[BaronJack]

I've purchased a Phillips 963sa and it should be in tomorrow. I'm hoping it can serve as my dvdplayer, headphone source, and stereo source.

My concern is that I have heard a few people on the board say that the regular L/R RCA connections are inferior to the multichannel ones. So I have two questions.

1) For the time being I don't intend to use the multi channel sound ability. Instead can I use each of the 5.1 channel Left/Rights seperate, say one for my headphones, and one for my Stereo system?

2) Is signal sent out of the Digital toslink and coaxial capable of being upsampled?

 

[JPWeight]

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronJack I've purchased a Phillips 963sa and it should be in tomorrow. I'm hoping it can serve as my dvdplayer, headphone source, and stereo source.

It will work great for all of these.

Quote:

My concern is that I have heard a few people on the board say that the regular L/R RCA connections are inferior to the multichannel ones. So I have two questions. 1) For the time being I don't intend to use the multi channel sound ability. Instead can I use each of the 5.1 channel Left/Rights seperate, say one for my headphones, and one for my Stereo system?.

No, this will not work. If you understand 5.1 you will know that there is only 1 set of left and right mains coming out of it.

Quote:

2) Is signal sent out of the Digital toslink and coaxial capable of being upsampled?

No, it can not be upsampled by the player. If you have a DAC with upsampling it should work.

 

[markl]

Quote:

1) For the time being I don't intend to use the multi channel sound ability. Instead can I use each of the 5.1 channel Left/Rights seperate, say one for my headphones, and one for my Stereo system?

If the Phillips is anything like my Kenwood, I would advise you use the left and right analog outs in the 5.1 section. The regular L/R output jacks on my Kenwood will downmix 5.1-channels audio into a 2-channel mess. If you want full-rez stereo (and you've selected the separate 2-channel mix from your DVD-A disc), that signal is output from the Front Left and Right channel outputs of the multi-channel section. No idea if your Phillips is the same.
Quote:

2) Is signal sent out of the Digital toslink and coaxial capable of being upsampled?

Yes, of course it can be upsampled by an external DAC with that capability. You can't send out an already upsampled digital signal though, which I believe is what you are really asking.

Mark

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally posted by BaronJack Is signal sent out of the Digital toslink and coaxial capable of being upsampled?

(Not sure if I understand your question right)
If upsampling is activated, the digital output signal is upsampled as well. If it's deactivated, of course every upsampling DAC is capable of upsampling the digital signal. My Bel Canto can handle input signals with rates up to 96 kHz, thus the 963SA's lower sampling rate; it upsamples this signal further to 192 kHz.

 

[markl]

My understanding is that the digital out just takes the data straight off the disc without any processing. I really doubt the output signal is upsampled. What happens if that upsampled signal hits a DAC without that capability? Will it "understand" the incoming upsampled signal? How will it transform that signal to analog? Will it re-convert it or down-convert it back to a format it can understand and output, thus removing the advantage of upsampling?

Mark

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl If the Phillips is anything like my Kenwood, I would advise you use the left and right analog outs in the 5.1 section. The regular L/R output jacks on my Kenwood will downmix 5.1-channels audio into a 2-channel mess. If you want full-rez stereo (and you've selected the separate 2-channel mix from your DVD-A disc), that signal is output from the Front Left and Right channel outputs of the multi-channel section. No idea if your Phillips is the same. Mark

I got a 963SA last week and I believe you are correct. The 2 channel output is definitely inferior to the 5.1 outputs.

My only regret with the setup I now have is that the player cannot be in 2 places at once. I have it upstairs in my office as an audio source but I would also like it in the family room as a DVD player. Perhaps I will get another as they are not that expensive.

 

[JaZZ]

Mark...

...the DAC2 «understands» the upsampled 96 kHz signal from the 963SA, but not the 192 kHz signal – it doesn't even recognize that there's a signal (to be seen on the LED which is red in this case).

It's an interesting sound variant to leave the first upsampling stage (96 kHz) to the Philips and let the Bel Canto do the rest (192 kHz). It's not my preferred one, though.

 

[JaZZ]

Quote:

Originally posted by john_jcb Perhaps I will get another as they are not that expensive.

That's what I've done for the same reason...

 

[lextek]

Are they only available with the silver faceplate?

 

[BaronJack]

Quote:

Originally posted by JaZZ (Not sure if I understand your question right) If upsampling is activated, the digital output signal is upsampled as well.

That's what I was wondering. Just wanted to make sure the player could upsample music out of the Digital outputs.

On a side note. I set my Phillips up today, and I am very impressed. The upsampling really does make a huge difference, and really opens up the soundstage. I can only echoe the comments that other reviewers are making about the upsampled redbook playback, it truely is incredible. Just to give you an idea about where the 963sa stands redbook wise. After some extensive listening today I can pretty confidently say the 963sa beats my previously owned arcam alpha 9 in quite a few areas. The most obviouse area being the overall soundstage.