Clarification for a newb, DACs and other stuff too


I am new to outboard DACs, but am looking forward to the experiment.

I have attained a Theta DSPro Basic (gen I), I want to use a DVD player as the transport.

But, I am almost certain that the DAC is 44.1khz ONLY, and the DVD is 48khz or 96khz output only.

Stands to reason that this won't work.

I am curious if ALL CD PLAYERS digital outputs are 44.1khz, especially since a lot of newer units have the higher 48 or 96 sample rates.

Basicly will any CD player with digital outs do with this DAC? or will I have to find one with 44.1khz only?

Thanks in advance
distortion

Showing 2 responses by zaikesman

Many older DAC's, including my own DSPro Basic IIIa, will decode 48KHz sample-rate inputs, because that was the DAT standard. Not that I can promise yours will work with the output from your DVD player when playing DVD's (there could be other complicating factors, and I've not done this experiment), but since all redbook CD's are sampled at 44.1KHz, that will be what is supplied on the digital output from the player when playing CD's, whatever type of player it is.
I'm not sure what you mean about your DAC having "Signal" and "DAT" inputs - my IIIa just has coaxial S/PDIF (RCA - two provided), balanced AES/EBU (XLR), and Toslink digital inputs (not counting the digital monitoring loop input, also on RCA, and the AT&T glass option is not installed). The correct sampling rate (32, 44.1, or 48KHz) is automatically detected for any of the digital inputs.

Anyway, I'm not surprised that it won't decode DVD's - it's not supposed to (in fact, according to Theta, not all DAT inputs will be decoded, depending on the output format of the source machine) - but I don't see why it shouldn't decode CD's fed it from your DVD player used as a CD transport. If it won't do that, I'd call Theta to ask why.

P.S. - BTW, you can use the "Edit my post" link, which will appear at the bottom of your post if you view it once posted (and nobody else has yet posted after you), for making changes or corrections to your post without having to submit another one... :-)