im looking at some quality stereo preamps but cant afford the DAC right now, which got me thinking about how i could use the DAC in the 970 for now? is there a line level analog out of it? if so i could use the 970's DAC> line level out to new pre which would get me by until i can get a real DAC.

anyone have any thoughts on the matter? or am i crazy?

I don't have a 970 and I haven't read the manual in detail, but it does have a tape out. Traditionally, this is a line level output, so it would seem that for material you need a stereo DAC, the 970 would work.

The 970 would act as a DAC, The quality is pretty good, though I'm sure there are better on the market. for a temporary measure, I would think this would suffice. After you get used to it, it may be more like permenent. If this doesn't meet your expectations, you might audition a 990 , that's what I use and I've nevar fund the need dor an external DAC.

The Tape Out on the 970 is for analog input only. There's a note in the manual that says you can record analog-analog OR digital-digital but NOT digital-analog or analog-digital.

The only crazy idea I can come up with would be to use the headphone output as a pseudo-line output. The manual doesn’t say but I’m assuming that the digital inputs are routed to the headphones also. The manual is clear that the headphone volume is totally independent of the main and remote volume controls.

i thought about the HP out too, i guess ill try it first.



thanks for the feedback.