Difference between 24/96 and 24/192

I think it really depends on your ears AND the transport. I've found that 96k upsampling sounds far better to my ears since it's not OVERLY detailed - it also (for some strange reason) sounds better with a Sony transport than a Phillips. The 192k upsampling does sound better with the Phillips transport, yet I STILL find it very analytical and not pleasing to my ears.

Hope this helps.

The only way to really answer your question is to do a direct comparison audition of both units. While the 24/192 offers a theoretical advantage over 24/96 due to the greater data rate, that is only part of the performance equation in a CD player. There are other factors which will have substantial impact on the audio quality, such as the transport itself, the size and quality of the power supply, the quality of the DAC's, jitter control, etc. Higher data rates without comparable improvements in the other performance factors won't matter much -- so, take a test drive and trust your ears!

I believe that either the Sony or the JVC when used as a transport will only output a 16/44.1 signal. The 96 vs. 192 issue is moot. If the players sound different, then it's due to the issues mention by Sdcampbell.

Onhwy61:

Why only output at 16/44 when both claim a higher output?

Does any of this really matter if the DAC takes whatever info it gets and upsamples it anyways?

I believe that the higher sampling rates on the DVD players are for the soundtracks on DVD only, not CD. Even with the 24/96 or 24/192, you will only get that on the DVDs that were recorded in those formats.

Tbadder, if you're using them as transports you are not accessing their internals D/A converters and the digital data stream is unmodified. If you play a regular CD, either player will output the standard 16/44.1 data to an external DAC.

I know that some of the Pioneer DVD's will output 24 / 96 when used as a transport. Sean
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Do you have any idea which ones, Sean?

I know for sure the 525 and the 38A do, since I have owned both of them.

I know that the newer "slim line" DV-440 is rated for 24 / 192 output use with the internal DAC's and is selectable for use with 48 KHz or 96 KHz as a transport through the digital out's. Other than that, i can't remember any specific model numbers or specs. Sugarbrie may know more about these as i know that Stan Warren likes / uses Pioneer DVD's quite a bit. Sean
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Just to make sure there's no confusing the issue - even the Pioneer players will only output a 16/44.1 signal thru their digital outputs when playing a standard redbook CD.

Many thanks guys. Sometimes I don't think I could get any thing done without a push in the right direction from the many fine forum members here.

Is there an easy way to determine if a particular DVD player upsamples CD's? I'm looking at the new Yamaha dvd-c920 player and do not see anything in the owners manual concerning cd audio output rates. The only mentions is 96KHz, 24 bit audio DAC for high sound quality. No mention if that is for DVD only.

How do you know the Pioneer models mentioned above output "upconverted" CD audio?

Thanks.