2. digital
  3. 138270-19774

Bypass built-in CD player DAC

Quick question: if the digital output of a CD player is used to connect to an external DAC, is the CD player’s DAC bypassed or is the signal processed by the player’s DAC and then processed again by the external DAC? My old CD player has a bypass mode but the new one I am just testing doesn’t.
I compared the CD player and external DAC setup to CD Player without external DAC  setup via RCA connections and it sounded very similar, which makes me think that the CD player’s DAC is used. Bypass mode on my old CD player with external DAC sounds completely different.

Thanks!
stereonista
mahler123
3,260 posts
 
Signals aren’t processed twice...if you are using a digital out with a CD player, then it should be passing unprocessed digitstowhatever you are plugging it into...
stereonista OP
4 posts
 
That makes sense as the internal DAC converts to analog and that can’t go into the external DAC. Still strange that both setups sounded similar although different DACs were used.
facten
2,863 posts
 
What cd player and external DAC?
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Might just be that your newer CD player playing through its own DAC is a vast improvement on your old CD player.
Hence the reason you do not hear too much difference now.
audioengr
3,282 posts
 

Both setups probably sound the same because the jitter is so high from the digital output as well as the internal master clock.  If you reclock the digital output before going to the DAC, it will probably sound a lot better, but this depends on the DAC.  Jitter is the #1 problem with digital.

Here is the jitter of a good transport and how much a reclocker can reduce it:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=154408.0

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

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