and see what actually sounds better. Probably the analog, but if you have some high end AVR with a very good DAC implementation, you never know!

WilliamM2

Most AVR's convert analog inputs to digital if using any type of processing like bass management, and then back to analog. If you have a sub, I'd stick with one of the digital outputs.

RandyCroissant

My AVR is a Yamaha RXA1030 Aventage which has optical, hdmi, as well as analog inputs.

mantis

It's quite possible that the DAC's are the same in both units but if they are different then you have to connect Analog and Optical to see which one sound better.
There is nothing wrong with Optical connections. They don't pickup interference and a good quality cable will yield very good results.
Good quality RCA analog cables if the DAC's in the player sound better then the Receivers.
If the Receivers are better quality then you will be using the Optical output.

tonyb

You have to try both to see which floats your boat more. If the cdp is of decent quality and to use the dacs in the cdp, you have to use analog RCA cables to the receivers cdp analog inputs and setup that input in the receivers menu.

If you want to use the dacs in the receiver, either toslink or hdmi will work.

Personally, I find the analog outputs on a good cdp to be the best sounding. Of course it goes without saying too, you can't use the cheap old RCA cables that came in the box to achieve that either.

RandyCroissant

I will try both and report back later,. Thanks again Gents.

WilliamM2

RandyCroissant wrote: »

My AVR is a Yamaha RXA1030 Aventage which has optical, hdmi, as well as analog inputs.

That AVR will convert the analog inputs to digital in any mode but Pure Direct. So if you use sub, stick with digital connections.

On the other hand, if you play SACD's, it will only output full resolution on the analog outputs. When I had the DVD-S1700, I used HDMI and analog, depending on what I was listening to.

RandyCroissant

Thanks WilliamM2 I appreciate the advice.

F1nut

Info on optical cables from industry experts.

http://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/shedding-light/

"TOSLINK is a plastic optical cable that connects the output of a source device, like a CD or DVD player, to a decoding device like a DAC. Of all the connection schemes for digital audio, TOSLINK is the most reviled. It’s really gotten a bad rap. Indeed, it is typically the worst sounding of any digital audio connection scheme. It cannot reliably pass anything faster than 96/24 and has a tendency to jitter the digital audio."

"Looking at Toslink, I can hardly believe such a mediocre product would be used in high end audio. The standards look like they were set to be cheap. But the compromises they used can create problems due to internal reflections."

www.theabsolutesound.com/answers/204/

"TosLink is still inferior to other digital interfaces, except perhaps adaptive USB (non-asynchronous). The reason is that TosLink is limited in bandwidth to 3MHz. Even the higher-end glass-fiber TosLink cables don't sound as good as coax or AES/EBU. The new fourth edition of The Complete Guide to High-End Audio still recommends avoiding TosLink if at all possible. Many cable boxes and satellite receivers offer only TosLink, however.

Robert Harley"

Jimbo18

F1nut wrote: »

Optical would be the worst choice. RCA the best, if sound quality matters to you.

Until I read this, I had an optical cable running from my TV to my KLH receiver. Replaced it with some Monster RCA's I had laying around. Everything opened up. Soundstage is wider, mids are clearer, bass is more pronounced and tighter.

Thanks for the tip. Now I guess I need to move up the interconnect food chain, but already it's a significant difference.

tonyb

Optical comes in handy to those not so stellar cdp's whose dac you want to bypass. If coax digital is available, use that over the optical. Some vintage gear though limits choices.

The coax digital is preferred also over analog outputs if that source component is questionable and the receiving component is of significant better quality. Your MMV obviously.

Never hurts to try all available outputs to see which blows your skirt up. If your Scottish, forget I said that.

mhardy6647

This is all info of which I (analog schlub that I am) was unaware.
The funny thing is -- I don't remember whether I've got my CD transport hooked to the DAC with coax or an optical "cable".

Guess I better check, eh?