[NallyFace]

Hello,

Can anyone offer me some advice on this setup?

I have a Denon PMA720AE amp paired with the DCD720AE CD player. I plan to get some HD600 headphones also.

The CD player also has USB, that I use to hook up my iPhone - can anyone tell me if this will just use the phone DAC and pass to the amp>then headphones? Or will it use the DAC used for the CD player> amp> headphones?

I am toying with the idea of a headphone amp to use with my laptop and phone for HD streaming - is this worth it or would the above being doing the same job for me?

And how do I connect my laptop for HD streaming to the amp? USB to USB or should I use a Toslink to the audio optical in on the CD player - which says it's for a CD recorder, so I assume won't work?

PMA720AE manual
DCD720AE manual


Really appreciate some simple guidance here

Thanks all,

 

[Roseval]

The CD player also has USB, that I use to hook up my iPhone

A DAC is a Digital to Analog Converter.
USB is digital
If you connect the iPhone over USB to the CD player, the player sees the iPhone as external storage.
It can read the files and will convert them to analog using the DAC inside the CD player.

The amp has only analog inputs.
I don't see any option to connect a PC to the CD (using the CD player as a USB DAC)
The Toslink on the CD player looks like an output, not an input.

Your best bet is a USB-DAC; PC > USB > DAC > RCA >Amp
Just an example: https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/398218.html

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Hello,

Can anyone offer me some advice on this setup?

I have a Denon PMA720AE amp paired with the DCD720AE CD player. I plan to get some HD600 headphones also.

The CD player also has USB, that I use to hook up my iPhone - can anyone tell me if this will just use the phone DAC and pass to the amp>then headphones? Or will it use the DAC used for the CD player> amp> headphones?

Analogue signals don't pass through USB, not even go out of the port on the phone, ever since they got rid of the 30-pin dock that had pins for analogue signals.

In other words...your phone will send digital into the CDP. Whether the phone or CDP acts as the host device won't matter unless there's some serious software limitation, like the CDP's processor not reading FLAC if it's the host device ie you can't use the music player on the iPhone that does.

I am toying with the idea of a headphone amp to use with my laptop and phone for HD streaming - is this worth it or would the above being doing the same job for me?

Same function, yes. Same quality, not necessarily. Think of it like hiring two different people for the same job but one is better at it.

However depends on how astute you are you may or may not notice the difference since one of the more common issues with why some headphones sound better with an amp is their too low impedance relative to the output impedance of the speaker amp's headphone output, and that's not a problem on a 300ohm headphone. You're still going to get more power with lower distortion and noise (if you get a good headphone amp), but there's no way I can guarantee that the difference is audible to you.

And how do I connect my laptop for HD streaming to the amp? USB to USB or should I use a Toslink to the audio optical in on the CD player - which says it's for a CD recorder, so I assume won't work?

PMA720AE manual
DCD720AE manual


Really appreciate some simple guidance here

Thanks all,

Optical on the CDP is an output from that CDP to a digital recorder or a DAC.

You can just use USB.

 

[NallyFace]

Thanks you both for the reply, much appreciated.

So I should be able to go USB from laptop to USB on the CDP - which is then using its internal DAC, laptop DAC I imagine is not great, saying that I have no idea how good the CDP DAC is but it should be fairly good right?

This all basically comes down to me wanting to get the most from streaming, as CD use is becoming less and less. Another concern I should have mentioned is I also uses Sure IEM’s - once I get the HD600 they will be the main use and the IEMs saved for mobile use.

 

[Roseval]

So I should be able to go USB from laptop to USB on the CDP

Don't think so as the manual don't mention it.
CDP input is USB A so iPod and mass storage device only.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

So I should be able to go USB from laptop to USB on the CDP - which is then using its internal DAC, laptop DAC I imagine is not great, saying that I have no idea how good the CDP DAC is but it should be fairly good right?

Assuming it even works, yes.

Your problem is whether that USB port allows the CDP to work as a host device for a Windows or OSX machine instead of iOS or Android, or a thumb drive.

It's not as simple as a USB DAC having a USB input, those CDPs tend to have some kind of computer subprocessing system to interface with the devices it's compatible with instead of just passively receiving a data stream.

This all basically comes down to me wanting to get the most from streaming, as CD use is becoming less and less. Another concern I should have mentioned is I also uses Sure IEM’s - once I get the HD600 they will be the main use and the IEMs saved for mobile use.

Just try it first. If it works, then use that. If it doesn't then get a DAC for the laptop.