Hi. I need help please. I have a modified Philips/Marantz cd 880 cd player that is super nice. I want to use it with my Outlaw 1050.

Lately, I have been running the Philips direct thru the 5.1 inputs. But the 5.1 inputs run all 5 channels, so I get hiss out of my rears and center and higher volumes. That is no good at all! What can I do to use the DAC that's in the cd player with the 1050, without having the 1050 use it's own DAC?

Can I just use the RCA CD inputs on the 1050 for example?

Please help!

Thanks,
Loomis

I have a Omegastar DAC.I tried few other exsternal DACs with 1050.Really there is not much significant difference.I connected Omega * DAC directly to the 5-channel in put with RCA cables.The DAC of 1050 is more than adequate.

I feel any equipment we buy- we should be able tell the differences with a double blind test.The purchase should be at the point where the rapidly diminishing returns for the dollar begins.

The only equipment which passed this test with me is an external amplifier add on.Any good amplifier such as 750, 755, AVA(avahifi.com) etc will do.
Though the quality of mid range & high frequencies is very good, comparable to receivers costing twice or more than the cost of 1050,the significant improvements are in Bass, hearing subtle sounds, their micro dynamics and wide sound stage.

The low cost 350$ Ed frias DIY speakers passed the double blind test.

If you add a external amplifier, for cheap thrills, nothing beats the Dynaco Q2 passive surround sound processor.At 39 dollars it is cheaper than many cables.
V.R. Sola

My understanding is that when you use the digital outputs (coax or optical) of your cd or dvd player, you then rely on the reciever's DAC to do the digital /analog conversion. If you want to use the DAC in the source player use the left and right RCA outputs (these are analog) that will go to your RCA inputs of your reciever for that source.

You are right, MCH, but loomis's concern is because the 1050 and most other receivers today automatically convert all stereo analog inputs back to digital in order to provide any processing that is needed and then convert back to analog -- so hooking his Philips/Marantz to the 1050's CD input would mean that he would be doing D/A at the CD player, then A/D and D/A again at the 1050.

As for the hiss at high volume from center and rears, I don't know...

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

Hi Loomis,

You may want to try using shorting plugs on the unused channels for the 5.1 direct input. If you have any old IC's you can make shorting plugs from these. I find that is the best use for interconnects that you usually find in the box with equipment .

Good Luck

Gonk. Are you sure about the double conversion? In my case with a Toshiba DVD when I used the analog out from the DVD player it sounded different, not as full. When I used the coax cable (therefore the Outlaw DACS) the sound was much fuller, less restrained. If there was a double conversion there should be no difference in sound. Or am I not understanding something?

That actually makes sense -- I'd suspect that the DAC in the Toshiba DVD player isn't doing as good as job as he 1050's DACs do. When you use the analog out from the Toshiba, the 1050 ends up getting that more restrained and less full analog input produced by the Toshiba's DAC. All the 1050 can do then is try not to further degrade the signal during the A/D-DSP-D/A process. When the digital output from the Toshiba is used, the Toshiba's DAC doesn't come into play and you are giving the 1050 exactly what digital data was put on the disc. At that point, the 1050's DACs have the "original" to work with, and they will likely produce a more detailed output.

If you want to prove this to yourself, hook the Toshiba's analog signal to the 1050's 5.1 input -- that will let you here the Toshiba's output without any other manipulation. It should be fairly similar to (and possibly indistinguishable from) the sound of the Toshiba analog out to the 1050's stereo analog inputs.

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

Ok guys, now I am even more confused!

First, do we concur that the analogue cd input on the 1050 routes thru the 1050's dac or not? I would think it doesn't?

Second, I have no clue what shortening plugs are. Please explain.

Thanks,
Loomis

OK, I think I can answer these two...

1) Stereo analog inputs on the 1050 (this also applies to pretty much every receiver and pre/pro on the market) are automatically converted back to digital to allow for processing (things like DSP modes, bass management, Dolby Pro Logic, ...) and then converted back to analog. This will involve the 1050's DAC (and its ADC before that). The reason that the 5.1 inputs can be used to bypass this A/D-DSP-D/A process is that they are there to allow sources like DVD-Audio and SACD to be used, and you really don't want to ruin those formats with an A/D-D/A cycle. Therefore, the 5.1 inputs are the only analog inputs that get bypassed around the A/D-DSP-D/A circuits -- they go straight to the volume control and then to the 1050's amps (and the pre-amp outputs). Any other analog input on the 1050 will go through the 1050's DAC.

2) There was some talk in one of the 950 bass management threads a couple days ago about "shorting plugs" -- rcaudio suggested it to turbo. Here's rcaudio's explanation:



I think the idea behind morphsci's suggestion here is to plug "something" into the center, sub, and surround inputs of the 5.1 input (whatever cables are handy, leaving the other ends connected to nothing) to see if it helps with the humming.

Did I confuse you more? Or did any of that make sense?

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

Gonk,

Ok, if everything you said is correct then yes, that does help me out quite a bit, and I thank you.

I guess my problem is that I really need seperates. You see I occassionaly watch DVD's, but I usually just listen to stereo music. I thought that buying the 1050 would solve my problems, and indeed it does, sort of.

So now I am going to run my cd player into the 5.1 inputs again. I wish there was some way to just do this and turn off the center and rear channels at the amplifier, and thus cut heat, prolong the 1050's life, and cut electricity usage.

Oh well. I'll give some more thought to shortening plugs.

Thanks again,
Loomis

I don't think I'd worry about it too much. I'd be surprised if the extra 4 channels use all that much electricity when idling, and heat has never been an issue with the 1050 as long as it is well-ventilated (i.e. has enough room above it).

I might even go as far as to say you really wouldn't like to turn off those channels, because if wear and tear IS an issue, then you wouldn't want four of them sounding different (newer) than the other two in a few years.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net

Sorry for not getting back sooner. A shorting plug is merely a connector that has the signal and ground connected together. You can buy them or simply make them. Get an old and/or cheap connector, cut-off the connector leaving a little of the wire connected, solder the two wires together, insulate and you have an RCA shorting plug. They help to remove both RF and channel crosstalk. Good luck.