[HiWire]

Is it true that digital output of the new audio disc formats is crippled? These manufacturers are really starting to p!$$ me off with their DRM and non-playable CD discs... is the output issue universal among players?

I long for the good old days of sweet, sweet CD

 

[crazychile]

When you see a digital output on a DVD-A or SACD player, the output will only be active when playing a redbook CD or the Dolby Digital info on a DVD.

Yeah, this applies to all the hi-rez hardware....

 

[HiWire]

Thanks for the info, crazychile. I hope their analog outs are up to snuff, then.

 

[soundboy]

Their analog outputs are more than up to snuff. BTW, there are SACD/DVD-A players that are capable of outputing its hi-rez signal digitally, but these are super expensive.

 

[Ebonyks]

It's not that players aren't outputting digital signals for high-rez formats, it's that external DAC's don't exist for those formats

 

[HiWire]

So you're saying that the majority of the players are integrated components, rather than separate transports and processors? (Starting to fake audiophile terminology

)

 

[lini]

S/P-DIF bandwith is not enough for full dvd-a & sacd capabilities, anyway. But some of the more recent upper-class players use firewire (= ilink), hdmi or maybe some proprietary interface for that purpose (and you can exspect that feature to be added on cheaper players over time, too - just like it already happened with progressive scan...) - output will be encrypted for drm purposes, though, so you'll need a matching ht amp/receiver to take advantage of that feature...

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[kartik]

Intellectual property sucks! My DSD player has a proprietary DSD output for its corresponding amp (which I happen to have!). However only the speakers can see the pure digital stream. The analog and digital outputs are dependent on on the analog input from the player NOT the digital input. While this makes sense for the digital output, why the analog?

 

[HiWire]

Is the availability of HDMI going to push manufacturers to allow full digital output, then? I'm not really steamed about using analog, but it just seems unnecessarily paranoid to lock everything down at this level. I don't think true audiophiles are pirates, given what they spend on their systems. Plus, in Canada our concept of fair usage seems broader than the American one (DMCA sux!). For example, I wouldn't mind using a digital output to record mix CDs, or for my computer, or in a multi-room setup.

I find myself buying more music than I have in recent years - I hope that more labels reduce prices on discs.