Direct By- Pass

Receivers without a pass through get digitized by the DAC and degrade the sound. Receivers with the pass thru keep the signal analog using the CDplayers dacs.

I think I'm following this - So if a pre-pro does not have A
HT pass or direct pass, the sound can be no better than the
pre-pro regarless of whether I use the digital cable to the pre-pro or the analog RCA. I have read on this site some
things on HT pass and this helps clear this up.

Finally is it better to have a HT pass or direct pass? If
it's a direct pass than is the sound still from the pre-pro
just using the dacs from a CD player?

Regards

Direct by pass refers to bypassing the digital section of a HT pre/pro, it's a feature of the multichannel processer. HT bypass is found on a integrated amp and allows a HT pre/pro to bypass the integrateds pre section, to use it like a 2ch amp when watching movies. Then you can use the integrated amp normally while listening to 2ch sources like cd, without having to disconnect a bunch of wires to watch a movie.