Interconnects or fibre optic

[Jhayman]

Thinking about upgrading to a newer CDP not sure of a model yet. Need more research
I was wondering what people are using to hook it up are rca's better or fibre optic?
Thank a you
Bob Seager is Great, Stranger in Town

[leftwinger57]

For me because I share most of my sources I use toslink optical,HDMI, and of course rca cable end inter connects. More than likely if your avr has ports for optical it should also have HDMI and that's what I would go w/ first. If not then optical then a little better grade rca cable.

[cowtrimmer]

A good grade RCA cable.

[BlueFox]

Fiber uses the DAC in your pre-amp, while RCA uses the DAC in the CD player. Assuming you aren't talking about using the CD player as a transport to an external DAC. In both cases, fiber adds another conversion stage at each end (electrical to optical and optical to electrical), but more than likely the DACs in each piece of gear will make the most difference.

[Jhayman]

Thanks for the input guys..
Bluefox now you have me thinking about a DAC...
maybe keep my current CDP and just buy a DAC??
Or do I need to upgrade both.
I am currently using my old Yamaha CCD-655 very old so maybe just add a DAC then into my AVR and out?
Use RCA's from CDP to DAC to AVR does that make sense?
I don't know how many more shots of Smirnoff Ice I can take..//??

[tonyb]

Thanks for the input guys..
Bluefox now you have me thinking about a DAC...
maybe keep my current CDP and just buy a DAC??
Or do I need to upgrade both.
I am currently using my old Yamaha CCD-655 very old so maybe just add a DAC then into my AVR and out?
Use RCA's from CDP to DAC to AVR does that make sense?
I don't know how many more shots of Smirnoff Ice I can take..//??

No, you would use a digital cable from a cdp to a dac then analog to a AVR or pre amp. Much depends on the quality of the dacs in the cdp....or even the avr for that matter. If you have a quality cdp and have no other use for say computer streamed music, then thats all you would need. A quality seperate dac will have more inputs so you can add other sources but the key here is to get a quality dac as a lesser one may not be any better than the one already in your cdp or avr.

[BlueFox]

In your case, I would buy the Emotiva XDA-2 DAC and use the Yamaha as a transport, at least for now. Although some do not believe it, the transport can affect the sound quality. Assuming the Yamaha isn't adding beau coup jitter and errors, a new external DAC is a good choice. You can choose your own analog interconnects and power cable.

[Jhayman]

My Yamaha RX-A2000 uses Burr Brown 192kHz/24-bit DACs

[BlueFox]

My Yamaha RX-A2000 uses Burr Brown 192kHz/24-bit DACs

That is the chip. Somebody else will know, but I have no idea as to its quality. You said it was "very old", and technology changes rapidly in digital audio. Also, while the DAC chip is important, the quality of the analog section, power supply, and overall construction is equally important.

[tonyb]

That is the chip. Somebody else will know, but I have no idea as to its quality. You said it was "very old", and technology changes rapidly in digital audio. Also, while the DAC chip is important, the quality of the analog section, power supply, and overall construction is equally important.

Absolutely....question is, if he likes the sound he's getting from his cdp into his receiver. Or if he has tried using analog cables from cdp into his receiver thus using the dacs in the cdp instead of the receivers. If he digs either sound, spending 3-400 on an external dac may not benefit him much. I would gather you'd have to climb up to the 700+ range in dacs to get better sound. I could be wrong, but like I said much depends on if he's satisfied with the sound he's getting or just looking to improve what he has.