I’ve had my system running for a few weeks now and have started to tinker around a bit. One observation I made over the weekend is the difference in sound between the analog and digital outputs on my DVD player when listening to CDs.

I had been watching DVD movies & listening to a lot of vinyl over the weeks and decided to give some CDs a whirl. I have a 4-year-old Panasonic DVD changer using the optical output. The 950 set to 2-channel stereo mode. I guess I had started to get used to the sound of the record player and “stereo bypass” mode because my CDs were coming through somewhat muffled by comparison. Cymbals faded into the background and the whole thing sounded more 2-dimensional.

I decided to try the analog output of the DVD player plugged into an extra 950 input and “stereo bypass” mode. This way I could switch between the optical and analog connections.

I notice a definite improvement with the analog connection and bypassing the 950’s processor. This struck me as odd after reading posts here that the 950’s A/D converter is usually of better quality than a run-of-the-mill DVD or CD player’s chip. Are my results typical or are my ears playing tricks on me?

I also have a Panasonic DVD / DVD-A player (Panasonic RP91), and use the Outlaw 950 Stereo Bypass Mode for all two channel music listening. My observations are similar to yours. Bypass Mode is significantly better, which seems to imply that the Panasonic DAC's and/or circuits are superior.

The RP91 also can upsample CD's to 88.2 kHz/24bit before converting to analog output. I believe this feature smoothes out higher frequencies (less strident than the unconverted signal) coming from this player.

The new Outlaw 990 has an upsampling feature, so I am interested to learn how it performs on CD's relative to the Stereo Bypass Mode. Using the digital input would allow full use of the base management features, which would be a real advantage. So, if there are any Gunslingers or Outlaws that have evaluated the digital upsample performance of the 990, please share your observations. Thanks ...

Allan

This correlates with my experience as well. I have a Yamaha DVD-C940 SACD changer connected to my 950 via optical (for DVDs), 2 CH analog, and 6 CH analog (for SACD). When listening to standard CDs, the bypass is definitely better with cleaner sound and more detail.

[/QUOTE]I also have a Panasonic DVD / DVD-A player (Panasonic RP91), and use the Outlaw 950 Stereo Bypass Mode for all two channel music listening. My observations are similar to yours. Bypass Mode is significantly better, which seems to imply that the Panasonic DAC's and/or circuits are superior.

The RP91 also can upsample CD's to 88.2 kHz/24bit before converting to analog output. I believe this feature smoothes out higher frequencies (less strident than the unconverted signal) coming from this player.

[/QUOTE]

I have the same setup, but I prefer the DAC's on the 950. I think the digital bass management of the 950 makes the difference in my case. The bass using the analog bypass sounds muddy.