A few questions about DAC basics

Your DAC shouldn't need a digital out because you can just leave the Pioneer connected to the Denon via the TosLink and use the digital coax for the DAC. What I'm not sure about is what the DAC would do when you play a surround DVD - early (stereo) DACs put out a terrible sound in that case, so you would have to be careful. You may be able to control which bits go where via setup in the Pioneer.

As in all things, implementation is more important than the technology, but upsamplers can indeed sound "smoother" if your system and hearing are up for it. I'd say a Perpetual Tech P3A would fit your needs.

Lkdog,

The EXT IN is perfect, except that if you are using the Sub out from the Denon it may be useless when using the external DAC. I have the same situation with my bottom of the line Onkyo HT receiver, but I find that the music is so much better sounding through my Polk RT25i's with all processing off that the lack of really low bass is acceptable. But then again I have a separate substantial 2 channel system to fall back on!

The only subs that I know of that can be hooked up simultaneously with 2 channels (in the case of your EXT mode) and an LFE (subwoofer) channel are some of the REL subs (e.g. Storm III). Anyone else?

Good luck.

It's a good idea to try the analog outs from the Pioneer. Regarding the subwoofer, an external DAC like the P3A will not have a subwoofer out, so I'm not sure what you're saying there. You will only be using the FL and FR inputs on the Denon. So the only way to get a signal to the sub is to route the full range left and right channels to the sub, either before the power amp or after it depending on the sub, and use its built in crossover. That's why you'd need a sub with 2 sets of inputs. Either that, or if you want to boogie with some really low bass, you can always switch back to the digital input on the Denon. But I have a feeling that your system will have a much better soundstage without the processing, so try the Pioneer's analog outputs to see what you think.

Thanks for the update. Better cables will improve it even further. Have fun!

Lkdog,

Nice idea, but there's another problem in addition to the degradation mentioned by Mraybeck. When using the EXT inputs, you'll be running a full range signal to the front speakers, so the crossover setting in the sub that works well this way will not work if you have the Denon set for "small" front speakers! However, as I've said before, my low end Onkyo sigificantly degrades the sound when ANY processing is used (this includes using the crossover via setting the speakers to "small"), so I just leave them full range. The drawback here is that you're wasting power and possibly muddying up the midrange by trying to pump the low frequencies into the small speakers, but life is full of compromises.

By the way, trust me that it won't work very well splitting only one of the channels into the Denon's subwoofer input, because music mixes are too varied (yes, I tried it once). Also, I don't like the idea of combining the left and right because I don't think the output buffer of the DAC would be happy with that.

Many people have had this same problem, so you might do searches here and at the AudioAsylum.com. Many people have tried a separate preamp as per Mraybeck, but it can be a hassle to match the volume of all channels, especially at different volumes.

There are 3 main ways to achieve the use of a sub in your situation.

1) Get a separate 2 channel system. Don't laugh, it's been done by others than your's truly.

2) Get 2 subs. One is hooked up to the LFE channel (you can use the HT receiver's built-in crossovers on everything but the direct pass throughs); the other is hooked up to the preamp outputs (low level) or the amplifier outputs (high level), and its crossover is set to blend with your front speakers running full range.

3) Get 1 sub that has regular left and right channel inputs (low level and or high level) AND an LFE input. As I said earlier, the REL Storm III (and higher models) is the only one that I know of that does this. The crossover must be defeatable on the LFE input if you are using the HT receiver's built-in crossovers, because you will have to set it around 40 Hz for your fronts, but the receiver will probably cross over the fronts at about 80 to 120 Hz.

Just a note. All of this is moot if the HT receiver is able to pull off the low frequencies on the analog pass-throughs. I don't know of any that do this though.

Whew!

Let us know what happens.