EdKBecker

Newbie Question on High Sampling Rates on Pioneer DVD Player

I just entered the realm of SACD and DVD Audios, and all I can say is "wow".

My player is the Pioneer 563A which has D/A converters of 192kHz. My question is since SACD and DVD Audio discs play through the analog outputs, it shouldn't matter what capability the A/V Receiver has, correct?.

However, my manual mentions: "When listening to sources with 192kHz or 176.4 kHz sampling rates, you can improve the audio quality by switching off the digital output."

I'm not sure why that would matter. Any ideas?

One other question: all the DVD Audio discs I've seen are 96kHZ rate. What sources are higher?

TIA.
EB

PaulDA

Switching off the digital input reduces the potential for electronic noise interference (whether you can hear it depends on a number of factors). As for the high sample rates, all DVD-A multi-channel, so far, max out at 96khz but many of them feature a two channel stereo mix that can be at 192khz (though not always--best to read the fine print on the disc literature).

As for your receiver, all it is doing (in most cases, don't know yours specifically) is amplifying the signal from the player to your speakers. No other processing is supposed to be happening (again, there are exceptions, my receiver allows bass management of the incoming hi-rez signal, but most do not).

Neal_C

The digital circuitry could potentially cause some interference, so some players allow you to turn it off so that there is no possibility of interference.

On my Denon 3800 I can turn off the digital out, the video circuitry and the front panel display if desired. This would leave only the analog section working, so no potential interference from other circuitry.

I believe all DVD-A is at 96khz right now.

And your receiver should just be amplifying the analog signal and passing it to the speakers.


Neal