Soney 9000ES as a transport

I have had my Sony 9000 ES only since last Friday, the sound from the analog outputs are extremely wide band and sound really good, considering I have only half the hours needed for break in. As far as this player as a CD transport, my CD' s have not sounded better, using it as is. Perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised by what you hear. On DVD movies, it does an amazing job. The image quality is absolutely the best I have ever seen, and this is my fourth high end DVD . The digital output you are considering using into a DAC, has provided perfect steering for my Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder, along with improved dynamics and bandwidth. If this is any indication of it's ability, I would think it could be a terrific unit for a DAC, if one is needed at all.

I,ve had mine for a week, 140 + hrs. As a cd player it is good, but doesn't come close to my Levinson 360s + upsampler
combo P-1a Perpetual Technologies combo. I think that it
makes a great transport. Rest of system consist of JR 8t amp,BAT VK-30se pre, B&W N802 speakers, 4 Richard G, 1
Quantum Symphony Pro, Power Snakes Cobra, Viper, Sidewinders, ASC tube traps, Analysis PLus Silver Ovals
speaker cables + int, Transparent Ultra XL from pre to amp.
Video section of this player is the best I have seen.
(incredible!) My only compaint is that it does not read
CDR's.

Let it break in[burn in ]in analog mode for 300 hours and you might find your money better spent on new interconnects.I have to agree on the digital out being first rate on this unit though.If you end up going with an outboard dac i would like to hear about the results.

You guys are really enthusiastic about the 'DVD quality of the 9000ES. Do you all have digital TVs or projectors ? With a 'normal' TV (like my Mitsubishi VS55-705) there should be not much of a difference because the progressive scan cannot work. Re the SACD feature: has noone missed a balanced output from the 9000ES ? The specifications state that it has only RCA audio outputs.