I think of Denon Link and the couple other proprietary digital connection schemes for DVD-Audio and SACD as final bits of fallout from the last format war (I think Pioneer had one, and Meridian may have as well - both of which only worked if your player and receiver both came from that manufacturer, just like Denon). The stubborn desire to only allow analog output of the two formats hurt both, as it made buying into both formats very difficult until universal players appeared (which took years). It's become particularly curious since the latest format war (HD-DVD/Blu-ray) has helped create the concept of the "analog hole" - a desire to
restrict analog data (mainly video) in favor of digital. At this point, FireWire
can carry both formats and has been able to for several years, but hardware manufacturers don't have much interest in supporting FireWire since these two formats are about the only ones that are likely to use the connection and they have become too much of a niche market. The only way that we're going to see digital connection for either is with
HDMI . In the meanwhile, I'm among the many people who is still relying on analog for my DVD-A and SACD...
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