After long studies I decided to place my questions in this forum, hoping I'll get some valuable comments and input.
Q: What do I want to achieve?
A: Listen to 2 channel audio from Blu Ray (BR), CD/SACD, hires audio files (mainly FLAC) on USB storage and maybe a network DLNA server, vinyl.
For me, there are basically 2 different possibilities to get what I want:
Go digital: Put an AV receiver (AVR) or a stereo-only receiver (=ARV without HDMI ports) or an amplifier with digital inputs (="normal" amplifier plus S/PDIF interfaces) in the center. Feed mainly digital audio streams to the central unit by using digital connections (HDMI and S/PDIF coaxial). The central unit's DAC will handle most D/A conversions. Required audio source devices:
BR player (multiformat, can play BR, DVD and CD/SACD)
Turntable (a pre-amplifier is required in case an AVR is used)
In case no AVR is used: Network player (for playing from DLNA and USB sources)
[*]Go analog-only:
Put a purely analog amplifier in the center.
Required audio source devices:
BR player (multiformat, can play BR, DVD and CD/SACD)
Turntable
Network player (for playing from DLNA and USB sources)
For solution 2, it may be required to have a dedicated CD/SACD player in addition to the BR player because a BR "play it all" device may not be able to deliver the analog audio quality that's needed. In addition, for BR, the audio signal would be fed to the amplifier while video goes straight to the TV via HDMI. No idea if "lip sync" can be guaranteed in this case...
Here the main advantages and disadvantages of the above solutions how I see them:
Advantages of solution 1:
Overall number of devices is kept small because the central unit handles most things (especially an AVR)
Quality of audio source devices is not critical because they more or less emit only digital signals which are handled by the central unit's DAC
Reasonable cost for the entire equipment
Disadvantages of solution 1:
Ditital connections suffer from negative effects like jitter (S/PDIF coaxial being better than S/PDIF optical, HDMI being worst)
In case of an AVR: It's a software driven unit, firmware can have bugs and become outdated one day support is stopped
Advantages of solution 2:
No software in the central unit, longetivity of the amplifier is guaranteed
No digital components, so no negatives from the digital world
Disadvantages of solution 2:
Each connected device that processes digital audio data must perform its own D/A conversion
Such devices can be expensive when high quality is required (higher performance DACs and build quality cost more)
Overall high cost
Leaves the following questions:
Are the often cited problems with digital connections ("jitter",...) detectable at all when listening, do they play a role in normal life?
Is an analog-only approach equal or worse compared to a digital one?
In case of analog-only: Do I really need to choose expensive audio sources like CD players or are entry/midrange models sufficient?
Andreas
