Can the digital outs on two different audio sources sound different? (1 Viewer)

[Tom_Mack]

In my other thread:
Describing my questions on the Denon 3802 sound
I said that I believed that the sound coming from my DVD player sounded muffled/dull in the mid to high frequencies.
I was discussing this with the salesman at the store and he asked if I had tried another digital source to see if it still sounded muffled/dull.
The only other digital source I have is my Playstation 2. I am going to try a DVD from there tonight and listen for a difference, but has anyone ever had two digital sources sound different coming from the same DVD/CD? Can it be a big difference in sound?

 

[John Royster]

Whether you can hear a difference in digital transports causes much debate. But lets follow the signal real quick because I did read your other thread.
1) CD player---Dout---Din---receiver
2) CD player---R/LanlOUT---R/LanlIN---receiver
3) DVD player---Dout---Din---receiver
Comparing 1 & 3 means you are comparing transports or the device outputing a digital stream. In this scenario you are using the 3802 DACs to produce the waveform sent to your speakers. The differences here are hard to detect, try switching back and forth with your levels matched well to see which one you like.
Comparing 1 & 2 or 3 & 2 means you are comparing the DACs of your CD player (it is producing the analog waveform) to the 3802 DACs. See which one you like.
I posted a thread a while back with your same symptoms. My Adcom cd player sounds WAY better using the DACs in it. Meaning the 7 year old Adcom did a much better job in DAC territory then the denon on two channel PCM sources.
Using the 3802 DACs I heard what you described - muffled sound, especially in imaging and highs, depth of soundstage. I have the adcom hooked up both digitally and analog - I switch back and forth every now and then and immediately return to using the DACs in the adcom.
hope this helps.
ps - maybe try a different digital cable? any 75 ohm coax will be fine.
-edit- to answer you original question...it depends. It depends on the listener and gear. To me the differences are there although very small.