I have a question about the quality of the DAC in the 1050. My cd player is actually a Pioneer dv-444, which has a 192khz/24 bit Burr Brown decoder in it. So my question is will I get better sound from a CD by decoding it in the pioneer and using the 5.1 inputs on the 1050 to bypass the redigitization (is that a word?)in the 1050, or should i send it through the digital input on the 1050 and decode it there. Thanks. BTW, this is my first audio/video system of any kind, so forgive me if this is a dumb/obvious question.

Welcome to the forum, iowa. You've got a good question. The Pioneer's Burr Brown DAC is a good one, so I'm not sure which would be better -- the Pioneer or the Outlaw. Hopefully someone with this setup has tried it both ways and can offer some insight (I've done some experimenting back and forth with CD players and the 1050 and tended to lean toward the 1050's DAC, but neither of the players I was using had Burr Brown DACs). Even if someone else can offer first-hand experience, I would still recommend that you try it both ways and go with what you like. That's not a real clear answer, but I hope it helps some.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

I am using the Pioneer 440, which uses the same DAC. I have switched back and forth and the first thing I can say for sure is that using the Pioneer DAC and 5.1 inputs requires a considerable increase in volume, the output signal from the DAC is not very strong. Once you volume match (maybe a difference of 5 on the dial) then I would say that the best sound I have gotten is by using the Outlaw's DAC and setting my speakers to large for CD listening (they go comfortably down to about 38 Hz, but I do switch them to small and use a sub for movies). When I switch to this configuration the sound has more dimension to it than in direct mode. I don't know at all if this is true for other DVD and Cd players and would like to test this with a good Cd player like an Arcam to see how this difference holds up.

hey, thanks for the info guys. i'll give it a try and see what works.

[This message has been edited by iowa (edited April 25, 2002).]